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THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH,
AND
JOURNAL OF THE TRUE HEALING ART.
Volume n.]
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1867.
[For the Gospel of Health.]
PHYSIOLOGICAL TRANSGRESSION
IN HIGH PLACES.
[Number 8.
Until we learn to know aright,
And knowing, care to do,
Transgression, in the bud will blight
The Noble and the True.
BY MONTADELPHOS.
How foolish are the ways of man !
Since Adam sinned at first,
To kill himself because he can,
By wickedness the worst.
The Parent wonders at the Youth,
Because he’s heedless growD ;
When he, himself, to tell the truth,
Has sins still worse his own.
The Minister, he wonders why
The World he cannot save ;
Whilst his own conduct gives the lie
To the Profession grave.
The Son of Temperance wonders too,
And raves about the same,
Because “ Old Sots” at times get “blue,”
When he’s as much to blame.
He's tipsy, too, from morn till night—
Tobacco’s all the rage ;
And coffee ’s just the thing that’s right
To make him feel so sage.
The Doctor, too, he wonders why
Mankind, so premature,
' Will still get sick, lie down and die,
In spite of Physic-Cure ?
If men transgress the Laws of Life,
And sickness comes at last,
Why should the Doctor, then, in strife.
Their hopes with poisons blast ? ,
[Written for the Gospel ofHealth.J
FIRST PRINCIPLES, NO. I.
BY J. F. SANBORN, M. D.
Many of the readers of the Health journals
know that certain articles in common use in
bread-making, as bi-carbonate of soda, salt,
yeast, cream-of-tartar, are not proper articles for
food. They know that alcoholic liquors, tea,
coffee, and even hard water, are not proper for
drink ; that impure air is improper for us to
breathe : But why they are so, is not generally
understood ; and one reason is, it ig easier to
write an article, that will please even the read
ers of a Health journal, stating that this or that,
is thus and so, than it is to explain why they
are so. The enlargement of the Gospel of
Health will enable us to elucidate some of
these first principles, somewhat at length.
That matter which is endowed with life, is
called organic matter. To sustain life, organs
are furnished ; to animals, lungs, heart, bowels,
kidneys, arteries, veins, nerves, etc.
Vegetables have organs as rootlets, roots
trunks, branches leaves, etc.
Inorganic matter has no life—it has no need of
organs to support its existence, for it exists from
age to age ; it may be subject to change of form
and place, but does not grow old as domen, ani
mals, trees, and all matter endowed with life.
Life must at some time cease, and the organic
matter ot which living bodies are composed,
must return to the earth from which it came—
the organic dies—decays, and becomes inorganic
matter.
The vegetable kingdom subsists on inorganic
matter, and by a process of vitality peculiar to
its organization, changes the inorganic into or
ganic matter.
In animal life there is a continual change of
�50
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
substance, nutritious matter becoming a part of
the living body ; and while this addition is be
ing made, other parts are broken down and re
moved.
This change in animals, and growth in vegeta
bles, are carried on by small structures known
as cells, somewhat analogous to an egg that has
no shell ; their size is very minute, and tlieir
form varies by the pressure of surrounding
cells.
In animals, the materials of these cells are
formed from the food eaten.
Now, can animals take the inorganic ele
ments of earth, and organize them into cells,
form and structure, and add them to their
bodies? Can an animal eat clay or soil, and be
nourished thereby? No one will claim that
such materials are food for “ man or beast
and if one should eat it, it could not be so
changed as to make anything organic.
Vegetables, on the contrary, do subsist on the
inorganic, elements of earth, and decayed or
broken-down cell-structure of plants and ani
mals ; changing them into their own structure,
by cell formation ; adding cells to the end of previ
ously-formed cells, thus increasing in length, or
by placing several around on the outside of others
and thus increasing in size. Thus has God made
the vegetable kingdom to prepare the inorganic
materials of earth, and organize them for food
for the animal kingdom. Animals take of the
cell-formation of the vegetable kingdom, and
build up their own solid structure. Vegetables
furnish food for animals by their growth ; and
animals furnish food for plants by decay, or the
breaking down of their cell-structure.
It is a fundamental law of animal life that it
can in no wise add to its cell-structure any matter
that is not cell-structure. If cell-structure is
broken down, be it animal or vegetable, it can in
no wise become a part of the cell-structure of
animal life. Inorganic matters cannot be digest
ed—they are not cell-structure—they are the
same when they leave the body that they are
when they enter it ; which is not the case with
an apple, or bread, or anything that is food.
Food is digested and by assimilation becomes
a part of the body—a part of the cell-structure
of the living, moving body ; and when it leaves
the body, it does so as broken-down or waste
matter, which is food for plants.
This principle is not generally understood ; if
it was, all matter not of cell-structure would
sedulously be excluded from the vital domain, as
bearing an abnormal relation to the Jiving
tissues.
A statement was made in alate number of the
Dental Cosmos, that a man died for want of phos
phate of lime in his bones, and yet he had taken
large quantities of the phosphates as a medi
cine.
The statement was a part of the report of the
doings of one of the most learned Dental Socie
ties in the United States ; yet no one explained
the mystery. All mineral medicines are inor- 1
ganic matter ; iron, of which such large quanti- i
ties are used as a “ tonic,” by the very learned
Allopathic M. Ds., is an inorganic substance, and
as a consequence, it can never become a part of
the cell-structure of the blood, or of any other
part of the body; but in common with all other
inorganic matters, bears an abnormal relation to
the living system. This is a sufficient reason
why we, as Hygienists, should not use it.
As soon as the cell-structure of our bodies be
comes broken down, it becomes as repugnant ^o
the living system, as dead bodies are to a living,
refined, civilized community ; and if it is retained
in the body, or becomes absorbed from without,
it must be expelled, or death must soon follow.
Broken down cell-structure, taken as food,
bears an abnormal relation to the living tissues,
so that it matters not how good food a substance
may be, in its natural state of perfect develop
ment ; as soon as it becomes decayed or broken
down in its structure, by fermentation, so far as
the change has taken place, so far has the arti
cle of food deviated from its perfect adaptation
to the wants of the system ; and the part sc
changed is no longer food ; it cannot become a
part of the cell-structure of the living body, but
is a poison to be expelled.
Fermented articles, either as food or drink,
are more or less broken down cell-structure,
and bear an abnormal relation to the living
system.
Disease is the effort of the system to rid itself
of obstructing materials.
These obstructing materials are—first, the
broken down cell-structure of the system itself,
and not depurated or removed from the body ;
or, second, those which are received into the sys
tem by absorption, or as inorganic substances in
food, as bi-carbonate of soda, or bi carbonate of
potassa, or common salt used in making biscuit.
Hard water contains carbonate of lime, which is
an inorganic substance, and bearsan abnormal re
lation to the living system. Fermented bread
is made by decomposing the sugar in the meal
or flour, as the case may be, converting it into
carbonic acid gas and alcohol, thus destroying
at least one sixteenth of the nutriment there
was in the flour, and breaking down the cell
structure so that so much of the flour as has
undergone the change by fermentation, not only
does not nourish, but thereby becomes a source
of disease. Alcohol is broken down cell-struc
ture. There is no alcohol in any of the grains
in their natural degree of perfection, but they
all contain both sugar and starch ; the sugar is
first decomposed; then the starch is changed
into sugar, and both sugars are changed into
carbonic acid gas and alcohol. The carbonic
acid gas is used in n aking carbonate of soda
and potassa, which are used in making bread
which the good temperance people use, while
those who make no pretensions to being tem
perate, use the alcohol itself. All of these brokendown cell-structures are poisons to the living
tissues, because being broken-down matter,
they bear an abnormal relation to it. Many
substances that are of cell-structure bear an ab
normal relation to the living system, which it
is not proposed to discuss at this time
Chemical action invariably destroys the cell
structure of all organic matter on which the
action takes place, so that in the chemical prep
aration of medicines from vegetables that are
good for food, as soon as the chemical change
has taken place, they are no longer tolerated by
the vital powers, because their cell-structure
being destroyed, they bear an abnormal relation
�51
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
to vitality. All medicines are poisons. They
all bear an abnormal relation to the living sys
tem, and almost without exception, are, when
taken, but adding inorganic matter or broken
down cell-structure to that already the cause of
the disease ; so that it matters not according to
what school of practice the medicine is adminis
tered, it is but adding broken-down cell structure,
which is obstructing matter, to that already the
cause of the disease, and is but carrying out
the principle of “ like cures like and we read
the “ blind lead the blind, and both fall into the
ditch,” alias the grave.
[to be continued.]
WHAT IS TEMPERANCE?
BY HYGEALTnEUS.
There is probably no subject upon which
less perfect views are entertained, than that of
Temperance. Some persons hold that abstinence
from alcoholic liquors is temperance, whilst
others maintain that the moderate drinking of
the same constitutes temperance ; and upon the
one or the other of these two propositions the
majority of the people are stationed.
Now, to my mind, both positions are, in re
ality, wrong. Temperance is moderation, no
matter to what it be applied; and intemper
ance, immoderation. Persons, too, may be as
truly intemperate in not using enough of a thing,
as in using too much ; as it is the proper quan
tity, or degree, which constitutes temperance—
degree or quantity always entering in as an
element—and not total abstinence, as some sup
pose.
“Well,” says one, “you believe, then, that
the moderate drinking of alcoholic liquors is
temperance, do you not ?” Not by any means.
If they are right who contend against absti
nence because temperance implies moderation,
then it is evident that we would all be justified
in doing what is manifestly wrong; for St.
Paul admonishes us to be “ temperate in all
things,” and as “ all things,” as this class of
persons would have it, necessarily includes a
great many wrong things, therefore we would
be advised to do many wrong things, moder
ately, however. This, though, is too absurd to
be admitted. There must, therefore, be some
other criterion whereby we are to be governed
in our eating and drinking habits, which is sub
stantially the relation existing between our
selves and the universe of matter around us.
Nothing having an unhealthful relation to
man can ever be a subject of temperance. The
use of all such things is qualitatively an evil,
as was the eating of the forbidden fruit by our
first parents; whereas, the use of thingshaving a i
physiological or healthful relation, can only be
an evil quantitively—because of an improper
quantity or degree. Who would ever think of
swearing, lying, or stealing temperately ? Or
who would for a moment contend that fornica
tion and adultery could be committed in mode
ration ? Or where is the individual to be found
who would call the performance of one or all of I
these deeds intemperance ? I venture to say
that no person of intelligence can be found en !
tertaining such an idea, from the simple fact
that all such conduct is wrong in its very na
ture. and hence can have nothing to do with
temperance. Why, then, should we contend
that other things may be done temperately,
which are, in their very nature, wrong or unpliysiological ? Or why should we call absti
nence from the same temperance ? The fact is,
the imbibition of alcohol, and all other poisons,
is a violation of physiological law, because of
the chemically incompatible relation existing
between them and the tissues of the organism,
and hence can have no more to do with temper
ance or intemperance, than stealing or commit
ting murder has.
It may be said, however, that St. Paul would
have you «“ eat and drink whatsoever is set be
fore you, and ask no questions for conscience’
sake but if the “ whatsoever” is not restricted
to such things as bear a physiological relation
to the body, then of course the injunction is
equivalent to a command of self-destruction ;
and we would be entirely excusable for »uicism,
should “ mine kost” chance temptingly to pre
sent a poison.
Temperance, then, is the moderate, use of
things having a physiological or healthful rela
tion to our being ; whilst intemperance is the
immoderate use of these same agencies, and the
immoderation may be because of either excess
or deficiency. The imbibition of things, how
ever, having an unhealthful relation to the or
ganism, is physiological transgression, from the
infinitesimal nothingness of the Homeopath,
up through the ponderous doses of the heroic
Allopath, to the practice of the Suicide, who
takes the same for the purpose of separating the
soul from its tenement of clay.
[For the Gospel of Health.]
DRUG MEDICATION THE CHIEF
CAUSE OF OUR PRESENT PHYS
ICAL DEGENERACY.
NO. I.
BY THOS. W. ORGAN, M. D., CHALFANT, OHIO.
Radical and revolutionary ideas are of slow
growth. The human mind, in its perversion
and depravity, will grasp error quickly, while
truth and right may be unnoticed, or if noticed
at all, only to be opposed and persecuted. The
subject on which I propose to write a series of
articles, is the most radically and aggressively
reformatory in its bearing of any of which I can
now conceive. It anticipates, as the grand re
sults of an enlightenment of the people, the
overthrow of drug-shops, dram-shops, and to
bacco-shops. Could a nobler or grander reform
occupy the human mind, or engage the labors
of the’ philanthropist ? It more deeply involves
both our individual and collective weal or woe ;
our future felicity and destiny, physically, mor
ally, and socially, than any other that can be
named, except the Gospel of Christianity. If
not Christianity itself, it is essentially a part or
element of it. It is not Christianity either to
give drugs or to take drugs. True science
�52
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
based on the unerring laws of Nature, and all
LETTER FROM A SCAVENGER.
experience, properly interpreted, demonstrate
that the administration of drugs is fearfully
destructive of human health, of human life, and
Dr. Trall—Dear Sir: In the December
of human happiness. And if destructive and
detrimental to human interests, is not their use number of the Gospel I asked, in substance,
a fearful wrong ? If wrong, can their adminis the question: Why cannot man be, safely al
tration be in consonance with Christianity ? lowed the same freedom in diet as other ani
True science and Christianity can never conflict. mals that mix their food, without detriment to
The fact that nine tenths of the physicians of health or longevity ? to which you replied : you
our land do not take their own medicines when could not see the pertinency of my reasoning,
sick, is sufficient evidence of another very im- ' and that if the devil could change his habits,
portant fact, “ They do not do unto others as he would become a better being.
Very “pertinent” “if” indeed. An if style
they wish to be done by.” If physicians would
apply the golden rule in all cases, drugging of argument is pardonable when founded on
would soon be extinct. There can scarcely be something within the bounds of possibility;
found an intelligent physician that would not but, when a debater resorts to an assumption,
prefer to risk his life to the efforts of nature, (to illustrate a point at issue) that is utterly
rather than to the remedies of a physician of inconsistent with nature, illogicalyand impossi
his own school. He would also do so with his ble as yours was in “ raising the devil,” it por
patients, but for one “ small consideration.” tends an extreme want of something real or
“ There is not much money in such a course.” | reasonable on which to base an argument.
Why, sir, it is worse than falling back to the
His patient would doubtless recover more speed
ily without his drugs than with them, vet that “last ditch” (for in that there is still hope.) It
would involve him in another fundamental dif is, in fact, going beyond, over the verge, into
ficulty. “ They would quickly perceive that his dark and empty space for impossibilities as
services irere not necessary.” It is therefore ne weapons to defend a one-sided, fanatical theory.
cessary for the existence of the drug medical And, even then, in his blindness, to say he
profession that its practitioners continue the “fails to seethe pertinency” of the logic that
business of dosing and drugging, (no matter I drove him to so extreme a measure, is decidedly
how.) behind an array of technical jargon which cool indeed.
Apropos to your “pertinent” style of reason
they cannot understand, which the people can
not understand, and which, I think, never was > ing and to follow out its absurdity, wonder if it
wouldn’t be better for the rattlesnake to rid
intended to be understood.
This subject not only interests us as individu itself of its venom in some possible way, and be
als, but as a nation. The aggregate of indi come as harmless as a dove.
Wonder if it would n’t be better for God,
vidual existences constitutes a nation. It con man, and the Devd, if the “ Old Nick” had n’t
cerns also the physical and moral growth or
decline, development or decay, of our national been created at all ? Or, if the “ Old Fellow”
existence. It is therefore self-evident that the would commit suicide and thus tempt man, no
destiny of the race is involved in the discussion ! longer to pervert his mind, injure his health,
of this subject. A nation’s character is read by and shorten his life by sinful flesh-eating. Oh,
the health or vigor of its people. If the indi the “ permitted" monster ! why mil he persist in
viduals constituting this nation become dis acting so unnatural a part toward God’s crea
eased and effeminate, the inevitable result must I tures ?
Wonder if it wouldn’t be better for the lion,
be that the nation will be deteriorated in a pro
portionate degree. Whatever affects our indi tiger, Esquimaux, etc., to quit flesh-eating in
vidual existence must, in an exact ratio, modify ■ favor exclusively of corn, potatoes, grass, etc.,
our nationality. The constitutional vigor of and thus hasten on the glorious coming (?) mil
the people determines the physical and moral | lennium ?
condition of our nation. Although we are nu- | By your permission, I would ask a few more
merically strong, yet, comparatively speaking, | questions on this important subject, so vital to
in physical vigor and vital force, we are depio- I the welfare of man immortal.
You claim that all constituted flesh-eaters
rably deficient. It is estimated that fully threefourths of our people are in some way diseased. , were calculated by the wise Creator as scaven
gers to rid the earth of obnoxious offal, and ren
All forms of disease tend to physical degeneracy. I
The average of human life in boasted America der the air more wholesome for the decent por
is scarcely thirty years. Why should it not be tion of animation and man. Now, the Esqui
one century ? One-half of the children born die maux are considered men, and why did God in
before they are five years old. Scarcely one- his goodness consign man to so low an office,
half of tlu' remainder reach manhood or woman- I they being obliged to scavenge, the earth in the
hood. Never was there a time in our nation’s absence of anything else to sustain life ? or are
an exception to Nature s plan?
history when there were more dyspeptics, liver they is fair to presume that ’Mary, the mother of
It
disorders, scrofula, and consumptives, than now. Jesus, was a meat-eater. How do you make
Wherever I go, I see too plainly the evidence of
that compatible
these conditions impressed on those around. ■ her offspring? with the great purity of Christ,
Pale faces, sunken, hollow cheeks, bloodless
And, why
not Christ, the most
extremities, sunken eyes on one hand, or on the ! dipped bread didsop, and divided fishes holy, (who
in
to the mul
other, bloated faces, bloodshot eyes, eczemated : titude,) strike at a prominent root of evil, and by
6kins. Each set of symptoms indicates the his divine precept and example, try to abate the
physical depravity of our people.
sinful practice of flesh-eating ? Or, was he un-
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
53
So stands the common human opinion upon
one of the greatest of all the moral and social
questions which agitate the world. It is easy
to see that prejudice and ignorance are at the
bottom of this ridiculous and cliildish estimate
of woman. The young maiden grows to woman’s
estate under the eye of her mother, who still
persists in treating her as a child, and so it is in
the other case. ’The day has gone by when
woman could be speculated upon as merchan
dise, or treated as one of the effects of the house
hold. She has enfranchised herself by her in
telligence, education, and virtue, and holds the
foremost and topmost rank in the modern civ
ilization. Our literature, -which appeals alike
to both sexes ; our newspapers, which are read
by all. educate all. Slowly 'but surely has the
female element come to a great recognition in
these times. We are beginning to ask ourselves
why she who includes within the boundaries of
her own nature so many noble virtues, and half
the intellect of the world, should be held in
subjection, because one strong-minded female
without a tooth in her .head, has put herself
forward to advocate, in a somewhat unwomanly
manner perhaps, the rights of her sex !
We are proud to own that-we claim for woman
all that she can ask or think, in the direction of
Elkader, Iowa, Dec. 28, 1866.
mental, moral, and social freedom. We claim
it as a right, not at all as a privilege, that she
shall have an equal vote with men upon all sub
jects and upon all occasions. We are ashamed
WOMAN’S RIGHTS QUESTION.
of man’s injustice, and astonished also, at the
One would think, to hear the crusty old bach short-sightedness, that he will give a vote to
every ignorant and degraded serf of Ireland and
elors talk of politics, that womankind lias no the other European countries, and deny it to his
rights at all which mankind has any right to own educated and refined mother, wife, and
respect. Woman, according to their estimate
of her, is a mere appendage to man—is here sister.
upon sufferance and ought to be kept well un I If we are to have a manhood suffrage, and
der. They do not quite sanction the ancient I extend its latitudes and longitudes until it take
traditions of her social status, which record her ' in also the refuse of the colored belts of the
as little better than a household drudge, who tropics who may chance to be “ round” at voting
was cuffed and abused at pleasure by the lords time, including the African, who, poor fellow,
paramount of the family : but they think she is is only two generations removed from the bar
by no means entitled to the same rights and barism and fetishism of his native forests, then
privileges which they possess, or so much as a in God’s name let the suffrage be universal, and
tithe of them. What, they ask, has a woman put it into the power of American women to
to do with the great emprises of human thought, save, by their wisdom and fervid patriotism,
or the affairs of society ? Her proper sphere is this great Republic from being swamped like
the household, and her higher right is the right old Rome by the inflooding of the barbarians.
of doing her duty to her husband and her chil We do not expect to see women in Congress
dren. As to her meddling with politics—they during the next dozen years, although far more
laugh that proposition to scorn. Politics are impossible things have happened in the lifetime
for rough, strong men, not for weak, tender of all now living. But this is one of the great
women. What should they know about the questions which has to be met. It is society’s
functions of office, the business of the state, or biggest egg, and she must hatch it. Already,
the diplomacy of governments ? These are mat we are happy to say, this Woman’s Rights ques
ters beyond the reach of her intellect, and which, tion has received the consideration of some of
even were they not so, would unsex her if she our greatest modern thinkers, and they have
lent their sanction to the fact that woman has
interfered with them.
But the climax of all absurdities in their re inalienable rights, and that the right to vote is
gard, is the idea of giving a vote to women. It one of them. She, being born out of the loins
.so completely upsets all their preconceived no of this great Commonwealth, is fully armed and
tions of public and private decorum, that they equipped for service, and can assuredly as well
are driven almost to their wits’ end at the bare be trusted with the destiny of the country which
thought of it. It is not so long ago that woman she loves, as those ignorant foreigners who go
was a mere chattel ; and even to this day both to the polls like oxen to the market, in obedi
the laws of England and the canon of the ence to the whipper-in of their party. Twenty
Church, recognize her only as the property of years will not elapse before this voting phase of
her husband, whom she is sworn to love, honor, the Woman’s Rights question will be brought
before the whole male people for issue, and itj
and obey.
luckily ignorant (?) of its evil effects on the
bodies and morals of men, and thus failed to put
in His holy and timely protest against its use ?
And, how could He remain so pure and good,
while partaking of so pernicious an article of
fo< >d ?
In sickness, you say, allow the patient to eat
whatever he naturally craves; and why make
meat an exception ? Perhaps you would answer
“ the taste is abnormal!” Then why object in
cases of babes ? Here, again, you would assume
the taste inherited ; Very well, follow the mat
ter back, and, pray tell us, where in the world’s
history did the taste begin ? Who knows, per
haps at the “ fall of Adam thus accounting for
our consequent misery. Perhaps these sugges
tions may lead you to solve the mystery of the
“ Fall of Man
if so, you are welcome to
them.
How do you make your Gospel teachings, on
this question, harmonize with the Holy but
flesh-polluted Bible?
Hoping you may, philanthropically, enlighten
my flesh-polluted mind (?) by answering these
questions, I close, and,
With respect, remain,
Your Purifying Scavenger,
J. M. Snedigar.
�54
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
will be carried in the affirmative. Then we may
hope to see a more Christian courtesy in the
conduct of affairs, and a new public morality
and decorum. Woman, who refines and ele
vates whatsoever she touches, will create an at
mosphere of purity around the foul places where
legislators and aidermen most do congregate.
Her beauty will grow into their manners, and
her wisdom into their work ; ^nd with this new
element infused into the executive of the coun
try, we may look for a new development of our
civilization.—The New Republic.
ITEMS FROM ILLINOIS.
I
with those who would rather help me up than
pull me down. Still I rejoice that you have suc
ceeded in securing a territory where the pros
pect is favorable for a much better life, tho’ I
may never participate in it.
“ The Kingdom of God cometh not with obser
vation, but is within you!” How consoling.
Heaven is a condition. The happiest man I ever
saw, was blind and poor. The wisest man I ever
saw, was the most permanently happy. As to
smartness—we are all about alike, we are like
measures of the same size, (pint tin cups if you
please.) The man that is full of party politics,
is not of necessity or generally, full to overflow
ing of a broad and comprehensive philanthro
py. He who is racking his brain to get up a
perpetual motion, is not the most successful agri
culturist. The great mathematician is often a
great fool, (in a horse trade.} “But the mind
expands by culture and education.” Aye, and
like most other things, becomes thinner by the
operation. Education is the father of pedantry,
and the foe to progress. He who fools away his
time in rummaging over the musty thoughts of
the past, to be consistent, ought to live on
“ hash,” and wear his grandfather’s hat.
The more I think of it, the more I regard the
stomach the citadel of life.
Parents, I see many of your children with
sore eyes, and raw, running sores on their
hands and faces, and I hear them complain of
ear-ache, tooth-ache, stomach-ache ; and I see
that they have a pinched, shrivelled, and some
times a flushed face ; and some of the little ones
lay down and moan, refuse to eat or play. Then
you hunt up the pill-box or phial of worm med
icine, or send post haste for the doctor. In this,
or all of these, it seems to me you are unwise.
You had much better do nothing, let the child
CONSISTENCY.
rest, and for mercy’s ■•sake, let its stomach rest,
Consistency, fudge ! If one should practise it
for here is where the trouble lies. Over-eating,
and eating too nutritious or concentrated food, in any community, Jje would be ridiculed as a
are filling the world with disease and premature dolt, and justly too.
Suppose a doctor, after giving his patient a
death.
dose of physic, should order him to mount a mill
CONFIDENTIAL, SUGGESTIVE, AND BUSINESS.
saw lathe, so as to have it well shook up. This
Friend Trail & Co.: I find that accidentally I seems to me both logical and analogical, and
do once in a while write on both sides of a consistency here would be a jewel (in a hog’s
sheet, and am inclined to all the time, and don’t nose) very much out of place. If I advocate a
see why I may not, for you see it is much more more natural life, must I throw off my clothes,
economical, and I believe in economy, in fact, run to the woods, and climb a tree ?
seem to have been compelled to practise it all
Check any evil, as well as any heavy body
my life. The December number of the Gwspel suddenly, while in rapid motion, or under full
has just come to hand, so the suggestions I headway, and the result is more or less destruc
thought of making are impracticable, or rather tive. *
*
*
uncalled for. I am so glad that you are able or
I hardly dare say there is evil in the world,
encouraged to increase the size of the paper. would rather prefer to use such terms as misfor
I like your decision to have it issued as now time and inliarmony, for what seems to me to be
once a month. I would say, do not change it wrong. Tastes differ ; my Heaven would prob
from a monthly, though it might be necessary to ably be somebody’s hell. I would like to live
tncrease it to five times its present size. Cut, with a people who had no coercive laws, no
trimmed, and stitched, no broad, blank margins, domestic brute animals, fowls, insects or rep
or blank leaves, a plain, neat, compact style—is tiles, and of course no fences, barns, yards, pens,
what I like.
or stables, and no prisons, asylums, or churches,
I hope you will be able to stereotype it, for I no distilleries, poor-houses, or court-houses, and
think it will be demanded in coining years.
where all fashions and customs impose no re
COMPROMISES.
straints upon a joyful, free, spontaneous life. I
My life is, and ever has been, only a sort of do not want to live any longer with a people
compromise. How dearly I would like to live who spank their children, fight, pull hair, take
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
medicine, wear hoops, paper collars, boot and
shoe heels, or shear and shave.
■ Now, readers, it you know of such a place or
people, do tell us where it or they may be found.
“ There is none”—none in this broad world,
why? Must wranglings, and fightings, and
want, and ignorance, and folly, ever sit en
throned in the hearts of men ?
A friend tells me we could not live without
brute-animal force or power. He says we must
have horses or oxen to do our heavy hauling
and plowing, and that by their use we can have
more life, i. e. more people can and will be gen
erated or created, “and the more life the bet
ter.” But these are only assertions, and I think
facts would not sustain them ; and as to life
being desirable under all conditions, is ques
tionable.
I suppose the uncivilized portions of humanity
are generally not as prolific; but such, I be
lieve, cultivate the earth but little, but subsist
mostly or its spontaneous productions and other
animals.
1 doubt even the economy of brute power. I
believe human beings pay in advance for every
ounce of power or moment of labor they get
out of a brute. True, after we have been the
humble servant for three or four years in rais
ing, breaking, and furnishing harness, etc., for
a horse, he can pull about eight times as much
as one of us; but he can do nothing else—not
even provide his own food, harness or curry
himself—and then we don’t need all this extra
labor.
Suppose he does help us to produce more, we
produce of some things too much now. I some
times think over-production is the great foun
dation stone of evil or inharmony.
All machinery, all power, and all contrivances
that enable any healthy human being to live
without their just and equal proportion of labor,
is a curse to the world. But we must get out
of this evil of brute dependence, gradually, I
suppose, or else we shall encounter obstacles
that will put our faith and patience to their ex
tremist test. For a while I might find it more
convenient—if not absolutely necessary—to ex
change my labor for food, fruits, vegetables, and
grain, and some of my clothing, etc., for that
which had been in some manner raised or cre
ated with the use of brute-animal power, for all
our industries are now in some way, directly or
indirectly, interwoven with them. And still I
see no necessity for their continuance after a
short time. Next spring, I should like to com
mence the culture of the earth with a few or
many associates, using nothing but simple hand
55
utensils, aided, it may be, with a few “mechani
cal powers
but these utensils and powers
should be of the best kind. Various forms of
spades and hoes, all made of the right size and
shape, and of polished steel, and kept so; for I
find if all such articles are made and kept in
this way, much more labor can be done in a
given time, and with far greater pleasure too.
If large logs or rocks are to be removed, com
bined human power, aided with wedges, screws,
levers, ropes, and railways, could do it, and
more economically and pleasantly, too, I think.
It is not true that “ man wants but little here
below.” The trouble is he wants too much.
His needs are few and simple. The great de
sideratum is contentment, or a calm acquies
cence in the inevitable. How to attain this
contentment, is an interesting question, and not
so easily communicated, unless one has an or
ganism in harmony with the laws of God or
Nature; and if they have, there is surely no
demand for it.
* * Yes, you must allow me again to insist
upon this general idea. Our highest mission is
not to minister to the sick, give to the poor, or
simply relieve the miseries and wretchedness
around ug. What should we think or say of a
•man who knew of a fallen bridge or a railroad,
when he heard the rumbling of the distant
coming train, should raise no signal to stop it,
but should start off after a load of liniment
and coffins ?
CONFIDENTIAL AGAIN.
I think myself rather smart gifted or talented
in mechanism. Have known, very few, if any,
that excelled me in variety of mechanical pur
suits, including speed and workmanship, and
should like to live where I could be the most
useful in helping get up good tools, implements,
etc., for hand labor, or of making labor easy or
pleasurable. I think, too, I can communicate my
ideas or knowledge of mechanism to others—
rather help give them confidence in their own
abilities. Men like me will no doubt be in de
mand in the “ good time coming,” and perhaps
now in Hygeiana ; but can’t go; am one of the
Moseses, I ’spect—not permitted to enter the
“ Promised Land.”
Hurry up the new Gospel, I want to try and
get more subs.
H. B.
Hath any wronged thee? Be bravely re
venged ; slight it and the work is begun ; forget
it and ’tis finished. He is below himself that
is not above an inj ury.
A CHEERFUL spirit makes labor light and
sleep sweet and all around happy, which is much
better than being only rich.
�56
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
while adhering to some one, or ten, or twenty,
or the whole ninety-nine remaining ones, may
XLI.
be strictly professional, but is not so conducive
to the progress of the temperance reformation
ALCOHOLISMUS.
as it is to the pecuniary interests of the profes
Dr. Alonzo Clark teaches the theory and sion, the apothecary, and the rumseller.
practice of medicine in the College of Phys
“ UNHEALTHY PORK.”
icians and Surgeons in the city of New
This caption we copy from the newspapers
York; Williard Parker, M. D., is Professor
of Surgery in the same school. Both gen We do not believe that pork was ever healthful,
tlemen are eminent in their profession, and en nor that domesticated porkers can be any thing
joy a large and lucrative practice. But we have I but a mass of morbid and disease-producing
thought for many years that, hardly a physi matter.
cian could be named who was more sure kill I Trichinosis, measles, scrofula, diphtheria, car
than either of them, in a simple case of fever. buncles, cancers, leprosy, erysipelas, and cholera
We have known many cases of sudden and un morbus, are not sufficient warnings against eat
expected death under their medication, wherein ing that filthy scavenger, the hog, and so sud
we believe, and have reasons as plenty as black den deaths are occasionally credited to the fear
berries for believing, that, but for their treat ful catalogue of consequences. '
Hardly a week in the year passes away
ment, the patients would have recovered with
out difficulty. We say this with no ill-feeling without some account being published of
toward the learned professors. We wish not to deaths resulting from eating swine-flesh
disparage either their integrity or their intel The last account of the kind comes from
ligence. They are scientific, according to the Louisville, Ky.; and the peculiarities of it
system into which they have been educated, and consists in the statement that the mischief
they practise the Healing Art as it has come chief came from “ choice porkers,” from a “ fine
down to them from time immemorial. And if drove” which produced “ splendid hams!” The
their treatment causes the death of their pa Louisville Journal says:
tients, very frequently, the fault is not in the
'■ One of the most prominent and highly-re
physicians but in their system.
spected farmers living in the vicinity of Crab Or
In their clinics of the present college course chard, whose name we did not, unfortunately,
killed
use,
choice
they have spoken very emphatically against the j procure, from a for his family hogs a few he had
porkers
fine drove of
that
prevalent alcoholic medication, especially as it raised, and sent a few neighboring families a
is in whisky. They have even declared the few splendid hams as presents. Nearly every
present mania for administering whiskv to be family to which the pork had been sent, partook
productive of vastly more injury than benefit, of what they supposed were delicious morsels.
Early the following day the members of the sev
and, indeed, a prolific source of intemperance eral families were taken violently ill, with all
among the people, and of death among the sick. the symptoms of cholera. The best medical
A temperance reformer could hardly have taken skill was at once procured, and every exertion
made to relieve rhe sufferers. The patients suf
more radical and ultra ground against -alcohol, fered, we are told, intensely, and by night five
no, against whisky, as a medicine, than have Drs. of the number had died.
“ The wife of the owner of the hogs has died,
Clark and Parker in their clinical instruc
and there are no hopes of his recovery. Several
tions.
others lie in a very critical condition and are not
But we happen to know that both of these likely to survive.
gentlemen have been among the foremost in ad
“ The same day on which the families were at
ministering some kinds of alcoholic liquors (bran tacked, the remainder of the drove of hogs were
seized with
disease, having some
dy, for example) in typhoid fevers, consump thing of the some strangehog cholera, and nearly
character of
tion, and a variety of diseases of low diathesis. | all have died. The occurrence has caused great
And now we are curious to know whether our | excitement in that section of the state, and is
professional brethren of the school which cures likely to extend its influence to others.”
“ Great excitement!” of course ! But will it
the disease by killing the patient, have really
experienced a change of opinion. Have they i not all end in excitement ? Will anybody sug
abandoned brandy as well as condemned i gest that any thing ought to be done about it
whisky ? Grog-medicine exists in a hundred [ except to be excited ? Will any person propose
shapes, and to tickle the ears of the temperance i to discontinue using the foul carcasses—we mean
folks, and make the thoughtless stare by de- I the “ delicious morsels ”—of the infectious
nouncing one form of alcoholic medication, | beasts as food ? Will not the pork interest
RAMBLING REMINISCENCES.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
(many millions a year) induce many editors of
numerous newspapers, and diverse agricultural
journals to re-assure their readers that there is
no danger ? And will not medical men again
be found to certify that trichina in the flesh are
the most harmless things imaginable? And,
that, if fifty millions, or fifty thousand million
billions of them are diffused through the head,
heart, liver, lungs, stomach, bowels, kidneys,
muscles, nerves, and blood and bones of the
“ human animal ” nothing at all need be appre
hended ?
That so many who use hog-food freely sicken
and die suddenly of “ acute poisoning,” or rot
away by the slower process of chronic disease,
cannot surprise the true physiologist. He can
only wonder that any body survives the abomi
nable aliment.
ADULTERATIONS OF FOOD AND DRINK.
In a late speech at a reform demonstration
in London, England, Thomas Hughes, M. P.,
«aid, while advocating the extension of the elec
tive franchise, “ Then there is the question of
food and drink. The stories about adulterations
are perfectly true. The food of the people is
abominable.” The poorer classes in England,
as well as in all countries, pay a greater price
for provisions than the rich, while the articles
palmed off upon them are villanously adultera
ted. Few persons who have not fully investigated this subject, can believe to what an enor
mous extent the business of adulterating foods,
drinks, and medicines, is carried. Scarcely a
pure drug can be found at an apothecary-shop.
Nearly all the articles employed as beverages—
tea, coffee, chiccory, chocolate, and the hundred
kinds of alcoholic liquors, are adulterated in va
rious ways ; while a large proportion of the but
ter, cheese, milk, flour, and some other things,
is not far from “ abominable food,” when they
'reach the mouth of the consumer. There is,
however, a very simple and perfectly infallible
remedy for these evils and frauds, and perhaps
some chance reader of the Gospel of Health
may thank us for the suggestion. 1. Take no
medicine. 2. Drink nothing but water. 3. Buy
your materials of food as nature produces them,
and do your own preparing and cooking. We
have followed these rules for a quarter of a cen
tury, and can speak by authority.
sr
altogether too stony for any immediate
fruit. The people are more fixed in their habits
and customs in that country than in this ;
are more conservatively inclined, and are
a quarter of a century behind us on all
the subjects pertaining to Health Reform.
Moreover, they are very disinclined to accept
foreigners as teachers, preferring to be guided
by the advice and opinions of their own coun
trymen who occupy high positions in society, or
great reputation as authors, professors, &c. .
We have no doubt that, in a general sense,
these views are entirely correct. But from a
somewhat extensive correspondence, and a rath
er limited personal observation, we incline to
the opinion that competent lecturers of our
school, could be eminently successful there, at
least in many parts of the Queendom. Among
the middling-classes are many quiet, thinking
men and women, who are unknown to fame as
Health Reformers, for no other reason than be
cause they have, not seen the opportunity to be
useful in that capacity, nor to organize them
selves for co-operative effort. They want a lead
er. They need some one to expound the system
of Hygeio-Therapv in its purity ; some one who
can meet their drug-doctors, cliemico-physiologists, and metaphysical-phvsicits in argument,
and show the fallicies and absurdities of the
prevailing medical system, and the incalculable
benefits to result from its overthrow. We are
of opinion that if either one or half a dozen per
sons we could name, should spend one year in
lecturing in England as opportunity presented,
a large body of Health Reformers would mani
fest themselves, and, probably, establish a Col"
lege of Hygeio-Therapy. Some persons think
that the political agitations of that country so
preoccupy the public mind as to embarrass any
attempt to introduce a new subject for discus
sion. But we think just the contrary. Politi
cal agitation causes the people to think, and
while in the thinking mood, they are the bel
ter prepared for listening to argument ; and
if our system is properly presented, the labor
ing people can hardly fail to see the immense ad
vantages and power its adoption would place in
their hands. It would very soon solve the
vexed question of Labor and Capital by making
the laborer independent.
GREAT BRITAIN NO PLACE FOR REFORMERS.
A gentleman aud his wife, who are graduates
of our school, have recently spent several months
in Great Britain, and bring a discouraging ac
count of the prospect for Health Reformers in
that country. They regard the ground as I
THE WATERS OF VALS.
Some friend in Paris has sent us a small pam.
phlet of 22 pages, with the disproportionately
long title, Memoir Concerning the Acidulous.
Gaseous, Bi-carbonated, Sodaic Waters of Veil :
by Dr. Tourrette. The work is devoted to a
chemical analysis of the waters of the various
�58
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
mineral springs in the Department of the Ar
dèche, and a laudatory and commercial state
ment of their remarkable therapeutic prop
erties. These waters contain, in varying pro
portions, chalk, soda, potash, common salt,
silica, iodine, iron, arsenic, and some other
poisons, with a small proportion of some other
impurities. These are precisely the ingredients
which render water unfit for drinking or cook
ing purposes. Should any one put them in a
neighbor’s well in the same proportions and
quantities in which they are found in “ The
Waters of Vais,” he would almost certainly be
prosecuted for an attempt to kill. But, when the
person is sick he will swallow them in any
quantities his stomach can hold, per advice of
the family physician, and regard it as an attempt
to cure. There are some strange inconsistencies
in this world, and swallowing poisons because
one is sick is one of them.
We quote a specimen of the author’s style :
In the diseases of the digestive organs, gastralgy, dyspepsias, the alkaline mineral water
of Vais impregnates to the digestive mucous
membrane lasting physiological modifications.
Pâtissier, a fellow of the Academy of Medi
cine, traces in a few lines the principal effects :
“ In a healthy state,” he says, “ the water of
Vais, taken as a drink, increases the appetite,
renders digestion easier, regulates the alvine
evacuations, and sometimes produces a pur
gative effect ; the circulation increases, the
skin becomes warmer, there is an unusual
feeling of strength and well-being ; some
glasses of that water are sufficient to ren
der alkaline the sweats and the urine, which
naturally are acid.
“ It has been observed, that .mineral waters,
when well borne by the stomach, stimulate its
vitality, and increase its digestive power. This
influence is especially the property of the gas
eous, alkaline, sodaic, cold waters of Vais.”
Petrequin and Socquet (medical treatise on
mineral waters, a work having obtained a prize
from the Academy) :
“ The influence which the waters of Vais
bear on the digestive organs, as soon as they
are made use of, is most remarkable, and their
effects are so soon felt that it might be said,
without exaggeration, that they present some
thing marvellous.”
This is good advertising, but bad grammar,
and worse logic.
In the “ healthy state,” the appetite should
not be increased. To alter a healthy appetite is
to render it unhealthy—morbid. And, again, in
the healthy state, the digestion is always per
fectly easy, and the alvine evacuations regular.
How can that which is perfectly easy be made
easier? and why should regular evacuations
be regulated ? With all due deference to the
distinguished savans of the French Academy,
we must dispose of their euphonious lingo by
applying to it the uneuphonious epithet—
fudge!
VEGETARIAN
FESTIVAL
LAND.
IN
ENG
Our English exchanges contain an account of *
a festival on vegetarian principles. Says one of
them :
A rather remarkable festival was held at
Blennerhasset, England, on Christmas Day, upon
the farm of Mr. William Lawson. The farm is
conducted upon the co-operative principle—a
tithe of the profits being divided among the
workers, and Mr. Wm. Lawson and his servants
are vegetarians. All the people of the district
who chose to write beforehand for free tickets,
or to pay 4d. on Christmas Day, were invited.
Musicians were requested to take their instru
ments with them, and it was added “ those who
like may bring their own spoons.” About 1,000
people attended. The farm buildings were dec
orated, and in the large rooms, singing and
dancing, and lecturing on phrenology, co-opera
tion, vegetarianism, and physiology, went for
ward at intervals during the day. At noon a
meal of grain, fruit, and vegetables was given,
which rather surprised some of the beef-eating
peasantry, who had assembled to take part in
the festival. There were raw turnips, boiled
cabbages, boiled wheat, boiled barley, shelled
peas, (half a ton of each of these three lastnamed :) oatmeal gruel, with chopped carrots,
turnips, and cabbage in it; boiled horse beans,
boiled potatoes, salads, made of chopped carrots,
turnips, cabbages, parsley, &c., over which was
poured linseed boiled to a jelly. As there were
no condiments of any kind, either upon the ex
traordinary messes, or the table, and all beingcold except the potatoes, it may be imagined
that the guests did not sit down with much rel
ish to their vegetarian fare. Each one had an
apple and a biscuit presented on rising from the
table. Good order was maintained all day, the
farm-servants of the establishment acting as
officers, and Mr. W. Lawson himself performing ■
the duty of special constable, a fact which was
announced by placards posted up on the farm
buildings, bearing the words, “ W illiam Lawson,
sworn constable.”
The Tomb of Semiramis.—It is said that
Semiramis directed the following inscription to
be placed upon her tomb : “ If any king stand
in need of money, let him break open this mom
ument.” On reading this Darius ransacked the
tomb, and found inscribed the following rebuke ;
“If thou hadst not been insatiably covetous, thou
wouldst not have invaded the sacred mansion
of the dead.” He retired with shame and dis
appointment, as will every one who is guilty of a
dishonorable action.
NATURE.
Read nature ; nature is a friend to truth ;
Nature is Christian ; preaches to mankind;
And bids dead matter aid us in our creed.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
Agricultural gqmrtmort.
POMOLOGY IN HYCEIANA.
BY E. YODER, M. D.
59
in hermetrically sealed cans and jars, for winter
use, and for exportation, than was used for all
purposes, green and dried, ten years ago. And
yet millions of people use it only as a luxury,
not aware of the fact, that human life can be
sustained in its best conditions by making fruit
the staple, if not the sole article of diet.
THE COST OF CULTIVATION.
Settlers in a new “ colony ” intending to
engage in fruit culture, can not over-estimate
the importance of planting largely and atten
tively cultivating small fruits.
The standard fruits, apples, pears, peaches,
cherries, etc., require more time to complete
their growth before bearing fruit; and hence
to persons who need quick returns for small
outlays of capital, are less profitable and incur
greater risks than small fruits.
The expense of raising and marketing of
strawberries, does not ordinarily exceed five cents
per quart. Canning establishments can afford
to pay from ten to fifteen cents per quart.
Therefore settlers in “ Hygeiana ” need not fear
over-stocking the market, even if an acre of
strawberries were planted on each ten acre farm.
A CANNING FACTORY
should be built by the settlers of “ Hygeiana.”
They should organize a joint-stock company,
STRAWBERRIES.
so that the handsome profits realized by can
When well planted and properly cared for, ning establishments would be kept in the hands
strawberries yield a full crop the second season of the fruit-growers, to whom it justly belongs.
of their growth.
FIVE ACRES ENOUGH.
MANNER OF CULTIVATION.
Five acres of land are enough for a family of
Any person who is familiar with the cultiva five persons, if planted to fruit in the following
tion of Indian corn can easily manage strawber order, thus giving the first necessary requisite.
ries. This remark applies equally to the culti
A FIVE-ACRE SYSTEM.
vation of all kinds of fruit.
Prepare the ground as for corn, d’lant in rows
One acre planted to Strawberries,
U li
“
“ Raspberries,
four feet apart, and set the plants 15 inches
Il
Ct
“
“ Blackberries,
apart in the rows. Be careful in planting to give
Cl
CC
“
“ Grapes,
the roots their natural position, (instead of being
crowded into a little hole). Keep free of runners, leaving one acre fol buildings, ornament
except where you wish to propagate plants, and grounds, roads and a grove.
there remove all blossoms and fruit. Cultivate
RASPBERRIES.
thoroughly between the rows and irrigate freely.
The common black cap is the safest, and has
ROW TO PROCURE PLANTS.
the advantage over other varieties in bearing
Obtain plants only of reliable dealers, and transportation better.
Plant them eight feet apart. This will give
avoid all new, untried and consequently high
priced varieties. Do not under any circumstances room between the rows for one row of beans,
take, even as a gift, unknown varieties ; labor, potatoes, cabbages, or other vegetables ; thus
time, and the opportunity to produce good crops, securing thorough cultivation, so essential to
with good plants, are thus lost, and strawberry the production of good fruit.
Dig holes a» foot deep and fifteen inches in
culture called a failure.
diameter. Place six inches of leafmould, or
THE “ WILSON.”
muck, in the bottom of the hole ; fill up with
Of the different varieties, none give better fine loam and cover the roots of the young
satisfaction than that known as the “Wilson’s plants about two inches. Spring planting is
Albany.” The “ Russell” strawberry described best.
in the July number of the Gospel of Health,
BLACKBERRIES.
is perhaps larger in size, and under the manage
The
or
Dor
ment of experienced pomologists, may yield chesterLawton,bestNew Rochelle, and thebeing
are the
varieties. The latter
larger crops, but for amateurs, (and for this class the earliest and sweetest, but not so prolific a
I write,) the “ Wilson ” will prove more profit bearer nor so large in size.
able, because it will flourish under all kinds of
Plant four by eight
but
treatment, better than any other variety. It is four to grow in each hill.feet apart. Allowprop
If you wish to
the best for marketing because it is solid, and agate plants, appropriate a part of your land
beats transporting a long distance.
excep
At Hammondton and Vineland, N. J., this exclusively to that purpose, and, with the ” keep
of a single row of
“ hoed crops,
variety is so decidedly preferred, that fruit tion remainder as cleansome corn-field. Cultiva
growers in these places have almost entirely ' the is equal to a thickas a
tion
coating of “vegetable
discarded all other varieties.
not always
obtained.
Fruit-growers in southern Illinois, say, when ' rubbish,” which can number of thebeospel con
The September (1866)
G
speaking of strawberries: “we mean Wilson’s tains appropriate hints on shortening in, which
every time." So hardy are they that they send I will not repeat.
them to Chicago, Buffalo, Pittsburg, and even
GRAPES.
to New York city.
Grapes will prove among the most profit
THE DEMAND FOR FRUIT
able of all fruits for cultivation in our new “ El
is steadily increasing. More fruit is now put up 1 dorado but, one acre will be enough in con-
�60
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
nection with the plan above specified, which has
been found to give such an admirable succes
sion of employment as well as fruit. The vari
ety which is best under all circumstances is thus
expressed by an experienced grape-grower in
Vineland, N. J. He says, “ If I were to plant a
thousand grape-vines, I would first plant five
hundred of the Concord variety ; 2. I would
plant four hundred Concord grape-vines; 3.
Seventy-five Concords ; 4. Twenty-five Concords,
and, to make up the thousand, I would plant
one good Concord.
Much has been written about trenching for
grapes, until many people actually believe that
to produce grapes deep trenches must be dug ;
these filled with bones, stones, old-leather, and
rubbish generally. This method would neces
sitate an expense of from $1,000 to $1,200 per
acre. But there is a better as well as cheaper
way. Plant the grape-stocks as you would a
young fruit tree, eight by twelve feet apart;
having first cleared the ground and prepared it
as for corn. To insure thorough cultivation,
plant melons, vegetables, or some other * ‘ hoed
crops” between the rows, but not so near, how
ever, as to prevent the free use of the cultivator
every two weeks next the rows ; thus keep the
surface in as good condition the entire season as is
required to make corn grow, and you will not be
troubled with the worms, bugs, and caterpillars,
whose homes are on neglected farms, and who
flourish by reason of the luxuriant growth of
weeds, found too often in vine-yards. Without
thorough cultivation the farmer would not ex
pect to be successful in corn-culture ; but many
who attempt fruit-culture seem to think plant
ing should suffice, and are ready to denounce
grape-raising as a failure, and fruit-growing gen
erally as a humbug, when they are simply get
ting nothing for doing nothing.
VV hen we consider the fact that from $300 to
$700 per acre is realized by fruit-culture, we cer
tainly owe the soil and the plants which pro
duce such results, proper cultivation and care.
•
STANDARD FRUITS.
can be planted among small fruits in the follow
ing order:
Among Blackberries, plant apple-trees, 30 ft.
by 30 feet.
Among Raspberries, plant pear-trees, 25 feet by
25 feet.
Among Strawberries, plant peach-trees, 18 feet
by 18 feet.
Cherries, plums, apricots, nectarines, and all
fancy fruits, with evergreens and flowers, find
their places in the ornamental grounds around
dwellings.
MANURING.
“ Fertilizing” with stable-manure is perni
cious. It impairs the quality of the fruit, and
produces insects, which destroy both trees and
fruit. Eternal vigilance is required, especially
in new settlements, to protect fruit from the
depredations of insects, without adding to their
opportunities to multiply their numbers.
The “ virgin soil ” of “ Hygeiana ” contains
all the elements necessary to the production of
all the fruits in perfection.
Thorough stirring is the secret of success. Ir
rigation and cultivation will enrich even the
most sterling desert on the globe.
THE PLAN OF PLANTING.
This should be such as to give rows extend
ing lengthwise through the entire lot. If less
than an acre of each of the fruits we have men
tioned be planted, the same general plan can be
adopted, extending the rows in the direction of
the land which is to be planted next, giving an
opportunity to extend the rows. Thus econo
mizing the horse-labor required in cultivation.
SOCIAL REORGANIZATION.
The leading problem in Sociology—the re
organization of society on its natural and only
practical basis—is well stated by Francis G.
Abbott in the Radical:
Now the great problem of sociology is the
right adjustment of the relations between the
unit and the aggregate, the part and the whole,
the individual and society. Neither war accord
ing to Hobbes, nor savage isolation, according to
Rousseau, is “ the state of nature,” but, these
being excluded, only one alternative remains,
and that is co-operation. The state of nature is
mutual co-operation, which is the Christian ideal
of society. But co-operation implies a common
end for which all co-operate; and what is that ’?
This is a most important question, and the an
swer to it will effect essentially the character of
every voluntary organization into which men
enter.
The ideal end of society is accomplished in the
highest possible development of all its individual
members, according to the law of their natural
individualities. The individual cannot develop
in isolation, independently of social helps ; and
that is the sufficient answer to the advocate of
pure individualism. From birth to death men
are dependent on each other in countless ways;
there is no such thing as human independence,
except in a very Pickwickian sense. The com
pletes! possible education of all its individuals,
their most perfect development in all directions,
is the grand end and function of society. This
end attained, the highest welfare of all is se
cured in the highest welfare of each. It is the
duty of society to propose this end ; it is the duty
of the individual to co-operate in achieving it.
Society defeats its own end if it violates the
individuality of any one of its members ; the
individual defeats at once his own end, and the
end of society, if he refuses to co-operate with
his fellows. The prosperity of a state depends
on commerce, in a higher sense of that word
than the common one. The free commerce of
intellectual, moral, and religious influences, the
unstinted interchange of ennobling ideas, senti
ments and social helps of every kind, is the verv
condition of true social progress ; and all this is
co-operation, mutual giving and taking, practi
cal outcome and income of all that is best in
humanity. In no other way than by this per
petual co-operation of each with all, can society
attain its ideal end.
How clear, then, is the duty of society to
respect to the uttermost the liberty of the indi
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
fll
vidual! The good of society is at once sacrificed I organization which represses individuality, but
oy any restriction on the individual’s free activ ! only in favor of organization which shall develop
ity, whether of body or mind. How clear, on it. Disorganization is simply anarchy, social
the other hand, is the duty of the individual to [ death. Scrutinize, therefore, the fundamental
work heartily for the welfare of society ! His principles of social organizations as severely as
own highest good, in which that of society is you will; but do not defeat your own end by
also involved, is sacrificed by a selfish refusal to destroying what you seek to reform. Let every
bear his part of the common burden. Private new organization be helped and encouraged
culture and public usefulness are thus recipro which shall tend to accomplish the genuine
cally ends and means; the highest individual object of all organization: namely, the higher
culture is impossible unless dedicated to public development of the individual. That is the
uses, and the highest usefulness to society is touchstone, the test of all beneficial organization.
impossible, except through the most perfect Individual development need not be the direct
culture of the individual. This mutual exist object proposed ; but if it is not the ultimate
ence of the individual for society, and of society object attained, if it is in any way, shape, or
for the individual, constitutes the human race a manner interfered with, then the organization,
single organism, which the immortal Kant de no matter how dazzling its professions, or phil
fines as " that in which the whole and the parts anthropic its intentions, obstructs the genuine
are mutually means and ends.” The more highly progress of society, and should either be re
society becomes thus organized, the richer, freer, formed or abolished. If reform is impossible,
and grander, is each individual life. Let society there is no remedy but abolition.
and the individual be faithful in the perform
ance of these reciprocal duties, and the greatest
THE TEMPERANCE FAILURE.
of human triumphs is achieved—liberty in union,
the unimpeded evolution of every soul accord
ing to the Divine ideal implanted in it, and the
It is refreshing to read, among the intermin
harmonious working of all souls for the highest
good of each. Is not this the true idea of the able nonsense on this subject, a writer on tem
perance who can see to the root of the matter.
kingdom of God ?
It seems quite unwise, then, to object to The majority of temperance writers and speakers
organization per se,-or to hold that it naturally ! are directing all their efforts in mitigating the
and inevitably tends to evil; for social progress evils of intemperance, while a moiety of the
manifestly consists in perpetual movement to
ward a profounder organic integration of the money, time, and brains, expended in the right
whole, and a higher spiritual differentiation of direction would rid the earth of the curse en
the parts. There is nothing antagonistic in j tirely. The Church Union has a pertinent
these two ends; on the contrary, the attain- ; article which concludes with the following para
mentof one depends directly on the attainment I
of the other. The most highly organized plants graph :
and animals are precisely those in which the ■ “ It was found one thing to stop the sale of
individual organs are most dissimilar. To hold rum, but quite another thing to stop the drink
back, therefore, in jealousy of organization as ing of it; very soon no one was found willing to
such, from the great social duty of co-operation i prosecute under the act, when of course it
for human welfare, is to distrust the nature of ' became a dead letter, and to sum up the matter
things and the wisdom of God’s cosmical laws— i in a word—in the whole history of the enter
which is the worst kind of skepticism. Organ- j prise, temperance men never had so much law,
izations crystallize around all great ideas, and and drunkards never had so much liquor, as at
every great idea creates its own appropriate . this present time. This result might have been
form of organization. If a vitally powerful idea ; expected. The Maine Law went on the princi
gets hold of men’s minds, it will organize them [ ple that the evil came from the traffic, but it is
almost in spite of themselves ; it will bring them I just the other way, the traffic comes from the
together as inevitably as the force of gravitation I evil. Intemperance does not come from the
brings together the tiny streams, trickling down tippling-shop, it comes from the heart; it is
the mountain’s sides, into the larger stream of found everywhere. Notv having stated the
the valley. There is no use in fighting against cause of failure, let us at some future time apply
nature. If men keep apart, it is because they the remedy.”
have no common purpose or principle to unite
We are anxious to see the “ remedy ” which
them; continued separation is a verdict pro the writer proposes to indicate. We confess
nounced against their principles—“guilty of
our fears that it will be another compromise
worthlessness in the first degree.”
Least of all should the liberal preacher of to after all. Intemperance certainly comes from
day look askance on organization. For what is morbid appetency—in one sense, “ the heart.”
he preaching? Clearly for reform—political,
social, religious. But he who works for reform, But what is the cause of the morbid appe
must first believe in form, and form is organiza tite? To this cause the remedy should be
tion. The modern prophet of humanity aims applied, or it will never be successful.
not to disorganize society, (though often falsely
accused of that,) but only to re-organize it, on
the basis of love, righteousness, and truth. He
Great men direct the events of their time ;
can only aim to correct the wrong basis of pres wise men take advantage of them ; weak men
ent organization; he protests against every are carried along in their current.
�62
HYCEIANA
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
AGRICULTURAL
LEGE.
COL
One of the institutions that we desire to see
in operation at the earliest practical moment, is
a school where children of both seXes—old or
young—can he taught the most important of all
human avocations, that of tilling the soil. How
earnest we are in this matter may be learned
from our advertising department, wherein we
offer to donate fifty acres of land in Hygeiana,
to any competent person who will purchase as
many acres more, and devote the whole to the
purposes of an agricultural school. The better
plan would be, of course, to combine it with a
general educational institution, where the ordi
nary branches of a college course, as well as all
the branches of the primary school, are taught
in connection with manual labor. The writers
in our educational magazines do not agree re
specting the propriety of connecting the study
of agriculture with a regular college course. A
writer in the American Agriculturist presents
one side of the subject thus :
“ It is a noteworthy fact, that agricultural
colleges and schools, as thus far organized and
conducted in this country, have, with a single
exception, perhaps, proved practical failures.
Students in law schools become lawyers, medi
cal students become physicians, and so on, but
the students in our agricultural schools do not
distinguish themselves as farmers, and time
enough has passed for them to have done so if
they would. How is this to be accounted for ?
We may not be able fully to explain it, but may
point out some of the defects in the plans of the
institutions thus far established.
“ It is a mistake to make an agricultural school
a school also for general education. Our com
mon schools and academies teach the rudiments
of geography, grammar, arithmetic, &c.; why
burden an agricultural school with these ele
mentary and common branches? They cannot
teach them any better or more economically
than is now already done elsewhere, and it only
wastes time and clogs the working of the pro
fessional school to bring them into their courses
of study. It not only takes up the time which
should be devoted to studies strictly profession
al, but it lowers the standard of attainment. It
tends to make a young man’s education super
ficial, and hurries him into practical life at too
early an age. The growing tendency in our
country to shorten the period devoted to
education, is hurtful, and should be resisted.
As the country grows older, the tendency should
be in the other direction.
“ Again, it is a mistake to connect the study of
agriculture with a regular classical college, and
make it a part of a course of general and classi
cal education. This' would tend to divert the
mind too much from the regular studies. If a
young man who intends to be a doctor, should
have the science of medicine taught him in the
midst of his college course, he would be very
apt to neglect the other studies and give his
chief thoughts to medicine. It might, in some
cases, be wise to have an agricultural school in
the same town with the classical college, but
they should be separate institutions. In this re
spect, they should be organized just as our exist
ing schools of medicine, law, theology, and prac
tical science, are—separate and independent.
“ It is a mistake, also, to make an agricultural
school a manual-labor school. The student in
any and every department of knowledge should
have daily exercise in the open air for the pres
ervation of his health. But his exercise should
partake of the nature of recreation, not labor.
No man can well carry on two kinds of work
at once: it may be either brain-work or muscle
work, but not both in the same day. If he toils
with hands the largest part of each day, his
reading, during his hours of rest, should not be
of the nature of study. If he toils with his
head the largest part of every day, he should,
for the remainder, seek some kind of diversion,
amusement, not additional labor of any sort.
For all kinds of labor exhaust vitality. ‘ All
work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’ ”
To this very superficial and most unphiloso.
phical argument we may oppose all the teach
ings of physiology and a thousand lessons of
experience. A vast majority of the men who
have been truly and originally great in the
world, were in some way laborers when they
were students. It is not true that “ all kinds of
labor exhaust vitality.” It is only excessive la
bor that does it. A certain amount of ^exercise
is essential, not only to the development of an
organic structure, but also to the preservation of
its health. If the brain organs are fatigued,
they can be restored while the muscles are ex
ercised, and vice versa. We are of the opinion
that boys and girls, or men and women, will
make better progress in classical studies by
working several hours in each day. It is stated
that, at the Michigan Agricultural College the
boys all work three hours a day, and those who
are reported by the farmer as the best in the
field, are uniformly the best scholars.
Foreign Beds.—It is curious to notice the
habits of different nations in regard to beds.
However dress, food, manners, cooking, political
conditions may vary in other countries, the beds
differ as notably as anything does. In Eastern
nations the bed is often nothing but a carpet,
and is carried about and spread in any convenient
spot, and the tired native lies down in his clothes.
We remember a child who used to be puzzled
with those miracles of -our Saviour, who, in re
storing an impotent man, directed him to take
up his bed and walk—his idea of a bed consisting
in a four-post bedstead, with its palliasse, mat
tress and feather-bed, besides blankets, sheets,
and pillows. But even in very cold countries
the beds are closely allied to the Eastern carpet.
In taking a furnished house in Russia, on inquir
ing for the servant’s bed-rooms and beds, which
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH
did not appear in the inventory on our surveying
the apartments, it comes out that the Russian
servants are in the habit of lying anywhere—
in the passages, on the floors, on the mats at the
room door, or even on the carpets in the sitting
rooms—generally as near as possible to the
stoves in the winter season. The emperor
himself sleeps on a leathern sofa, in a sitting
room, lying down in a dressing-gown, but not
removing his under-clothing. But in Russia
the houses are kept so warm by the system of
stoves through the walls that much bed cover
ing is no more required in winter than during
the heats of summer. In Germany, the con
struction of the beds gives one the impression
that the Germans do not know what it is to lie
down. The bedstead is a short, wooden case,
there is a mattress extending from head to foot,
but so formed that at the half-way the upper end
is made to slope at an angle of considerable ele
vation, and upon this are two enormous down
pillows, which reach from the head of the bed to
the half-way down to the feet; consequently the
occupant of the bed lies at an angle of at least
forty-five degrees, and is nearly in a sitting posi
tion all night. In some parts of Germany there
are no blankets ; there is a sheet to lie on, and
another over it, which is tacked to a quilt wad
ded with down ; and this is the entire covering,
with the exception of a sort of bed, a thick,
eider-down quilt, but not quilted, which is placed
on the top, and which, unless the sleeper is very
quiet in,his sleep, is usually found on the floor
in the morning. In hot weather there is no
medium ; either a sheet is the only covering, or
one of these over-warm eider-downs.—[All the
Year Rbund.
A PREMIUM FOR CRIME.
63
government. The proposition of Commissioner
•Wellsis simply offering a premium on crime;
and we are glad that a few of the newspapers of
our country are intelligent enough to understand
it, in this light, and honest enough to express
their thoughts in words. The New Republic
well says:
The reasons for the proposed reduction of
the tax are 1st, the ratio of taxation to cost, and
2d, to promote morals.
We insist that the taxation should bear a
ratio to the profits of an article, rather than to
the cost of its manufacture, and it is a wellknown fact, that on every gallon of whisky
there remains a net profit to the trade, of from
$3 to $15 per gallon. In other words, the $2
tax per gallon can be paid, and leave a mean
net gain to the trade of at least $5 per gallon.
This comes from the consumer, a reduction of
tax would be only so much additional gain to the
trade, the cost to the consumer would remain
the same.
Instead of adjusting the ratio of taxation to
the cost of an article, equity requires it to be
adjusted to the profits, and in the whisky trade,
the cost becomes almost 000 compared with the
profit—it is almost all profit. If a man clears
$8 a gallon on whisky, why should he not pay
$2 to the government ? Rather, we say, pay
$5 to the government, for even then his profits
would exceed those of almost every other busi
ness.
But the “ improvement of morals ” to be
secured is a suggestion worthy of the “ Forty
Thieves! ” The distillers are styled “ dishonest,”
they defraud the government, therefore a ‘‘limit
has been reached.” To prevent fraud and dis•honesty, yield to the demands of these dishonest
men, although the deficit must be ‘‘wrung from
the hard earnings of labor! ” Here’s a Daniel
come to j udgment. Here is a sovereign balm
for burglary, and crime of every hue—take off
the tax! Ten years in the penitentiary is too
high a tax on horse-stealing, reduce the tax to
one year! The scaffold is too high a tax on
murder, reduce it to a fine of $11)0 ! I The ques
tion is thus: Is the ratio of tax to profit too
high? Manifestly not. Then enforce the law!
When was the Rum power honest? Under
Washington, they refused to pay the tax im
posed, and raised the standard of revolt. What
was Washington’s remedy to “benefit the mor
als ” of these people? An army of 16,000, each
with a persuasive musket, the logic of which
they saw the force of, and submitted. The
government should legislate in this matter, as
for burglars and thieves. The whole business
begins, progresses, and ends in robbery and
perjury. To succumb to this wicked monopoly
is infinitely worse, than to have yielded to all
the demands of the Confederacy. We respect
fully commend to our Commissioner a study of
the old adage “ The bird that can sing and will
not sing, must be made to sing!” Surrender
to thieves, never!
The whisky makers, having succeeded in
defrauding the Government out of $53,000,000,
Mr. Commissioner Wells proposes to reduce the
tax to the degree that the whisky lords will be
pleased to condescend to pay, with the ulterior
view, probably, of inducing those who amass
wealth in ¿he ruin of their fellow-beings, to
become honest dealers. We are not in favor
of licensing either the manufacture or sale of
intoxicating drinks, nor even of tolerating them.
But the public mind is not yet educated up to
the moral point of distinguishing between prop
erty and poison, nor of understanding that all
vocations which are pernicious to society, are
criminal in the sight of God and all true men.
Hence we must do the best we can in mitigating
the evil of that which the law and public sen
timent permit, and in keeping the fiends in
human form, as near the line of honesty as is
compatible with a dishonest calling. But we
protest, in the name of all that is decent in
morals, or respectable in legislation, against
An editor says the only reason why his house
allowing the makers and traffickers in the drunk was not blown away during this late gale, was
ard’s drink to be above law, and to control the because there was a heavy mortgage upon it.
�64
the; gospel of health.
moral and intellectual world, to be measured by
the literary retailers, and the literary yard-sticks
In the Galaxy for the present month is a ' of our ordinary or average life.”
biographical notice, by Eugenia Benson, of that ■
remarkable and gifted woman, Madame Du[For the Gospel of Health ]
devant, better known in the literary world by
the nom-de-plume of George Sand. The follow NEW YEAR ON HYGIENIC PRINCI
PLES.
ing account of her prodigious labors and the
expansive scope of her genius will interest our
Dear Dr. Trall.—Would your readers like
readers. Is not such a woman entitled to the I to hear how Hygienic New-Yorkers can cele
elective franchise?
brate the first day of the year ? I am sure they
“George Sand has given forth an amazing would, so will give you a short account of “ our
quantity of literary work, and she is at the pres New Year’s.” are aware that some 20 or more of
Perhaps you
ent time either contributing to the ‘ Revue des your students are rooming in one house, corner
Deux Mondes’ or writing a play for the stage, j of 7th avenue and 53d street ; a fine airy place,
It would be impossible for me to enumerate all | only a few blocks from Central Park. A fun
loving class as
her works, still less to analyze them, for I do i life. Well, we well as living earnest workers in
thought to .celebrate the bright
not know them, nor are they accessible to me. new year, with a Hygienic dinner, and a “ good
I propose to express the character, to give the i time” after it, in the rooms of Mr. Stockwell,
drift of, to analyze as I may, certain leading one of the students, who has a wife and baby to
pleasant while
works, which, by common consent, best express make his home hours happy and under Hygeia’s
he is ea rnestly seeking knowledge
the scope and meaning of her prodigious literary own tutelage. New year's morning dawned
activity.
beautiful and sunny. Smiling faces were in
“ George Sand could not be silent; she is the [ each room preparing something for the grand
dinner.
voice of her age ; through her, not France alone, | Those of us 'who eat only one meal per day
but Europe, has spoken. With the people rest omitted our breakfast, and gratified our alimenless, the old order of society broken up, laws, tiveness, in exercising our ingenuity in getting
theologies and creeds from obsolete conditions j up goodies, or something more substantial for
the table that “ Was to be.”
of life and thought—the whole moral and in
Two o’clock, the dinner hour, came, and the
tellectual world detached from the sixteenth ! company assembled, nor do I believe that a
and seventeenth centuries by the disorders and more tasteful or inviting table was spread,
assaults of the eighteenth, yet, restless to reform neither a brighter, happier company assembled
in New York, on that day. Vegetables, pud
itself on an industrial basis, in consonance with J dings, pies, fruits, appeared in many and various
universal benevolence and in accordance with forms. Yet nothing that would not nourish
the Christian idea—it has been the work of the body was to be found there. Every one ate
Madame George Sand to make known all this ; with a relish ; the best feeling prevailed, each
thought more of the comfort and happiness of
she has sought to express the spiritual and others than of his or her own.
moral needs of her age, to unmask established
The dinner passed off to the gratification of
forms of injustice, to expose the pretensions of all concerned. In the evening the company
customs derived from an old and different order assembled again, and spent the time in recita
tions of poetry, speeches, plays, etc., retiring at
of society, to weaken social bonds that retard i an early hour, feeling the better prepared for
aid often paralyze the best impulses, and de life’s work, for the short period of relaxation.
Hoping that ere many years roll around, there
stroy the free activity of men. It was for this
that George Sand, artist in her genius and in i ■will be many Hygienic dinners in answer to your
earnest, hopeful efforts, I am,
her instincts has been the conscience, the moral
Most truly, yours,
“ K.”
sense, and the intellectual protest of her time ;
New York, Jan. 1, 1S67.
it was for this that she has been forced to pro
duce such an amazing quantity of work, as from
“ Do you eat well ? ” asked one of our modern
an inexhaustible source ; it was for this that she
has been animated by a genius at once artistic pill-venders, who was in the process of manu
facturing a patient.
and moral, at once unrestrained and self-pos
“Yes, very well.”
sessed. Madame George Sand, who has shocked
“ Do vou sleep well ?”
“ Yes.”
moral people in England, America, and France,
“ Eh ? you do, eh ? That’s not exactly the
is among French writers an example of purity
thing for one in your condition. I’ll do away
and nobleness. But she is altogether too grand with that for you. Take four of these every
and impassioned a type of woman, too compre morning, and four after dinner. You’ll soon
hensive in her mind, covers too much of the see a change! ”
A “ STRONG-MINDED ” WOMAN.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
SUFFRAGE FOR WOMEN.
ADDRESS OF ELIZABETH
CADY STANTON IN
BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN EQUAL RIGHTS
ASSOCIATION TO THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
STATE OF NEW YORK.
Gentlemen of the Judiciary : I appear before
you at this time to urge on you the justice of
securing to all the people of the state the right
to vote for delegates to the coining Constitutional
Convention. The discussion of this right in
volves the consideration of the whole question
of suffrage, and especially those sections of your
Constitution which interpose insurmountable
qualifications to its exercise. As representatives
of the people, your right to regulate all that
pertains to the coming Constitutional Conven
tion is absolute. It is for you to say when and
where that convention shall be held, how many
delegates shall be chosen and what classes
shall be represented. This is your right. The
actions of the Legislatures of 1801 and 1821,
furnish you a precedent for extending to dis
franchised classes the right to vote for delegates
to a Constitutional Convention. Before those
conventions were called the right of suffrage
was restricted to every male inhabitant who
possessed a freehold to the value of £20, or
rented a tenement at the yearly value of 40
shillings, and had been rated and actually paid
taxes to the state ; and yet the Legislature of
those years passed laws setting aside all prop
erty limitations, and providing that all men,
black and white, rich and poor, should vote for
delegates to said conventions. See Session Laws
of 1801, page 190, chapter 69, section 2 : also,
those of 1821, page 83, act 90, sections 1 and 6.
The Constitutional Convention of Rhode Island,
in 1842, affords another precedent of the power
of the Legislature to extend the suffrage to dis
franchised classes. The disfranchisement of
any class of citizens is in express violation of
the spirit of our own Constitution, which says,
art. 1, section 1 : “ No member of this state shall
be disfranchised, or deprived of any of the rights
or privileges secured to any citizen thereof,
unless by the law of the land and the judgment
of his peers.” Now women, and negroes not
worth $250, however weak and insignificant, are
surely “members of the state.” “The law of
the land” is equality. The question of disfran
chisement has never been submitted to the j udgment of their peers. A peer is an equal. The
“ white male citizen ” who so pompously parades
himself in all our codes and constitutions, does
not recognize women and negroes as his equals,
therefore his judgment in their case amounts to
nothing ; and women and negroes constituting
three-fifths of the people of the state, do not
recognize this “ white male” minority as their
rightful rulers. On our republican theory that
the majority governs, women and negroes must
have a voice in the government of the state ;
and being taxed should be represented. “White
males ” are the nobility of this country. They are
the privileged order, who have legislated us unj ustly for women and negroes as have the nobles
of England for their disfranchised classes. The
existence of the English House of Commons is a
65
strong fact to prove that one class cannot legislate
for another. Perhaps it may be necessary, in this
transition period of our civilization, to create a
Lower House for women and negroes, lest the
dreadful example of Massachusetts should be
repeated here, and black men take their places
beside our Dutch nobility in the councils of the
state. If the history of England has proved
that white men of different grades cannot legis
late with justice for one another, how can you,
honorable gentlemen, legislate for women and
negroes, whom, by your customs, creeds and
codes and common consent, are placed under
the ban of inferiority? If you dislike this view
of the case, and claim that woman is your supe
rior, and therefore you place her above al]
troublesome legislation, to shield her by your
protecting care from the rough winds of life, I
have simply to say your statute-books are a sad
commentary on this position. Your laws degrade
rather than exalt woman ; your customs cripple,
rather than free ; your system of taxation is
alike ungenerous and unjust. In demanding
suffrage for the black man of the South, the
dominant party recognizes the fact that, as a
freedman, he is no longer a part of the family,
therefore his master is no longer his representa
tive ; and as he will now be liable to taxation,
he must also have representation. Woman, on
the contrary, has never been such a part of the
family as to escape taxation. Although there
has been no formal proclamation giving her an
individual existence, unmarried women have
always had the right to property and wages, to
make contracts and do business in their own
name. And even married women, by recent
legislation in this state, have been secured in
some civil rights. At least as 'well secured as
those classes can be who do not hold the ballot
in their own hands. Woman now holds a vast
amount of property in the country and pays her
full proportion of taxes, revenue included; on
what principle, then, do you deny her represen
tation ? If you say women are “ virtually rep
resented ” by the men of their household, I give
you Senator Sumner’s denial in his great speech
on Equal Rights in the XXXIXth Congress.
Quoting from James Otis, he says: “No such
phrase as virtual representation was known in
law or constitution. It is altogether a subtlety
and illusion, wholly unfounded and absurd.
We must not be cheated by any such phantom
or any other fiction of the law or politics, or any
monkish trick or deceit or hypocrisy.” In re
gard to taxation without representation, Lord
Coke says: “The supreme power cannot take’
from any man any part of his property without
his consent in person or by representation.”
Taxes are not to belaid on the people (are not
women and negroes people) without tiieir con
sent in person or by representation. The very
act of taxing those who are not represented
appears to me to deprive them of one of their
most essential rights as freemen, and if contin
ued seems to be in effect an entire disfranchise
ment of every civil right. For what one civil
right is worth a rush after a man’s property is
subject to be taken from him without his con
sent.” In view of such opinions is it too much
to ask the men of New York either to enfran
chise women of wealth and education, or else
�66
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
release them from taxation ? If we cannot be
represented as individuals we should not be
taxed as individuals. If the “ white male ” will
do all the voting, let him pay all the taxes.
There is no logic so powerful in opening the eyes
of men to their real interests as a direct appeal
to their pockets. Such a release from taxation
can be supported, too, by your own Constitution.
In art. 2, sec. 1, you say, “ And no person of
color shall be subject to direct taxation unless
he shall be seized and possessed of such real
estate as aforesaid,” referring to the $250 quali
fication. Now a poor widow who owns a lot
worth $100 or less is taxed. Why this partiality
to the black man ? He may live in the quiet
possession of $249 worth of property and not be
taxed a cent. Is it on the ground of color or
sex that the black man finds greater favor in
the eyes of the law than the daughters of the
state ? In order fully to understand this partiality
I have inquired into your practice with regard
to colored women. I find that in Seneca Falls
there lives a highly estimable colored woman by
the name of Abby Gomore. She owns prop
erty to the amount of $1,000. It consists of
village lots. She now pays, and always has
paid, from the time she invested her first $100,
the same taxes that any other citizen paid, just
in proportion to the value of her property, or as
it is assessed. After excluding women, and
“ men of color ” not worth $250, from represen
tation, your Constitution tells us what other
persons are excluded from the right of suffrage.
Article 2, section 2 ; “ Laws may be passed ex
cluding from the right of suffrage all persons
who have been or may be convicted of bribery,
of larceny, or of any infamous crime, and for
depriving every person who shall make or be
come directly or indirectly interested in any bet
or wager depending upon the result of any
election, from the right to vote at such election.”
IIow humiliating! for respectable, law-abiding
women and “men of color” to be thrust outside
the pale of political consideration with those
convicted of bribery, larceny, and infamous
crime, and, worse than all, with those who bet
on elections, for how lost to all sense of honor
must that “ white male citizen ” be who pub
licly violates a wise law to which he has himself
given an intelligent consent. We are ashamed,
honored sirs, of our company. The Mohammedan
forbids a fool, a madman, or a woman, to call
the hour for prayers. If it were not for the invi
dious classification we might hope it was tender
ness rathor than contempt that moved the
Mohammedan to excuse women from so severe a
duty. But for the ballot, which falls like a flake
of snow upon the sod, we can find no such ex
cuse for New York legislators. Article 2,
sections, should be read and considered by the
women of the state, as it gives them a glimpse
of the modes’of life and surroundings of some
of the privileged classes of “ white male citi
zens ” who may go to the polls. “For the
purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed to
have gained or lost a residence by reason of his
presefice or absence while employed in the ser
vice of the United States, nor while engaged in
navigating the waters of the state, or of the
United States, or of the high seas, nor while a
student of any seminary of learning, nor while
kept at any almshouse or other asylum, at public
expense ; nor while confined in any public pris
on.” What an unspeakable privilege to have
that precious jewel—the human soul—in a set
ting of irhite manhood, that thus it can pass
through the prison, the asylum, the almshouse,
the muddy waters of the Erie Canal, and come
forth undimmed to appear at the ballot-box at
the earliest opportunity, there to bury its crimes,
its poverty, its moral and physical deformities,
all beneath the rights, privileges, and immuni
ties of a citizen of the state. Just imagine the
motley crew from the 10,000 dens of poverty and
vice in our large cities, limping, raving, cringing,
staggering up to the polls, while the loyal
mothers of a million soldiers, whose bones lay
bleaching on every Southern plain, stand out
side, sad and silent witnesses of this wholesale
desecration of republican institutions. When
you say it would degrade women to go to the
polls, do you not make a sad confession of your
irreligious mode of observing that most sacred
right of citizenship. In asking you. honorable
gentlemen, to extend suffrage to women, we do
not press on you the risk and responsibility of a
new step, but simply to try a measure that has
already proved wise and safe the world over.
So long as political power was absolute and
hereditary, woman shared it with man by birth.
In Hungary, and some provinces of France and
Germany, women, holding this inherited right,
confer their right of franchise on their husbands.
In 1858, in the old town of Upsal, the authori
ties granted suffrage to 50 women holding real
estate and to 31 doing business in their own
name. The representative their votes elected
was to sit in the House of Burgesses. In Ireland
the Court of Queen’s Bench, Dublin, restored to
women in 1804 the old right of voting for town
commissioners. In 1864, too, the government
of Moravia decided that all women who are tax
payers had the right to vote. In Canada, in 1850,
an electoral privilege was conferred on women,
in the hope that the Protestant might balance
the Roman Catholic power in the school system.
“ I lived,” says a friend of mine, “ where I saw
this right exercised for four years by female
property holders, and never heard the most
cultivated man, even Lord Elgin, object to its
results.” Women vote in Austria, Australia,
Holland, and Sweden, on property qualifications.
There is a bill before the British Parliament,
presented by John Stuart Mill, asking for house
hold suffrage, accompanied by a petition from
11,000 of the best-educated women in England.
Would you be willing to admit, gentlemen, that
women know less, have less virtue, less pride
and dignity of character under republican insti
tutions, than in the despotisms and monarchies
of the old world ? Your codes and constitutions
savor of such an opinion. Fortunately, history
furnishes a few saving facts, even under our re
publican institutions. From a recent examina
tion by Lucy Stone, of the archives of the state
of New Jersey, we learn that owing to a liberal
Quaker influence, women and negroes exercised
the right of suffrage in that state 31 years—from
1775 to 1807—when “ white males ” amended
the constitution and arbitrarily assumed the
reins of the government. This act of injustice
is sufficient to account for the moral darkness
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
that seems to have settled down upon that un
happy state. During the dynasty of women
and negroes does history record any social revo
lution peculiar to that period ? Because women
voted there, was the institution of marriage
annulled, the sanctity of home invaded, cradles
annihilated, and the stockings, like Gov. Mar
cy’s pantaloons, mended by the state ? Did the
men of that period become mere satellites of the
dinner-pot, the wash-tub, or the spinning-wheel ?
No! Life went on as smoothly in New Jersey
as in any other state in the Union. Anc^the fact
that women did vote there created so slight a
ripple on the popular wave, and made so ordinary
a page in history, that probably nine-tenths of
the people of this country never heard of its
existence until recent discussions in the United
States Senate brought out the facts of the case.
In Kansas, women vote for school-officers, and
are themselves eligible to the office of trustee.
There is a resolution now before the legislature
of Ohio, to strike the words “ white male ” from
the constitution of that state. The Hon. Mr.
Noell, of Missouri, has presented a bill in the
House of Representatives, to extend suffrage to
the women of the District of Columbia. * w * As
to property and education, there are some plausi
ble arguments in favor of such qualifications, but
they are all alike unsatisfactory, illogical, and un
just. A limited suffrage creates a privileged class,
and is based on the false idea that government is
the natural arbiter of its citizens, while in fact it
is the creature of their will. In the old days of
the colonies, when the property qualification
was £5, that being just the price of a jackass,
Benjamin Franklin facetiously asked, “ If a man
must own a donkey in order to vote, who does
the voting, the man or the donkey ?” If read
ing and money-making were a sure gauge of
character, if intelligence and virtue were twin
sisters, these qualifications might do ; but such
is not the case. In our late war black men
were loyal, generous, and heroic, without the
alphabet or multiplication-table, while men
of wealth, educated by the nation, graduates of
West Point, were false to their country and
traitors to their flag. There was a time in Eng
land’s history when the House of Lords even
could neither read nor write, Before the art of
printing were all men fools? Were the apos
tles and martyrs worth $250? If a man can
not read, give him the ballot, it is a school
master ; if he does not own a dollar, give him
the ballot, it is the key to wealth and power. I
have called your attention, gentlemen, to some
of the flaws in your constitution, that you may
see that there is more important work to be
done in the coming Constitutional Convention
than any to which Gov. Fenton has referred in
his message. I would also call your attention
to the fact that while His Excellency suggests
the number of delegates at large to be chosen
by the two political parties, he makes no pro
vision for the representation of women and
“ men of color” not worth $250. I would,
therefore, suggest to your honorable body that
you provide for the election of an equal number
of delegates at large from the disfranchised
classes. But a response to our present demand
does not legitimately thrust on you the final
consideration of the whole broad question of
67
suffrage, on which many of you may be unpre
pared to give an opinion. The simple point we
now press is this : That in a revision of our con
stitution, when the state; is, as it were, resolved
into its original elements, all the people should
be represented in the convention which is to
enact the fundamental laws by which they are
to be governed the next twenty years. Women
and negroes, being five-eighths of the people,
are a majority ; and, according to our republi
can theory are the rightful rulers of the nation.
In this view of the case, honorable gentlemen, is
it not a very unpretending demand we make,
that we may vote once in twenty years in
amending our state constitution ? But, say you,
the majority of women do not make the de
mand. Grant it. What then ? When you es
tablished free schools did you first ask the ur
chins of the state whether they were in favor of
being transplanted from the street to the school
house ? When you legislated on the Temper
ance question, did you go to rum-sellers and
drunkards and ask if a majority of them were
in favor of the Excise law ? When you pro
claimed emancipation, did you go to slavehold
ers and ask if a majority of them were in tavor
of freeing their slaves ? When you ring the
changes on “ negro suffrage ” from Maine to Cal
ifornia, have you proof positive that a majority
of the freedmen demand the ballot ? On the
contrary, knowing that the very existence of
republican institutions depend on the virtue,
education, and equality of the people, did you
not, as wise statesmen, legislate in all these
cases for the highest good of the individual and
of the nation ? We ask that the same far-seeing
wisdom may guide your decision on the ques
tion before you.
Remember the gay and
fashionable throng who whisper in the ears
of statesmen, judges, lawyers, merchants, “ We
have all the rights we want," are but the mum
mies of civilization to be galvanized into life
only by earthquakes and revolutions. Would
you know what is in the soul of woman ask not
the wives and daughters of merchant princes, but
the creators of wealth—those who earn their
bread by honest toil—those who, by a turn in
the wheel of fortune, stand face to face with the
stern realities of life.
Speculators.—There are a species of idlers
called speculators—I mean visionary speculating
in regard to the future. ’Tis pitiable to see a
strong man live day after day in the shadow of
the sometime; he shuts his eyes, and lo! a
vision, far off on the enamelled plain of the
“ To-come ” appears, then he wiM do so and so ;
when he makes such an acquirement he will
rear himself a fabric of splendor ; then he will
sway the throng with the sceptre of power; then
he will stand on the “ Parnassus of Fame; ”
then he will find ease and happiness! O fool
ish speculator ! that then will never come. Daily
you will rear fair fabrics and dream dreams, and
daily will your fabrics fall, your dreams fade,
till you and your visions will pass into the vale
of the unknown. Rouse the faculties that have
lain dormant 1 Act for the present! Be vigorous,
heroic, and persevering! While the now looms
in strange beauty around you, improve it.
�68
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
THE SMOKE QUESTION.
Few persons, even among those who reside,
“ from the cradle to the grave,” in the smokiest
of smoky places, are aware of the deleterious
substances they are taking into their lungs
with every inspiration. The following article,
from the pen of R Agnus Smith, M. D., F. R.
8., though applied to the large English manu
facturing towns, is equally applicable to many
cities and villages of the United States, and par
ticularly to Pittsburgh, Pa., Cincinnati, Ohio,
and St. Louis, Mo.
Warm interest has compelled me for many
years to attend to the condition of the air of
towns. Habit has no power of rendering smoke
pleasant. Few men living in a smoky town
require to be convinced that they are in the
daily endurance of a monstrous evil. You do
not require details, but it is well to remind you
of some points, as possibly some present might
have long ago given up all consideration of a
sight which during all their lives had taken
the appearance of an unavoidable misfortune.
Many substances make their appearance as
smoke from chimneys ; that kind to be now con
sidered is coal smoke ; all other kinds are com
paratively rare ; and with us here smoke means
generally coal smoke. There are various colors
characteristic of smoke from pale blue to gray,
brown, and intense black. The first comes chiefly
from domestic tires,when the heat is considerable
but the combustion slight. A dark gray or a deep
brown smoke is the product of the distillation
of coal. When the dense hydro-carbons have
been heated highly, but with insufficient air,
we have them decomposed, and carbon of a pure
black is thrown out. The colored substances
in smoke are tar and carbon chiefly; the com
pounds vary with the heat, and may be numer
ous. Some time ago I calculated that sixty tons
of carbonaceous matter were sent off in a day
into the atmosphere in Manchester. A very
small amount affects the atmosphere ; a grain in
18 cubic feet is sufficient to convert good air into
Manchester air, so far as carbon is concerned.
About one half the color is due to tarry matter,
and the other half to black carbon only. This
black matter is the coloring material of all our
smoky towns, and, to a great extent, of the
clothes, as well as of the persons of the inhabi
tants. We live in houses colored by it, and we
walk
roads colored by it, and we can see the
sun, the moon, and the heavens only after they
have been, to our eyes, colored by this universal
tincture.
These are calamities of themselves ; but, al
though some men would look on such a view
of the case as mere sentiment, not one amongst
us can fail to have his spirits tinged with the
darkness of the sky. I found this strangely cor
roborated lately. One of the best men of business
in Manchester informed me that, on an atmo
spherically dull day, no one would give a high
price for goods, no one had the courage to give
it, but on the other hand they could buy goods
at a lower price—the seller had not the courage
to hope for better.
These dull days are caused in part by the cli
mate, but their remarkable oppressiveness is un
questionably due in great part to the smoke. We
do not consider that by the smoke we make wa
are affecting our own spirits and clouding ourt
own j udgment. It is my belief that this effects
on the spirits is the most powerful of all objec-i
tions to smoke, even in the minds of those who!
believe themselves above such feelings. There i
is, however, no denying the next great fact, than
everything coming in contact with a smoky at-|
mosphere is so blackened that cleaning becomesl
difficult or impossible. Smoke gives to every,
household it visits either a greater amount oil
labor, or a lower social appearance. Let us sup ,
pose a housewife only strong enough to do al',j
the work of her house so as to keep it comforta!
ble when there is no smoke plague, she will
break down before attaining the same results in,
a smoky town. We may, however, fairly doubt!
if it is possible by any means to attain the sama
results, and in reality they are not attained!
We areapt to call the people who suffer most
by it indolent, and they sometimes believe them«
selves so, but the cause is rather despair at thtjii
amount of work demanded of them. Even th«
higher wages in towns fail to make them recon*
ciled to curtains blackening in a few days, where
in country places these would have kept theii
windows neat for many months. Nor can th«,
higher wages of town reconcile them to having
their clothes blackened as soon as they arq
washed, instead of being dried when they ar<|i
hung out for that purpose. The poor pay dig
rectly for the smoke, living where it prevails^
and the middle-classes and the wealthy suffeli
proportionately in being compelled to live oup
of the town, and to spend time in going to ani
fro. It is quite true that carbon, tar, and suli
pliurous acids, are disinfectants ; but we do nog;
wish to breathe them constantly—we cannot;
live on medicines. The disinfecting powers oi
smoke have not rid us of disease, nor does it pre!
vent occasional pestilences. If it does good, it doe*
more evil, and much of the mortality of Maur
Chester must be attributed to smoke. It hag
been said that if the carbon was thoroughly
burned, the amount of sulphurous acid woulir
be so great as to be intolerable ; but when th I.
blackness is removed the sulphurous acid seemlr
to escape more easily. We can imagine thd
carbon, soaked with the acid, falling down witlB
double effect upon the town.
One product of the combustion of any carbol»
naceous substance is carbonic acid ; this is iwi
evitable, and must be endured. Another prod«,
uct is carbonic oxide, which has a deadly chart
actor, is invisible, and is not sent out by th k
domestic fire, and only to a small extent b;a
high chimneys. From a sanitary and economic
cal and an a?sthetic point of view, we shall gainb
much by the removal of the carbon, and an adj.
ditional gain will be obtained by removing th*
carbonic oxide. We are not, however, to supl
pose that all is then gained ; we are not entire! 4
safe until we have removed the sulphuroul
acid. To effect this is not a problem which w|
can expect to solve rapidly. The sulphur gasel
collect wherever there is any obstruction t-j
ventilation. Sometimes the smoke is retainer:
in the town as certainly as if a firmament werl
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
.“put over it of impenetrative material. On a
‘still day, with a clear sky and considerable cold,
the smoke lies on Manchester until the streets
' become dark at midday. It is then that the
acids are found painful to the eyes, bad to the
taste, dangerous to the breathing. The black' ness might be removed ; what shall we do with
the sulphur ?
It is the sulphur acids which render the air
and rain of Manchester so destructive to metals.
Iron roofs will not remain there ; even houses
cease rapidly to exist, and become old at an early
period. The lime of the mortar becomes sul
phate of lime, and the rain washes it away. The
very stones decay under the constant action of
acid, and the bricks crumble more rapidly.
Even in places less troubled with smoke, we
j see the decay. The Parliament Houses, built
to remain for ages, are rapidly, before our eyes,
! turning into plaster of Paris and Epsom salts.
Probably some of the evil might be avoided.
The finest buildings in London appear less
handsome than flimsy structures in many Con
tinental cities. With us, the peculiarity of the
climate is a great enemy. On ceriain days the
acids rise rapidly ; but, as a rule, they fall.
Great extremes of dryness and of rain are the
best protectives, and, during heavy showers, the
air of Manchester is not unpleasant to breathe,
because the sulphur is carried down in the rain.
The coal used here contains not less than one
per cent, of sulphur, and one of sulphur makes
, three of vitriol. Some coals contain more. The
. amount of sulphurous acid sent out is enormous
. —it cannot be less than one hundred and eighty
' tons per day. The rain is acid. It falls on the
’living grass, and puts it out. Young plants
! struggle against it, but they cannot do so long.
1 We scarcely know how much of the beautiful
and useful is destroyed by this acid. The fine
i arts could scarcely flourish in an atmosphere
’ which attacks without fear a great building
' which ought to remain sound for centuries.
One of the foremost printers of Lancashire
told me that there were some colors which he
found almost instantly to fade. They were fre
quently sent back upon his hands. He was
annoyed to find that the French sent the same
colors to the same markets without the risk of
/having them returned, and it was only after
^inuch time and loss that he found that the
goods must not be allowed to pass through Man' Chester. One day was enough, but in some
weather two hours were sufficient for their
deterioration. The colors imbibed a poison and
went off to die of it. He now sends such goods
from his works without coming here, and he is
as successful as his rivals in France.
It must be remembered that even if we burn
Chmoke colorless, this sulphurous acid will remain.
¿The rain will be equally acid, but ifwe burn the
[ smoke no particles of carbon filled with vitriol
’will fall upon us. It will more readily diffuse.
■This seems to be the experience, but it is mat?ter for open discussion. We are told on one side
that the sulphurous acid is decomposed by the
♦carbon, and that the sulphur falls down with it
{In a solid state. 1 do not know if this is a fact,
but if it be, the result will be that the sulphur
will be very finely divided, and in that state be
r oxidized by the air and water, forming oil of
69
vitriol where it lies. It will not be less innocent,
although it may change the sphere of its iniqui
ties. This may explain why the black vegetation
is so frequently very acid, as it most surely is
often or always found to be.
The only sure mode we know of diminishing
the amount of acid given out by chimneys is by
burning less sulphur. This can be donej- per
haps, to some extent, by burning less coal, and
burning it more economically ; next by not al
lowing the most sulphurous of the coals to be
burnt in large towns. This latter is a simple
mode of doing some good, and cannot in all
cases be considered too great a demand on manu
facturers. I inquired of engineers the amount
of coal burnt per horse-power per hour in the
best and the most careless establishments, and
was told that it varied from three pounds tc
fifteen pounds. I obtained other answers, which
went lower and higher, but enough if we know
that coal is, in many places, burnt at a wasteful
rate. This is a department concerning which I
am not called on to speak, but it comes as a
part of my subject. If we examine this care
fully, we shall find, in all probability, that the
amount of heat we really use is trifling, whilst
the coal is in amount enormous.
A wasteful management of coal is the perpe
tration of a nuisance not justified by the exigen
cies of manufactures, and the agents can scarce
ly plead that they are following a legitimate
occupation. I shall say little of this ; probably
the change in this branch will be more gradual
than the destruction of the blackness, but we
must not forget it. A great thinker of the time
said to me once. The nation reminds me of a
man who has left a great barrel of wine for long
use; he pulled out the bung to fill his little
glass, and had not sense to see that the most of
the liquid ran off on the floor. The diminution
of the amount of coal burnt without giving out
its equivalent of power, will be a benefit sani
tary as well as economical. How far we have
this in our hands, it is not easy to say ; but it is
so to some extent, and it would be well if the
subject were kept before us permanently. Peo
ple inform us that the selfishness and self-inter
est of manufacturers are sufficient for this. That
is a theory which I never have found reason
to believe in fully. The manufacturers are not
more selfish than other men ; and if they were,
the most selfish man is often blind to his own
interest.
One of the effects of the combustion of coal is
to remove from the air a certain amount of
oxygen, putting in its place the gases and car
bonaceous substances spoken of along with coal
ashes, which are in paft carried upwards. The
removal of the oxygen occurs only to a
small extent, but it is perceptible, and in some
cases considerable. This deterioration of the
air occurs most in places where there is most
carbon floating, and where it is therefore least
pleasant to open our windows. Now, if there
is less oxygen, we require the air to be renewed
more frequently, and this we cannot permit
because of the blackness. The smoke acts like
a prison wall, and we shut windows and cease
| to ventilate. Bad as the air may be, it is better
than that which we manufacture for ourselves
| by shutting our rooms, which remain closed
�70
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
until the bed-rooms, even in the large hotels of
all our town, become unpleasant to the senses.
It is the custom to ventilate by the doors from
corridors only, in London, and elsewhere, in
hotels, lest the blacks should enter by the win
dow, from which the freshest air comes. Private
houses suffer equally. The weavers of SpitalfieldB were glad to be able to open their win
dows when the establishments near began to
burn their black smoke, and this is a powerful
argument against the opinion of those who
would attempt to show that the sulphur is the
only thing to be feared. Bad the sulphur gases
unquestionably are, but it is the carbon which
causes the alarm of housewives and house
maids, and which prevents the needful change
of air in our town houses. The oxygen which
is removed from the air is the whole of the most
active portion. It has long been called ozone
and peroxide of hydrogen; but, by whatever
name, it is a something always found in agree
able air. This is never found in Manchester.
It is for medical men to consider wliat class
of disease may arise from this diminution of
oxygen. Children suffer most in smoky towns,
we are told. They have rapid circulation, they
require much oxygen, and are instinctively fond
of fresh air. It seems to me that the analyses
of the air, showing a diminution of oxygen,
even forgetting the sulphurous acid, explains
why children should suffer so much, and helps
along with other causes, to explain what Mr.
Leigh has called “ the massacre of the innocents.”
The deficiency of active oxidation is equal to a
deficiency of power and of healthy stimulus. If
so, we need not wonder that some persons should
6eek artificial means of stimulus, nor why others
should rather seek the less vigorous oxidation of
a town. I cannot doubt that we have here some
(>f the reasons for a deterioration of race spoken
3f by Dr. Morgan as visible amongst us. Our
trength must be proportionate to the amount
of healthy oxidation. If by any method we
reduce the amount of floating blackness, we
shall increase the purity of the air of the town,
increase the beauty of its buildings, and im
prove the appearance of the inhabitants. We
shall enable the houses to be ventilated more
thoroughly, and we shall diminish the inten
sity of those days of darkness that sometimes
paralyze the whole community. Every day
will be brighter, and I think, happier to every
inhabitant. If we diminish the sulphur by
burning less coal, we shall diminish the amount
of coal dust also, and these two points are not
to be forgotten, although the full combustion
requires first to be settled. *
A conceited young fellow, calling upon an
old lady friend previous to his departure for
China, was taken somewhat by surprise when
the good-natured lady advised him to be careful
of himself in the “ flowery kingdom,” as she
understood “ the Chinese feasted on puppies.”
A Western paper strikes the names of two
subscribers from his list because they were re
cently hung. The publisher says he was com
pelled to be severe, because he did not know
their present address.
LEADING THE VAN.
The Evening Post, in a leading editorial un
der the caption, “ Connecticut Leads the Van,”
says:
“ The republicans of Connecticut deserve suc
cess, and, we doubt not, will gain it. They
have adopted a platform of equal political
rights ; they assert ‘ that the only just basis of
human governments is the consent of the gov
erned ; that in a representative republic such
consent is expressed through the exercise of the
suffrage by the individual citizen, and that the
right to that exercise should not be limited by
distinction of race or color.’ ”
We fail to see the equality or the justice of
this platform. Race and color are very well as
far as they go, but they comprehend only one
half of the human race. Has the Post never
heard that woman claims the elective franchise,
without regard to race, color, or sex ?
CATOPATHY.
That marvelously learned body, the Paris
Academy of Sciences (said to be the most learned
body of men in the world—the earth-world, not
the moon), has made another marvelous discov
ery, and, as usual, through the manipulations
and investigations of some distinguished chem
ist. The learned chemico-dietico-physiological
and categorical therapeutist aforesaid, has pre
sented to the Paris Academy of Science above
mentioned, a report of an analysis of the milk
(the mammary secretion—lac catawaulimeouw)
of that familiar household pet and mousehole
pest, commonly denominated pussy, and has
“ proved” (this word is copied verbatim et litera
tim from one of our exchanges), that it (the
milk aforesaid, not the cat above mentioned,*
but, being, and intended to be, nevertheless, the
milk of the cat or pussy aforesaid and above
mentioned) has (we quote the next three words)
“ extraordinary restorative qualities.” The ex
change hereinbefore alluded to goes on to say
and state and expatiate in manner following:
It would, he argued, be found of great value
in cases of debility and consumption. Two or
three queries naturally suggest themselves : Are
cats to be raised and tended like cows ? Who
is to milk them ? What would be deemed a
sufficient quantity for a daily dose or beverage,
and how many cats would be required to furnish
this quantity ? To those, a fourth question
might not improperly be added, viz.: If the
new beverage is to be generally adopted, what
is to become of all the kittens ?”
O “ scat,” you unhandsome editor! Who cares
for all the kittens, “ to be or not to be,” when
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
the milk of the cat, or the cat of the milk (we
think it does not matter much which) is a great
restorative remedy ? If cat-milk will cure con
sumption, kittens must take care of themselves.
But what if the supply of cats should fail?
What would the thousands of consumptives, all
of whom are cured on cod-liver oil (see weekly
bills of mortality), do in that event ? We have it.
Soon after the expensive cod liver oil came into
vogue, it was discovered that any cheap fish oil
was just as good (witness medical journals).
Should the cat-cure become so popular, and the
remedy in such demand as to alarm the four
legged quadrupeds 60 that they should all run
away and refuse to be milked, it may be found
that the milk of any other animal will answer
all purposes. Perhaps, however, the restorative
qualities of cat’s milk are due to the fact that
the cat is carnivorous. The codfish is, weknow,
flesh-eating. If so, we should only milk for
medicine in the line of the carnivora—lions,
tigers, hyenas, wolves, leopards, dogs, etc. Shall
we not have a specimen of this extraordinary
medicine at the Great Exhibition?
“A DIFFERENT FO OTINC”-QUEER
LOGIC.
The English papers are reporting the sayings
and doings of Dr. Mary E. Walker, and com
menting on her morals, manners, dress, personal
appearance, eccentricities, &c., from their re
spective stand-points of observation. They all
concur in regarding her pants as perfectly awful;
none of them, however, seem disposed to argue
the question of its utility nor even of its propri
ety, but proceed to judge it, and as a matter of
course, to condemn it, by the standard of fash
ion. Indeed they treat the subject very much
as nearly all of the American newspapers did
fifteen or twenty years ago, when women in the
“ Reform Dress,” first appeared “ on the world’s
wide stage,” in this country. Dr. Walker has
lectured to a large audience in St James’ Hall,
London, on which occasion, a lot of young men
of rowdyish proclivities, most of whom are said
to have been medical students of the allopathic
colleges (Dr. Walker is opposed to allopathic
druggery), undertook to interrupt or prevent her
performance by singing, hooting, and other de
monstrations always at the command of rowdy
ism. As a specimen of rather queer logic, we
copy the following concluding paragraph of an
extended, and, on the whole, fair notice of her
lecture in St. James’ Hall:
“As regards physique, it is plain that Dr. Walk
er’s frame has been subjected to hardships per
71
haps in excess of its powers of resistance. That
consideration increased the regret that every
one must have felt that a lady should be exposed
to constant and by no means mannerly interrup
tions. At the same time, a lady who comes for
ward to claim ‘ perfect equality ’ with men,
occupies a different footing from other ladies.”
How different ? This is certainly queer logic,
and seems intended to propitiate the rowdies,
while obliged to condemn their conduct. We
are unable to comprehend how the claim of any
woman to perfect equality with men justifies or
excuses ill-treatment, or places her on any differ
ent footing from “ other ladies.” Is it a crime
to claim equality ? Suppose a servant, or a
serf, or a slave, should honestly believe and
plainly declare himBelf entitled to the same po
litical rights and privileges as his employer,
guardian, or owner, would this fact authorize
any one to abuse him? The golden rule is
beautiful when our fellow-beings apply it to us
—but when we are asked to apply it to others
—a-hem !
Cheese-eaters.—The consumption of cheese
in England amounts to the amazing quantity of
821,250,000 pounds a year. This may be one
of the reasons why Brother Bull is so conserva
tively inclined, for there is not, in our humble
judgment, a more stupifying article of food in
use. It is befouling to the mouth—inflaming
the stomach, constipating to the bowels, obstruct
ing to the kidneys, congesting to the liver, clog
ging to the skin, thickening to the blood, stiffen
ing to the muscles, irritating to the nerves, torpifying to the mental powers, and wholly unfit
for human food—“ only that and nothing
more.”
DRILL FOR VOLUNTEERS.
Fall in ! To good ways and habits.
Attention ! To your own business.
Right Face ! Manfully to your duty and keep
sober.
Quick March! From a temptation to do any
thing which is unmanly.
Halt! When conscience tells you that you are
not doing as you would like others to do unto
you.
Right about Face ! From dishonesty and false
hood.
Present Arms! Cheerfully when your wife
asks you to hold the baby for an hour.
Break Off! Bad habits, and everything that
is likely to retard your advancement in this
world.
TnE following bill was lately presented to a
I farmer in Sussex :
1 “ To hanging two barn doors and myself seven
I hours, four shillings and sixpence.”
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
HOUSES, CHEAP AND CONVENIENT.
By permission of the publisher of
the American Agriculturist, we are
enabled to present the readers of the
Gospel of Health with another
plan for the construction of cheap and
convenient dwelling houses,
think it will be difficult to plan a
house better combining the consider
ations of convenience and economy,
and the design seems well adapted
to many who propose to build plain
and comfortable bouses in Hygeiana
the ensuing season.
In this design, upon the ground
floor, as seen in fig. 2, are a Parlor,
Bed Room and Kitchen ; A, Porch ;
G. Front Entry;
Stairway; A1,
Pantry, connecting by slide with the
sink in the Back Entry (E); C, C, marks the
China Closet. Each room has independent
facilities for warming ; and while the rooms
Fig. 2—ground plan.
are in close communication with each other,
they yet can be quite separate. The bed-room
has a spacious closet. Upon the chamber floor
Fig. 1.
in the roof. This Cottage, if well built, may
be made a comfortable, and as they say, a
“ genteel ” house. It is very compact—not an
inch of room is lost. If desirable, the partition
between the closets over the pantry and back
entry, may be moved a little to one side, making
one of the closets larger ; a circular window may
be inserted in the gable ; and to the room used
for bathing, water may be carried by a force
pump, and even heated by a boiler connected
with the kitchen fire. Few plans of this size
afford a greater amount of convenience than may
be found in this simple design. True, the
economy in side walls, accompanying square
ground plans, is sacrificed to the greater light
and airiness of the structure, but in a snug cot
tage like this that is a small fault.
Poisoning by a Human Bite.—A sad occur
rence has happened at Arth, in France. Lieu
tenant Felchin was some time back bitten io
the thumb by a man named Muller, but he
thought nothing of the wound, and went next
day on a journey on his private affairs. On
reaching Bale he found his hand and arm began
to swell, and a medical man declared that the
case was one of poisoning from a human bite.
He at once returned home in haste, but he
refused to have the arm amputated. The con
sequence was that the inflammation increased
frightfully, and he died some days after in
horrible suffering.
Employment, which Galen calls “nature’s
physician,” is so essential to human happiness,
that indolence is justly considered as the mother
of misery.
Fig. 3.—BED-ROOM PLAN.
He who lives with a good wife becomes
(fig. 3), are three nice bed-rooms and four closets- better thereby, as those who lay down among
Each room has direct access to a chimney flue- violets arise -with the perfume upon their gar
The stairway can be lighted by a glazed scuttle ments.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
THE
GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1867.
TOPICS OF THE MONTH.
•
The Problem of Problems.—To him who
can “ look through nature up to nature’s God,”
no truth is clearer than that the Health Problem
underlies all reforms among men, and is the
basis of all permanent improvement in the con
dition of the human race. Hence it is the
problem of problems. For this reason it is the
most radical and revolutionary of all problems ;
and its advocates can hardly expect that the
masses of the people, to whom physiology is as
a sealed book, and the great body of the medical
profession—whose physiology is mainly chemi
cal, and hence contains more false principles
than true ones, and whose pathology and thera
peutics are inexplicable dogmas and absurd
errors—will regard them otherwise than as
enthusiasts and fanatics. The world has always
applied these epithets to those who advocated
truths in advance of public sentiment, who op
posed ancient and venerable errors, or who
taught against the current of popular prej udices.
But what was radical a hundred years ago is
conservatism now, and what is ultra to-day may
be conservatism a hundred years hence.
And now, what is the Health P»oblem? And
why should the world be so indifferent to it,
and the medical profession so opposed to it ?
Health is the “normal play of all the functions;
disease is their disarrangement or abnormal
action ; health is happiness ; disease is misery ;
health is power ; disease is disability ; health is
beauty ; disease is deformity ; health is the re
sult of obedience to the laws of the vital and
mental organism ; disease is the consequence of
disobedience to them. Vital laws and mental
laws are God’s laws, as much so as are moral
or spiritual laws. Disobedience to the laws of
our bodily organization is as sinful in the sight
of the Creator of all, as is disobedience to the
laws which apply to our moral powers—what
ever distinctions we may make.
Health Reform means obedience to all the laws
of our being. To have healthy muscles, nerves,
brains, bones, stomach, bowels, liver, kidneys,
skin, etc., we must in all respects conform to the
laws which our Heavenly Father has implanted
in their organization. And to have healthy
73
perception, judgment, conscience, will, passions,
emotions, propensities, etc., we must obey the
irreversible laws which control the organs of
the mental and moral manifestations. In short,
Health Reform means “ cease to do evil and
learn to do well” in all things ; and to do this,
we must “ prove all things and hold fast to that
which is good.”
The basis of all good, all truth, all progress,
is integrity in the bodily structures, which are
“ the temples of the living God.” The immédi
ate source of all error, all falsity, all crime in
the world, is morbid conditions of the bodily
organs. The idiot, the madman, the murderer,
are but extreme illustrations of the principle.
Avarice, gambling, licentiousness, selfishness,
and multitudinous vices and crimes and faults
and foibles, which are so prevalent as to be re
garded by many as “ necessary evils,” and by
some as the normal condition of society, are
more common but not less significant demon
strations of foul blood and bad digestion.
If the Christian would succeed in evangeliz
ing the world ; if the Temperance Reformer
would rid the earth of the terrible curse of in
toxicating drink ; if the Moralist would close
the dens of debauchery and prostitution ; if the
Statesman would purify legislation of party po itics and chicanery ; if the Philanthropist would
shut up the gambling palaces in high places
(witness stock exchanges and produce specula
tors), and if the Sociologist would induce men
to deal equitably with each other, they must go
back to first principles, and teach all classes and
all conditions of human beings that the first
rule of conduct and the highest good of all re
quire a life in accordance with the laws of life.
“ Strong-Minded Women ” in Ohio.—We
have long believed and thought that all licensed
laws, and all statutory’ enactments in any man
ner pertaining to thê regulation of the liquor
traffic, are a curse to the world and ought to be
abolished. No law except that of absolute and
unconditional prohibition ought to be recorded
in the statute books of a civilized nation, and
even this would be superfluous were the whole
subject left to the compion sense of society and
the common law of humanity. A beautiful illus
tration of the doctrine we have indicated, oc
curred a few days ago in the state of Ohio. A
correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial tells
the story :
Some time in July, 1865, the ladies of Green
field, Highland county, took it into their heads
that there should be “ no more whisky sold in
I Greenfield.” The question of abating the nuii sance had been discussed frequently, when an
�74
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
accident occurred that brought things to a crisis.
A young man named Blackburn, highly esteem
ed, only 21 years of age, was the victim of a
whisky brawl. A party of drunken men got
into a quarrel and a shot was fired, and this
young man, who was passing the house, received
his death wound. Shortly after this the ladies,
with a.secrecy unparalleled in the history of wo
man, met and resolved on the destruction of the
spirit. So in broad daylight, about noon, a
posse of about seventy started on the cleansing
expedition, armed with hatchets, axes and
woman’s determination. Some three or four
stores were entered and the bottles made to
dance jigs and the whisky to gurgle down the
gutters before the other wdiisky fiends were
made aware of what was going on. When they
did become cognizant of the situation of things,
they barred, bolted and barricaded their doors.
But nothing daunted, the women quietly de
manded the liquor, and if not admitted into the
house they quickly battered down the doors or
shutters. This was carried on till nearly every
respectable wliisky-sliop was demolished. Suits
were brought, but the verdict of equity said,
“ Served cm right.”
Now the whisky-dealers have combined to
bring suits against the husbands of many of
the ladies for damage to property, but nearly
everybody feels that the slight damage tempora
rily done is nothing to the benefit derived there
from. The most extensive preparations are be
ing made to escort the ladies of Greenfield, sev
enty of whom have been subpoenaed as wit
nesses. Large wagons are to be fitted up, and
their male relations wiil accompany them to
Hillsborough, where the court will be in session
on the 16th of this month. The ladies of Hills
borough are making the most ample prepara
tions to receive them as welcome guests, and
they are to be entertained by the ladies of that
place.
Just imagine seventy women in court! Im
agine the ineffectual cry of “ silence ” from the
stentorian lungs of the sheriff! What will the
judges do ? what will the jury do ?
We care very little what the judges or the
jury do, or all the people of the species mascu
line, in and about the court, or neighborhood, or
state, or nation, provided the women of Green
field and the region round about are true to
themselves. If they will follow up the kind of
“ moral suasion” they have so successfully com
menced, they will do more for the cause of Tem
perance during the year 1867 than the men have
done in fifty years. We would rather have a
grand Temperance army of seventy women,
armed with hatchets, or even broom-sticks, and
“ woman’s determination,” than all the organ
izations of Washingtonians, Sons of Temper
ance, Rechabites, Good Templars, &c., that the
world has ever seen. These may talk, and re
solve, and preach, and sing beautifully, but those
do the work.
Our Cottage Illustrations.—We are in
debted to the politeness of that sterling journal,
the American Agriculturist, for the illustrations
which appear in the present number of the Gos
pel of Health, and also for those which ap
peared in our January issue. It is our duty to
say that these cuts are copyrighted, and cannot
legally be published without permission of the
Agriculturist. We intend, in future issues, to
give a great variety of designs for buildings, and
extensive illustrations of the best fruits of all
kinds, so that our colony at Hygeiana can have
all necessary data on which to predicate success,
both in building Hygienic houses, and in rais
ing the very best varieties of fruits.
Profitable Crops.—Several persons have
written us for information concerning the most
profitable crops that can be raised in Hygeiana
before returns can be had from the growing
fruit trees. We answer, there are many kinds
of vegetables, roots and seeds, which are ready
sale and always command a good price, and
which produce sure crops. Among these are
onions and white beans. Probably it would be
impossible to realize more the first season from
any crops that could be raised than from these.
The best article of small white beans is now
retailing at twenty cents a quart in this city.
There are other kinds of garden beans which
will produce more to the acre, and which find
ready sale ; but, we doubt if anything, unless it
is onions, will yield a greater return of money
for the quantity of land cultivated and the
amount of labor performed, than white or field
beans. Tomatoes, cabbages, sweet corn, and
beets, are usually very profitable crops, but are
more troublesome to preserve and market. Some
correspondents have suggested the propriety of,
raising our own cereals, especially wheat and
corn ; but as these grains are plenty and cheap
in the neighborhood, it is our opinion that we
should find both pleasure and profit, at least
in the infancy of our colony, in limiting our
product ions to a few of the choicest fruits and
vegetables. These crops can be raised without
interfering much in the cultivation of fruit
trees. In this connection, we commend to the
attention of our readers the able article of Dr.
Yoder, in the present number, on the subject of
immediate fruit-raising in Hygeiana. Dr. Yoder
has had much experience in fruit-culture, is a
thorough Hygienist, and a graduate of the Hygeio-Therapeutic College, is well acquainted
with the locality we have selected for our pio
neer colony, has been a practical fruit-culturer
in Vineland, N. J., for several years past, and
has, moreover, sold his property in Vineland
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
and invested the whole amount in the purchase
of five ten-acre farms in Hygeiana. These cir
cumstances evince his earnestness and capacity
in Health Reform movement, and give especial
importance to his suggestions. We have the
pleasure to state, also, that Dr. Yoder will be
among the “ first settlers” of our colony, so that
others may profit by his experience.
Suffrage for Woman.—We publish in
another department, in full, the address recently
delivered by Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to
the Legislature of our state. It covers the whole
ground. And now that the “Woman Question ”
is rapidly assuming form and magnitude, so
that it can and must be discussed in all its
length and breadth, we are sure that the great
majority of our readers will be interested in the
perusal of Mrs. Stanton’s able and admirable
address. We have long regarded the full recog
nition of woman’s rights—her equal, social, civil,
political, and religious rights—as one of the pre
requisites to her full and just influence in the
medical profession and in the great field of Health
Reform. And no one who understands the import
ance of woman’s work in aiding us to revolu
tionize many and reform most of the habits and
fashions of society, which are now rapidly de
teriorating the human race, will regret the
prominence we give to this subject. If we can
correctly read the signs of the times, the day is
not far distant when the greatest and most
beneficial reformation agitated since the dark
days of the middle ages—the enfranchisement
of woman—will be achieved in all the length and
breadth of our land. Every day witnesses the
accessions to her cause of noble, influential,
earnest, practical men ; and whether the “ ma
jority of women” petition, or not, for the right
to vote and hold office, the voice of the Creator,
which endows her inalienably with all the rights
and privileges that pertain to humanity, will be
regarded in the legislation of all intelligent and
Christian states and nations, and then her equal
opportunities for development, for education,
and for avocations, will soon follow as a matter
of course.
Twenty-four Dollars a Gallon.—Several
weeks ago we called upon an artisan of this city
to get a little work done. He was sick of a cold.
In a few days we called again. He had been
better, but had suffered a relapse. Two weeks
later we visited him the third time. He was
now decidedly and fatally consumptive. His
friend informed us that he had just changed his
physician. We saw at a glance the whole state
of the case, and knew from the array of bottles,
75
phials, poisons, plasters, etc., that the poor pa
tient was another illustration of
The deadly virtues of the healing art.
He had been drugged to death’s door. Among
other potent medicines which he had been tak
ing was a very powerful kind of brandy. It
was a rare and choice brand ; so rare and choice
and powerful that it cost twenty-four dollars a
gallon. He was taking a teaspoonful every
hour. The doctor told him he might eat what
ever he pleased, so long as he took the brandy.
The physician gave the patient to understand
that the brandy was so powerful a promoter of
digestion and so infallible a supporter of vitality
that he might safely follow his appetite or fancy
in the matter of victuals. The poor victim of a
murderous medical system was suffocating by
night and by day in a dark, damp, unventilated
bedroom, the door and windows kept con
stantly closed, and the confined air redolent of
typhus miasm from the effete matters of his
own body. Not a word had been said about
bathing or washing ; not a hint had been ut
tered about the necessity of fresh air. Pure
water and wholesome food were never men
tioned. But drug and dose, and dose and drug,
narcotize and stimulate, and stimulate and nar
cotize, brandy and opium, and opium and more
brandy. These were the remedial measures
prescribed by a member of the New York Acad
emy of Medicine in this enlightened 19th century
and the year of grace, 1867. But why need we
dwell on this particular case. He is only one
of the thousands who are killed annually by the
same or similar means. The case, however, has
an unusual significance in illustrating the com
mercial side of the healing art as it is in druggery. The profit on such a gallon of brandy can
not be less than twenty dollars. Suppose (we
admit the case isn’t supposable, but suppose it
was supposable) that the doctor and the apoth
ecary divide the profits between them. The
doctor gets ten dollars (in addition to his pro
fessional fee), for prescribing the brandy, and
the apothecary gets ten dollars clear profit for
dealing it out. And as doctors and apothecaries
must live, and as sick folks, however poor, will
have medicine, why not accommodate all round
in this way ?
The Prince of Wales.—Since our article on
“The Smoking Palace of Frogmore” appeared,
a correspondent has sent us the Philadelphia
Press containing an article from a London letter
writer, in which the Prince is very severely
handled. It is not only intimated but openly
asserted that the Prince is becoming addicted to
�76
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
other bad habits besides tobacco-smoking; in
deed that he is rapidly going the downward road
in various ways through dissolute associates
and evil communications, which so frequently
corrupt both the morals and manners of young
“ Princes of the blood.” We hope these state
ments are not true, or that they, are greatly ex
aggerated. And lest injustice might be done to
some person, or persons, we refrain from giving
any further publicity to the matter.
Wayside Jottings in Great Britain.—
With this number we commence the publication
of a series of extremely interesting articles, under
the above head, from the pen of Mrs. Susannah
Way Dodd§, M. D.,of Antioch College memory.
She has recently returned from a tour through
many parts of the Queendom, and her keen ob
servations, practical views, intelligent criticisms,
and candid statements, cannot fail to instruct and
profit our readers in thSt country and in this.
Vegetarians will be especially pleased with the
assurances that ample provision exists for them
in that part of the “Old World,” and her direc
tions for finding and enjoying them.
Flowers and Plants in Sleeping-Rooms.
—W. M. writes from Maryland : “ My son is a
subscriber to your Gospel of Health. It is
truly what its name imports—a joyful visitant—
and its monthly instructions bring most blessed
instructions. In the November number there is
an important subject named—ventilation. But
the writer says, ‘ Leaves of the trees lake in car
bonic-acid, and emit oxygen.’ Now, some au
thors say that this is only true of the leaf in the
daytime, but not in the night, or during hours
of darkness. Will you be so kind as to give us
the correct chemical process ? Are flowersand
plants in sleeping-rooms conducive to health, or
are they injurious ?”
There is no “ chemical process ” of any kind.
But the vital process that governs the nutrition
—the assimilation and disintegration—of the
vegetable kingdom as a general law is, that
leaves emit carbonic-acid gas to some extent
during the night, and oxygen gas during the
day ; hence, it follows that any considerable col
lection of plants or flowers in a sleeping-room
would be injurious ; and a single one would be
if there was defective ventilation.
Hygeiana and Vineland.—It is known to
many of our readers that the citizens of Vine- j
land. N. J., are, on the whole, a much better 1
class of people—more progressive and reforma
tory—than are “ the generality of mankind in
general,” as we find them in most of the large |
villages and small cities of the United States.
The manner in which the place was settled, the
provisions made for improvements, and the
protection against many of the nuisances to be
found in all other places, were well calculated to
attract a high order of human nature. And
those who have lived there a few years have
experienced the great comforts and advantages
of the precautions which have been so judi
ciously taken to prevent the seeds of vices,
crimes, debauchery, etc., from contaminating
their domain. Yet there are some nuisances
tolerated there. Tobacco is cultivated, drug
shops exist, and we are not aware that rum-shops
are prohibited. And because we prohibit all
nuisances of every name and nature, except
original sin, from entering the domain of Hy
geiana, several residents of Vineland have al
ready purchased farms in Hygeiana, and intend
to remove there early in the season. And more
than a dozen others write us that they will
emigrate Hygeianaward as soon as they can sell.
Indeed we have sold more lots to the citizens of
Vineland, than we have to the people of any
other place. Can there be any more convincing
testimony that our scheme is not only right but
bound to “ go ahead ” ?
Vaccination.—A Jew was lately fined in
London for refusing to allow his child to be
vaccinated. The Jew was right. Since the
days of Moses and the prophets the Jews have
had a salutary horror of pork, scrofula, small
pox, plague, leprosy, and viruses, venoms and
infections of all kinds. And what right has any
one to infect their blood and bones with the
virus of small pox ? If the learned medical gen
tlemen of the Board of Health of the city of
New York should order us to poison our chil
dren, or anybody’s children, with this or any
other infection, wTe should, most respectfully,
decline to do it, and most peremptorily prevent
others from doing it, fine or no fine. Neither
nature, Bible, science, nor common sense, teaches
the absurd doctrine that poisons are remedies
for the ills that flesh is heir to ; but, on the con
trary, each and all teach that cleanliness is the
only preventive of disease. Vaccination is
one of the many curses which the abominable
drug medical system has inflicted on humanity.
The child that is vaccinated has to take the
chance of being infected with humors a thou
sand times worse than “ small-pox the natural
way,” while it is almost certain to be in some
way contaminated. That a large proportion of
those who are vaccinated become affected with
venereal disease, may be learned from the fol
lowing paragraph which we clip from the Med
ical Record of this city:
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
“ Syphilis by Vaccination.—In the ‘Depart
ment du Morbihan,’ France, a great many
children have been found affected with syphilis
after vaccination. The report of the commis
sioners charged by the Academy of Medicine
with the duty of investigating the subject, con
cludes as follows: I. Several of the children
presented to the commission were really affected
with secondary syphilis. II. It seems impossi
ble to account for their contamination otherwise
than by vaccination. III. It appears evident
that the virus was contained in the vaccinal
liquid. M. Ricord gives his assent to these
conclusions, provided they contain (as well as
the report itself does) the mention that primary
syphilitic accidents were also present.”
Hygeiana at Cost.—Since our last issue,
several persons have offered to purchase one or
two hundred acres each in Hygeiana, and im
prove them at once, provided we would sell the
land at a small advance from cost—say ten or
fifteen per cent. We reply that we will do even
better than that: we will sell at actual cost,
as nearly as we can calculate. In a business of
$200,000 or more, we can’t estimate within a
few hundred, nor possibly within a few thou
sand dollars, the exact receipts or expenditures.
Our aim is to make receipts and expenditures
balance ; and if any person or company sees
any chance for a pecuniary speculation, he or
they shall be more than welcome to take the
business out of our hands, provided he or they
will guaranty the enterprise to be carried out
according to our printed programme. We have
to reserve the streets and avenues, and all the
public grounds, which make the land we have
to sell some hundreds of acres less than those
we have to purchase. Then, again, we have
the expenses of surveying, advertising, travel
ing, the commissions to agents, etc., and lastly,
unmarried women (several of whom have al
ready purchased) must have their farms at half
price. If one-half of the purchasers should be
unmarried women, we should be many thou
sands of dollars out of pocket. We shall be sat
isfied if we come out minus one or two thousand
dollars ; and if the result should be plus that
amount, or even more, we should not be very
sorry. But, as already remarked, our plan and
prices are intended to be “ six of one, and half-adozen of the other.” If we make any money, it
will be in the next purchase.
77
velop and reform our mental and moral nature ;
and if all medical sects, who profess to be the
conservators of our vital organisms, would
adopt the platform of principles set forth in
this article, or rather make the principle of tl.e
article their platform, they would be vastly
more successful than they ever yet have been
in saving the souls and preserving the bodies
of men.
Is Salt Necessary for Stock?—The Cali
fornia Rural Home Journal says: “ Some
eighteen years since, while living at Tangier,
in the empire of Morocco, we sent into the in
terior of the empire to purchase of a tribe of
Bedouins, who were famous for their choice and
rare stocks of barbs, or Arab horses, one of their
fine barbs for our own use, which we were so
fortunate as to obtain, after not a little maneuv
ering and diplomacy. As a matter of course, we
made a great pet of him ; and almost the first
thing we offered him, as a condiment to his feed
of barley and straw (the universal food of the
horses of that country), was a handful of salt;
but, to our surprise, he would not touch it, but
turned up his aristocratic nose at it, as if he felt
a big disgust at such, to him, unsavory dose.
On making further inquiry, and experimenting
with several barbs that we owned subsequently,
we found that neither the Moors nor Arabs ever
gave salt to their horses, cattle, or sheep. And
yet there are no horses in the world equal in
healthful vigor, in powers of endurance, or elas
ticity of movement and robust constitution, to
these same Arab horses.”
The Cattle Plague in Holland.—The
Belgian Moniteur publishes the following par
ticulars of the cattle plague in Holland : “ The
cattle plague appears to be making dreadful
ravages among the cattle in Holland. The num
ber of fatal cases do not cease to increase, and
if the progress observed to have been made by
the disease since the end of November con
tinue, the losses of the Dutch farmers will soon
exceed those of the English cattle-owners at
the time when the plague was most violent.
According to the official reports, the number of
cases among cattle were, for the weeks ending
November 3d, 1,443 ; 10th, 1.551; 17tli, 1,592 ;
27th, 3,257 ; and December 4th, 7,162. The last
number is more than double that w’hich is re
corded when the epidemic w-as at its worst in
December, 1865, and everything tends to show
that it does not indicate the greatest height of
the disease. The cattle plague was especially
virulent in the provinces of Utrecht and South
ern and Northern Holland ; but it has also shown
itself in Friesland and Overyssel, and has lat
terly attacked many parishes of Guelderland
Wholeness.—We commend the article in and North Brabant.”
tlie present number from the Spiritual Repub
When the regulations of the Boston and Cam
lic to the careful and prayerful consideration of bridge Bridge were drawn by two famous law
our readers. The philosophy of sociology is yers, one section was written, accepted, and now
stands thus:
stated with a clearness and precision that leave
“ And the said proprietors shall meet annu
nothing to be desired. If all religious denomi ally on the first Tuesday of June, provided the
nations, whose teachings are intended to de same does not fall on Sunday.”
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
78
VOICES OF
THE PEOPLE.
One of Many.—The experience and observa
tions of the writer of the following are similar
to those of a thousand who have written us their
story. But it is on a subject whereon “line
upon line and precept upon precept ” is neces
sary. She writes from a rich agricultural dis
trict in a Western state. “ Dr. Trail—Dear Sir :
although a stranger to you, I am not a stranger
to the great principles so nobly advocated in
your writings. Two years ago I became acquaint
ed with them, and ordered your Encyclopaedia,
Hand Book, Cook Book, Diphtheria, Water-Cure
for the Million, and would have purchased
more of your works had I been able. I have
lent my books to my neighbors and tried to
convince others of the value and importance of
Hygienic principles. But the great majority
seem bound to live as they list, be the conse
quences what they may. Very few ‘ eat and
drink to live.’ It has been more than a year
since I discontinued the use of all animal food,
butter, salt, spices of every kind, and all warm
drinks at meals. In short, I am striving to live
in accordance with the laws of health. My
husband does not sympathize with the Health
Reform, and thinks the idea of a Vegetarian
Colony very unlike the manner of all other
great reformers. He says, that, if they think
they are right and everybody else wrong, it
would be more Christ-like to remain among
the people and try to enlighten and reform them.
But I am thinking it is not easy to work much
of a dietetic reform among those ‘whose God is
their belly,’and ‘whose glory is their shame.’
To explain our principles to them seems very
much like ‘casting pearls before swine.’ For
my part I am tired of living in society where the
people are addicted to such gross habits. It is
all that I can possibly do to live among them
without contamination; and what can I hope
for my children ? I have four now living, and
two in the spirit-land, who, doubtless, would
have been living at this time, if I had not been
in utter darkness as to the proper manner of
training them.”
Tired of Fashionable Life.—S. R. writes
from Ohio : “I intend to look at your location
for a vegetarian colony in Ross county, and if
the scheme suits me to remove there at an early
day. 1 feel, and my wife does also, just about
ready to go into a Hygienic settlement, but, as I
am pretty well circumstanced here, I must ne
sure of making an improvement before pulling
up stakes. I am thoroughly disgusted with
the bloody-boned surroundings here. My finer
sensibilities are continually outraged by the
butchering of the bloated scavengers (swine) and
the grinding of their corrupt carcasses into dis
ease-engendering food. I hear their last and
smothered groans saddening the merry hum of
the balmy breeze, and am almost forced to ex
claim, 0 God, how are thy children sunken in
iniquity! Then, perhaps, before the crimson
blood is dried up, the besotted devotee of the
corner groggery comes staggering along, breath
ing his venomous breath upon all around ; and,
perhaps, before he has disappeared, along comes
the tobacco-smoker, puffing his detestable ex
halation into every passer’s face. I turn from
all these, horribly disgusted, but to meet the
knight of the pill-bags dispensing his vaunted
nostrums to a deluded people ; and then my
heart sickens, and I long for the promised land
where these debasing influences cannot come. I
have a little cherub growing up that I do not
want exposed to all of these morbid and pollut
ing influences which exist all around us.”
Mountain Land for Fruit-Growing.—J.
G. P., writing from North Carolina, near Black
Mountain, strongly recommends that part of
the country as a proper location for a Vegetarian colony. The following remarks are equally
j
applicable to his location and to Hygeiana:
'
“ The great and chief business of colonies, such
as we contemplate, will be that of raising fruits;
and as there is but one kind of locality (in this
country, at least), which never fails to hit (as
the saying is), and as the land hereabouts is
mostly of this kind, so I regard it as of great
value, although for raising Indian corn, which
is considered the neplus ultra of successful farm
ing, it is not as well adapted as the bottom lands
along the rivers and creeks; hence the hilly
lands are considered of little value by people
generally, and can be purchased for a trifle com
paratively. The land I speak of as best adapted
to the purposes of a Vegetarian colony is moun
tain land ; and I have no doubt that thousands
of acres which can be cheaply purchased, are
perfectly adapted to the raising of all kinds of
fruits. I consider a large quantity of this kind
of land a sine qua non to a successful Hygealthic community, and my policy would be to lo
cate as much of it as possible. Mountains were
the ‘ sunny spots’ of earth with our Saviour, and
his most sacred acts were performed upon them.
And why should they not be dearest to us also ?
Besides, the ‘ good time coming,’ according to
Isaiah, will be ushered in on or in the moun
tains. Let us, then, have at least one Hygeal1 thic mountain colony, and call it Montadelphia.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
79
“ P. S. The above was written before I saw typographical appearance and its doctrines. I
your ‘ Hygeiana.’ You took this word ‘ out pity the man who is so mystified and befogged
that he can read its pages and not be convinced.
of my mouth.’ as the saying is.”
A Good Word from Missouri.—T. S. writes To me, who am one of the most radical believ
ers in the Hygienic system and its philosophy,
from Clinton county, Mo.: “ The Health Reform
seemed to be entirely unknown here when I it is utterly incomprehensible how men can so
settled in 1863. But by circulating your jour often have the truth presented to them and yet
nals among the people, I have made some con see it not. You may or may not recognize my
verts. Several families of my acquaintance are name among the list of your students for 1863—4.
now zealous advocates of the Hygienic system, As I have not been heard from since then, do
and do not employ the drug doctors when they not think I have been a backslider. From my
organization, that I could not be. I am prepar
are sick.”
ing to take the field at no distant day, and work
A Watch for Hygieana.—An unmarried with heart and soul for the cause of Health Re
lady writes from Ohio : “ Dr. Trail—Sir: On form and for all reforms. I have a large vol
noticing in the last number of the Gospel of ume (manuscript) of reports of your lectures,
Health that a whole score of unmarried ladies which I took phonographically, and which I
had entered into your enterprise of Hygienic value far more than any book I have. W ithout
homes, I bid them God-speed, and wished that trespassing further upon your time, believe me
I was among the number ; but not having any
always your
“ Co-worker.”
ready funds, I have delayed sending an applica
tion. I am very desirous to try my hand at
Hogs and Dogs, Tobacco and Drugs.—A.
farming, and have bethought myself of my E. writes from Vineland, N. J.: “My Dear
watch which, perhaps, you will accept in ex Friend Dr. Trail: I am glad that the colony
change for a ten-acre lot in Hygeiana. It is is finally located, for 1 have been waiting and
considered a good gold watch, but there is no working for this for twenty years. I feel that
sale for such property here ; but if you think the time has come to come out from the wicked,
you can dispose of it to advantage, and can afford and to get away' from hogs and dogs, the vile
to take it. Please let me know.”
weed tobacco, and the doctors’ drugs. Hygei
Send on the watch ; the farm is yours. We ana, in a few years, with its fruits and flowers,
will not dispose of the watch, but keep it as col its sweet lawns and beautiful cottages, its hap
lateral ; and when our fair unmarried corre py homes and healthy inhabitants, will present
spondent earns the money and can conveniently the most remarkable contrast with the general
spare the money, she shall have the watch aspect of society that the world has ever seen.
again.
Will it not be a second Eden, or Eden restored ?
Tired of the “Natives.”—C. D. B. writes An influence cannot fail to emanate from its
from Illinois : “ Dr. Trail—Dear Sir: I have green fields and beautiful hills that will extend
missed your teachings very much since you the blessings of the Hygienic system far and
discontinued your connection with the Herald wide. After looking over your programme for
of Health, and did not know what had become colonization, I have no fears that it will be too
of you until I accidentally met with a number radical. I am a gardener and nurseryman, and
of the Gospel of Health a few days ago. I think that I can be a useful man among you.
do not wish to part company, and so send my At all events, put me down for one farm. I
subscription for one year. I am very much in will send the amount in a few days, and shall
terested in your project for a Hygienic settle purchase several lots if I can raise the means
ment, and would like to become a member of soon enough. My family will remove to Hygei
it. This is a fine fruit country, but I am sur ana just as soon as I can dispose of our property
rounded by ‘ natives’ who think that hog and in this place. Myself and wife are getting old,
hominy and strong coffee are the -necessities of but we desire to do good to our fellow-mortals,
and I know no way of accomplishing more, as
life.”
Our New Volume.—G. G., who is principal we are in feeble health, than to settle in Ilyof a seminary for learning near Philadelphia, geiana and take an agency for circulating your
Pa., writes : “ Dr. Trail—Dear Sir: Permit me journal and selling your books, and procuring
to express my great pleasure at seeing the Gos orders for nursery stock—choice kinds of vines,
pel of Health come out in a new and vastly apple, peach, and pear trees, etc. I am willing
improved form. It is now in a style fitted to to exchange property—let you have my houses
go forth and challenge criticism, both as to its and lots in Vineland—and take their value in
�80
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
land in Hygeiana. I would like to take a thou
sand copies of the Gospel ok Health to give
away, but have no means until I sell. The
Gospel ought to be in every family in the
United States.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
A Hotel in Hygeiana.—E. B. B.—Dr. Trail
—Dear Sir: I would like to have you answer a
few question in the Gospel of Health, es
pecially as they may interest others as well as
myself. 1. What is the name of the nearest
town to Hygeiana? 2. What is the nearest
Post-office? 3. Is the Sciota river navigable?
4. Will there be a house or shanty erected by
the first of April, so that persons can have shel
ter for a night or two, till he can construct a shan
ty of his own ? I shall send you the names of
several purchasers in time for the March num
ber.”
1. Hygeiana is bounded on the north by
Chillicothe, and on- the south by Waverley.
2. Waverley is the nearest Post-office. 3- The
Sciota is not navigated, a canal along its banks
doing the freight business, and the railway
transporting the passengers. 4. As to the shanty
we cannot say. Probably a number will be
built before the middle of April. But persons
can get lodgings near by, among the farmers,
for a few nights, or they can live in tents, or
sleep in a covered wagon as thousands of travel
ers do on long journeys.
Buckwheat—Itch—Gripes.—E. O. M.—“1.
Is buckwheat a wholesome article of food ? 2. If
so, why does it give people, cattle, and hogs the
itch? 3. How do you heal gripes and green
discharges in children ?” 1. Yes. 2. It does
not do it. 3. Abdominal fomentations or warm
hip-baths, with proper attention to diet. I&the
child is nursing, the mother’s habits of eating,
drinking, exercise, etc., must be attended to.
Sick-Headache.—A. S. T.—“ What can be
done for one who is subject to what is called
the sick-headache ? It is either constitutional
or caused by the measles when a child, or by
drug medication for the measles. The patient
is thirty years of age ; was in the army three
years, and st ffered much from sickness or from
the prescriptions of the M. Ds. His paroxysms
of headache are much more frequent than be
fore going into the army.” A disordered liver
is the immediate cause of the trouble, whatever
may have been the remote or primary causes.
An abstemious diet, a daily ablution, and occa
sional hip-baths, are the proper remedial meas
ures.
Palpitation.—0. S. F.—Constipation of the
bowels is the most common cause. An enlarged
liver will occasion it. The remedy is plain food,
moderation in the quantity of food, and correct
habits generally. Bleeding affords temporary
relief, but always aggravates the trouble event
ually.
Panting.—S. S. R.—Short breath, panting,
and “fluttering of the heart,” etc., are caused
by obstructions in the livgr or bowels, weak
ness of the abdominal muscles, congestion of the
lungs, and many other causes. Ascertain the
abnormal condition, and medicate accordingly.
Quick Returns.—S. O. wants to know what
are the best crops for immediate profit to raise
in Hygeiana while the fruit-trees are growing.
There are several, and among them are onions,
beans, beets, and sweet corn. These are always
saleable at a remunerating price, are easily cul
tivated, and require no special attention or
preparation.
The Appetite for Tobacco.—T. S.—“Please
give me, in the next Gospel, a plan of home
treatment to destroy the appetite for tobacco—of
long standing, say twenty or thirty years.”
Let the patient discontinue the use of it for
as many days as he has used it years. He must
not touch it again during his life lest the appe
tite return with redoubled fury, and he become
more the child of the devil than before.
Spinal Irritation.—M. A. S.—Tenderness
of some part of the spinal column does not prove
the existence of spinal disease, but in nine of
every ten cases, is merely indicative of disease
or obstruction in some of the internal viscera.
Caustics applied to the back for supposed spinal
diseases, have ruined the health of thousands
who never had spinal disease at all.
Zymotic.—E. S. S.—This term is applied to
such diseases as are more especially occasioned
by foul air, as typhoid fevers. Accumulated
excrement, imperfect ventilation, and too long
retention of the waste or effete matters of the
body, are the causes of zymotic diseases. Clean
liness would be a complete preventive of all
contagious diseases, as measles, small-pox, hoop
ing cough, etc.
Baker’s Bread.—A. L. R.—Physiologically
we regard baker’s bread as a worse article of
diet than lean flesh-meat. We know of no
article that is baker’s manufacture that is proper
food for human beings, nor, indeed, for ani
mals.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
Plethora.—A.M.—Sugar, butter, starch, etc.,
may be very fattening, but are also very disease
producing. They are in no proper sense proper
food at all. It is not fat but flesh that you need.
You have too much adipose matter already, and
the more you increase it the more you will
diminish the flesh. Avoid sugar, milk, grease,
salt, and seasonings of all kinds.
Books.—A. R. R.—Your letters were answered
and the books forwarded according to order, by
mail Why you have not received them we
have no means of knowing. It is customary for
everybody to blame publishers for all disap
pointments, but we happen to know that the
fault is much more frequently with mail-carri
ers and post-masters, than with publishers or
their clerks.
Eastern IIygeiana. Home.—S. S. C.—We
shall be ready for patients at Florence, N. J., on
the first day of April next. During the summer,
heating apparatus will be distributed through
out the building, so that it will not be closed
another winter.
OUege geiiartmeut.
81
rejoice, as it has not had since the advent of
Hippocrates, when the best Allopathic medical
class is reduced to a Homeopathic dilution of
the tincture of the shadow of a shade of noth
ing at all.
No Summer Term.—In reply to frequent in
quiries, we reiterate the statement we have
often made, that there will be no summer term
of the Hygeio-Therapeutic College in 1867. This
is settled, whether we go to Paris or not. Other
work, which we have delayed for years on ac
count of the college, must now be attended to,
after which we hopo to resume the college
terms under improved auspices. All scholar
ships, outstanding or hereafter purchased, will
be good for the next or any subsequent term of
the college.
A Court Journal on Crinoline.—The
London Court Journal, of a late date, has the
following remarks on this expansive subject:
No beauty of form or splendor of material
in costume can compensate for manifest incon
venience to the wearer. No dress is sanctioned
by good taste which does not permit, and seem
to permit, the easy performance of any move
ment proper to the wearer’s age and condition
in life ; for it defies the very first law of the
mixed arts—fitness. Form is the most impor
tant element of the absolute beauty of dress, as
it is of all arts that appeal to the eye. The
lines of costume should in every part conform
to those of nature, or be in harmony with them.
We must, therefore, regard as the elementary
requisites of all dress, that it be comfortable and
decent, convenient and suitable, beautiful in
form and color, simple, genuine, harmonious
with nature and itself. The taste for the very
wide, full skirts, aDd large jupons, which has so
long prevailed, is now beginning to decline ; and
ladies distinguished for their good taste are
adopting a moderate style of crinoline. Many
persons are apt to run into extremes at the least
indication of a change in fashion, but nothing
can be a greater error. Fashion, as we have
hinted, changes by almost imperceptible de
grees, in accordance with the progress of public
taste ; and every new style which is introduced
must, to become successful, be an improvement
on those which preceded it. It is, therefore,
ludicrous to see a few ladies who have quite dis
carded thejupon without modifying the form of
their skirt, thus leaving the dress to trail on the
ground, and form very ungraceful folds.”
The theory of dress announced by the Court
Journal, is both sensible and true; but the
practice it recommends seems to ignore the the
ory entirely. If the lines of costume are to
conform to those of nature in every part, why
not adopt the “ American Costume ‘I ”
Medical Schools at a Discount.—The
Medical Record of this city imputes the small
- classes of medical students now attending the
Allopathic Colleges to the increase of the lecture
fees. We incline to the opinion that this cir
cumstance has little or nothing to do with the
question. We think it is owing to the obvi
ously diminished demand for their services on
the part of the public. Precisely as the people,
in any part of the world, become more enlight
ened on the subjects of medical science and the
Healing Art, as they exist in Poisonopathy, the
less will they have to do with doctors of the
drugopathic persuasion. Before the war there
was a remarkable diminution of medical stu
dents ; but the war created an opportunity for
some thousands of physicians and surgeons to
find temporary employment. Then there was
a rush to the medical colleges, which did not
♦
end with the war, and the year immediately
preceding the cessation of hostilities witnessed
unprecedented crowds of ambitious young men
en route for the places where diplomas were
conferred. But the “ reaction,” to use the usual
absurd expression of Allopathic friends, has al
ready “ set in.” Students have fallen off like
the subsidence of the hot stage of a quotidian.
Well, we hope the “ subsidence ” will continue
A lady advertises in a Glasgow paper that
to increase, and humanity will have cause to she wants a gentleman “ for breakfast and tea.”
�82
THE
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
CHURCH UNION
ENCE.
ON
INFLU
There are words of wisdom in the following
remarks, which we clip from a religions paper
recently started in Brooklyn. Without assent
ing to or dissenting from its political predilec
tions, we can most heartily recommend the
principle inculcated to all Health Reformers
and especially to those whom the world de
nounces as crazy one-ideaists.
INFLUENCE.
must therefore never be measured by his FifthAvenue Church, and its wealth, quality, and
obsequious obeisance to his flatteries. The
camel’s hair and leather girdle has a revolution
bound up within it, even if locust and wild hon
ey is its meat.
•
George Fox, in his leather-breeches, was more
powerful than archbishops ; yea, popes, when
the whole column of debit and credit shall be
run up some time yet. Wait till the battle is
over, and see if the little corporal isn’t emperor
at last.
•We are induced to commend these reflections
to the consideration of all men in search of pow
er to do good. Power for evil never comes in
this way—that is therefore out of the reckoning.
Power for good is gained by devotion to truth.
He is a “ Brick ” who never worships only at
the shrine of truth ; who hates all sycophancy,
all ceremony of diplomacy, all indecision, all
Chesterfieldian morals, all high-low cliurchi.m,
all vicars of Bray, all mutual admiration, Chris
tian unionism—but loves and fears only God
and his Truth, and he, only, has influence. Such
men are not now in power among the sects, for
sectarianism draws its life from sycophants.
We used to think a man’s, and especially a
minister’s influence, was proportioned to the
number of admirers, imitators, and sycophants
he could gather around him. This is’ the pop
ular idea. We can point to the so-called lead
ing men in the different sects, and the world
will always judge of their influence by this
standard. He who has the most fashionable
congregation, who presides at all social or sec
tarian meetings, who sits in the seat of honor
when Morton Petolias a dinner of notables, who
make the clerical speech when the President, or
Japanese Tom comes, he is the man of in
CFor the Gospel of Health.]
fluence ; so thought we once in Callow’s simple
WHAT THEY HAD FOR SUPPER.
days. So think the crowds yet. A little reflec
tion, and more acquaintance with men, have com
pletely revolutionized our ideas. Jesus of Naz
First, I will tell you something of the family
areth—shall we leave him out of the list of in
It consisted of six persons, father, mother,
fluential characters ? Or, if he be said to have and four children—all boys, respectively, ten,
been divine—Wickliffe, Huss, Galileo, Burns, ' twelve, fourteen, and sixteen years of age. The
Milton, Wilberforce, Garrison—what will we do father was U large, well-formed, intelligent, and,
with them ? None of them were appreciated, I must say, healthy-looking man, about fortynor had they much visible influence.
five years of age. The mother was pale, deli
The man most dreaded to day in this nation, cate, intellectual, and miserable. The boys
the man who has done more to bend this nation, were sallow, cadaverous, and voracious.
give it ideas, shape its policy, nerve it for the
Now for the supper. There was half a bushel,
conflict of the age, is a man of so little personal or a little less, of hot, saleratus biscuit—prop
influence, that he probably could not get elected erly so called, as from their looks I should judge
to the office of hogreeve for the township where they were made of two parts saleratus and
he dwells. He has been President of these I grease,and one part flour; pork sausage, swim
United States these ten years past, and is quite mingin grease ; potatoes fried in grease ; a large
likely to be for thirty years to come, if not long bowl of grease—called gravy ; apple-pie, of which
er, though he couldn’t be elected to Congress the crust was at least one half grease ; dough
in any district in the country. Don’t think we j nuts, or crullers, cooked in grease, and rpplemean Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson ; No 1 sauce, spoiled by spices, of some kind. For drink,
these have been mere clerks of the great leader 1 they had strong, green tea.
of public opinion, who has presided over states
Of all these various abominatione, all the fam
where a vote for him would have been an ear ily (except one of the boys, who was sick with
nest—of tar and feathers, if not a gentle suspen- j headache) partook hugely, and just before retir
sion from the nearest tree. We mean, of course, ing, the sick boy was so far recovered, as to be
Mr. Phillips.
able, at the earnest sol ¡citation of the mother, to
In short, no influence is so absolutely Omnip eat a quarter of a pie, and a handful of the
otent as that of the Truth-teller. Devils fear doughnuts.
and tremble before him ; timid time-servers flee j Now, is not the ignorance, as such a supper
before him as they did before him of the whip I as this displays, of all of God’s laws of health,
of small cords.
perfectly astounding ?
They who judge a man’s influence by the
Yet, as I said before, the parents were intel
flattery the people give him, tremble for fear ligent people, on nearly all other subjects. The
“ he may hurt his influence.” “ You destroy father had held a lucrative position in the army,
your power with leading men by your radical and had just bought and furnished a nice little
ism,” say men with gold spectacles and white home of fifty acres in the country.
chokers. Not a bit of it. Never fear. The
They were well supplied with books, papers,
great truth-teller of Judea lost his life by his &c.
radicalism, but his death was victory over sin
I tried to get them to subscribe for the Gos
and hell. A man’s influence, and a minister’s pel of HEALTH.but no—they could not afford it!
power, whose whole stock in trade is truth, Poor man !—he had better take it if it cost hint
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
•$200 a year, instead of $2. Perhaps some read
er may be ready to inquire, “ Well, what did
you find to eat at such a table?’’ Easily an
swered—nothing. I excused myself from going
to the table as best I could.
In the morning we‘had for breakfast about
what we had for supper, with the addition of
buckwheat cakes. I ate some of the latter, and
a little of the apple-sauce—considering these the
least objectionable of anything I could get.
My business calls me from home a good deal
of my time, and I believe it is no exaggeration
to say that three-fourths of our people live as
does this family. Is it any wonder we are a na
tion of invalids ? Occasionally, I meet with a
family intelligent upon the subject of Hygiene
—and whose practice is in accordance with their
belief. Such a family to me, is like an oasis in
the desert to the lost and weary traveller.
Intelligence upon this subject is generally bom
of much suffering, and untimely death of friends
and relatives.
Let all who have been enlightened, labor to
extend a knowledge of the Gospel of Health.
j. w. M.
WHOLENESS.
Wholeness is completeness. Applied to
things it signifies unity and symmetry of form.
Applied to persons, it supposes power ; a wellbalanced distribution of activity, and a certain
execution of purpose, implied in the constitu
tional functions of our being.
Womanhood and Manhood are the significant
terms for human wholeness. A stone may be
whole as a stone; an edifice may be whole—
complete—as an edifice ; a child may be whole
—healthily performing its emotional functions
as a child ; but more than this, Womanhood and
Manhood, in wholeness enshrines greatness,
which, like a star, sheds its light on all con
tinually, and brightens as there is need for
light.
It must be seen, however, that human whole
ness, as above defined, is not a birth right only
by possibility of attainment.
The fabled ones of old have no corresponding
facts in human experience; we are not born
women and men, bnt babes ; as we are not born
noble and virtuous, but innocent; the latter be
ing a prophesy of the former.
Evidently, the grand purpose of our earth life
is, by a process of culture, to attain human
wholeness. Will persons say the purpose of
life is to glorify God? We answer, the glory of
God is his manifestation, and the highest mani
festation of any divine life on earth is in the
human consciousness of spiritual things. And
the cultivation of human life produces higher
'and higher manifestation of the divine will or
purpose, therefore, the highest cultivated life,
human wholeness, is the greatest glory, and the
highest thinkable end of earthly action.
In the light of this corollary we view all pres
ent aims, methods and institution with this
further provision:
1st. That all thingsand conditions,actually
desirable are attainable by human effort in keep
ing with natural law.
83
2. That the things and conditions attainable
are associates, therefore cannot be legitimately
sectarized. The one cannot be attained, held,
and used successfully, without reference to the
other.
Our first proposition, we presume, will be
readily seen and accepted by all thinking per
sons unless we except some theologians who
will as readily drop it as “ infidel.”
The second is like unto it, in point of fact,
though if involves methods that are not so
readily mastered. Herein we see the waste of
effort, the want of wholeness.
We will take to illustrate our thought, the
process of physiological evolution in the child.
We may supjjose the babe j ust born to be whole
as a babe. Bodily organs, respiration, circula
tion, all complete. There is a perfect adjust
ment of one part to the other, leaving no undue
extremes. Here, then, to our observation, com
mences a struggle upward toward womanhood
or manhood. We know that all things desira
ble are possible, so far as the constitution of the
child is concerned, and the only questionable
ground is the method adopted in rearing the
child. But what are the requirements ? Sim
ply that an equilibrium shall be maintained, as
between the several organs and functions of the
body; that wholeness be perpetuated, and that
no one part feed upon and devour the other, or
in any way rob it of its required vitality or ex
ercise. As the child advances, new functions
will appear, broader scope of action will be de
manded, and therewith the nicer adjustment of
one part to all the rest. If the newly-born babe
be subjected to extremes of heat and cold ; it
it be starved and overfed alternately, and if in
after-years it be subjected to extremes of affec
tion and anger, caressed and beaten ; if extremes
rapidly alternate through life, or if an extreme
in any one direction be taken and maintained ;
we shall hardly fail to see, as a result, some
glaring fault, some insurmountable weakness,
and withal a fretful waste of life’s forces.
May not this process of individual growth find
an exact counterpart, so far as methods and re
sults are concerned, in society ? Society is not
merely a collection of men, women, and children,
any more than the human form is merely a col
lection of bones, muscles, and nerves. One part
of society cannot be fostered at the expense, or
to the neglect of the other, without abating the
action, and impairing the health of the whole.
Witness even the extremes of American society
in this respect. Our appeal to arms in 1861 had
no other cause, primarily, than the persistent
effort of one part of the body politic to usurp the
rights of another part, and socially to make
equals in fact, subservient in use. One can but
see the inevitable consequence of such a course.
It came, and corresponding results will continue
to come, as long as similar causes exist, or until
an equilibrium metes out equal and exact jus
tice to all.
In the religious department of society, we
find excessive turmoil: sect warring with sect,
and in sheer contention for masteiy, wasting
more than one-half their energy ; and the whole
theological or “ orthodox ” school deny the right
of equal Divine favor to others, who, just as no
ble as they, differ in forms of belief. Who can
�84
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
not prophecy that just as certain as authority to
dictate is assumed by the “ orthodox,” and per
sistently urged, that they will be overthrown
by the dissenters; and the extreme measures
employed for their overthrow will be in exact
proportion to the gravity of their assump
tion, and the tenacity of their adherence to
it ?
As between the sexes, the same comparison
can be drawn. Without any inherent right
whatever to do so, man assumes the control of
society. He makes and administers what is
called law, demanding of woman not only obe
dience to it, but also to his wishes, often to her
own destruction, and oftener to her inexpressi
ble disgust. In this respect, the record of wrongs
silently borne, in intensity and depth of mean
ing, exceed, perhaps, that of any other depart
ment of life, at least in the present century, and
it becomes more and more significant. Is there
no remedy ? Yes, it is in the very constitution
of society, and cannot be forever, or long with
held. And, further still, the classes are terribly
unbalanced. Money, even in America, warrants
favor, and gains position, as against brains and
integrity. Capital owns labor, and degrades it
just as the priest degrades the layman, or man
the woman, that thereby its power and rule may
be perpetuated. Now, we affirm that as human
wholeness is the grand aim of individual life,
that as woman and man, physically, mentally,
morally, and spiritually equilibrated, are the
highest earthly expression of Divine wisdom, so
society, which derives its type from them, finds
its highest expression in wholeness, or the ad
justment of all its parts so as to secure activity,
without contentious opposition. All women
and men are created equal, and are endowed
with certain inalienable rights which pertain to
the whole being, politically, religiously, so
cially.
Can it be otherwise than that the same stand
ard and practice shall obtain in society ? Cer
tainly not. We may cry peace! peace! but
there is no peace until the Idea of Wholeness
is practically acknowledged and sought to be
attained by all.
Upon this we base our hopes and labors for
reform in the future, with the full consciousness
that, though there maybe differences of opinion,
and though different women and men are speciallv adapted to certain work and unfit for cer
tain other work, yet all together constitute the
measure of human uses and symbolize industrial
wholeness. The various legitimate means of
life and progress everywhere chime in their
perpetual harmony of purpose. And we rise in
the scale of being just in proportion as we, in our
consciousness and volition, accord with the great
eternal Ideas of Wholeness, and practically bal
ance the scales of justice. The difference in our
illustration of the child and society is nominal.
We assume the child’s equilibrium, and proceed
to perpetuate it. The different departments and
parts of society are not in equilibrium, but by
effort this condition is to be attained, until dif
ferences will not be a synonym for contention ;
then the waste of effort ceases, and the social
and industrial energies produce, where now they
irritate and re-act.
We are not expecting to attain peace and
vigor by merely writing or announcing the con
dition of their existence. The significant words
of Emerson, “ Choose which ye will, truth or
repose,” ring in our ears, and every day we
tighten our armor for continued effort, with the
simple provision that we stand in the breach
and strike for justice and equality. Time will
render an account of persistent’ effort, which
will be effectual in proportion as it is wise.
We have no particular desire that people
should agree. Wholeness is not sameness. It
would be well, however, if we could agree to
disagree, and not stoop to the obstruction of each
other’s way. No one class can far precede the
others ; each must help ; and egotism is a cursed
thing. May it not be that all political, social,
and religious reformers constitute, in three
divisions, the Grand Army of Progress ? It seems
so to us ; and while we sincerely admire indi
vidual Wholeness which, at least, implies vigor,
justice, and virtue, we can but plead for social
Wholeness, which implies unity of effort, to
the end that each may have his or her own.
THE KEY TO KNOWLEDGE.
There is a refreshing philosophy of theology
in the following extract from a sermon lately
delivered by Rev. O. B. Frothingham of this
city :
Once we waited on the theologians to give us
the magic word, at whose utterance the gates
which open from our cavern into the light-of
day would roll back. Now, to understand the
theologians’ word is one of the undertakings
that we are ready to abandon. The difficulty
is to reveal the revelation ; to unveil the veil.
We are getting tired of looking on as at some
grand spectacle that is to be disclosed before
our eyes, by a few workmen who are toiling
behind the scenes to lift a curtain which still
hangs stubbornly before certain majestic but.
dumb statues of antiquity, and are thinking it
is high time to find out some truth for our
selves. The revelations of men who look away
from human life into a far-off literary world—
who take the wings of their imagination and
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, are illu
sive and unfruitful. They are productive of
conjecture, and guess, and surmise, and specu
lation, but of little else Their light is at the
best uncertain—it is commonly misleading.
Their teaching lacks authority, and it lacks
consistency—it bewilders more than it guides.
These great seers and prophets had life before
them just as we have. Their object was to get
a solution of life’s mystery—even such as we
desire—but their method was to look away
from life in order to get light upon it; to retire
to their closets in order to get at the secret
which was in the world; to burrow into the
recesses of their own minds in search of the key
which was to unlock the chambers of the ma
terial and human universe, to escape into the
regions of sentiment, that they might hear
the Btill small voice which counsellors and
kings must obey.
Such was not the method of Jesus. No meta
physician, or theologian, or closet-philosopher
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
85
was he, but a genuine child of nature. He lived into its parts, analyzing, pulverizing, blowing
in direct communication with the life of his substances into gas—its optics screwed into a
time, to the consideration of which he brought lens, and boring into a point, it is apt to miss
the keenest of observation, the finest of intelli those splendid combinations which reveal the
gences, the purest and sweetest of hearts. The spirit, movement, and genius of the whole. The
meaning of what he saw was revealed to him. specialists in science seldom throw light on the
The sunbeams were his teachers, and the show purposes and ends of things, The atoms are
ers, the grasses, the lilies, the birds, the pastur more than the eternities to them. The most
ing sheep, the mountain torrents, the harvest famous of them, lacking the sympathy that
fields, the sowers scattering their grain, the blends them with the whole, will deny all pur
fishermen hauling in their nets, the people.pray pose, all end, all design and significance. No
ing or trafficking in the temple, the children heap of information is equivalent to a truth.
playing in the square—in all these things he The physiologist may show us all there is in a
saw God. If he went away alone, it was for human "body, may explain how it is formed out
meditation and prayer—to the end that he of a tiny cell, how it is nourished by the assim
might keep clear and single the inward eye by ilation of food, how the secretions are made,
which he perceived the divine significance in how the condition of the brain affects intelli
gence ; but when he has set up his skeleton,
the common events of his day.
it
Two things of inestimable value Jesus has and clothed the with flesh, and covered it all
breathing garment
bequeathed to us. One is his method of seeking round with shown us a man. Thereof the skin,
he has
are worlds
revelations ; the other is the quality of vision by within not
worlds of meaning there that he has not
which revelations are made possible. This come upon, or guessed the existence of. All
method was the study of life—this vision was that we call affection, intelligence, heart, soul,
the loving intelligence.
spirit, whatever it be, is hidden trom him. That
The first point is obvious. The world is before sphere of fine sympathies and relations in which
us still; and life is before us—real as ever— he touches other beings like himself, higher,
richer than ever. Not a fact of the universe lower, wiser, simpler, better, worse, is to him
has been removed from its place ; cm the con as though it were not. In a word, he sees the
trary, many additional facts have been piled up carnal, lie does not see the divine. He sees the
under our observation. The world we live in, portion that belongs to the dust, not the portion
as compared with the world that Jesus lived in, that belongs to the deity. To see that, requires
is as the city of New York to a country village. an illuminated mind. The unilluminated man
We have new sufferings and new diseases—new sees no revelation of God’s truth or benignity
modes of living and dying; new interests and in the flowers—
new relations—new duties and new responsibili
“ The primrose on the river’s brim
ties. Married life is not the same—home life is
A yellow primrose is to him,
not the same—life of leisure and of business is
And it is nothing more.”
not the same. Men are not the same, nor women,
But the great poet says :
nor children. We have new doubts, beliefs,
<• Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
sentiments, fears, sorrows, aspirations. What
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys and fears,
shall reveal to us the meaning of this life of
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
ours? What can reveal it to us? Can any
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.”
thing but study of our life as it is, do it ? There
A mind thus illuminated and turned directly
it is before us, no doubt, full of order, and law,
and beautv, if we could but see it—full of wis upon our human life, not turned away to creeds
dom, too. Every thing in it appointed, arranged, and bibles and theologies, but turned directly
adjusted nicely to every other thing. No acci upon human life, has the revelation of God s
dents, no surprises, no untimely or disjointed will and purpose in human life. The meaning
events. All things well in their place, all things of God is wrought into the substances of things ;
tending upward toward perfection, all things into organic and inorganic matter ; into the hu
doing good service in their time, all things man frame; into the regulation of personal
provided for—every thing ministering to some habits; into private, domestic, social, civil, po
thing else—how are we to know it, to feel it ? litical life; into days and epochs; into events
and histories. If it is revealed to us at all. it
Clearly by looking at it, not away from it.
Let us come to the second condition. The must be revealed there. To the loving eye it
revealer is the Reason, the illuminated mind will be revealed.”
turned on life at any point. The illuminated
mind, I say again ; and by the illuminated mi nd
I mean the mind which is lighted by splendid
Among mere blunders we believe we have
ideas, and warmed by a deep and wide humani met with no richer specimen than this one, per
ty. God’s truth is wrought into the texture of petrated by a bell ringer in Cork :
our common life, and may be found there full
“ Oh, vis'! oh, yis1 Lost somewhere between
and glowing by him who has eyes to see it. But twelve o’clock and M’Kinney’s store in Market
the eyes that are to see it must have behind street, a large brass key. I’ll not be after tellin’
them, not speculation merely, but sentiment, yees what it is, but it’s the key of the bank,
heart, soul. They must be loving eyes, as well sure.”
as keen ones. And so I say that science, in the
A counsel being questioned by a judge to
ordinary sense of the word, is not the revealer.
Science uses the microscope, the spectrum, the know “ for whom he was concerned,” replied,
retort, the crucible—vea, the telescope, with “ I am concerned, my lord, for the plaintiff, but
wonderful skill; but while separating matter I am employed by the defendant.”
�86
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
WAYSIDE JOTTINGS IN
BRITAIN.
GREAT
NO. I.
Said a friend to us j ust before we started on
our tour to Great Britain in August last, “ You
can’t practice vegetarianism in that country
where there are no fruits.” “ Are there no
fruits there?” said I. “ Scarcely any,” was the
reply. “ Peaches and grapes are only grown in
hot-houses, and even apples are a meagre and
indifferent crop. Small fruits are not much at
best ; and, as for dried fruits, they are not in
the market.” Such was the doleful prospect
presented to the frugivorous tourist.
Well, after traveling through the length and
breadth of the country, from almost the ex
treme north of Scotland to the south coast of
England, and visiting, meanwhile, most of the
large cities, I had some little opportunity to
take items on a subject in which I was practi
cally interested, at least two or three times
daily. In the first place, the humidity of the
climate is such that one needs, and therefore
desires, a drier diet there than here. Just as on
sea, one naturally prefers more of “hard bis
cuit” (alias Graham crackers), and less of fruits
and other moist and juicy substances.
But, aside from all climatic considerations,
the vegetarian will experience no difficulty
whatever, as he travels from city to city, in ob
taining the very best of fruits, vegetables, and
farinaceous food. Instead of taking the usual
hotel fare, etc., for some two hours, laboring
through six, eight, or ten courses of soup, fish,
fowl, mutton, beef, dessert, etc., etc., with length
ened pauses between each (for the good natives
are strangers to the dispatch of our American
hotels), and finally finishing off with several
rounds of porter, claret, champagne, etc., the
traveler can go to the “ coffee-room,” order just
what he wants, and haw and when it shall be
prepared. Or, if he doesn’t like the extrava
gant bills at hotels, he can obtain, for a few
shillings per week, excellent private lodgings
(say a parlor and bed-room), with attendance
included, and order his meals as before. This
is really the better way. One is more comfort
able, more retired, better waited upon, and at
less expense than he would be at a hotel. You
can have, if you like (in Scotland at least), su
perb oat-meal porridge—better than you ever
ate in this country—for the imported article
(and that is all we have here) is always injured
by damp and otherwise, together with good
brown bread, excellent vegetables, and the
choicest of fruits.
In no cities in our own country have I ever
seen in the markets a finer supply of fruits and
at so trifling expense. (Think of a great “ Scotch
pint” full of splendid strawberries or goose
berries for three pence, and a pound of good
eating apples for the same money!) Some of
the imported fruits are higher, but we should
think none of them extravagant. Apples, pears,
plums, grapes, gooseberries, strawberries, and
other fruits, are plentiful and cheap. Some of
the large fruit stores in the cities are beautiful
beyond description. The “ small fruits ” con
tinue much longer in summer there than here ;
the climate is peculiarly adapted to them. The
abundant moisture that permeates the soil and
fills the very air, making it at times almost op
pressive, is most favorable to the growth of all
fruits and vegetables native to the island. The
raspberry, gooseberry, and strawberry, grow
much larger than with us; and, instead of that
keen, sharp' acid which people with a “ sweet
tooth ” take such exceptions to, they have a
mild, sweet, and delicious flavor.
In Aberdeen market I sa.w raspberries, goose
berries, strawberries, and currants, as late as the
middle of September; (they were done in Glas
gow some two or three weeks before ;) and I
was informed that these fruits begin to ripen
there almost as early as they do with us. The
berries which I saw were the last of the season,
and the market women called them “ poor
but I thought them very fine indeed. I tried
the experiment of putting a single strawberry
(an extra big one, of course, and rather irregu
larly shaped) into a .common-sized tumbler, and
found that it would not go half way to the bot
tom ! The gooseberries are of several varieties
and of different colors—yellow, green, pink, and
dark red—the green-colored ones being gener
ally the best. They are about twice as large
as we usually grow them here in Ohio, and are
very delicious ; the same may be said of the
raspberry. There were currants and huckle
berries in the market, much the same as we
have them in this country ; and in some of the
cities I saw cranberries, said to be grown, I
think, in the north of Scotland. The blackberry
(or “ bramble-berry,” as they call it—the black
currant is their “ blackberry ”) is only grown in
the wild state, and is very similar to our wild
blackberry.
Grapes, although commonly grown in hot
houses, are very fine, especially those grown in
the southern parts of England. Some of the
white grapes are excellent. Apples are rather
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
plentiful, at least in the cities ; they ripen later
than with us, and are inferior in quality, par
ticularly those grown far north. The Scotch
apples are usually very sour and crisp and rather
small; some of them are very fine cooked. The
best eating apples that I saw in Scotland, that
is, the best native apples, were the Scotch “ pip
pins,” a very small apple, with a mild, sub-acid.
The apples commanding the highest price are
those imported from America. Apples do best
in that climate when the trees are trained up
to i wall or to the side of a house, where they
cai have all the sunlight and heat possible, for
Great Britain is not a land of sunshine. Indeed,
during the three months that we were there,
the island seemed almost constantly enveloped
in mist and clouds ; and I said to the good peo
ple—who think the Americans very dark-col
ored—that it was no wonder they were white,
since the sun never shown upon them.
It is too far north, and there is too little sun
shine for peaches. They can only be grown in
hot-houses; and though they often look very
well, they are rather insipid. I saw at Salis
bury, England, nice-looking tomatoes growing
in the hot-houses, but they are seldom in the
market, imported or otherwise ; and many of
the country people have never seen one. Beau
tiful plums and pears are in the markets and
fruit stores, most of them imported from France
and Germany. Of dried and canned fruits there
are not so many, nor is there so great variety
there as here, chiefly because there is not that
demand for them by the people, who seem
scarcely to have learned either the luxury or
the worth of them. Canned fruits are to be
found in some of the cities (sometimes imported
from New York), but the great masses of the
people have never heard of such a thing. Did
wholesome fruits take among poor people the
place of the pipe and snuff-box, and among the
rich people the place of John Barleycorn, or
some other John (of whom I shall have some
thing to say hereafter), all would be better off.
The vegetables of Great Britain are very fine
indeed. If there are not so many native fruits
as there are in the warmer climates, the lack
of them is greatly atoned for in the abundance
and excellence of the native vegetables. The
jxitato is very much better than ours ; not any
larger, but drier and finer flavored. The turnip
is so far superior to those in this country, both
in size and quality, and especially in the pecu
liar sweetness of its flavor, that there is really
no comparison between it and the article grown
here under the same name. Of parsnips, car
87
rots, cabbage, Scotch cale and the like, there is
no lack, and of the best quality.
The vegetarian will rest assured, therefore,
that Great Britain is the last country in which
he need be compelled in practice to abandon his
faith. (And yet, the people, there as here, ask,
“ Why, what do you live on ?” as if there were
no “ living ” exclusive of meat, tea, and, one
may add—tobacco.) The stranger can obtain,
even on the streets and from the shops, good
brown bread, choice fruits, and plainly-cooked
vegetables. In London, fine large baked pota
toes, hot in the oven, are common on the street
corners.
'
S. W. D.
Xenia, Ohio, January, 1867.
IMPORTANCE OF PROPER FOOD.
[A little girl just entering on her “teens,”
and who has lived in a Hygienic family for sev
eral years, being requested to write an article
for the Gospel of Health, complied without
a moment’s hesitation, and the following is the
result of her first effort in the literary line.
We are of the opinion that many thousands of
full-grown American girls might derive profita
ble instruction by its careful perusal.]
“ People generally eat milk, sugar, and but
ter, and many other things, which are really
not food at all. I have read in some books
about sugar being useful and necessary food ;
but I havesince learned it is not food at all, and
that all kinds of seasonings are injurious. In
deed, proper food never requires anything with
it, and this will nourish the body most perfectly
if nothing is taken with it. If you should take
a handful of salt, or a chunk of butter, and eat
it by itself, it would make you sick. And so, if
persons eat proper food five or six times a day
sickness will be the result. But if proper food,
with no seasonings nor additions of any kind, is
eaten, in proper quantities, twice a day, it will do
all that food cando to give strength and preserve
health. One who has never tried the experi
ment can scarcely imagine what a change for the
better there will be in adopting a Hygienic diet,
and eating only two meals a day. Since I have
lived strictly according to this system, I have
grown stronger, got more rosy cheeks>and am
in better health in all respects.
“ Some folks think that if you eat only twice
a day, you will get so very hungry that you can
not help over-eating. But this is not so : When
you eat too frequently the stomach is over
worked, for it has to labor to get rid of the ex
cessive quantity, and this causes fatigue and
�88
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
weakness. If you wanted your house clean, and “ worst features ” removed. All whose grog
some one kept throwing dirt into it, you would geries are “reasonably respectable” will be
have to work too hard" to get it all out, and tolerated. And then we have the assurance that
might get sick. And this is the way you get the business of rumsellingis not to be diminished.
iick when you eat too much or too frequently. It is only to be placed in fewer hands. The
The stomach must have rest, like all other or same quantity is to be sold.
gans, or it will soon wear itself out. 1 know a
W ell, we fear this is too true, and we are of
little girl about my size who eats five or six the opinion that one “ respectable ” rumshop is
times a day, and she is hungry all the time, more mischievous in society than are ten low
and so long as her mother indulges her in this groggeries. Indeed, the more “respectable,"
way she will feel a continual craving. It is said the greater is their influence for evil. No drunk
to be very hard for mothers to deny their chil ard ever led a human being into habits of intem
dren food when they call for it; but it is better perance ; but moderate drinkers have influence
than to let them become sickly, and grow up fee in that direction. No low groggery ever caused
ble and useless. Some parents say that their a human being to take the first downward step
children eat all kinds of food and seasoning, i on the road to drunkenness; but every respecta
and between meals, and yet are well enough. ble drinking place in the country has turned the
But such children are never in good sound steps of many perditionward. We are of the
health. They are often sick of fevers, inflam j opinion that all the excise laws that ever were
mations, convulsions, &c., and many of them or ever can be enacted only make the matter
die of these or some other diseases. Many per worse. By “ regulating ” the traffic in intoxi
sons think they cannot work without eating cating drinks, and authorizing certain persons
flesh-meat, and drinking tea and coflee. But this to deal in them, they make the traffic, which
*s another mistake, for I know many vegetari in its very nature is infernal—an outrage on
ans who drink only water, and not that at God and man—“ respectable." If the whole
meals, who are always in good health, and work matter were left to common law, a remedy would
very hard. I advise all persons, and young per very soon be found in a “Vigilance Committee ”
sons especially, to adopt the Hygienic manner or something similar.
of living, and when they become old, not to de
part from it.”
Bread Thrown Upon the Waters.—The
President of the Franklin County (Pa.) FruitGrowers' Association writes us : “ Dr. R. T.
REASONABLY RESPECTABLE
CROC-SHOPS.
Trail & Co.—Dear Sirs : Inclosed find $5, for
which please send as many of the January Gos
The comments of our city papers on the Ex pels of Health, including a few copies of
cise law, passed at the last session of the Legis Hygeiana as you can afford for the money. I
lature, since its constitutionality has been am much pleased with the journal. It is not
affirmed by the Court of Appeals, are very too radical for some of us, although it is so far
various, as the papers are or are not in the in advance of public opinion generally, that
interest of the rumsellers, and some of them many will not see even the glimmer of its light.
quite amusing. The following is a specimen of Whatever quantity you send will be for gratui
logic as it is in rum :
tous distribution. I shall consider them as bread
“ It is not the object of the law to suppress the thrown upon the waters, or good seed sown
sale of liquor. It is only intended to prune the
evil of its worst features by closing up the low which may bring forth a rich harvest. I am
and disreputable groggeries where vice and very much pleased with your Hygeiana pros
crime are bred. Dealers who keep reasonably pect, and hope it will prove a success. Permit
respectable places, and who are willing to ob me here to offer a few suggestions, if they have
serve the restrictions imposed by the law, will
be allowed to continue their business. This not already been considered : that the best fea
class ought to be well satisfied, for the natural tures of the Vineland enterprise be laid down
effect of the new measure will be to increase the as a basis to keep out speculation ; and that it
patronage of the better places by the suppression be made obligatory on all property holders to
of others.
sow the road sides in grass lawn, and plant with
Of course it will never do to think of removtrees, etc.”
ini»1 the evil entirely ! That would be radical
and fanatical, and proscriptive, and in divers
“ I have not loved lightly,” as the man said
ways offensive to the knights of the toddy-stick. when he married a widow weighing three hun
The evil is only to be “ pruned ” a little, and its | dred pounds.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
NEW YORK STATE TEMPERANCE
SOCIETY.
We are glad to record that one more Tem
perance organization has taken a step in ad
vance. At the recent annual session of the
New York State Temperance Society, held at
Auburn, the following platform of principles
was announced:
Resolved, That, in view of the facts : 1. That
domestic wine is intoxicating; 2. That nearly
two-thirds of it is manufactured into brandy ; 3.
That intemperance is on the increase in wine
growing districts, especially among the youth
of both sexes ; we deprecate the production of
grapes for the manufacture of wiue, believing it
has an immoral tendency.
Resolved, That we recommend the vigorous
enforcement of all the restrictive and prohibit
ing provisions of the Excise law, and that we
further recommend the friends of Temperance to
petition the Legislature to extend the Metro
politan Excise Law over the entire state.
Resolved, That the approaching convention to
'amend the Constitution of the state of New
York should be regarded in the good Providence
of God as a fitting opportunity for the people to
declare in the new Constitution, “ that hence
forth no license in any form or under any cir
cumstance shall be granted in this state for the
manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors as a
beverage, and that such permission shall be
submitted by separate article to the voters of
the state for adoption or rejection concurrently
with the new Constitution which may be ap
proved by the convention.”
In view of the facts that the rum trade owes
all of its vitality, directly or indirectly, to the
abominable license system, and that nearly all
of our agricultural journals, and the great
majority of our political newspapers (conspicu
ous among which is the New York Evening
Post) are advocating and encouraging the busi
ness of wine-making, these are certainly import
ant resolutions. We hope they will be endorsed
by and echoed from every temperance meeting
which may be held from this day until the final
consummation of the Temperance Reformation.
True, they do not go quite far enough. But
they are steps in the right direction. The real
root of the evil is alcoholic medication. But
our temperance friends have not yet got their
eyes open wide enough to see this. Possibly,
however, they may in the good time coming.
Cato, being scurrilously treated by a low and
vicious fellow, quietly said to him: “A contest
between us is very unequal, for thou canst bear
ill language with ease, and return it with pleas
ure ; but to me it is unusual to hear and disa
greeable to speak it.”
89
How Paris Wives Get Rid of Their Hus
bands.—La Patrie relates the following start
ling incident : “ M. Sam relates that he was
standing at a ball given at the Tuileries, talking
to the great chemist. Dr. Lisfrank, when he
perceived him suddenly become pale, and move
from his position. M. Sam, fancying that his
friend had been taken ill, followed him out to
the Salle des Maréchaux. There, having re
covered his equanimity, he said,‘ I have just
seen a beautiful young bride waltzing with her
second husband. Now, lam perfectly convinced
she murdered her first husband. It had been a
love match ; but the young man discovered he
had made a fatal mistake, and his health visi
bly declined. One morning he was found dead
in his bedroom, which his wife had filled with
flowers, especially with hyacinths. Their poi
sonous emanations had evidently killed him.
On being summoned to inquire into the cause
of his death, I perfectly remember having re
lated in his wife’s hearing a case of poisoning
produced by these very flowers ; and, on learn
ing that a scandalous intrigue on her part had
been the cause of his misery, 1 have not the
slightest doubt that the wretched woman took
this mode of regaining her liberty. This tragic
anecdote recalls to me another, which one of
the first physicians in Paris related a few days
ago as having occurred to him during the course
of his practice. He had been for some time in
attendance on a wealthy merchant, whose ill
ness, though of a painful nature, was not dan
gerous. Much to Dr. N.’s surprise, the symptoms
became complicated, and M. X. got rapidly
worse. Dr. N. asked to see the mixture his
patient had been taking during the night, and
remarked to the servant that the glass from
which he had apparently drank was not clean.
‘ No one, Sir, touches it but Madame,’ replied
the servant. Pouring a little water into it, Dr.
N. put it to his lips. He then asked to see
Madame X. alone. She was young and lovely.
‘Is my husband worse?’ she inquired, with
great apparent anxiety* ‘Yes, Madame; but
he must improve rapidly.
Do you hear,
Madame ?—in a week he must be cured.’ The
lady’s cheek grew pale. ‘ But, Doctor—’ ‘ You
have understood me, Madame ; good morn’ng.’
The patient recovered within the given time,
and M. and Madame X. gave a ball last week
and looked as jolly a couple as you would wish
to see.”—[Paris Correspondent of the Morning
Star.
One of “ the sex” writes that “ though a few
American ladies live in idleness, the majority as
yet work themselves into early graves, giving
the men an opportunity to try two or three in
the course of their own vigorous lives.”
Two ears, and but a single tongue,
By Nature’s laws to man belong ;
The lesson she would teach is clear,
“ Repeat but half of what you hear.”
A singular innovation was made at a funeral
in Paris the other day. Instead of a laudatory
discourse in honor of the individual interred,
one of his friends read extracts from a newspa
per in his praise.
�90
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
THE LIFE OF A RADICAL.
My father was independent. T do not think
he ever thought of the consequence of any spe
cific act. Was it right?’if so, it must be per
formed. This made him a host of enemies, and
none were more bitter than the clergy. I re
member that he was the member of a Baptist
Association, and not one but were bitterly op
posed to him.
It was at the period when the Liberator began
to be published in Boston, and we took the pa
per, its editor, Mr. Garrison, visited our village,
and of course stopped at our house. He was
regarded as an infidel, and the most trouble
some fellow in the country. He was announced
to deliver a lecture in our church. At the hour
appointed the building was crowded to its ut
most capacity with a throng of noisy town
loafers, who, hearing of the proposed advocacy
of the unwholesome doctrines of “ abolition ” by
the chief mover in it all, came for the express
purpose of breaking up the meeting. This was
easily done with the help of some worthless
boys, and through the connivance of respectable
men of wealth in the town. My father, my
mother, and one or two others, were the only
supporters he had. The roughs made short
work of it, put out the lights, and cleared the
house within ten minutes. We were compelled
to flee for our lives, and were scarcely in sight
of our hopse before we saw the light blazing up
ward against the dark nightsky. Our church
was on fire, and before we reached our house,
the conservatives had been there before us, for it,
too, burst into flames, and we were compelled
to pass the night as best we could, at the hum
ble farm-house of a neighbor. Every thing we
had in the world was consumed, except the
clothes we wore. It was in the dead of winter.
My father was penniless, houseless, and hated
of every man in the town. And yet there was
a certain sort of respect accorded to him, that
showed that the truth was working. My sisters
readily obtained employment at a farm-house.
My mother wrote a little, and got enough to take
care of herself. My brothers and myself sought
and obtained work in various pursuits, one as a
clerk, and I as a farm boy. Father began to ad
dress himself to the work of reform entirely.
Heretofore he had not devoted himself to this
exclusively. Now, however, God had taken
away all hinderances ; so he consecrated his
taients and time entirely to this work. He
went from town to town, and district to district,
teaching the sin of American Slavery. He was
a man of powerful frame, with great black eyes
looking out from under shaggy iron gray eye
brows. His look was as stern and forbidding as
that of Alpine ('rags in winter. There was no
grace or beauty in his style. He spoke plain
truths, and eschewed all ornament and all cir
cumlocution.
As I have said, not a minister sustained him.
There came at last to his net, three only out
of the whole region round about, who might be
called supporters. One vi as a teacher who read
the Liberator, and taught the village school;
another was a long-haired reformer, who lived
a lone, bachelor life, subsisting chiefly upon
vegetables, and talked reform constantly; and
a bloomer-costumed Amazon, who came no one
knew whence or how, and lived chiefly by prac
tice of certain medical arts, phrenological lec
tures, examination of heads, and operating in
the capacity of a medium in spiritual manifesta
tions. These formed the party outside our family,
who sustained my father, and I may say, be^
lieved in him.
The town had a population of one thousand
souls, and there were of course four churches.
Each of them about as prosperous as my father’s
church, save this, lhe Episcopal Rector took
the only persons of wealth ; the Presbyterians,
the timid and middle class ; and the Baptist and
Methodist strove, one with another, to get all
that remained.
The three ministers dragged out a miserable
life of servitude and obedience to public will,
and never dared so much as to notice my father*
lest their constituency should suffer thereby.
It took us all nearly a year to get enough
together to think of having a home. This we
did by combined effort. I putting in my little
earnings with the rest. We built a plain house
of humble pretensions, and all came back again
to the work of rdform.—[Church Union.
THE YOUNG MEN OF OUR CITIES.
Rev. Dr. Osgood, in a recent work entitled
“American Leaves,” gives the following painful
but truthful sketch:
“The number of youth in our cities who are
seeking some kind of employment that allows
them to have a delicate hand, and wear kid
gloves and polished boots, is enormous, and fur
nishes a fearful number of recruits to the army
of vice and crime. What the cause of the disin
clination to the manual arts is, it is not always
easy to say ; and certainly, in the nature of
things, there is far more demand for intellect
and far more exercise of manly power in tilling
the soil or building houses and ships, than in
selling silks and calicoes behind the counter.
It would be a great gain if ten thousand clerks
could at once go into the fields and workshops,
where they are wanted, and leave their places
to ten thousand young women, who have noth
ing to do but to make their poor fingers the
hopeless rivals of the sewing-machine, and
to anticipate the uncertain time when some
young man. not yet able to pay for his own
board and clothes, shall venture upon the enter
prise of taking a wife less thrifty than himself.
It is partly from the false feminine notions of
gentility that much of the rising aversion to
manual labor springs, and much harm comes
from the frequent preference of the dainty swain
of the counter over the far abler worker at the
plough or plane bv sentimental maidens, who
have studied out their ideas of the gentleman
from trashy novels, and not from the good old
Bible and its noble standard of the gentle
heart.”
Thirteen objections were once given by a
young lady for declining a match—the first
twelve being the suitor’s twelve children, and
the thirteenth the suitor himself.
�91
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
Paris a Doomed City.—London Society, in an
article on “The Beaux Mondes of Paris and
London,” utters the following fearful, and we
fear, truthful prophecy concerning the most gay
and luxurious city in the world :
Paris has reached a climax in what is gener
ally called civilization that cannot be surpassed.
She lias adorned and beautified herself with a
rapidity and splendor that are without a paral
lel. She is the most beautiful capital in the
world—the queen of cities ; she has put out of
sight all that can offend the taste of the most
refined critics ; she has driven further and fur
ther back all the signs of poverty and labor
which might offend the eye or suggest a thought
inconsistent with the opulence and gayety with
which it is her desire to impress her visitors;
she is a very Sybarite of cities ; but with all her
magnificence of decoration, with all her lavish
outlay and ever-changing caprice, which consti
tute her the leader of fashion throughout
Europe, she carries within herself the elements
of her own ruin, which cannot be far distant.
No society can last long which is so rotten at
its core, where profligacy reigns, and all sense
of propriety is at a discount.
The history of the world supplies abundant
instances of cities which have reached a climax
of refined splendor, and, being lifted up in their
pride, have overlooked virtue, and have been
dashed to the ground, and have crumbled to
ruin ; nor need France go far to look for such an
example. In the period before the great French
revolution society had become corrupt. They
who ought to have been examples of virtue
made use of their high and exalted position for
the indulgence of their evil passions, and saw in
it only opportunities for a vicious life. Even
now men tremble at the recollection of the aw
ful judgment that fell upon them, which has
left that fair and beautiful country in a state of
ferment from which there seems to be no repose,
and which can only be kept under by the firm
hand of a great military power which is ever
ready to repress the first indication of the pop
ular mind daring to think for itself.
Pure Wines and Temperance.—Dr. Stone,
of San Francisco, says he is fully convinced that
the manufacture and introduction of pure wines
into general use will not diminish intemper
ance, as has been supposed. Full two-thirds of
all the wine manufactured is converted into
brandy, and in the wine districts intemperance
is on the increase, extending to the youth of
both sexes.—Exchange.
The exercise of a little common sense, will
enable any physician in any part of the world,
or any man, woman, or child, who has arrived
at a condition of reasoning, to see that all use
of the alcoholic element, as drink or medicine,
must conduce to intemperance.
Let us give them a very simple illustration.
Mercury is a poison. In all forms and prepara
tions it injures the vital organization, and in
large doses tends to induce the inflammatory
condition of the mouth and salivary glands,
technically termedptyalism or salivation; though
they may not occasion manifest local inflamma
tion, they do, nevertheless, produce some degree
of the same or a similar morbid condition. They
can never be taken without injury exactly pro
portioned to quantity.
Alcohol conduces to intoxication. Large doses
occasion drunkenness. Small quantities pro
duce a slight degree of intoxication, termed
stimulation. But, as the alcoholic element is
always a poison, its use in any form is injuri
ous exactly in ratio of the quantity taken, no
matter whether taken in the form of rum,
brandy, wine, cider, porter, lager, etc., etc.
A Fine Lady.—We clip the following para
graph from the New York Tribune :
“ For the Paris Exhibition.—At No. 544
Broadway is a cooking-stove which cost $1,000.
The boiler, tank, and pot closet, are of German
silver, and the whole is as splendid as a piano.
Of course, it embraces latest improvements. In
cooking, a current of air passes through the
oven, and bread is baked in a brick oven. With
such a stove, a fine lady might be induced to
make herself useful.”
The diabolical innuendo of the writer is that a
fine lady isn’t useful! Was there ever a more
preposterous absurdity ? Half the commerce
of the world depends on her finery for its ex
istence. All of the dry goods’ merchant princes
owe their fortunes to her disposition to display
fine things. Every milliner’s and mantua-maker’s shop in the land may bless her desire to
shine in frills and flounces for their meagre
bread and butter. The Tribune itself is in
debted to the fine ladies for one-half of its im
mense advertising patronage. Indeed, discon
tinue fine ladies, and the controversy between
the Tribune and Post on the subject of “Pro
tective Tariff and Free Trade,” which has raged
for twenty years, and bids fair to continue so
long as they both shall live, would be deprived
of three-quarters of its facts and illustrations.
We doubt if either of these papers could live if
there were no fine ladies.
Carnivora and Herbívora.—An exchange
says:
“ A dinner was given, near Paris, recently, of
which the principal dishes were shark, horse,
dog, and rat.”
A dinner was given, in this city recently, of
which the principal dishes were bread, apples,
potatoes, and beans. Which dinner indicates
the higher grade of civilization?
4
�92
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
A Marvelous Medicine.—A writer in the
Religio-Philosophieal Journal gives a wondrous
statement of a medicine which is greatly relied
on for the cure of mortal or immortal maladies
in one of the “ spheres ” or “ grand divisions of
the spirit land.” We have much faith in the
remedy, and believe that more of it could be
used by people “ in the form ” with advantage :
“ The medicine most in vogue there is that
of Namm oc Esnes, sometimes used on earth.
When well applied and digested, it there, as
here, effects the most marvelous cures. I may
state, however, that the people on earth spell
the name of this great remedy backwards ; for
here the letters are reversed. Every one can
find and use it, and it is already being applied
to the cure of many ills.”
Canada.—Canada subscribers will send 12
cents extra for postage.
More or Less.—Send us whatever sum you
can afford the cause, from ten cents to ten dollars
or more, and we will return its value in the
Gospel of Health.
Clubs.—Is there one earnest Health Re
former in tliis country who cannot send us a
club of subscribers ?
To Editors.—Country papers and magazines
which give the Gospel of Heat.th a proper
notice, or publish its table of contents, will be
entitled to an exchange.
As we Expected.—Many agents who had
sent in clubs to the Herald before they saw the
Prospectus for the Gospel, write us that the
clubs for another year will be sent to the Gospel,
and not to the Herald. Of course.
Our Address.—Recollect that subscriptions
for the Gospel of Health, and all communica
tions relative to it, and all orders for books, or
goods of any kind, to insure prompt attention,
should be addressed, “ R. T. Trail & Co., No. 97
Sixth Avenue, New York.”
Advertising Rates.—Four lines, or less, $1;
each additional line, 25 cents. One column,
$25 ; one page, $40. When advertisements of
half a column, or more, are continued without
change for three or more months, a reduction of
twenty per cent, will be made.
Anonymous.—We can pay no attention to
anonymous communications. We do not desire
to publish names without permission, but, as
an evidence of good faith, and for many other
reasons which could be named, we must have
the name of the writer, or the article must go
into our waste basket.
Specimen Numbers.—Many persons write
Gqspel vs. Herald.—Many of the subscribers
us to send them specimen numbers, and forget
to enclose the requisite dimes. Please read our to the Herald of Health have requested us to
transfer their subscriptions to the Gospel of
Prospectus more carefully.
Health. This is impossible. We have nothing
Canvassers.—We offer special terms and further to do with the Herald, except to run
extraordinary inducements to persons who will “ opposition to imposition.” Those who wish
make it a business to canvass for subscribers. for the Gospel had better subscribe for it.
Send stamps for terms and circulars.
How to Canvass.—The best way to obtain
Our Illustrations.—These will largely in subscribers is, to leave specimen numbers of the
crease our expenses, but we shall confidently Gospel of Health at each of the dwelling
rely on the efforts of our friends to extend our houses, stores, and workshops, in your neighbor
circulation, so that we may continually improve hood for examination. In a few days thereafter
call for them and solicit subscriptions. In this
in this attractive feature.
manner a hundred numbers will enable an agent
Certificates of Agency.—We will send to to canvass a large territory.
any person, on receipt of request and satisfactory
Geometrical Proposition.—We have a plan
references, certificates of agency, authorizing
them to receive money on our account, for for annihilating the drug-medical system in less
than ten years. It is this : Let each subscriber
subscriptions to the Gospel of Health.
send us one new name in 1867 ; each subscriber
The Present Number.—Can our friends do in 1867 send us a new name for 1868, and so
themselves, their neighbors, us, and everybody on to the end of the chapter. A little arithme
else, a greater good, at a small expense, than tic will demonstrate not only its practicability,
by circulating a few copies of the present num but its infallibility. We will wager all Hygeiber among their neighbors, and asking them to ana on the result.
read carefully.
Non-Subscribers.—Pursuant to a request in
Pay Your Own Postage.—We receive our Prospectus, we have received several thou
several letters a day requesting information on sands of names, to many of whom we have sent
a variety of subjects which it is of no earthly ad onr first number. But we learn that, in a few
vantage to us to give, but which may be of instances, those who forwarded the names have
importance to the writer, min ms the stamp for neglected to subscribe for the Gospel, or to
return postage. A three-cent stamp is a small solicit subscriptions, on the supposition that all
matter per se, but several thousands of such names sent to us, as well as all persons sending
letters in a year would impose on us an un them, would receive the Gospel gratuitously.
reasonable tax for the privilege of working for This is a mistake. The only way to be sure of
nothing.
the Gospel is to subscribe for it.
�93
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
WORKS BY DR. TRALL.
GRANITE STATE HEALTH INSTITUTION,
(Prepaid by Mail. )
HILL, N. H.
Hydropathic Encyclopaedia......................................... $4 50
Hydropathic Cook Book............................................. 1 50
Hygienic Hand Book...................... ,.......................... 2 00
Diptheria. .................................................................... 1 60
Sexual Physiology........................................................ 2 00
Sexual Pathology......................................................... 2 00
Home Treatment for Sex-Abuses............................... 50
Uterine Dis. and Displacements................................. 3 50
...................
“
Colored Plates . ... 6 00
Water-Cure for the Million .. ..................................
35
Diseases of the Throat and Lungs ............................ 25
>^rize Essay on Tobacco.............................................. 20
Prize Essay on Temperance.....................
20
The Alcoholic Controversy......................................... 50
The True Temperance Platform....... . .......................
60
Alcoholic Medication ................................................
30
Problems of Medical Science.................................... 20
Principles of Hygeio-Therapy....................................
20
The True Healing Art.................................................
35
Health and Diseases of Woman................................
20
Lecture on Drug Medication........ ..............................
20
Lecture on Nervous Debility.....................................
20
The Complete Gymnasium ....................................... 2 00
Anat. and Phys. Plates................................................. 20 00
Phys, and Path. Charts...............................
12 00
WORKS EDITED BY DR. TRALL.
Fruitsand Farinacea................................................... $2 00
Accidents and Emergencies........................................
30
Hydropathy for the People......................................... 1 50
Theory of Population.................................................. 40
Hydropathic Review ................................................... 3 00
Milk Trade in New York.............................................
50
Mysteries of Nature..................................................... 2 00
Dress Reform (Mrs. Harman)...................................... 20
WORKS IN PREPARATION BY DR. TRALL.
Principles of Hygienic Medication.......................... $12 00
Physiology and Hygiene for Schools......................... 2 00
Philosophy of Human Nature.................................... 3 00
VALUABLE WORKS FOR SALE.
Science of Human Life.................................................$3
Woman and her Era.............................................
4
The Empire of the Mother.........................................
The Unwelcome Child.................................................
Fowler’s Phrenology.. ...........................
1
50
00
80
75
75
COLLEGE TEXT-BOOKS.
(By Express.)
Gray’s Anatomy............................................................ 87 00
Dalton’s Physiology...................................................... 5 25
Youman’s Chemistry................................................... 2 00
Bedford’s Obstetrics..................................................... 5 50
Erichsen’s Surgery..................................................... 6 50
Dunglison’s Med. Dictionary. .................................. 6 75
Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.................... --....12 00
This institution is located in one of the finest regions
of the “Old Granite State,” on the direct route from
Boston to the White Mountains. The cars bring patients
within a few rods of its door.
The establishment is one of the oldest in the country,
and its physician is one of the most experienced in the
treatment of all the varied forms of chronic disease,
whether of the male or female organization.
For further particulars, please inclose stamp for circu
lar, and address
W. T. VAIL, M. D.,
Hill, N. H.
G. H. SALISBURY,
Manufacturer of All Kinds of Crackers
of
A Superior Quality,
436 Greenwich Street, New York.
GRAHAM
CRACKERS
Prepared on strictly Hygienic principles, according to
directions of R. T Trall, M. D., constantly
on hand.
All orders filled at‘shortest notice.
PHILADELPHIA HYGIENIC INSTITUTE.
Dr. WILSON’S Establishment is now located at 1109
Girard Street, above Chestnut. This Institution is very
favorably located. The situation is central, pleasant, and
healthy. The rooms are spacious, well ventilated and
attractively furnished. Patients receive the personal at
tention of the doctor and wife, and may rely on skillful,
careful, and attentive treatment. We use no drug medi
cation. Our table is supplied with a variety of well cooked
food. Persons visiting the city can be accommodated with
rooms and board. Address
R. WILSON, M. D.,
1109 Girard Street,
PHIL A DELPHIA.
FAMILY PANGYMNASTIKON.
An improved and more convenient apparatus, which
answers all the indications, and costs but one-third as
much as that which has hitherto been sold under this
title, has just been invented. It is simple and durable,
and an admirable contrivance for enabling invalids to
exercise in their own rooms. Moreover, it can be carried
in one corner of a carpet-bag. Price, $5. Send orders
to R. T. Trail & Co.
Dr. N. R. ADAMS,
Physician, and Surgeon,
SYRINGES.
Bridgeport, Gloucester Co.,
(By Mail Prepaid.)
Mattson’s Improved....................................... • - ....... $3 00
NEW JERSEY.
HAND
MILLS.
(By Express.)
Large Size.................................................................
pm all Size........................................................................................
G. W. BACON & CO.,
American Booksellers and Publishers,
$8 00
0®
NO.
48 paternoster row,
LONDON, ENGLAND.
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
94
N. D. THOMPSON, M. D.,
Hygienic Physician.
Swedish Movements for Diseases of long standing.
No. 149 West Sixteenth Stbeet, New York.
A few invalids can find a pleasant home, with skillful
physicians, and favorable surroundings for restoring to
health. Hygienic boarding.
HIGHLAND WATER-CURE.
H. P. Burdick, M. D., and
Mrs. Mart Bryant Burdick, M. D.,
Physicians.
Send for circulars. Address
Alfred, Alleghany Co., N. Y.
J.
F. SANBORN, M. D.,
HYGIENIC PHYSICIAN AND DENTIST,
E. YODER, M. D„
HYGIENIC
PHYSICIAN.
Residence and Office,
Third Street, between Landis Avenue and Elmer Street,
Vinela/nd, N. J.
fi®* All diseases successfully treated without the use of
drugs.
Z. P. GLASS, M. D.,
HYGIENIST.
Address letters and telegrams to Box 1,094, Quincy, IU.
Patients at a distance visited promptly.
Mrs. M. E. COX, M. D.,
HYGIENIC
PHYSICIAN
AND LECTURER,
CHESTER, N. H.,
Desires to enter into communication with Health and
Dress Reformers who would like lectures in their lo
calities.
Mrs. Cox, with competent assistants,will open, for the
summer the “Old Homestead,” lor the reception of a
few patients who are willing to live on strictly Hygienic
diet. Invalids will not find magnificent accommodations,
but good conditions of health. We offer them careful
and judicious attention, and proper diet, with the purest
air in New England. Address
B. T. COX,
Chester, N. H.
ECONOMY IS WISE—HEALTH IS WEALTH.
THE HYGIENIC COOK-BOOK;
OR, HOW TO COOK
Without the use of salt, butter, lard, or condiments.
A book for those who eat to live. Eighty pages. Forty
kinds of bread, cakes, pies, puddings, etc., palatable,
nutritious, and healthful. How to prevent dyspepsia,
causes of summer complaints, etc.
“Just what is wanted in every family.”—E. Yoder,
M. D.
“Will save more than the cost in one day.”—Every
body.
Price by mail, 20 cents ; $1 75 per dozen.
Mbs. M. E. COX, M. D.,
Chester, N. H.
M. AUGUSTA FAIRCHILD, M. D„
HYGIENIC PHYSICIAN,
HANNIBAL, Mo.
PREMIUM DRESS PATTERNS.
Patterns of the Premium Dress for Women will be
sent by mail on receipt of one dollar. Address, Ellen
Beard Harman, M. D., care of R. T. Trail & Co., 97 Sixth
avenue, New York.
PREMIUM DRESS PHOTOGRAPHS.
Photographs of the author of the Premium Dress for
Women, in costume, will be sent by mail on receipt of
25 oents and postage stamps. Send orders to R. T.
Trail & Co.
TABOR, FREMONT CO., IOWA.
All diseases successfully treated with Electricity, Mag
netism, Bathing. Gymnastics, Movement-cure, and other
Hygienic agencies. Positively no drugs given.
WATERS’
SQUARE AND UPRIGHT PIANOS, MELODEONS
AND
CABINET ORGANS, .
The Best Manufactured.
TO LET, and rent allowed, if purchased. Monthly pay*
ments received for the same. Second hand Pianos
at bargains, from $60 to $225. Old Pianos taken
in exchange. liberal discount to teachers
and clergymen. Cash paid for sec ndhand Pianos. Pianos tuned and re
paired. New 7 octave Pianos for
$275 and upward.
Warerooms, 481 Broadway, New York.
HORACE WATERS.
HYGIENIC HOME,
GENEVA, KANE COUNTY, ILL.,
By John B. Gully, M. D.,
Thirty-five miles from Chicago, on the Chicago and
Fulton Air Line Railroad.
APPARATUS FOR LECTURERS.
For $100 we will furnish the following:
Dr. Trail’s Anatomical and Physiological Plates, six in
number; a painting of Powers’ Greek Slave; a painting,
taken from life, of the figure of a woman deformed by
tight lacing, to contrast with the preceding ; paintings of
the male and the female skeletons; paintings represent
ing the vital organs in their normal position, and as de
formed and displaced by fashionable dress; a painting
representing the different kinds of uterine displacements;
and a painting representing the fcetus in various stages
of development. The paintings are all on light canvas,
and with the plates, can be carried conveniently in a
small trunk.
B. T. TRALL & CO.
IMPROVED RUPTURE TRUSS.
We are prepared to supply persons afflicted with Rup
ture or Hernia with a new and improved article, which the
patient can adjust for himself. The Pad-spring is so
arranged as to make upward and inward pressure, thereby
avoiding all injury to the spermatic cord.
Price, only $5.
In ordering a Truss from a distance, send a mea
sure round the body—take two inches below the hip
bone.
R. T. TRALL & CO.
HOUSES TO RENT IN HYGEIANA.
Several persons have proposed to erect a score or two
of nice cottage houses in Hygeiana, early in the season,
and rent them to parties who will furnish good refer
ences as to ability and character for the term of five
years for $50 per year each, payable in advance. If
the parties renting will bind themselves to make cer
tain improvements in fruit trees, vines, etc , which will
be named from time to time, at their expense, they can
have all of the proceeds of the same, and their rent re
paid at the end of fitje years, and have an equal interest
in what the places will sell for ; and it shall be at their
option whether to buy or sell one half interest in the
same.
For further information, address
R. T. TRALL & CO.,
No. 97 Sixth Avenue, New Yqrki
�THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
95
NEW ILLUSTRA.TED
PHYSIOGNOMY; or, ‘SIGNS OF CHARACTER,”
As manifested in Temperament and External Forms,
AND ESPECIALLY IN THE
cc ZEi TT TvT -A- TSJ"
F
C E
DIVINE.”
Large 12mo, 768 pages. Price $5. With more than 1,000 Engravings.
Orders reoeived by R. T. TRALL & CO., No. 97 Sixth avenue, New York.
A SPECIAL REQUEST.
THE CHRISTIAN HERALD,
AU persons who see this advertisement, wiU greatly
oblige us, and probably benefit others, by sending us the
names and post office address of aU invalids in their
vicinity; also of aU friends of Hygeio-Therapy, or
Health Reform • and also of aH who are or have been
subscribers to the “Water-Cure Journal,” “Hygienic
Teacher,” “Herald of Health,” “Water-Cure World,”
“Western Water-Cure Journal,” “Health Journal for
the People,” “Laws of Life,” “HaU’s Journal of
Health,” or the “ Phrenological Journal.”
Devoted to the advocacy of Primitive Christianity, in
Theory’ and Practice, containing twenty-four double
column pages to each number. It acknowledges the
authority of no Creed but the Bible. TermB, $2 per
year ; one number, P2 cents. New vol. begins March,
’66. Address,
J. W. KARR, Publisher.
Eureka, Ill.
• s. H. HUNT, M.D., Hygienic Physician,
r*eoria, Illinois.
CaUs from a distance promptly attended to, either in
person or by letter.
A SEMI-MONTHLY PERIODICAL,
SPECIAL NOTICE.
All communications for R. T.Trall, as weU as for R. T.
Trail & Co., should be addressed to No. 97 Sixth avenue,
New York. Wherever Dr. Trail maybe, his letters will
be forwarded to him, if directed as above.
�96
THE GOSPEL OF HEALTH.
BLOOMINGTON
NURSERY.
HYGEIANA AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL.
Fifteenth year, Eight large Green-houses, 275 acres
To any person who will establish an Agricultural
Fruit, Ornamental, and Nursery stock—a very large and
School on our domain, we will donate fifty acres of land,
complete assortment, including
with the proviso that the grantee shall purchase as much
500,000 APPLE, 1 to 4 year, $50 to $140 per 1,000.
more, and devote the whole one hundred acres to the
150,000 PEAR, standard grafts, 1,000, $120.
purposes of an Agricultural College. All the emolu
20,000 HARDY CHERRY; also Plum and Peach.
C00,000 GRAPE, on over 25 acres of vines; best leading ments shall be the proprietors. We have no manner of
sorts, as Adirondae, Concord, Catawba, Clinton, Delaware, doubt that this enterprise can easily be made very profit
Diana, Hartford, Ives, Iona, Rogers’ Hybrids, 17 Nos., of able as well as very useful. It can be started with a
small capital. Address
which No. 4 by the 1,000.
R. T. TRALL, M. D.
30,000 each, CURRANT and DOOLITTLE RASP
BERRY.
100,000 STRAWBERRY, over 40 sorts.
500,000 APPLE STOCKS, 1 and 2 year.
GARDENER WANTED.
500,000 APPLE ROOT-GRAFTS, in winter, 10,000, $100.
1,000,000 OSAGE ORANGE, first class, 1,000, $3; 100,000.
A person who thoroughly understands “ Truck Gard
$250.
ening ’’ may find steady employment and fair wages at
2,000 ALTHEA, named double, two feet, 100, $12.
20,000 ROSES, aB classes.
“ Eastern Hygeian Home,” Florence, N. J., after the first
of April next. Address
5,000 PEONIES, etc.
Send two red stamps for wholesale and retail catalogues.
R. T. TRALL, M. D.
F. K. PHCENIX,
Bloomington, McLean Co., Hl.
PRINCIPLES OF HYGIENIC MEDICATION.
By R. T. TRALL, M. D.
Having at length finished all of the books on our desk
catalogue preceding the large work, we are now engaged,
as busily as half a dozen other avocations will permit, in
preparing this for the printer. The retail price cannot be
less than $12. But those who have sent us $6 will have
the work at that price, whatever may be the actual coBt
of publication. We cannot, however, accept any more
advance subscriptions at that rate. The price to the
trade will probably be $8, and all who send us this
amount between this time and the announcement of its
publication day. will receive the work. Many corres
pondents have written us to inquire when it will be pub
lished. But this question, for reasons which will be
obvious on a moment’s reflection, we cannot with pro
priety answer. We can only say that we shall do it as fast
as it can be well done, and no faster. It will be pub
lished in three volumes of 750 pages each, and will be a
complete library of Hygeio-Therapy. Send orders to R.
T. Trail A Co.
HOW TO GET GOOD BY DOING GOOD.
The friends of Health Reform generally, and the prac
titioners of our system especially, who desire to make
the Hygienic System or their business known in their
neighborhoods, cannot do better than distribute (gratui
tously if need be) a few specimen numbers of the pre
sent issue among the people. It will pay, For this pur
pose we will furnish them at something less than actual
cost, say $12 for one hundred copies, and $100 for one
thousand.
BACK NUMBERS OF THE GOSPEL.
We have a few hundred complete sets of the Gospel
of Health (from July to December, inclusive), and
several thousands of the July number, which we will sell
at one-half the cost of publication—that is, $3 50 per
hundred, and $25 per thousand. We will furnish them
in full sets, or such numbers as may be preferred.
Wherever they have been distributed, we have heard a
good account from them ; and if the friends of Health
Reform desire to bring the subject under the notice of
their neighbors, they can have an opportunity to do
much good at little expense.
B. T. TRALL A CO.
HYGIENIC FARMER WANTED.
We wish to employ a Farmer, who is a strict Vegeta
rian, and who understands fruit culture in all its branches.
He must be well acquainted with grape-culture, especially
of the Delaware and Concord varieties. Address
R. T. TRALL A CO.,
No. 97 Sixth avenue, New York.
HEALTH CONVENTION.
The Fourth Annual Session of the World’s Health Asso
ciation will be held in Chillicothe, Ohio, on the second
Wednesday in June, 1867. We hope to see the friends of
Health Reform present in large numbers,
R. T. TRALL, M. D., President.
ELLEN BEARD HARMAN, M. D., Secretary.
HYGEIANA NO. 1.
A pamphlet, entitled as above, has been published, de
scribing the tract of land in Southern Ohio which we have
purchased for founding aVegetarian Colony, and explain
ing the plan of organization, etc. Price 15 cents; ten
copies for one dollar. Send orders to
R. T. TRALL A CO.,
No. 97 Sixth avenue, New York.
FRUIT FARMS FOR SALE.
We offer to sell ten thousand acres of land in Franklin,
Ross county, Ohio, in building lots, and in farms of ten
acres. The price is $200 for each farm of ten acres, with
out regard to location, and $200 for each building lot,
without regard to size. We will sell as many building
lots or farms as above, to one person, as he or she wishes
to purchase, subject, in all cases, to the conditions men
tioned in Hygeiana No. *1. To unmarried women we will
sell building lots or ten-acre farms at $100 each.
R. T. TRALL, M. D.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Gospel of Health and Journal of the True Healing Art. Vol. II. No. 8. February 1867
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: New York
Collation: [49]-96 p. ; 24 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed in double columns. Contents: What is temperance? -- Women's rights question --Vegetarian festival in England -- A 'strong-minded' woman -- Suffrage for women - Importance of proper food -- Reasonably respectable grog shops.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
[R.T. Trall]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1867]
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5395
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
[R.T. Trall]
Subject
The topic of the resource
Health
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (The Gospel of Health and Journal of the True Healing Art. Vol. II. No. 8. February 1867), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Conway Tracts
Health
Temperance
Women's Rights
-
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PDF Text
Text
����
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
[Travels in South Kensington]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1882?]
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5601
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: 4 p. ; 18 cm.
Collation: [4] p.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A review, by an unknown reviewer, of Moncure Conway's work 'Travels in South Kensington'. The review, from 'The Times'. December 9,1882, has been copied in handwriting on 4 pages of blue notepaper headed The Club, Bedford Park, Chiswick.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
[Unknown]
Publisher
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[s.n.]
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work ([Travels in South Kensington]), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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Text
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English
Conway Tracts
Decoration and Ornament
Kensington (West London)
Moncure Conway
South Kensington Museum
-
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8o
Notes.
Mr. Conway’s “ Earthward Pilgrimage ” seems to have produced a
strong impression on both friends and foes in England. In a recent
debate in the House of Commons, Mr. Bouverie, a conservative, spoke
of it as a work of remarkable ability, and quoted passages from it to
show that a revolutionary school of thought on social subjects is grow
ing to strength in Great Britain. “ The Theological Review ” says,
“The book is full of suggestive thoughts, poetically and pointedly
expressed: and though, to a thoughtful and judicious reader, he may
seem extravagant, one-sided and unfair in his statements and represen
tations, the general impression left by the whole is that it is the earnest
and healthy skepticism of a man of real genius.” “ The Academy ”
: peaks of Mr. Conway’s style as possessing “ high intellectual vitality,
the subtle, pointed, exquisite manner, the fertility in sparkling conceits,
striking analogies and similes, happy historical allusions and anec
dotes,” and his charges against the traditional religion, though violent,
as “ so refined and cultivated, so cool, disengaged, full of well-bred
restraint, as almost to persuade us of their moderation.”
“The New York Tribune” says of Mr. Weiss’s new book: “From
the specimens we have given of Mr. Weiss’s trains of thought, our readers
may obtain an idea, correct, although inadequate, of the main drift of this
remarkable volume, which we do not hesitate to pronounce one of the most
original and suggestive which have ever appeared in our native literature.”
“The Modern Epoch in Politics” is a new work by D. A. Wasson,
which will, when published, if we do not mistake, create a “ sensation ” of a
wholesome character.
“The Spiritual Annalist and Scientific Record” is the name of
a new magazine, edited by J. H. W. Toohey, and published in Boston by W.
F. Brown & Co. It is ably conducted.
We shall publish in our next number a carefully prepared paper on “ The
French Commune,” by W. J. Linton, who has had favorable opportunities
for an impartial review of the whole subject.
A friend sends us “ a few new subscribers to help the ‘ boiling pot.’ ”
We wish many others may be as thoughtful, and not forget us during this
“hot weather,” persuaded that the pot will boil itself.
�Notes.
79
and hear the voice of reason everywhere. Do you see Jesus walking
among men as himself only a man, and so lose your heaven-born
Lord? You are restored to your own birthright, and have the priv
ilege of being a son of God yourself. God becomes your present
source of supply, and is no longer “ a Hebrew tradition.” To this in
visible Well you may go and drink and thirst no more.
What then is the burden of all this protest and passion ? It is that
all those hindrances of Church and State which, under pretense of
mediating, are separating mankind from God, shall be removed. Men
claim the present and shining light of God to show them what they
may do for themselves and each other.
The questions of the moral or spiritual life are not affected by the
intellectual or moral stature of Jesus, and no Radical can take other
interest in the discussion than is prompted by the desire to rightly
estimate the characters of all who have lived on the earth and left
their fame to posterity. There seems to be no excuse, however, for
any to set him up, lawyer-like, and try him as a prosecuting attorney
would a criminal. His name has suffered enough from the treatment
of Orthodoxy. Radicals can afford, in all justice, to show him a little
personal sympathy, and especially since they do not propose to ride
into heaven on his back.
Father Taylor’s little prayer, as prayers go, is quite refreshing:
“Blessed Jesus, give us common sense, and let no man put blinkers on
us, that we can only see in a certain direction, for we want to look
around the horizon; yea, to the highest heavens and to the lowest
depths of the ocean.”
Robert Collyer finds a hearty welcome among the Unitarians of
England, in spite of the “ loose way ” of saying things to which he
is adicted. At their Festival he told them, “ I like to meet a company
of Unitarians that will speak out their convictions, and show, as we say
in the West, that they ‘ain’t nothing else, nohow.’” “We are no bet
ter for being Unitarians and at the same time tasting very strongly of
Orthodoxy. “You have a right to feed your hearts on the story of
the past. But I tell you it began to be a (Question whether Egypt was
going to live much longer, when she paid more attention to embalming
her grandfathers than she did to inspiring her children.” He rejoiced
that the Unitarians were not “going to tumble the cream back into
the blue milk.”
Are the signs as hopeful this side the water ?
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
Publisher
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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[The Earthward Pilgrimage]
Date
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[c.1871]
Identifier
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G5714
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: p. 80 ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A review of Moncure Conway's work 'The Earthward Pilgrimage'.
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work ([The Earthward Pilgrimage]), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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English
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Moncure Conway
-
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ATHENTUM, CAMDEN ROAD.
MR. CONWAY’S SERVICES.
The Ladies’ Committee of Mr. Conway’s Evening
Congregation are arranging a second Bazaar, to be held
at the Athemeum at the close of the year 1878, in aid of
the Funds necessary for the continuance of the present
Services.
Whilst most gratefully thanking those who so kindly
and generously assisted them on a previous occasion,
and asking their co-operation, the ladies trust that others
may be induced to assist also, by Contributions of fancy
articles, flowers, works of art, photographs, books, &c.,
for the same purpose.
It is proposed, as on the last occasion, that all articles
shall be sold at a fairly moderate price, in order to ensure
a speedy sale.
The following Ladies will be most happy to receive
the Contributions :
Mrs. BARTLETT, Duke’s Road, Euston Road.
Miss CROCKFORD (Hon. Sec.), igo, Camden Road.
Mrs. EDWARDS, Heywood House, Camden Road.
Mrs. MOIR, 7, Merton Road.
Mrs. -PRESTON, 26, Fellows Road, South Hampstead.
Mrs. SQUIRE (President), 14, Camden Square.
Mrs. TAYLER, 5, Stanley Gardens.
��
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Original Format
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Athenaeum, Camden Road : Mr. Conway's services
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 1 p. ; 21 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
Date
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[1878]
Identifier
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G5698
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[Unknown]
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Moncure Conway
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (Athenaeum, Camden Road : Mr. Conway's services), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
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Text
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English
Conway Tracts
Moncure Conway
-
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PDF Text
Text
i66
CHRISTIANITY AGAIN CONSIDERED.
no earthly law smites him, he still is sinning against God, inflicts
injury on himself. For he that breaks a law of God, whether it be
a material one—in the physical globe or his own body ; or a spiritual
one, in his own soul, or in society, inflicts damage on his own
being; while he who works righteousness by living in obedience to
the law of God, is the better man for it, in himself, alike in time and
eternity. If there be any reader who rejects these statements, I
can only answer in the words of another, “We believe that con
science exists, just as fully as that we believe all men have bones,
and as it seems to us for the same reasons. Why is that to be
struck out of the list of evidence, any more than any physical testi
mony whatsoever ? Surely a more powerful item of evidence, not
only as to the personality of the First Cause, but as to the character
of that personality, could hardly be conceived.”(/)
(a) History of Latin Christianity, vol. ii., p. 253. Second edition.
(b) Church of England Prayer Book, Article 9: Confession of Faith, chap. vi. 6.
(c) Works, vol. iii., p. igg.
(d) R. H. Hutton.
(e) Duration of Future Punishment, by the Rev. George Rogers, p. 4,
(/) The Spectator.
&gain (EonstWlc
HRISTIANITY” is the title of a new book, by M. D. Conway,
M.A., and it is issued by Trubner & Co., of London. It is a
small but striking book. Indeed whatever comes from the pen of
Mr. Conway is always worth perusal. He has a knack of hitting
his opponents straight from the shoulder, of calling a spade a spade,
of denouncing superstition in unmeasured terms. As a preacher
Mr. Conway prefers an “ unfettered pulpit,” from which he can
fearlessly expose the errors and hypocrisy of the popular creed.
We wish there were more unfettered pulpits in the world, occupied
by men of culture and zeal, and “ no longer bribed by the social or
pecuniary endowments of an established creed.”
The book before us should be in the hands of every one who
wishes to be acquainted with the numerous phases through which
Christianity has passed, and we can confidently say that its perusal
will afford both pleasure and profit.
Mr. Conway considers
Christianity under six aspects : its morning state, its dawn, its day, its
decline, its afterglow, and its mosrow, and each of these divisions
receives masterly treatment.
There are several allusions to English Unitarianism, and the
Unitarian Association comes in for a share of the Author's
criticism. We think, however, that Mr. Conway’s strictures
on what he terms the “ professed liberality ” of the Association
are somewhat strong. No Association can exist without obe
dience to certain laws, and the “ fundamental law” which appears
to be so obnoxious to Mr. Conway is not, in our opinion, such an
obnoxious one as he would make it appear.
Personally, we
should like to see an independent Association formed, which should
e
�ANDREW AYLMER: A SKETCH.
167
include all Theists, whether Jews, Unitarians, Brahmins, or
Rationalists, in fact all who worship a supreme Governor of the
Universe, and wish to assist the extension of a Universal Brotherhood
of Man. But reforms whether social or religious are not carried in
a day, so we must be content to plod patiently alsng that road
which leads to the goal we are all aiming at, and we doubt not it
will be reached e’er many years more have been added to the
world’s age.
There are many-paragraphs having especial reference to the
Unitarian faith which we should like to quote, but our space forbids.
We cannot however conclude this brief notice without giving one
or two extracts. On page 89, Mr. Conway writes : “ Where is the
author of our time who defends the wild notion of an eternal
punishment—a punishment without end, and consequently without
purpose—inflicted on millions for a sin they did not commit, and
who have not even determined their own existence!” On page
124 he says:—“ The English Unitarians have an honorable history,
and no page of it is brighter than the last; but they can retain what
they have wn only by following up their advance.” Mr. Conway
brings his book to a conclusion as follows :—“ The highest religion
of to-day is to look and labour for a nobler day. Nor can I think
that new day so distant. For this matter the world of men means
mainly all those who think. The thinkers of the world are but
thinly divided by veils of language and tricks of expression ; speedily
wii^, they pierce these and discover that round the world hearts
beat with one moral blood, and eyes see by one and the same
sunlight. And as thought moves so will the most motionless
masses gravitate; and every sect in the world be subtly consumed
through and through by that popular disgust of bigotry and
hyprocrisy, which will emanate from the fairly awakened con
science and intellect of humanity.”
winter: &
CHAPTER IV.--- A WORD CONCERNING WILL, AND AYLMER’S INFLUENCE.
ACHEL AYLMER, soon after Andrew left home to attend
Mr. Cuthberton’s class at the Institute, dressed herself for
going out to pay a visit to her brother, Benjamin Harton, who lived
in the village of Ronesburn. As he worked the same “ place ” with
Andrew in the Scottingley mine, she was anxious lest the persecu
tion towards her son had been extended to her brother as well.
And then she wanted a talk with him about the whole matter.
Long had she and Joshua chatted over it, but the thing had not
come out any clearer to their minds. As she stood by her hearth
bound husband, to bid him good-bye for her two-hour visit, she saw
the newspaper was by his side, unused, and she had to touch his
shoulder ere he lifted his eyes from the fire. Responsive to her
touch, he said,—
“ Dinna be lang, wife, for I’m nae owre canny the night. Dis
B
�thoo think the laddie troubles aboot his loss o’ wark ? ”
“ Hinny, An’rew winna let his troubles clood his brow. Let’s
hope he dis’na feel them mair than he shows.”
“ Aye, as Ben said once, ‘ he tabs things philosophically.’ ”
“ Aboot that, I dinna kna,” replied Rachel, thoughtfully, “but
sure, as the boy says in one o’ his ain varses,
*
1 The dew o’ heaven is in his heart,’
an’ he’ll mak’ the best o’t, safe enough.”
The old man was comforted, the cloud passed from his face, the
newspaper was resumed, and Rachel wended her way in the direction
of Ronesburn. Approaching Scottingley, which stands between the
cottage and her destination, she saw a larger crowd of men than
usual at the corner of the road leading towards the colliery. This
would not have taken her attention, but, as she came opposite to
them, one, whom she did not recognise in the twilight, left the
crowd, and, as he neared her, said,
“ Mrs. Aylmer, I want a word wi’ ye.”
“ Is’t Will Bardoyle ? Hoo is’t there’s sae mony oot ? Hae
they shut up the public-hoose ? It’s nae a dog-race being made up
or thoo wouldna’ be in’t.”
“Nay, Mrs. Aylmer, we’ve been having a long talk about
Andrew, and I want to see him for the men ; but I suppose he’ll
not be at home for some time, as it is class night.”
“ He’ll no be hame till late, as he’s cornin’ roond for me frae
brother’s after class, but when thoo’s dune here thoo canst find the
way to Ben’s.”
In spite of her concern on Andrew’s account, she could not
help smiling as she said this, for there were a pair of bright eyes at
Ben’s which drew him there, and not against his will.
“ I don’t know if I dare call in to-night,” said Will, in reply,
“ for I have been offered the situation of overman, and I want to see
Andrew first. Ben has’na been out with us, or he would have known
and agreed with what I propose to do, so I’ll just meet Andrew,
and maybe call in with him.”
With a quiet “ good-night ” she passed on toward Ronesburn,
and Will joined the men, who were still talking in clusters.
The men had talked with each other that evening of many
things__ of the franchise, of improvements connected with their work
and their houses, and especially of the treatment Aylmer had been
subjected to; and of these things Will Bardoyle’s mind was full, as
some time after he took the road to Cuthberton, with a view to meet
Andrew. Not meeting him, however, and learning that he had
taken the river-path leading to the Hall, he continued his walk along
the highway, passed Mr.' Pembroke’s villa, and chatted with the old
lodge-keeper until Andrew came out.
Will was some years older than Andrew, but Will could not
have reverenced him more nad he been as aged as he counted him
worthy. Indeed, Andrew had been tne making of Will, for when he
was Aylmer’s present age he was a rough character truly, taking
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Christianity again considered
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 166-167 p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A review, by an unknown reviewer, of Moncure Conway's work 'Christianity' from 'Free World' February,1877.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
[s.n.]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1877]
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5612
Creator
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[Unknown]
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book reviews
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Christianity again considered), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Book Reviews
Christianity
Conway Tracts
Moncure Conway
-
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THE PRACTICAL IDEALIST.
I.—Worship—(converse
with the supreme.)
1. The Idealist gives his worship and contemplation to the Eternal-Essence,
—to the beautiful Power and Law that underlies all phenomena, of which these
are but the sensuous appearances, or garment.
2. On strictly scientific grounds he has the full assurance that neither Evil
nor Chance, but Good is the mainspring of Nature. He is intensely conscious
of the omnipotent omnipresence of the Universal Spirit, and of his own parti
cipation in the vast Unity of Spiritual Life, but he does not dogmatise con
cerning the personality of the Deity.—“ We distinguish the announcements of
the soul, its manifestations of its own nature by the term Revelation. These
are always attended by the emotion of the sublime. For this communication
is an influx of the Divine Mind into our mind. It is an ebb of the individual
rivulet before the flowing surges of the sea of life. Every distinct apprehen
sion of this central commandment agitates men with awe and delight. A
thrill passes through all men at the reception of new truth, or at the perform
ance of a great action which comes out of the heart of nature.— Ths Over
Soul.
Trust your emotion. Tn your metaphysics you have denied personality
to the Deity; yet when the devout motions of the soul come, yield to them heart
and life, though they should clothe God with shape and colour.—Self-reliance.
3. For the Idealist there can be nothing Supernatural in Creed and History
He is as a mountain climber who has the clouds beneath him, and is face to
face with God’s blue of Heaven. Nature and the natural to him are more
miraculous than the most monstrous prodigy, and infinitely more beautiful.
�$3
The Idealist's Code of Tatilt.
•4. The Idealist worships in the Divine Being the Ideal of Truth, Beauty,
arid' Good, and the recognition of His attributes is the central force, and fount
fof power in moral dynamics. Prayer for worldly and material good or success,
;appears to him an arrogant assumption that God will not order things for the
'best, and a selfish intrusion of our own interests that must most frequently be
■at the expense of those of our fellow creatures. But Spiritual prayer, com
prehended in contemplation, and passionate aspiration yearning for communion
■with the Highest, is the natural function of the soul.
II.—Duties.—(Intercourse
with our neighbour.)
The idea of Justice proclaiming that every individual in his pursuit of
enjoyments, and in the development of his life, shall not interfere with the free
exercise of all their faculties by his fellows, inculcates as the duties of all
men,—
1. That they regard all forms of religious and other opinions, that do not
themselves violate the law, in the purest spirit of toleration, and strenuously
resist the monopoly of state protection and other privileges by any one body of
sectarians.
2. That the fullest liberty be acceded to women to exercise their faculties
in any occupation to which those faculties may impel them.
3. That they ever recognise the indefeasible right of all men to the use of
the earth’s surface, and to the opportunity of labouring, and earnestly promote
the achieving of such social organization as shall secure to all men the oppor
tunity of attaining to the most perfect development possible to them.
That
•they pilot their charitable enterprises with discriminating wisdom, and realise
the fact that unthinking well-mindedness is immoral.
4. That they promote the spread of knowledge, and the establishment of a
new system of education that shall render it possible to form the characters of
■children, to more radically influence their lives, and give effect to the special
¿aptitudes with which nature may have endowed them.
The Law of Charity, or Universal Love commands:—
1. That every man have a lively anxiety for the happiness and well-being
•of his fellow men, and abstain from any self-gratification that is injurious to
the general community, or that inflicts pain on another normally constituted
mind.
2. That he vehemently persuade them of the folly of appealing to the
arbitration of the sword; and advocate the establishment of a wise inter
national organisation and code for the settlement of differences.
3. To advocate the principle of friendly association as opposed to selfinterested, aud dis-united isolation, for purposes of social economy, social re
finement, and social happiness.
�jpRNiNA
Pardon.
A PATCHED SOCIETY.
{DigestContinued!)
IO.—Competition.—It would be erroneous to infer that it is proposed to
dispense with the wholesome stimulus of normal and legitimate competition as
•an element of Society. In all that concerns the commerce, or wholesale dealing
■of the country, in contra-distinction to retail distribution, the laws of supply
and demand would continue their unimpeded action. If any are disposed to
attribute inconsistency to such a distinction, they are reminded that whilst
commerce is directly creative of wealth, the unproductive competings of the
retailers are little better than a lawless wrangling for wealth already created,
attended with the consequent waste and destruction to be anticipated from such
chaotic and non-industria] busyness.
The system of allied industries, then, is not Socialism, that would eliminate
competition from human affairs,—that contemplating an ideal conception of
man overlooks his proneness to sloth and to physical and mental inaction; it
would, on the contrary, attempt, for the first time, to free competitive human
works and endeavours, from the clogs and drawbacks that choke its action. It
is precisely because competition is so useful an agency for production that we
would not waste its energies on barren objects.
11-—Associated Industry.—To facilitate the guarantee of employment which
Society is morally bound to provide for all its members, by means of the wisest
regulations tending to this end, the Committees of Public Welfare in order,
afford further security from the variations of the demand in the labour market,
will encourage the establishment of firms of co-operative industry. There
should be at least one estate divided into allotments, and farmed on the best
principles by small tenants, the necessary machinery being supplied by a union
of their capitals ; and the cultivation of a second by labourers who will share
�Ernina Landon.
in the produce in proportion to their contributions of labour and capital, will
be superintended by the Committee, h manufactory, also, of the description
best calculated to succeed under the economical conditions of the locality, will
be established on the same principles.
12. —Administration of Justice, and Arbitration of differences.—The com
munity will obtain, when possible, the nomination of the members of the
Committee as Justices of the Peace, and they, from their knowledge of the
antecedents and character of all the members, be enabled to'treat some of the
‘criminals that may be brought before them in a way that will be calculated to
remove the defects in character, instead of hardening them in offences by de- grading punishments.
Every member of the community will agree to refer any disputes in which
he may become involved, and that at present, are the subjects of actions-atlaw, to the friendly arbitration of one of the members of the Committee ; and
failing a settlement by this means, to submit them to the decision of the Com
mittee as a final court of arbitration.
13. —Education.—How futile are the existing educational systems in influ
encing and forming the characters of the young, the results best show, and it
seems incredibly ludicrous that the mere imparting of the rudiments of know
ledge should be denominated education. In the new organisation, all the
children of the district will pass -the whole of their time in the school-house
and its adjacent gardens and grounds ; which it will be the first effort of the
reformed community to provide on as magnificent a scale as possible. The
masters will be in the proportion of one, to from ten to fifteen children, and
will be fitted by special training on a new system, as well as by natural superi
ority, carefully tested, for the important work of training the young in all
senses. They will, each one attach to himself a manageable number of the
children of poorer parents, to whom they will act stand as parents and educational
guardians, making their characters their constant study and care. The children
instead of wandering wildly in a semi-savage state, as at present, when school
hours are over, will be pleasantly employed in alternately studying and working
in the gardens, or in other light labours with occasional organised recreation,
so that each one, according to the future before him, be instructed to play his
.part in life with intelligence. The industrial-school principle will also be com
bined with the instruction of the girls, who will be similarly provided with
teachers, and the market-garden, laundry, &c., properly superintended, will
render the school partially self-supporting.
14. —The Social Mansion.—The leisure hours of the inhabitants will be
spent in this, the central building, and heart of the town. It will contain besides
reading, conversation, and lecture-rooms—club-rooms, provided with the
different means of amusement, and a concert-room furnished with musical
instruments, and will be situated in an ornamental garden, with pleasure
grounds as extensive as possible. Attached to the Mansion and resident in it,
will be the Lecturer and Public Teacher ; the duty of whose important office
will be to provide for the delight and instruction of the community, by lectures,
�The Practical Idealist.
83
But more especially by directing the tastes and talents of the different members,
and turning them to the advantage and profit of all, and by promoting spon
taneous social assemblies, in which refinement may spread its garlands over all
classes.
We have seen that the town of three thousand inhabitants will effect an
economy of many thousand pounds by adopting the associative principle; this
sum representing the profit obtained by the joint-stock transactions of the
community will be thus- acquired, and school-masters and gardeners will be a
profitable exchange for superfluous and useless shopkeepers.
15. —The Selection of Capacities—The learned professions still be paid by
fixed stipends in the new communities, instead of by a system of fees that
tend to encourage deception, and that make the interest of lawyers and medical
men to consist in the increase of dishonesty and bad faith, and diseases in the
community. It will be at once objected by some, as it has been, that such' a
plan would but universalise the notorious inefficiency of parish doctors. But
it surely must be apparent enough that the young surgeon who accepts the
meagre official pay of the parish doctor, does so only whilst striving to gain
practice of a more remunerative kind, and sharing in the universal game of
money-making, and following, the laws of its code, metes out attention to the
paupers proportionate to the pay, eager to throw up the ungrateful office as soon
as he can afford to. It may be presumed, also, that professional zeal of this
mercenary sort is scarcely of the kind likeliest to advance the interests of
science. On the other hand, when the election of medical men is guided by
the best judgment of the Members of the Committee of Public Welfare, —
subject to the rate of the majority of the community,—who will have also the
power of dismissing those guilty of neglect, a more wholesome stimulus to
conscientious diligence and zeal is provided. It will follow, as a consequence
of this arrangement, that of all social abuses the most prolific in chaotic and
deathful consequences will be extinguished—the placing brainless incapacity
in a profession which is chosen because of a patron’s living, or. a father’s practice.
In the community no mere dictum of parental partiality shall suffice to afflict
society with a misplaced incapable, but the verdict of greatest aptitude from
Teachers and from the Committee of Public Welfare, shall decide on the proper
sphere for a young man.
16. —The New Order af Nobility.—In the commencement of a new society
which involves a higher moral condition of mankind, and turns man’s aspira?tions to the higher still, the noblest will set the example of preferring the
public good and the happiness of all, to selfish considerations, and of substi
tuting for private splendour public magnificence that will help to. lead man
kind along the road of progress.
These noblest,, therefore, will take
upon them a vow of renunciation, binding themselves to satisfy their pri
vate wants with a limited and fixed income, and to devote the surplus of their
incomes and earnings to the promotion of public welfare,-—this with the object
of assuaging the insane rage for wealth and appearances that is driving society
into a whirlwind of well merited disaster; a volcanic upheaval of the downcrushed, under miseries that will no longer be borne.
�87
Emina Landon.
This new and noble Aristocracy will be of three ranks, accord
ing to the surplus of wealth devoted to the service of the community,.
They will receive all the honours that are at present undeservedly paid
to rank, and in order that they may not suffer the loss of the greatest boon
that wealth confers, the community will defray the cost of educating their
children in the best universities. Were this purchasing of honour to become a
fashion even, it would not impair the wholesome desire for wealth that has so
strong an influence in creating it; for the riches that were renounced as far as
private employment of them goes, would be at their disposal for public
purposes, and so be still desirable as conferring power. If it is pretended that
in this nineteenth century the honours and rank of this new nobility would be
had in derision and contempt by an irreverent age, it is replied that if this is so,—
to be contemptible to a people that reverence lying shams, and the ignoble only
is the only true honour, and there is tenfold more need for a fresh fashion of
nobility.
17.—Lastly—because it appears a ludicrous, but melancholy and altogether
intolerable violation of the divine law, that men who chance to be possessed
of wealth should be freed from all compulsory social duties and responsibilities,
producing as we see, a state of things in which such wealth becomes unwhole
some heaps of decomposition, prolific of turf parasites, black-legs, Anonymas,
men in women’s clothes, and similar maggot-births, the Committee of Public
Welfare will assign duties to all such unemployed persons suitable to their
respective capacities.
General Objections Answered.—The sceptic will pertinently enough observe
of this Scheme of a New Society,—‘ it is all very admirable, and would doubtless
work charmingly, if in our community the rather large proportion of Socrates
and infallible wise men were forthcoming for our Committee of Public Welfare,
not to say our regiment of school-masters. As it is the world is suffering pre
cisely from the want of more of these wise men.’ We reply, that the world can
well furnish the brain-power that is requisite for a few experimental communi
ties, and when the fundamental principles have been once laid down and tested, it
will require no supreme amount of initiatory and creative wisdom. The growth
in morality and unselfishness is the grand desideratum, and chief of all the
difference between the two Societies, is the difference between one in which
starving labourers and competing speculators and tradesmen are compelled into
crime, knavery, and bestial low-mindedness by the resistless influence of circum
stances, and one which sets man free for the first time to assert himself human
and heaven’s noblest work.
The first objection that is offered by practical persons, is of this sort,—‘But
you who pretend to be effecting so much good for all men are proposing to
wantonly deprive of their means of livelihood the immense body of tradesmen
who form the great majority of the middle classes,—whilst you yourself admitted
but now, that in wealthy countries the essential point of economical policy is
to distribute the wealth so as to produce comfortable and well-to-do classes,
and it seems that retail trading, if it does nothing more, provides a large body
of persons with the comforts of life, and moreover fills up, as with social
�The Practical Idealist.
99
Buffers, the gap between the otherwise too distinct classes of brain-workers and»
gentry, and the manual labourers.
It is an unfortunate fact, that arguments as exasperatingly irrational as this,
—the desirability of providing for tradesmen even employment that is utterly
useless to the community—are only too abundantly employed by persons who
pride themselves on their common sense. Although it may be that the supply
of mere material wealth that has been accumulated in some old countries, is
almost adequate for the wants of all, can it be necessary to remind anyone that
the essential wealth of all countries is the capacity for work and the labour of
all their inhabitants,—'that the gross sum of this cannot by any ever so multi
plied powers of production be too great,—that this wealth expends itself in com
passing comfortable, happy, intellectual and noble lives for all human beings,
and that to squander any of this work-power is to wantonly cast into the mire
God’s purest gold, to mar His design, and to thwart His purposes.. As for the
services of the tradesman class by way of padding to fill out the gaunt form of
society into a false show of comeliness, and to cover up the hollows of degra
dation and ignorance—the sooner we can tear away this stuffing and reveal the
naked truth, we quicker may hope that the condition of the labouring classes
will have serious consideration. To return to the practical point of the question,
however, it is true that were the new system adopted suddenly in all parts of
the country simultaneously, some confusion and distress would result. But it
is only too certain that the process of transition will be a long and gradual one,
and in the first of the new communities the displaced tradesmen will be pro
vided with such other employment as they will willingly accept, or be compen
sated for any loss sustained. It is equally apparent that in the course of a
gradual transition the condemned class would spontaneously disappoar, and
who will question the fact that a community organised on the proposed system
Could provide useful and productive employment for as many persons in the'Same rank of life as it had discarded, if not the same individuals.
Our opponent would probably continue;—£ supposing your plan of appoint
ing medical men by the Committee already adopted in such a town as you have
been speaking of, do you pretend to hope that we should not see the sons and
relatives of the members of the said Committee filling the posts you are so
anxious to she wisely filled, just as the patronage system in the church gives
us younger sons for our divinely anointed rectors. In any imperfect condition,
of mankind let not a few fallible persons be so heavily laden with responsi
bilities, and depend on it, it is best for everyman to choose his surgeon, and-hisschoolmaster, &c., and be taught wisdom by the consequences, if his choicehappens to be an unwise one.’ It must be replied that this last seems at first
sight very wholesome in theory, but experience shows that a number of persons
are not capable of judging of the merits of a professional adviser, as is abun
dantly proved by the number of successful charlatans; yet, on the other hand,
their faculty of judging will be fostered by their power of expressing discontent
with any such public person, and by nominating the person who shall make the
selection for them. Respecting what might have been the result had the system
been already adopted, we reply that the novel plan is only proposed as a portion of
�1
89
Emina Landon.
an integral system, which by its provisions, requires the improved moral corr*
dition of the whole community, or itself effects it.
Ever foremost in the remembrance of all earnest reformers, should be the
consideration that no perfectest machinery for the distributing and feeding of
men can be of permanent value, if it permit them to remain for the most part
what we see them, a race of ignoble beings. It has been no part of the present
endeavour to create a complicated pattern of theoretical modes of life by
which all the details of human existence and effort are to be regulated. The
genius of any community and of every race will shape their surroundings accord
ing to the degree of nobleness that animates their collective aspirations. The
fundamental principles of Association, therefore, upon which the new institutions
are to be based have been alone indicated. But on the other hand, if the
individualities of the members of the community are all in all, how imperative
is it for this very reason to modify the force of circumstances that irresistably
re-act upon human nature, and give the ineffaceable impress of their good or
evil influence. The characters and lives of men are the produet of the twofactors, natural constitution and circumstance, of which the latter is the greater
and more important. Nine out of ten men if influenced by the best circum
stances-—education, and opportunities for the exercise of their faculties, will
become more or less noble members of society, and the bad propensities of the
other small portion can be pretty well neutralised by such influences, but it
should be needless to repeat that the education alluded to here is no confection
or compound of the three B’s by a National or any other existing school
master.
O many and earnest-hearted brothers, see ye not that these some thousand years
past the wonderful magic of the eternal mind that flows through a hundred
ages, has woven mysterious harmonies into thoughts and sounds of surpassing
delight,—Shakespeares, Angelos, and Mozarts,—helping to make man well
nigh divine; and now, too, that our eyes are opening to the mysteries of the
spheres, and we are glad in the strength of growing science, shall we con
tinue beasts in feeling only, and watch complacently how the sorely afflic ed
labourers who are bound for us, go vilely still on their bellies by reason of
their burdens ? Surely we may open their ears with some scanty visitations of
sweet sounds, and unfold their brains in some sort of life not wholly brutish.
Certainly we may fling off the hot blush that proclaims us conscious oppressors
and monopolisers of the sunshine. Truly we can live honest, and they shall
live men.
Such meaning as this Ernina hastily, greedily tore from the closely printed
volume, and when the early morning light peered into the room, it found its
white robed tenant still pacing up and down with happy unquenchable resolve
in deep, eloquent eyes. “Thank heaven, I am rich, thank heaven for that;”
were the words with which she turned at length to rest.
To be continued.
�Jarge Uhrhe,
m
if c
VERSUS
Cease we then, Loved Ones ;
Cease this hard strainful stress,—
Seeking that mirage—Truth,
Yearning for good unknown,
Seeking to ripen
With our hot painful sighs
Fruitage of world-schemes,
Ere the time destined,—
Seeking to force men’s souls—
Still all beneath the clod—
Swift into golden bloom,
Into large-mindedness,
Open-eyed lovingness,
Into the better life,—
Quenching the acridness
Of their green juices,
Quenching their hatreds,
Their selfish injustice
In love universal
From the unequal war
Cease we and rest we;
And of a larger love
Larglier quaff we.
Then lap me, ye Loved Ones
Enwrapped by your beauties,
Drunk with your beaming eyes,
Awed by your loveliness,
Soothed by your tenderness
My Ideal Maidens.
*
�The Practical Idealist
’Tis not one soul alone
Pouring responses
Back to my thirsting heart,
Prinks from mine perfect love
Knows all love’s fulness.
Maude, my grave Empress love,
Great browed and large eyed,
Thou giv’st me thought for thought
Erom thy imperial soul
Seeking all knowledge.
Swells thy round swelling breast
Echoing lovely
Impulses noble.
Perfect thy perfect form
As large Minerva’s.
Clara, small shrinking fawn
Tenderly clinging
With thy deep hazel eyes
To my down bending face
Feeding upon thee,
Knowledge thou car’st not for,.
Nor Science lov’st greatly
Save for the beautiful
Chance twineth around them.
Thy purest, flawless soul,
Delicate poised
Taste’s pure embodiment
Serves me for magnet,
Testing all things by thee
Testing all thought by thee
For fleck in their beauties.
Helen, sweet Crown of Love
Thou are just beautiful,
Womanly wholly r—
’Tis the soft perfectness
Of thy pure womanhood
Bows my heart down to thee
In willingness unwilled
With the light melody
Of thy bright girlishness
Each resting pause of thought
Fillest thou gracefully
Piecing our four lives
Into a vision bright
Into bright oneness.
�Large Love.
92
So of full largest love
Largliest quaff we,
Four souls inpouring
Brightness convergent
All their quadruple love
All their quadruple life
All their quadruple thought
Into-one Eden..
Turn me mayhap thenBack to the fight again
Teaching with- open eyes
Preaching such largest love
Unto all mortals;—
Quelling the beast in man,
Quelling base self in man
Teaching to quail before
Love’s fearful glances
Unto the higher life
Leading man onwards.
ON PRAYER.
Men take their texts from Bibles, but wheresoever truth is spoken we have a
Bible to hand. Inspiration is in Truth. God himself cannot speak more
than that. To think otherwise is not religion but superstition ; to think that
inspiration is locked up within the covers of one book, and is not the eternal
characteristic of veracity; that it was exhausted some eighteen hundred odd
years ago, and not reserved in an inexhaustible fund to be spent upon the
world, carrying its own sanctity, and founting always
Within the arteries of a man,
that truth can be anything else but inspired, or inspiration anything but truth
is a fetishism only different in quality, not in substance, to that of the idolator
and the savage.
Let us take a text from Emerson; if he does not speak the truth, he speaks
honesty, which is the next thing to it, but that he does speak the truth (and
consequently is equally inspired for us with any Scriptures whatsoever,) I need
not say is the writer’s religion.
�93
The Practical Idealist.
The preamble to the passage runs thus :—
_ “ It is easy to see that a greater self-reliance,—a new respect for thedivinity in man,—must work a revolution in all the offices and relations of
men ; in their religion; in their education; in their pursuits ; their modes of
living; their associations ; in their property; in their speculative views.
In what prayers do men allow themselves ? That which they call a holy»
office is not so much as brave and manly. Prayer looks abroad, and asks for
some foreign addition to come through some foreign virtue, and loses itself in
endless mazes of natural and supernatural, and mediatorial and miraculous.
Prayer that craves a particular commodity—anything less than all good, is
vicious.
Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest*
point of view. It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul. It is
the Spirit of God pronouncing His works good. But prayer as a means to
effect a private end, is theft and meanness. It supposes dualism and not
unity iD nature and consciousness. As soon as the man is at one with God, he
will not be. He will then see prayer in all action. The prayer of the farmer*
kneeling in his field to weed it, the prayer of the rower kneeling with the stroke
of his oar, are true prayers heard throughout all nature, though for cheap
ends.”
This extract is from the noble essay on “Self-Reliance,” against passages
of which I was impelled to write,—Read me these pages on my death bed.
By a melancholy mistake, truly, is common prayer called holy. Instead of
cultivating manliness, self-help, and fortitude, it feebly whines for subsidy and
indulgence. It forgets the proverb, men in their wiser (if secular) momenta
have invented,—“ God helps those who help themselves.” It is lazy and
luxurious, and essentially immoral. I have for years shrunk from praying for
temporal blessings; I have instinctively and intimately felt that it is so selfish,
or as Emerson says, “mean;” and further that it is, in truth, a piece of
profanity, for it indirectly imputes to God that He will not order things for the
best; it impugns His dispensation.
I have felt that I hardly dared to petition
in this selfish way; that it was a piece of presumption and temerity; that I
was not justified; that I had no standing-point. I, a microscopic creature on
a speck of the Rolling Universe, to lift up my voice to the King without a
a Name to ask him to interfere in my puny affairs for my personal,—nay, my
pecuniary benefit ! Not that anything is too small to be out of God’s Provi
dence; the atom is the focus of stupendous laws; the object of the solar
system ; abstractly, great and little are alike with God; but relatively,—that
God should arrest or modify the progress of the whole to gratify the ephemeral
appetite of an atom is a melancholy superstition, as illogical as it is selfish.
The welfare of the atom, we must learn, is bound up with that of the whole;
we must abandon ourselves to the laws, not pitiably beg that the laws may be
altered.
The theory of materialistic prayer must be either that God will interfere speci
ally to accommodate our lilliputian petitions,—the selfish fancies of a shallow
moment,—morally certain to clash with the true demands of things,—or that
he is pleased with a little lip-service.
�On Prayer.
94
The latter need only be mentioned not to be noticed; the former is almost
■a§ unworthy.
; Is it not seen that prayer is a superfluity as well as an impertinence ; that
God will order all things for the best. It is our duty to accept, and not to
ask; our attitude should be receptivity; it pleases God best that we help ourselves,
—and not ask Him to help us ; He leaves us to answer our own prayers ; forti
tude aud work are what He admires—not petitions; to do and bear, that is
■our duty; not to presume to-ask, which is, indirectly to dictate. God Almighty,
indeed, must look upon such unmanly practices as utterly contemptible, and
one would have thought men would have learnt their futility, if not their
ignobleness, from the systematic way in which they have been disregarded.
The world goes singing the same tune,
And whirls her living and her dead.
God does not put us here to ask Him to help us, but to learn His laws; to
be healthy and clever; and the veteran Premier’s remark to the scandalized
Scotch corporation,—that sanitary measures, and not prayers, were the remedy,
exhausted the truth.
’
To help ourselves appears to be our raison d’etre,—what have we to do with
grayer ?
In the expression—“ Prayer -is the contemplation of the facts of life from
the highest point of view ”—I imagine Emerson meant praise rather than
prayer,—laudatory prayer, not solicitous. Prayer, he says, (in his splendid
eloquence) “is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant” soul; the spirit of
God pronouncing his works good.”
Silent .Praise is this; and it is the spirit of God because in its living appre
hension. it becomes one in identity; as Emerson elsewhere asks—“ Jesus’
virtue, is not that mine ? If it cannot be made mine it is not virtue.”
In the same way as this spirit pronouncing God’s works to be good is a
tacit Te Deum; so laborare est orare,—as Carlyle translates it,—work is
woiship.. The way to praise God is to work; every furrow turned over is an
ode; it is testimony to His genius and obedience to His laws.
Appreciation, too, is the deepest form of praise. When I walk into the
fields and feel helpless with delight, that is the sincerest psalm, and more in
tense than the most throbbing hymn. My son, says the Lord, ever,—give me
thine. Heart; not thy Voice, but thy tumultuous, unfathomable Feeling; the
glowing spirit within you.
To conclude; the beauty, the ineffableness, even, of spiritual prayer is not to
be concealed, though it is singular how the idea of even spiritual prayer seems
to shiink before that of work. After all, it seems somewhat of an indulgence,
or a supeifluity. The man who rises at six o’clock with a hard day’s work
before him, seems to have little to do with prayer; he seems to be independent
of .it, and even of that exquisite relation of docility before God, which the
spiritual pray-er knows in all its sweetness.
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The Practical Idealist
The beauty of spiritual prayer consists in the attitude of humility and con«
versation it establishes before God; and if we will only observe the rule—
Pray,—pouring thanks and asking grace.
I own T can conceive little more lovely. Surely it is a sweet preparation for
the day ; from such prayer we seem to come out as from a sanctuary ; invested
as with a radiant atmosphere ; explaining the parable of Moses of old.
The depth and sweetness of true prayer I have not failed to experience;
and yet, alas, such is the meanness of human nature, I must confess their
greatest intensity was in a moment of disappointment and trouble. And yet
it is an intense delight, and an inexprsssible balm to find after the chills and
vanities of the world that we have in our heart-of-hearts the invisible Almighty
God to fall back upon, ever at the bottom and the centre, the Illimitable
Father, the incorporation of all that is Ideal, the Ideal of ail that is loving and
kind, majestic and pure.
A prayer of the spiritual sort, might not, perhaps, improperly, run as
follows :—
O Lord Father, who hast poured upon me so many blessings, and granted
me so many privileges, 1 thank Thee with inexpressible thanks for Thy mercies,
impossible to enumerate. My words can make Thee no return, let my feelings
praise Thee. Make me great, which is making me good; fortify me against
my last day, and reconcile me beyond,—for Thy Fatherhood’s sake, Amen!
Alex. Teetgen.
�By H. L. M.
I must again trespass on the Editor’s courtesy,—already conspicuously dis
played, by disputing the interpretation put upon the argument of my former
■article, as follows :—
“ When the writer speaks of what Christ might have done had He not been
despised and rejected, it is equivalent to saying that He was mistaken and
disappointed in calculations which it seems the insight of modern thinkers
would have been equal to ; and in this case, where the omniscience of God
head ?”—Idealist, p. 66, 67.
I reply, that this omniscience of God-head was “ equal to ” foresee the
result of Israel’s probation, is shown—1st, by the prophecies which speak of
Messiah’s rejection, and 2ndly, by many words of Christ on Earth, proving
that he was by no means “ dissapointed,” however grieved thereat.
I. I alluded in the previous paper to the pathetic 53rd of Isaiah, as sup
plying a strong additional support to the claims of Jesus to the Messiahship.
Eor this is a wondrously fulfilled inspired prophecy ; and one of such a nature
as neither a vain glorious deluding pretender, nor a fondly dreaming, self
deluded enthusiast, would have been particularly desirous to attempt to get
fulfilled in his own person. Let all readers, however well they know the pas
sage, read it once more, from the 13th verse of the 52nd chapter, to the end
of the 53rd, and note its remarkable correspondence with the facts and doctrine
of Christ’s Passion. Then observe how, after the closing notes of this mournful
strain, inwhich the prophet seems to lament his people’s rejection and ill-treatment
of their Messiah—he changes his key, and in the opening of the 54th chapter
salutes with a joyful welcome the new Gentile Church, called in to supply the
place of the unfaithful nation, and promised more numerous children, and a
wider habitation. Similar in spirit are prophecies in chaps, xlviii and xlix.
�The Practical Idealist.
■97
4
i
i
'
Here the Messiah, the “ Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,” v. 17, seeifts
himself to speak, and thus break forth, (though uic passage had a more
immediate application,) i'nto a lament over his rejection, not for his own
sake, but the nation’s;—“ 0 that thou had’st hearkened to my command-"
ments 1 then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as
the waves of the sea: thy seed also had been as the sand,” &c.—-surely the
very voice which long afterwards exclaimed in the same accents, “ If thou
had’st known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong
unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes 1 ” &c.—Luke xix, 42.
In the 49th chapter, as if turning away in sorrow from Israel, he thus addresses
the Gentiles :—“ Listen 0 isles, unto me, and hearken ye people, from far ; ’*
then after announcing his birth and mission, he sCems to relate a colloquy be
tween himself and his father. “ he said I have laboured in vain, I have spent
my strength for nought, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with the Lord,
and my work with my God: ” and' the reply is, “ Though Israel be not
gathered,” &c. “ It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to
raise up the tribes of Jacob;—I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles,
that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”—Lev. i. 12.
Daniel announces that “ Messiah should be cut off, but not for himself; ”
ix. 25 ; and Zechariah has some remarkable prophecies;—of the thirty pieces
of silver, assigned to the potter in the house of the Lord •; “ a goodly price
that I was priced at of them.” He said—xi, 12-13, “Awake O sword,
against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow saith the Lord of
hosts.”—xiii, 7 ; and “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced.”—
xii, 10.
These predictions were for several centuries “ unfulfilled inspired prophecies; ”
but now for above 18 have stood forth as fulfilled ones; (the last indeed, as far
as regards the piercing, if not yet the looking,) the more remarkably because
they predict the nation’s own shame and blindness, and the preference of others
in its place; a situation which no nation would be likely to “ aspire ” or
“ sigh after,” or seek to fulfill for itself. It is remarkable that that part of
Handel’s Messiah which depicts the rejection and sufferings of Christ, is taken
exclusively from the Old Testament: indeed the whole work affords a curious
illustration, (by no means an exhaustive one,) of the fulness with which his
storv can be related out of that Testament, and those who recognise the fulfil
ment of some of its testimonies concerning him, find no difficulty in believing
that all will be fulfilled in the end. In the Messianic prophecies, the predic
tions relating to the first and to the second advents, appear contiguously
mingled together, as different chains of mountains sometimes do in a distant
view; but as in journeying nearer and through them, these open and separate,
showing how far they lie one beyond another, and what long stretches of plain
land intervene,—so from our present position between the two advents, we now
behold the long centuries which divide them. That this interval was not clearly
visible in prospect is not surprising when we reflect that before Christ’s coming
it was open to Israel to accept him at his first advent, and then all might have
been fulfilled without a break. Doubtless, he could have found means to accom-
�“Despised and Rejected.”
98
plisli his great sacrifice for the redemption of the world without their wicked
hands; and then having thrown off the guise of humiliation which befitted it,
might for anything we know, have stepped on at once to David’s throne. In
like manner, when the Israelites were in Egypt, God’s promise to bring them
out thence, and to bring them into Canaan was given all in one, and but for
their own fault might have been fulfilled all in one; but through their unbelief
when on the border of the promised land, a long interval was interposed of 40
years.
It may be asked why, if the conduct of the Jews in refusing Christ was so
plainly foreseen by God, as to find place in the prophecies, did He nevertheless
put them to the test? But the same question might be asked concerning every
probation to which God has ever subjected man with a like result; for when
was there any of which He did not see the result ? But it is nevertheless,
morally necessary that such probations should take place. And though those
who fail rightly to endure them suffer loss themselves, they will not in the end
defeat the purposes of God.
II. Nor was Christ’s treatment by the Jews any matter of surprise or dis
appointment to Himself? No, surely no. Not only were the circumstances of
His death and resurrection before Him at the beginning of His public career,
the pulling down and raising up again of the temple of His body, and His
lifting up on the cross, like the serpent in the wilderness, John ii, 19-22, iii, 14,
but His rejection by the leaders of the people with its issue, and many atten
dant circumstances, were the subject of frequent prophecy during the last year
of His life on earth, (Mark, viii, 31-33, ix, 33-34), with reference to the
prophets and the scriptures (Luke, xviii, 31, Matt, xxvi, 54). While confi
dently prophesying His second coming into glory, He interposed the prelimi
nary, that “ first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this genera
tion,” Luke, xvii, 25. When the whole company of the disciples greeted Him
with acclamations on His entry into Jerusalem, thinking that now’ the Son of
David was surely about to take possession of his kingdom, his own thoughts
rested rather on the more proximate events which would postpone that dav,
Jerusalem’s crime and punishment ; over which he wept, not for his own sake,
but for the city’s; seeing in anticipation the Roman armies compassing it
around, and laying it even with the ground, because it knew not the time of
its visitation. When James and John asked to be foremost in sharing the
honours of the kingdom, he told them of a bitter cup to be drunk first, a cold
baptism to be undergone. And it was not without a Divine eagerness that he
looked forward to this, for the sake of the great issues beyond it. “ I have a
baptism to be baptised with,”—a cold plunge into, and rising again from death,
—and how am I straitened till it be accomplished ? ” As the time drew near
the simple-request of certain Greeks to see Ilim, seems to have brought before
His mind the thought of all nations presently drawing near to worship and
afresh stimulated Him to the endurance of the approaching sacrifice which vas
to redeem them. “ Except a corn of wheat” He said ‘ fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alor.e ; but if it die, it bringvlh forth much fruit. And 1,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” Should He then
�99
The Practical Idealist.
pray to be saved from this coming hour of pain and death ? No ; it was for
this cause He had come to this hour; “ to give His life,” as He said at another
time, “a ransom for many.” John xii, 20-33, Matt, xxi, 28. Jesus stood
alone at this time in these thoughts ; without any sympathy or comprehension
from His disciples. Peter rebuked Him when first He began to speak to them
of His future sufferings and death, and afterwards we are told “they under
stood none of these things.”—Matt, xvi, 22, Luke xviii, 34), having so fixed
their eyes on the more numerous prophecies of the Messiah’s kingdom and
glory as to overlook the occasional ones which spoke of his sufferings and
hnmiliation. Not till after His resurrection did they learn to connect them,
when to the disappointed sigh of Cleopas. “ We trusted that it had been He
who should have redeemed Israel,” Jesus himself replied “ 0 fools, and slow of
heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ to have
suffered these things,” (according to these prophets) “ and to enter into His
glory ?” Then first to these two pedestrians, and afterwards to the assembled
apostles, Me expounded in all the scriptures, the law of Moses, and the Psalms,
as well as the Prophets, the things concerning Himself—Luke, xxiv, 25-27,
44-47. A wondrous exposition that must have been ! would that it had been
preserved for us! But the Christian student is at no great loss, in the face of
the great facts and doctrines of the Gospel, to trace the many anticipations in
earlier scripture which foreshadowed and led up to them—far more numerous,
taking the whole body of it into account, than could be touched on here. AU
the scriptures looking forward to Christ, catch on their faces the coming dawn,
as those written after His appearance throw back the full light.
As to the effects of the invention of printing, the greatest work which that
did was to liberate the Bible, which had been hidden in convents, shut up in
dead languages and costly illuminated manuscripts, and send it abroad to pro
duce by its influence the reformation of religion, and the regeneration of society.
During the dark centuries of its seclusion, the name of Christ may have been
indeed over rated, but his spirit and doctrine were behind a cloud, overlaid and
encrusted with mediaeval superstition. But how pregnant is true Christianity
with right law-making principles, if not definite laws, for social government, is
manifest in the improvement of legislation, as well as spiritual life, wherever it
has free scope to operate. And how living are those waters which, the seal
being removed from the fountain, could gush forth again so fresh, revivifying
the face of aU lands through which they flow !
H. L. M.
Any mind not irrevocably given up to foregone conclusions in studying the Book of
Isaiah must surely peroeive that only a vague and brief passage here and there, in the midst
of ten chapters of wholly inapplicable matter, oan be strained into any sort of reference
to Jesus. Compared with the general vagueness of the Hebrew prophecies, the Delphian,
oracles might rationally be styled miraculous, and given such a mass of poetic utter
ance, or so-called prophecies, it may be assumed that the circumstances of the life of any
illustrious Jew, in the course of the latter half of the nation’s history, would have tallied
more closely with them. Taking the much vaunted 53rd chap. Isaiah, whilst the whole
�“Despised and Rejected'
100
that is so rashly deemed conclusive, is only the natural portrait of a future ideal person
age that would naturally occur to the prophetic Poet of a country that’was wont to place
its faith in its prophets, and jet amongst a people who usually rejected and ill-used, like
the
their great men, it contains no single direct and unmistakeable allusion, and
the passages in the 10th and 12th verses are distinctly contradictory of such allusion to
Jesus, unless contorted in a manner by which anything might be made to mean any
thing.
It would be idle to answer arguments founded upon the prophecies recorded along with
miracles in the very narrative whose authenticity is the question at issue. But any dis
passionate mind should have its doubts at once set at rest by the consideration that it is
altogether incredible that the Deity in making a revelation that should save man the
trouble of solving “ the painful riddle of the earth,” would involve it in such mysteries as
to render it the only incredible and inscrutable thing in His Universe to the greater part
Of thoso acknowledged to be the most earnest, reverent and enlightened minds on the
earth.
The following words of Emerson irradiate the subject.—
“ Jesus saw that God incarnates himself in man, and evermore goes forth anew to take
possession of his world- He said, in this jubilee of sublime emotion, ‘I am divine.
Through me, God acts; through me, speaks. Would you see God, see me ; or, see thee,
when thou also thinkest as I now think.’ The understanding caught this high chant from
the poet’s lips, and said, in the next age, ' This was Jehovah come down out of heaven.
I will kill you if you say he was a man.’ The idioms of his language, and the figures of
his rhetoric, have usurped the place of his truth; and churches are not built on his principtes, but on his tropes. Christianity became a mythus, as the poetic teaching of Greece
and of Egypt, before.”—
The Author of “The Christian Hypothesis.”
ONE YEAR IN HIS LIFE (CONCLUDED.)
Had she forgotten how 1 prayed her love ?
1 could not tell; she was so frank and sweet,
Had no embarrassment in talking just
In the old strain. I watched her every hour,
As doth a prisoner watch his jailer’s face
To catch the faintest forecast of his doom;
But 1 could learn nought from her bonnie eyes,
Save kindness, and a somewhat frightened glance,
Were we by chance left separate from the rest,
A pretty plaintive look, that seemed to ask
For yet a little longer, e’er I spoke.
Oh that I could have taken from iny life
Some of these weary hours, and added them
To that short week ; it was so short, oh God !
And life now is so long ! so long, so void.
But now I must not rave 1 my deepest grief
Forbids a questioning, I can only wait
For an hereafter that may teach them all,
Or leave me quiet in a silent grave
Beside my darling ; let it come, oh Lord 1
We talked one night, the night before the end,
�The Practical Idealist.
Just as we used at Holme; the August eve
Lay purple round us, and the great white moon
Shone glorious o’er the hills that slept in shade
All flecked by silver arrows from her bow,
The silence kept us silent, neither spake
Till Mary sang most quietly and sweet
Half to herself, the following little song:—
“ The birds have done their pairing and are wed,
The lovers whisper where the blooms are shed,
Upon their clasped hands, his love-bowed head.
The birds have done their pairing; yet I stay
And weary of the loneliness each day,
That I go quite alone upon my way.
The birds have done their pairing; say oh heart,
Is lonely grief for aye thy bitter part ? ’
Death is a friend 1 Oh may he heal the smart!
“ How sad your song is,” said I, “ but ’tis fit
For August surely, when the hopes of spring
Find their fulfilment or their emptiness.
The autumn’s turning, and the winter wind
Will try us all, unless we’re safely housed,
Most blessed in the warmth and love of home.”
“ Which of us three,” said Lady Mildred then,
Will have the warmest winter ? Mary, you,
And you, Sir Wilfrid will have empty nests,
And I my husband, and a home, yet void
As yours are; could three lonelier souls have met
Than we are ? Oh for comfort, oh for love!
“ Oh Lady Mildred,” said I, “you have love,
All love, love of your husband, of your friends,
And sure Miss Stanton could have love enough
If she had but needed it; I am all alone.”
“ Shall we dispute,” said Mary—“ half in sport.”
Which of us has the largest share of woe?—
Ah no ! life is too short, 1’11 change my note
And sing instead of light and love and flowers,
And quite forget the echo of the song
That caused your talk to take that bitter tone,
To-morrow we go home, to-morrow morn;
I have a fancy to explore your coast
With you, Sir Wilfred, you can teach me much,
And we’ll go early e’er the morn is high,
Aye, even watch the sun rise o’er the sea.”
“Agreed,” I answered, “only just that word,
�One Year in his Life concluded.
My heart leaped high and beat against my breast,
And questions crowded quiekly thro’ my brain,
Can she have learned at last to love my soul,
Or will she in her mercy gently crush
The hopes and longings that the summer nursed?
Or has she quite forgotten how I loved ?
Here do I pause, here shrink in actual pain,
At putting the last touches to the tale
Of this my living, yet oh, heart, be strong,
Tell all thy story and then close the book,
And let the past lay it within its breast,
And glide away into its shadowy home,—
The morning came, not clear and calmly bright,
But wild and glowring: still she kept the tryst,
And we walked towards the coast. I did not speak
Until we reached the shore; th’ uneasy waves
Moaned greyly ’mid the shadows, and the rocks
Loomed blackly o’er our heads, straight, sharp, and steep :
We wandered on, until a tiny cove,
Lit with the coming day, enticed our steps
To stay themselves, and so we rested there,
And watched the fitful wavelets come and go,—
“ Gloriously wild,” I said, half to myself,
“ Yet miserable, for it tells of winter’s hand,
That summer’s passing, all the sweets will go,
And I shall weary of the wiuter time,
And wonder in the gloom why things are so,
And cavil at the God who made them thus.
Miss Stanton ; all this week I’ve watched your face,
Yearning for sign or word to shew to me
That you are still remembring what I said
Before I left the river in the spring.—
Mary, I pause again ; my very soul
Sickens with aprehensión; nay, my dear,
l)o not be crying; I should hold my peace,
But hope is hard in dying—will not die
Till hell’s own touch makes us abandon it.
Child, I am happy but to see you, feel
Your presence round me, if I try once more
To keep you here regardless of the pain,—
You have in hearing me, forgive me then ?”
She answered not, but gazed away, and I
Cared not to break the silence, so we sat,
An hour or more, until the gathering light
Showed us the day—was here, and showed us more,—
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The Practical I dealist.
Here is the climax ; but I cannot paint
E’en for your eyes our agony, my pain:
A natural pain at losing sight of life
And facing fully all the facts of death,
For as we sat there, round had crept the waves
And hemmed us in, and we had scarce an hour
That we could call our own; God only knows
Why this was done; we climbed the steep black rocks
Until we could not climb another step,
A.nd then she spoke quiet quietly and slow,
“ Sir Wilfred, we are dead ! so I may speak
May tell you now, what never in this life
I fear me I’d have told you, face to face,
I love you 1—do not start and press me close,
Remember death knows neither bliss nor pain,
Nought but oblivion or a higher sphere
Where kisses do not come, or clasping arms,
But, chance, a fuller knowledge; now they creep
About us here, those cruel curling waves,
So soon to crush us in their deadly grasp.”—
“I can’t beliwe we’re dead! is there no hope?
“ Oh God,” I cried, “ is their no hope indeed,
Can we not live now I have won her soul
To love mine own, despite the cursed form
That hangs a burden on my feeble life ?
Oh God be merciful, nor dash the cup
I yearned so long for, from my thirsting lip,
Oh! Mary, if we die, and die we must—
Watch how those cruel waves grow at our feet,—
Meet death within mine arms; perchance, perchance
You’ll feel them round you; I may feel your form
Within them in the silence of the grave.—
These arms! oh God, misshapen as they are
It is impossible to know that swift
They’ll be all nerveless, that our tongues that speak
And call each other by our names to-day
Will never whisper more;—oh Mary, love,
Tell me you love me, once before we die.”
“ I love you,” said she, and she took my hands
And placed them round her, leaning down her head,
And blushing tenderly ; ay, even then ;
God has His purpose, “ let us hope, in this,”
She added slowly, “better thus to die
Than to live on a useless, loveless life,
I would have been loveless, for my soul I fear
Has not the nobleness to love yours quite
As ’twill when unencumbered by the mark
�One Year in his Life concluded.
You bear about you, of mishapenness,
Dear Wilfred, I shall love you when we’re dead,
It will be nought, if death is only sleep,
To sleep within your arms, but death is more,
’Tis painful, oh! 1 shudder, see the waves
Curl now about our feet, oh hold me fast 1
’Tis the unraveller sure of all our doubts,
The soother of our puzzled weary brain,”
She murmured, as she watched the rising tide,
“ How near death is, yet seems it Wondrous far,
Wondrous unreal, that we are standing here,
Quivering with life, yet trembling into death,
And Mildred waits and wonders why we stay.”
I held her to my breast, and clasped her close
And murmured little sentences of love
And death crept nearer, o’er our trembling feet,
Up to our knees it came, I had small strength,
—Due to my cursed shape,—to hold her there,
Yet we clung on, and hoped until the last,
A boat might come and take us from death’s jaws :
“ I’m trying hard,” said Mary, “ to be good,
To say the prayers our lips have ever prayed
But they are not for dying, parting 8ouls,
Our Father hangs in utterance, and my soul
Can but resign itself because it must,
With just a hope that God is over us,
To take us gently now our work is done,
To somewhere, where our living is not just
A groping after shadows, but a guest
For answers to the questions that have pressed
Since childhood wearily upon our hearts.”
“ Let it come quickly,” groaned I. “ Oh, my love,
My little love, kiss me upon the lips
And let your kiss baptise my soul anew;
In mercy kiss me.”—“ Oh good bye my dear,
Good bye but for a moment, whispered she,
Thank God we go together, here is death.”
E’en as she spoke, our lips met in one kiss,
And I remember nothing, save a shock,
A parting of my hold upon the cliff,
Until I came to life here,—save the mark !
To life, nay unto death—the bitterness
Had passed, the wrenching of the mental part
From the more sense of life that is such pain;
The real Death,—felt when I saw Mildred’s face
Looking upon me, turning into pain,
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The Practical Idealist.
When with a gasp, I asked for Mary’s hands
To smoothe my pillow, cool my throbbing brow.
“ Dead ! dead ! ” I whispered as my mera’ry came
Back from that dim mysterious shore, where none
Can trace the footsteps that oblivion made,
Or follow where sleep led at evening’s tide
When one returns one does return for aye
Without one fact traced on the dreaming brain,
Will it be thus I wonder when we’re dead?
Shall we awake as from a troubled dream,
With no remembrance, nothing save a thought,
That somewhere in the darkness we have met
With such a one, or somewhere else, one knew
What ’twas to love?’—God keep my memory clear,
And save me here from madness in the pause
That lies before me me till I meet my love.
I saw her dead, laid in her coffined peace
Smiling with upturned face; I realized
That she was gone, and yet I lived, and live.
(Some boat had come into the little cove
And rescued me, the first wave kdled my love;
She had no pain,—that all is left for me,
I had forgot to tell you how I lived.)
Here is my story, Arthur! read it o’er
Then mark it with a query, nought is solved,
Not one thing answered; here i3 this and that,
Facts upon facts, each laid in due array,
Such suffring, so much death, so little cause,
Yet people who are pious, simply sigh,
When they are asked the reason of this thing,
And think I take the comfort when they say,
With untried faith, “ Sure, God is very good.”
S. Panton.
Correction, In our May No.—Muriel's Story,
Author's copy runs—Up steep Parnassus, &c.
line 11,
page 62, the
NOTICE!
Competition for tiie Lavreatesiiip of tiie Association. 1870-1871.—The Author of
the best poem on the subject—Social Progress, shall be the Laureate for the ensuing year.
The Judges will be the Members of the Council, who will not be debarred from compet
ing, (present Laureates excepted). No limits are imposed as regards the length of the
Poems. They should be sent before the 1st of September, to the Hon. Assist. Secretary,
Augustus Villa, 90, Richmond Road, Hackney, N.
Erratum. Page 92. line 9. For—Turn me—read—turn we.
�
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Pamphlet
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
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The Practical Idealist
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: [82] -105 p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: Possibly from the journal of the Social Progress Association. {from KVK]. Contents: The idealist's code of faith -- A patched society (Digest:-continued) / Ernina Landon -- Large lobe, or Eros versus Aphrodite -- On prayer /Alex Teegen -- "Despised and dejected" / H.L.M. -- One year in his life (concluded) S. Panton.
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[s.n.]
Date
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[187-?]
Identifier
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G5293
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[Unknown]
Subject
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Philosophy
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (The Practical Idealist), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
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Text
Language
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English
Conway Tracts
Idealism
-
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®lje ®i)de of ffiitfllwlj Sang.
i.
ANCESTRY AND BIRTH.
When the Persian hosts, under the command of Datis and Artsphernes, threatened, neither for the first nor for the last time, the
independence of Attica, but the critical moment had arrived for vindi
cating Athenian freedom, each of the ten generals deputed to share
the guardianship of her liberties voted, firstly, that command should
be concentrated in his own hands, and, secondly/ in those of Miltiades.
Thus did f.be son of Cimon receive, even before Marathon, a conclusive
uperiority of his military and strategic
LIBRARY
South Place Ethical Society
ith English poetry. The gift of divine
, so universal a veneration is paid to its
ofty an estimate prevails of its intellectual
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may not command during life the loudest
t homage, ensures after death the most
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jHH|------- J&970 r; and to be a nation which boasts the3 survive in the love and veneration of the
human race ages alter tne speeches of statesmen have ceased to beread and the discoveries of philosophers have ceased to be true;,
when the victories of kings have become but sounding brass, and
the soaring triumphs of laurelled architects but gaping ruins. Nor is
it only, as Horace has finely said, that ante-Agamemnonic heroes haveperished out of remembrance because no Homer has chanted their
praises, and that the greatest of active heroes must be forgotten unless
his deeds be embalmed in sounding verse. The patriotic bard in vain
strives to perpetuate the glories of his compatriots rather than his
own; it is his strains, rather than their struggles, which survive.
The rash and impetuous Ajax, the vindictive yet chivalrous Achilles,
the wise but crafty Ulysses, the sagacious Mentor, Agamemnon king
of men, the blustering Hector, the seductive Paris, even the fair glow
ing Helen herself—what are all these but shadows of shades, echoes
of an echo, invisible ghosts haunting an uncertain coast ? Whilst, for
all the erudition of critics, the doubts of Pyrrhonists, and the hammers
�218
THE CYCLE OFBENGLISH SONG.
of iconoclasts, there lives in this sublunary world no more actual, lasting,
immovable entity than
“ The blind old man of Scio’s rocky isle.”
In the long run it is by its literature that a people is glorified, and
poetry is the crown and summit of literature. What does the world
at large know of Tyre? What of Sidon? What of Carthage?
Carthage may thank a Roman historian that Hannibal’s name is still
in the mouths of men. What of Egypt ? It is due to the Bible of a
race she despised, that archaeologists are still fumbling amongst her
buried palaces. There have been conquerors as potent as Philip and
Alexander of Macedon, only they did not conquer Athenians, and his
tory knows them not. Leuctra, Marathon, Salamis, Thermopylae—
these are watchwords for all time; but only because the same blood
that coursed in the veins of Epaminondas, of Miltiades, of Themistocles and of Leonidas, warmed an Alcaeus, a Pindar, a Euripides,
and a Sappho. The triumphs of barbarians, be they ever so brilliant
or ever so faithfully recorded, linger only in the dusty and cobwebbed
corner of men’s minds, because barbarians can point to no literature,
no verse, that for ever enthralls human attention. Take away the
spice of song, and you will in vain attempt to embalm the past.
Well therefore may nations, whose passion for immortatity is yet
stronger and deeper than that of individuals, hug each the flattering
unction to its soul that it has produced great, nay the greatest, poets;
and it would be unnatural to expect them to take the laurel off their
own brows to encircle with it the head of a rival. Italy would be
slow to concede that the Muses have had a fairer offspring than
Dante, Petrarch, and Ariosto. Spain would not willingly allow that
the genius of Calderon and Lope de Vega has ever been surpassed.
Germany would certainly refuse to rank Goethe and Schiller below
even the most favoured children of the Muses vaunted by other lands.
Even France would hesitate to own inferiority whilst she can cite
such names as Racine, Corneille, De Musset, and Victor Hugo. But
it is pretty certain—nay it is indubitable—that if competent Italians,
Spaniards, Germans, and Frenchmen were asked to name the country,
apart from their own, which had produced the greatest poets and the
greatest number of them, they would one and all point to this island,
which, though sung round by no syrens, has been a perfect nest and
woodland of song, now soft and melodious, now shrill and piercing,
now full and vocal, ever since the formation of the English language
gave English hearts a voice.
Of the correctness of this assertion we have some direct and much
presumptive evidence. Dante undoubtedly has been translated into
every civilised tongue, but it is only the mere truth that the world at
large is far more familiar with his name than with his works, and that
�THE CYCLE OF ENGLISH SONG.
219
he is rather the favourite of scholars and the study of earnest lovers
of Italy than the companion of the average man or woman of culture.
Yet he is the only Italian poet who can be fairly said to have earned
for himself, on the mere strength of his works, a world-wide reputa
tion. The genius of Calderon is universally acknowledged, but that
of Lope de Vega has been questioned, and though, thanks to Goethe
and Schiller, their works have been more or less popularised in Ger
many, in England they are unread, in Italy they are unknown, and
in France they are unprized. It is probable that it is in this country
rather than in any other that Goethe and Schiller are studied and
appreciated by foreigners; yet, whilst no one here arrogates for the
latter an even rank with the first names in literature, the English
admirers of Goethe are to be found mainly in the ranks of those who
are critics, not to say pedants, rather than sympathising lovers of
poetry, and to whom philosophic poetry is the most agreeable form of
composition. As for Corneille and Racine, they have nowhere excited
enthusiasm out of their own country, whilst De Musset and M. Victor
Hugo, though widely and justly extolled, have not been entered
among the Olympians save by such prose rhapsodists as Mr. Swin
burne, and the source of their inspiration, as we shall see directly,
flows in this country and can scarcely be regarded as a native
fountain.
But it will be said, one nation may be more enlightened and
catholic in its tastes than another; and the fact of a poet not being
highly thought of in a foreign country may prove the crassness of the
country and not the inferiority of the poet. There is truth in the
observation, and we are far from wishing to imply that foreign esti
mates are conclusive, or anything approaching to conclusive, in any
particular case, though it must be rarely that they are of no value.
But the general foreign estimate—that is to say, the estimate of every
foreign country—of any particular poet, must necessarily count for
much; and the general foreign estimate, or the estimate of any foreign
country, of the entire body of a particular nation’s poetry, must neces
sarily be as valuable an opinion as is to be obtained outside that nation
itself. But by the very terms of our search the opinion of the nation
itself must perforce be excluded, since, as in the case of the Athenian
generals, every nation’s opinion would be given in its own favour. It
is an enormous testimony to the accuracy of the judgment of English
men that their body of poetic literature is the finest and most complete
ever yet produced, if we find that all other nations consider it, in those
respects, second only to their own. For no nation is smitten by
general blindness, or afflicted with undeviating special partiality or
affinity in the matter. Frenchmen may not care much for Shakespeare,
but they enthusiastically admire Milton, Pope, and Byron. They
may talk as Boileau did of “Ze clinquant de Tasse” but they entertain
�220
THE CIVILE OF ENGLISH SONCl
a genuine reverence for Dante. We may be more or less indifferent
to the stately tragedies of the time of the Grand Monarque, but we
recognise the signal poetical qualities of ‘ La Legende des Siecles y and
whilst the sonnets of Laura’s lover may be caviare to most Britons,
they incline their head when they hear the Divine Comedy mentioned.
We need not pursue our illustrations, for we have surely said enough
to establish the fact that nations are competent to form an opinion of
the relative value of each other’s poetic literature, and to corroborate
the theory that when they conspire to adjudge the second place to
one and the same nation, their own respectively alone excluding it
from the first, that nation’s claim to the first place is as conclusively
established as anything well can be in this world, outside the arena of
rigid demonstration.
That second place, which is practically the first, has assuredly been
adjudged by universal consent to English poetry; and it has, more
over, as would naturally be expected, more than any other exercised
the pens of foreign critics and translators. The whole of Chaucer has
been translated, and translated admirably, into French. Nearly the
whole of Shakespeare has been translated into German, some of the
most distinguished names in German literature busying themselves
with the task, and so successful have they been that some Germans
like to flatter themselves that their version of the greatest of dramas is
superior to the original. We may smile at the pretension; but it
testifies to the enthusiasm of those who advance it, for the author on
whom they thus attempt to fasten the character of complete acclima
tisation. It is no less a name in French annals than that of Chateau
briand with which we have to associate the continental triumphs of
Milton; the whole of the ‘ Paradise Lost ’ having been rendered into
his native tongue by that brilliant man of letters. Byron, the most
universally popular of all English poets, by reason of that cosmopoli
tanism which Goethe so shrewedly and accurately ascribed to his
works, has been translated into every European language, that of
Russia not excepted ; whilst his influence in moulding the style and
themes of foreign poets in Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France,
is one of the most remarkable facts in literary history. Indeed it may
be said that it is only since Byron died that France has boasted poets
proper at all: Lamartine, De Musset, and M. Victor Hugo, being his
natural children.
It has further to be remarked that critics have vied with trans
lators in doing justice to the splendid merits of our long line
of English bards. We cannot say that criticism is a lost art in
this country, for it never existed ; but on the Continent, and
notably in France and Germany, it has been cultivated and pursued
by some of the best-equipped intellects and some of the most accom
plished pens; and they have never been more enthusiastically, and we
�THE’CYCEE' OF ENGLISH1 SONG.
221
may add, more successfully and popularly employed, than when ab
sorbed in the endeavour to explain to their countrymen the meaning
and merits of English poetry. When we want an interpretation of
one of the subtleties of Shakespeare, we can turn to a Gervinus; and
when we are in need of an unanswerable testimony to the genius of
Byron against the stupidity or jealousy of some of his own compatriots,
we have only to turn to our shelf which holds the prose opinions of
Goethe.
The latest tribute, and the most important one of our time, to the
eminence of English poetry comes to us from France, the classic land
of criticism, and is to be found in that long and admirable work which
the author justly calls a ‘ History of English Literature.’* A scholar,
a traveller, a worshipper of the arts, a man of letters in the best sense
of the word, M. Taine has undertaken to survey the literary pro
ducts of this island, both in prose and verse, from the time of Chaucer
to our own day; but it is the poets on whom he chiefly and most
lovingly dwells, and we shall go beyond his example, not only by
dwelling exclusively upon poets, but by illustrating our theory solely
from the most salient and characteristic poets in each of the epochs
into which the cycle of national song naturally divides itself. Yet our
standpoint will be the same as his, whilst we pass over numberless
objects which have attracted his scrutiny; and we cannot give a better
account of the central idea upon which, as on a pivot, all our reflec
tions and conclusions will turn, than is to be found in the preface
written by M. Taine himself to the talented translator’s English
edition of his work.
“A nation,” writes M. Taine, “lives twenty, thirty centuries, and more,
a.nfi a man lives only sixty or seventy years. Nevertheless, a nation in
many respects resembles a man. For during a career so long and, so to
speak, indefinite, it also retains its special character, genius and soul, which,
perceptible from infancy, go on developing from epoch to epoch, and
exhibit the same primitive basis from their origin up to their decline.
This is one of the truths of experience, and whoever has followed the his
tory of a people, that of the Greeks from Homer to the Byzantine Caesars,
that of the Germans from the poem of the ‘ Niebelungen ’ down to Goethe,
that of the French from the first and most ancient versified story-tellers
down to Beranger and Alfred de Musset, cannot avoid recognising a con
tinuity as rigid in the life of a people as in the life of an individual. Suppose
one of the five or six individuals who have played a leading part in the
world’s drama—Alexander, Napoleon, Newton, Dante; assume that by ex
traordinary good chance we have a number of authentic paintings, intact and
fresh—water-colours, designs, sketches, life-size portraits, which represent
the man to us at every stage of life, with his various costumes, expressions,
* ‘ History of English Literature.’ By H. A. Taine. Translated by H. Van
Taun, one of the Masters at the Edinburgh Academy. Edinburgh :
Edmonston & Douglas.
�222
THE CYCLE OF ENGLISH SONGj
and attitudes, with all his surroundings, especially as regards the leading
actions- he has performed, and at the most telling crises of his interior I
development. Such are precisely the documents which we now possess
enabling us to know that big individual called a nation, especially when
that nation possesses an original and complete literature.”
Without expressing any opinion here as to how far a “ science of
history” may be constructed out of the accumulation of human
records, we may affirm our assent to so much of the scientific method
of regarding human affairs as is expressed in the foregoing passage.
A nation has a term of existence, a character, a development, a history,
and will therefore pass through those stages which mark the growth
and decline of a particular man; and if there be a nation peculiarly
endowed with the poetic temperament, and betraying at every period
of existence the rare possession of poetic faculties, we may be sure that
its poetic literature will be marked by that steady and continuous
progression, broken by definite landmarks, which we recognise in the
individual. We trust that before we desist from the task we have set
ourselves, it will be conceded that, in this instance, facts and theory
agree.
It is a fact deserving of note that the earliest specimen extant of
composition in the Saxon tongue is a fragment of Caedmon, a monk of
Whitby, who lived in the eighth century after Christ, and who, “ for
want of learning,” was compelled to write his for the most part reli
gious poetry in his mother tongue. Want of learning, as most people
understand that term, has far more often than not been the portion of
poets. On the one side we have a Dante and a Milton—and they were
not very learned, after all, the first more especially—and on the other,
all the world of great poetic names, whose owners, judged by any real
scholarly or scientific standard, were extremely ignorant. The late
Lord Lytton has argued, in one of uhis delightful ‘ Caxtoniana,’ that a
poet ought to know everything, and that the best poets have been
remarkable for the variety of their acquirements. We must dissent
from the doctrine; and though of course it would, logically, be incon
clusive to point to that great master’s learning and then to his poetry,
and to insist on the disproportion between the two, still we should be
disposed to go so far as to affirm that, for a poet, not a little, but a
great deal of learning, might possibly be a dangerous thing. Perhaps,
to the greatest poets of all nothing is dangerous. But what in our
opinion, distinguishes the poet from ordinary persons, what specifically
characterises his mind and stamps his productions, is, not a greater
knowledge than his neighbours, but a different sort of knowledge. He
knows the same things as the herd, only he knows them in a distinct
and peculiar fashion. He apprehends them differently, and in render
ing them gives a totally different account of them. He may be as
ignorant as a Burns, as superficial as a Keats; but what little he
�THE CYCLE OF ENGLISH SONG.
223
knows, he knows poetically. There is a soul in his knowledge, and
you can never make mere library faggots of it. It is not lore got
from without; it is inner wisdom. There have been people stupid
enough to fancy that Bacon must have been the author of Shake
speare’s plays and poems on account of the amount of learning there
is in them. All the learning in Shakespeare could be got at a gram
mar-school, in the woods and fields, and in the streets of men, so that
there was the right person to get it. Eyes, heart, and tongue, with
or without a bookshelf, furnish forth a poet.
And so this Caedmon of whom we spoke, had, for want of ‘learning,’ to
write in his native homely Saxon language. There was as yet no other
for him. It was a case of Latin or mother tongue, and he knew only
the latter. By-and-by a finer and more familiar weapon was to be
forged for the use. of the great souls fired with the yearning to go out of
themselves and speak, not for themselves alone, but for their own
time; and not for their own class alone, but for all ranks of the
nation. But the nation had to be made first; and, as usual, it was a
small band of aristocrats who made it. In the tenth century the
bettermost folks of this country used to send their children to France
to be educated; but before another hundred years had passed away
the schoolmaster crossed the Channel and the necessity disappeared.
The Normans brought with them not only laws and the art of govern
ing, but likewise the art of elegant speaking and writing. Never,
however, that we know of, has Saxon blood or Saxon speech
utterly disappeared before the conqueror; there is something too
sturdy in them for that. The tongue of the French troubadours had
to accept an alliance with the tongue of Caedmon, the Saxon monk of
Whitby, before it could get itself accepted as the speech of the people,
and still more as the speech of the poet.
The alliance, moreover, was not one solely of speech. A union
likewise was effected, firstly of race and secondly of caste, which has
had an unspeakably profitable influence upon English song. In the
blending of races, moreover, we must not leave out of the account a
third stock, neither Saxon nor Norman, and singularly different from
either, and by no means abolished either then or now, though the
linguistic traces of it have almost wholly disappeared, and which lent
and still lends its valuable properties, as perhaps a minor but still
important, contribution towards the formation of the full-grown English
temperament, and therefore to the complete character of English
poetry. We allude, of course, to that despised and humbled race,
Celtic in origin and tongue, which first possessed our island; but
which, soon after the dawn of its history, was driven westwards and
northwards, and there- only now survives in visible and tangible shape.
Yet who'can doubt that neither extermination nor ostracism was
complete, and that Celtic units and even Celtic families remained
�224
THE CYCLE OF ENGLISH SONG,
largely dotted over England during the period of Saxon domination,
and that their blood was already intermingled with that of the
Teutonic master, when the final lord, the Norman, arrived ? Both
fact and probability support the supposition, and English poetry is
perpetually sounding a note which reminds us that there runs in our
veins, be it in ever so small a degree, the blood and tears of a
pathetic, subdued, and melancholy people.
It is all the more necessary to dwell and to insist in this place,
before dealing with the origin and consequences of the amalga
mation of the Saxon and Norman elements, upon the Celtic drop in
our „ poetical compositions, since, after that amalgamation, several
centuries had to pass before its minor key was heard in English
literature. It is of the very nature of soft, gentle and melancholy
-characters, races, and feelings, to seem to be suppressed by the sterner
•and more practical ones, which are perpetually striving to extrude
■them or to trample them underfoot; but it is equally of their very
mature never in reality to be so. They bend, but they never break.
These are too supple, too elastic, too yielding, ever to be snapped in
twain and so disposed of. They survive neglect, contumely, persecu
tion, and get the upper hand of their conquerors in moments least
expected, moulding the speech, the modes of thought, even the
policy of the latter, when they cannot aspire to occupy the seats
of influence and authority. Thus Athens, as a Boman poet acknow
ledges, had its triumph over masterful Borne; thus, as we shall
see, the Celtic type of feeling, though utterly crushed and lost for
a long while under the waves of Saxon and Norman domination,
crept up again in the works which are the historical exponent of the
feelings of the English nation; and thus, in a minor degree, we are
beginning to see the “ mild Hindoo ” influencing, and destined yet
more to influence, the sturdy western conqueror of his country.
The Saxon crassness, which is at present so dominant amongst us,
caused a year or two ago a grin of self-sufficient stupidity to adorn
the faces of many of our journalistic wiseacres, when Mr. Disraeli,
peculiarly endowed with the faculty of comprehending ethnic idiosyncracies, alluded to the influence exercised upon the Irish people by the
melancholy sea with which their small island is surrounded. Yet the
fact—for fact unquestionably it is—had never escaped the observation
of anybody deserving the epithet of thinker. M. Benan, himself of
Celtic origin, speaks, in his essay upon Celtic Poetry, of the “ mer
presque toujours sombre,” which forms on the horizon of Brittany “ a
circle of eternal sighs.” “ Meme contraste,” he proceeds, “ dans les
hommes: a la vulgarite normande ”—of course the “vulgarite normande” here spoken of has nothing to do with the aristocratic
Norman element which exists in England, and of which we shall have
occasion to speak so often—“ a la vulgarite normande, a une popula
�THE CYCLE OF ENGLISH SONG?
225
tion grasse et plantureuse, contente de vivre, pleine de ses interets,
egoiste comme tons ceux dont l’habitude est dejouir, succede une
race timide, reservee, vivant toute an dedans, pesante en apparence,
mais sentant profondement et portant dans ses instincts religienx une
adorable delicatesse. Le meme contraste frappe, dit-on, quand on
passe de l’Angleterre au pays de Galles, de la basse Ecosse, anglaise de
langage et de moeurs, au pays des Gaels du nord, et aussi, mais avec
une nuance sensiblement different, quand on s’enfonce dans les parties
de l’lrlande ou la race est restee pure de toute melange avec l’etranger.
Il semble que l’on entre dans les couches souterraines d’une autre age,
et l’on ressent quelque chose des impressions que Dante nous fait
eprouver quand il nous conduit d’-un cercle a un autre de son enfer.”*
It is this combined retreat and resistance, this apparent yielding
ness, ending in an obstinacy that never surrenders, which constitutes
the strong and enduring character of the Celtic influence. It can
not ever be said of it that it dies in a corner; for though it falls back
before every fresh inroad into nooks and retreats ever and ever more
obscure, it does not perish there. Roman civilisation drove Celtic
races before it, as it drove other races ; but these it ended by civilis
ing—the Celtic race, never. The great Teutonic invasion which
followed hurled the Celtic tribes back, but never really broke their
lines. Modern civilisation fares no better against them, and all the
efforts of England to impregnate the Irish people with modern ideas
of progress have generated nothing better than disgust and dis
affection. Without giving itself fine classical airs, or troubling itself
much with what to more ambitious people is exalted as philosophy,
the Celtic race is as sublime in its selection of sides as was the Roman
Cato. It loves the losing cause, and is invariably found shedding its
blood in campaigns that are desperate. Never to attack, but always
to defend—such seems its allotted part in history. It is the con
servative race, fated never to win, but never to be wholly conquered.
It has a delicate presentiment of its perpetual doom, and bears its
destiny with a fatalistic resignation. It believes unchangingly in
God, but does not expect God to fight for it. As has been finely
observed, one would hardly think, to see how slightly endowed it is
with audacious initiation, that it belongs to the race of Japhet—the
• Iapeti genus, audax omnia perpeti.
What is the character that we should expect to find in the poetry
of such a people? Precisely that which strikes the most cursory
observer. Celtic poetry, when undefiled with all alien admixture, is
lyrical and sad. It is for the most part a threnody; a dirge, like the
play and plash of melancholy waves. Not victories, but defeats,
are the theme of its bards; and its metrical stories are stories of
* ‘ Essais de Morale et de Critique.’ Par Ernest Renan, Membre de
1’Institut. Deuxieme edition. Paris : Michel Levy Freres.
vol. xxxvin.
Q
�226
THE CYCLE OF ENGLISH SONG,
exile and flight. If gaiety for a moment intrudes, it appears only as
a relief to the deep current of melancholy tears. For the Celtic race
has too enduring a consciousness of the world we do not see ever to
accept gladness as the natural condition of man. It has the religious
fibre in a remarkable degree in its composition, and the air it breathes
is for ever haunted with shadows and intangible phantoms. It clings
to the infinite, and is “ an infant crying in the night.” Too devout,
too resigned, too averse from sustained and concentrated thought to
strive, like the laborious Teuton, to solve the mysteries which sur
round us, it is content to recognise their existence, to feel their influ
ence, to acknowledge them as a law of life, but humbly to respect
their insolubility. It never presumes to lift the veil, though it never
forgets how little there is on this side of the veil to satisfy the human
soul. Thus its melancholy, its undying sadness, the plaintiveness of
its poetry, ever remains vague and indefinite. Its most realistic strains
are but a wandering voice.
The melancholy natures are usually gentle; and the Celtic race,
besides being sad, and what in these days is called superstitious, has a
feminine quality in it especially noteworthy. Just as, though it
nourishes an undying reverence for the awful mysteries beyond the
tomb, its annals swarm with apparitions, with witchcraft; and all the
apparatus of demonology; so, whilst it can be wrought by the in
justice of the invader to stubborn defence and even to terrible re
prisals, it asks nothing better than to be left alone, and, womanlike,
to bury itself in the pursuits of home. The contrast between its early
compositions and those of the Germanic peoples can scarcely be ex
aggerated. In the Edda and the Niebelungen we find heroes who
rejoice in slaughter for slaughter’s sake, who revel in blood, as some
men have revelled in lust, and to whom carnage and the bloody reek
of battle are a goodly savour. Savage strength, gigantic rudeness,
horse-play in peace, unlimited and joyous vengeance in strife, these
are the main elements of early Teutonic grandeur. In the Celtic
Mabinogion, on the contrary, though bloodshed abounds, though the
recitals swarm with tales of pitiless cruelty, these are used only as the
foils to gentler sentiments and more feminine scenes.
But in the formation of what we know as the English tongue Celtic
influence had little or no share; and many generations were to elapse
after its formation before Celtic influence was to creep into its poetry.
Using the terminology of a science prevalent amongst us, we may
say that whenever and wherever we find the Celtic element in our
poetical literature, it is there by the law of reversion to a remote
and indirect ancestry. Its two immediate parents are the Saxon
and the Norman. If, as Mr. Coventry Patmore has asserted, meta
phorically embodying an old and popular theory, “ marriage-contracts
are the poles on which the heavenly spheres revolve,” the union
�THETYCLE OF ENGLISH SONG.
227
between the conquered Saxon and the conquering Norman, such as
we find them towards the close of the eleventh century, ought indeed
to have produced celestial results; and there are few who will deny
that it has done so. We need not here concern ourselves to inquire
whether the two were not, after all, not very far distant in blood.
Whatever their original consanguinity, circumstance, and that some
thing which, because we cannot thoroughly scrutinise it, we call acci
dent, had ended by placing them, in character, in habits, in tongue,
poles asunder.
“ Of all barbarians these are the strongest of body and heart, and
the most formidable.” Such is the testimony of a civilised contem
porary concerning the Saxons. Their own account of them selves
sounds over-flattering; but at bottom it tells the same tale and sig
nifies the same thing: “ The blast of the tempest aids our oars; the
bellowing of heaven, the howling of the thunder, hurt us not; the
hurricane is our servant, and drives us whither we wish to go. We
smite with our swords,” sings one narrator of the deeds of himself and
his fellow sea-kings. “ To me it was a joy like having my bright
bride by me on the couch. He who has never been wounded leads a
weary life.” To slay and be slain was with them the whole duty of
life. It was for that that they came into this world; that was their
raison d'etre; that alone reconciled them to existence. Death had no
terrors for them, unless it came upon a bed. “ What a shame for me
not to have been permitted to die in so many battles, and to end thus
by a cow’s death I At least put on my breastplate, gird on my sword,
set my helmet on my head, my shield in my left hand, so that a great
warrior like myself may die as a warrior.” So spoke Siegward, Duke
of Northumberland, Henry of Huntingdon tells us, when dysentery
overtook him in the midst of a brief truce.
Evidently a pugnacious and battle-loving race; ( cherishing their
bodies, not for the pleasure and blandishment of ease, but in order that
in the din and stress of battle they might press heavily against and
overbear the foe. For this they ate voraciously, drank hard, and slept
without turning. Their existence was an animal one, relieved only
by those furious passions known but to man. But the conquest by
them of an island kingdom slowly but surely wrought a modification
in their temperament. With a whole continent before them, they
would have gone on conquering, or at least ravaging, as long as there
was a rood of ground left not visited by their stormy footsteps; and in
England they never paused from the work of havoc, slaughter, and
the constant acquisition of sway, until they found themselves stopped
either by the mountains or the sea. Then they began to feel the
pinch of their own success. What were they to do next ? Were
they, like Alexander, to weep because there were no more worlds to
devastate ? Had they not better turn and rend each other ? Thev
q 2
�228
THE CYCLE OF ENGLISH SONG.
found some relief in that course; and the whole world knows to
whom the reproach of their history being a history of kites and
crows was addressed. The Saxon Heptarchy was a praiseworthy
attempt to introduce peace and order among successful savages; but
that in the short space of a hundred years, out of fourteen kings
of Northumbria seven were slain and six deposed, is a conclusive
proof of what difficulties legislators and law-preservers had to contend
with.
Still, a something like settled government at length supervened;
and a wandering, adventure-seeking, battle-loving, brutal, though at
heart not unkindly people, had to find other vents for their turbid
temperaments than surprising their neighbours and dismaying their
foes. Generally they settled down into fixed families, villages, com
munistic states, kingdoms; and social life commenced. But society,
it long remained apparent, was not the natural condition of these
sturdy and moody children of the forest and the foam. Non-gregarious,
they isolated themselves whenever the opportunity arose, drawing a
sort of ring-fence round what they could call their own, and so dividing
it all from the outer world, which, by the law of inherited association,
they still regarded as their natural enemy. Tacitus hadj observed
how in Germany they lived the solitary life, each one near the wood
which pleased him. Self-detached and self-contained, each man would
fain be his own master, develop and give play to his own character,
and rule his own world. Neither law nor state should crush him.
War being no longer open to him, he would find his way out in some
other fashion, but still his own; or rather, since an outward vent for
his huge nature was denied him, he would nurse his feelings and
desires at home. Thus the active, vagrant, aggressive, despoiling
Saxon of the European mainland, gradually toned down to the domestic,
passive, silent, defensive, half-gloomy, meditative Saxon of this island.
He still indulged in enormous and frequent meals, still gave himself
the luxury of swinish intoxication, and corrected these excesses of
animal life by an out-door existence, hunting, and every sport that
field, or air, or river could afford him.
Man is not long in erecting his necessities into preferences, and
the step is not a far one which leads him to exalt his preferences into
virtues. Since he was compelled to lead the domestic life, this soon
became the English Saxon’s ideal; and with it naturally grew up a
great respect for property, for clear distinctions between meum and
tuum; a high regard for the usefulness and fidelity of women; a
strong sanction of reverence and of implicit obedience in children, and,
though to a less degree, in all subordinates. Home life thus estab
lished itself, and with it flourished home-keeping wits. Slow, deliberate,
cautious, practical, full of solid sense, with a strong sense of right and
justice; implacable, but from conscience, not from anger; exacting,
�THE CYCLE OF ENGLISH SONG.
229
mot easily moved to pity, putting heavy burdens upon everybody,
but bearing them unflinchingly himself, the Saxon in England was
perhaps the noblest and the most respectable savage the world has
ever seen.
Indeed, it is only in deference to modern ideas that he can be
regarded as a savage at all. With all his stolidity, he had within
him a deep well of enthusiasm, and the seriousness of his temperament
compelled him to be religious. Thus Christianity found in him an
easy if not a tractable convert. He readily accepted the idea of one
God, for indeed he possessed it already; but for outward symbols
and expressions of each particular religious passion or sentiment he
manifested, even then, an unmistakable aversion. What the Roman
Catholic church calls piety and the Protestant church superstition
had no seductions for him. He was without idols when Augustine
found him; for his earnest nature regarded such minor objects of
veneration as childish trifling. He recognised the universe, the
necessity of things, the difficulties of life, duty, conscience, heroism,
and the obligation of asserting himself. Religion was to be serviceable
io him, not he to religion.
It is not difficult to see what must be the contribution of such a
race to a composite poetical literature. To the Celt English poetry
■owes its pathos, sweetness, sadness, its lyrical faculty, its touches of
ineffable melancholy, that returning of the singer upon himself, that
minor key struck ever and anon in the midst of the strain, its notes of
■wail, its cadence drowned in tears, its sighing for what is not. The
charm of our poetry is Celtic; but its force is Saxon. The Celt says
Ah! the Saxon says Oh ! From the first we get our sentiment,
from the second our sublimity. But as the Saxon is perhaps the most
complex of all known characters, so are his contributions to the
elements of our poetry the most numerous and the most varied. To
this source must be traced not only all that is sounding and soaring
an it, but all on the one hand that is didactic and all on the other
that is deeply tragic. Much of English poetry, in the opinion of
foreign critics, is spoiled by its too evident and intentional moral tone.
Th a Frenchman or an Italian, much of Cowper, more of Words
worth, and no little of Milton, are as tiresome as the lesson taught by
■a schoolmaster. They are perpetually discoursing, playing the peda
gogue, laying down the law, inculcating moral truths, or what they
believe to be such. Yet no Englishman at least will doubt that, here
and there, our didactic poets, Wordsworth more especially, have reached
rare heights of song, even in the act of preaching, and wherever they
have done this, they were indebted to their Saxon blood and spirit.
To the same source must be traced that almost savagely tragic
spirit which permeates our best and most famous dramas. The Greeks
Aid not shrink from supping of horrors; but then they threw the
�230
THE CYCLE OE ENGLISH SONGlI
responsibility of slaughter, of parricide, matricide, fratricide, upon the
gods, upon fate, upon Necessity; and the human agents were victims,
rather than instigators or willing perpetrators, of bloody deeds. The
pages of Shakespeare swarm with furies, but they are furies in
human shape, men, mere men, governed by human motives, forgetful
of heaven, uninfluenced by hell, needing 'no goad but their own
tremendous passions, no goal but their own insatiable desires. Here
we see the old sea-kings at work; fighting, slaying, conquering, dying,
stamping with rage, rolling out sesquipedalian periods, and venting
themselves in prodigious metaphors.
But the Saxons were essentially stutterers. They had much to say,
more especially when they were no longer allowed to act, or at least
to act on the large scale and in obedience to their big carnage-loving
promptings; but they experience almost unconquerable difficulty in
saying it.
“ Time after time,” M. Taine observes, “ they return to and repeat the same
idea. The sun on high, the great star, God’s brilliant candle, the noble
creation—four times they employ the same thought, and each time under
a new aspect. All its different aspects rise simultaneously before the bar
barian’s eyes, and each word was like a shock of the semi-hallucination
which excited him. Verily, in such a condition, the regularity of speech
and of ideas is disturbed at every turn. His phrases recur and change;
he emits the word that comes to his lips without hesitation; he leaps over
wide intervals from idea to idea. The more his mind is transported, the
quicker and wider are the intervals traversed. With one spring he visits
the poles of his horizon, and touches in one moment objects which seem to
have the world between them. His ideas are entangled; without notice,
abruptly the poet will return to the idea he has quitted, and insert in it
the thought to which he is giving expression. It is impossible to translate
these incongruous ideas, which quite disconcert oui' modern style. At
times they are unintelligible. Articles, particles, everything capable of
illuminating thought, of marking the connection of terms, are neglected.
Passion bellows forth like a great shapeless beast.”
We may perhaps suspect that M. Taine, a Frenchman in spite of
all his breadth and toleration of mind, had in his mind, when he
wrote the above passage on the Saxon literature, less the Anglo-Saxon
fragments made familiar to us by Turner, Gonybeare, Thorpe, and
others, than those tragedies of Shakespeare which so many of his
countrymen have found “ barbarian.” It is to our Saxon blood that
we mainly owe our genius, our extravagance, the “ eye in fine frenzy
rolling”—that, indeed, which distinguishes what is best in our poetical
literature above all the poetical literatures of the human race.
But it may well be doubted if it ever would have attained the height
on which it now sits enthroned before the eyes of men, had not
another and most necessary element been introduced, an indispensable
corrector, a chastiser, a moulder, a beneficent wielder of discipline.
From the Celt, as we have said, our sweetness; from the Saxon, our
�THE CYCLE Of ENGLISH SONG.
231
sn-ength; but from the Norman, to use Mr. Arnold’s phrase, our light.
The point may be put yet more clearly, though with every advance in
precision we necessarily exaggerate the truth. The Celt contributes
the spirit, the Saxon, the substance, the Norman, the form; and
without the latter, it may safely be affirmed, we should never have
succeeded in pleasing anybody but ourselves.
As it is, we have accepted it unwillingly, but it has proved a useful
and wholesome restraint, just as the conquered Saxons unwillingly
received Norman laws and discipline, but were enormously improved
by them. As Mr. Froude says, “ through all the arrangements of
the conquerors, one single aim was visible; and that was that every
man in England should have his definite 'place and definite duty
assigned to him, and that no human being should be at liberty to lead
at his own pleasure an unaccountable existence. The discipline of an
army was transferred to the details of social life ” For a long time the
conquered resented this uncongenial treatment, and it was in con
formity with their proud and sullen nature that they should display
their resentment rather in silence than in song. The Normans
brought their troubadours with them, and the Norman court in
England boasted its jongleurs, who were after all but feeble imitators \ '
of what was scarcely worth imitating. But they had at least the
secret of form and of articulate speech. They were devoid of ideas,
idle triflers, court sycophants, ticklers of the fancy of lords and fine
ladies, spurious glorifiers of spurious passions; but they could put
words and sounds together. They knew, moreover, what it was to be
joyous, and they gave to their craft the very name of “ the gay science.”
Witty moreover, and irreverent, they relieved their stilted and affected
sentiments with gibes and delicate laughter.
Hence, when the time came, which was so long in coming, when
Saxon and Norman were to be one in race, one in nation, one in
manners, one in language, the Saxon had given up nothing, and had
acquired much. One in language, do we say ? Whose language ? It
was mainly the Saxon; but the Norman had taught him how to use
it. Its ponderosity had been laid aside, and the conqueror had adopted
it as his own.
Thus was brought about a triple union ; a union of race, a union of
caste, and a union of tongue. Even by the time of Henry the Second
no one asked who was Norman and who was Saxon; all freemen were
Englishmen. The distinction was lost of subduer and subdued. The
former might yet retain more than his fair share of the soil and of the
administration of the laws, but he had practically confessed that the
latter were his equals. The places laid waste by the Conquest become
gradually repeopled. Charters are granted; arbitrary taxes are got
rid of; burgesses are summoned from the towns to Parliament; poli
tical as well as social life makes its appearance. So that an English
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THE CYCLE OF ENGLISH SONG.
king, speaking to a pope, uses as his argument that “ it is the custom
of the kingdom of England, that in all affairs relating to the state of
this kingdom, the advice of all who are interested should be taken.”
It was impossible that, under such circumstances as these, the
French verse imported at the Conquest should not disappear. At the
beginning of the twelfth century, Saxon was heard only among the
“ degraded franklins, outlaws of the forest, swineherds, peasants, the
lower orders.” It was no longer written; everybody who wrote, wrote
French, everybody who read, read French. Many did it clumsily
and ill, and eked out their imperfect knowledge with Saxon words.
Gower apologised for his bad French style, adding, “ Je suis Anglais."
Nevertheless, the stronger always wins in the long run; and the
despised and down-trodden tongue, slowly but surely, got the upper
hand. When the Norman Barons began to send their sons across the
Channel to prevent them from learning English from their nurses the
beginning of the end was near. The Saxons would not—perhaps
could not—learn the language of their masters. There was but one
alternative: in order that the two might communicate, the master
had to learn the language of his inferior. There were limits to the in
vasion of the one upon the other. Law, philosophy, and such science
as there was, requiring abstract terms, necessarily borrowed from the
tongue which was indebted to Latin for its culture and expression,
but the rude necessities of life and the simple emotions of the heart
refused to embody themselves, as far as the nation was concerned, in
any but native words. In two centuries or so, the process was
complete. There was an English nation and an English language,
and they only waited for an English poet.
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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The cycle of English song
Description
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Place of publication: [London]
Collation: 217-232 p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Includes bibliographical references. Article from Temple Bar magazine, May 1873; attribution from Virginia Clark catalogue.
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Conway Tracts
Songs
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C( 2z5?
SACRED HISTORY
AS A BRANCH OF
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION.
PART I.
ITS INFLUENCE ON THE INTELLECT.
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS SCOTT,
MOUNT PLEASANT, RAMSGATE.
Price, Sixpence.
�I
�SACRED HISTORY
AS A BRANCH OF
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION.
UGHT the teaching of Sacred History, in its tra
ditional and biblical form, to be approved of or
maintained in the primary schools of a free and pro
gressive people 1
Such is the question which I propose to discuss.
Thus stated, it does not address itself exclusively to
any one nation, nor to any one Church. It is not a
criticism of one denomination, nor of one school-system
more than of another. It has no special reference to
the religious instruction of Catholics or Protestants as
such. Important and interesting for all sects and
parties alike, it is addressed alike to all, and the dis
cussion of it ought to be entirely free from party spirit
and sectarian prejudice.
To avoid misunderstanding, it may be well, here, at
the outset, clearly to define and to circumscribe the
subject proposed for consideration. The position which
I am to maintain would be utterly absurd, if it were
extended beyond the limits which are assigned to it by
the very title of this essay. There is no question, there
can be no question here, of any but the popular Sacred
History,—of Biblical History as it is commonly taught
O
�6
Sacred History :
in schools, and as we have all learned it in onr child
hood. I declare formally that I am not to treat of the
Bible, nor of Biblical History, as viewed in relation to
the science of Religion, as studied in our universities,
in our theological halls, and generally in the higher
walks of learning, by the light of comparative philology,,
of archaeology, and of all the other sciences which are
now made subservient to the science of history.
I most expressly restrict my subject to the now pre
vailing popular primary teaching of Biblical History;
and I shall accordingly take for reference, not this or
that learned work of historical, critical, or exegetical
interpretation of the Bible, but only the authorized
translation of it, which every one possesses, and which
is used in our schools.
It will be seen that this question, though bearing
closely upon the highest theological doctrines, presents
itself here in a totally different relation; for it turns, in
the first place and chiefly, upon a practical problem of
popular education. The discussion of such a question,
however various may be the opinions held regarding it,
ought to be cordially welcomed by every man in a free
country such as this, where true progress is universally
desired.
It is not difficult to discern and to state the principles
by which we ought to be guided in this discussion; and
there can scarcely be any dispute about these principles
when stated. All must agree that education, in every
stage from the lowest to the highest, ought to have a
twofold purpose—the culture of the intelligence, and that
of the moral conscience. Such ought especially to be
the design and the aim of the primary education which
addresses itself to the children of the people, among
whom, in the majority of cases, it is not likely to be
followed up by any other regular instruction. Before
these children, who can scarcely be expected to have
afterwards either the time or the means for completing
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
7
or correcting the ideas which have once been inculcated
on their minds, a teacher ought to say nothing, do
nothing, inculcate nothing, which may not have a good
effect npon the intellect or upon the heart,—nothing
but what may contribute to teach them either to think
aright or to act aright. To make men:-—\his is the
glorious task of the teacher in modern society. To
make men, is to develop, in the youths committed to
his care, enlightened intellects and upright consciences.
It is from this twofold point of view that we propose
to consider the study of Sacred History; it is by its
effects upon our two essential faculties, the intellect and
the conscience, that we propose to judge it.
I. The
influence of
Sacred History
upon the
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTELLECT.
Let us put ourselves in the position of a child who
is being taught sacred history, and endeavour to
realize and explain to ourselves the ideas of Humanity,
of Nature, and of God, which will thus be conveyed
to the mind of the child, in these three great depart
ments which complete the cycle of human thought.
Let us see, first, how the modern idea of humanity
will harmonize with that of a sacred history.
What is the meaning of this expression, sacred
history ? Wherefore sacred 2 In what respect is it
more sacred than other histories ? Is it that it will
present to us the ideal of sanctity or holiness in action?
Is it a history of the purest, the best, the most virtuous
men ? This title of sacred history would be intelligi
ble, if applied to a book which should present to our
view a gallery of portraits worthy to serve as models
to humanity, a series of biographies, such as those of
Joseph and of Moses among the Hebrews, of Aristides,
and of Socrates among the Greeks, of Cakyamouni in
Hindostan, of the great Roman Stoics, of the Christian
�8
Sacred History:
martyrs and missionaries, of a Spinoza, of a Luther, of
a Vincent de Paul, of all those in short who have lived
and died for the defence of their faith, their reason,
their conscience, their earnest convictions. We might
thus have an admirable collection of the benefactors of
the human race, of men devoted to their duty, taken
impartially from all periods, from all peoples, and from
all creeds. But these exalted and noble lessons are
not what men call sacred history. This history is thus
named, not on account of the holiness of the precepts,
or of the examples which it contains, but because it is
the history of a people who were not, like others, left
to their own resources, of a people who received, from
God himself, revelations, promises, supernatural lights,
who were, in a word, the “people of God.”
What idea is the child to derive from this title
alone ?
His first impression, if left to himself, will be that
God, like men, has His favourites, His proteges; that,
by an entirely unmerited choice, He honoured with a
special affection and care one nation to the exclusion of
all others. The child, with his simple, direct, and
wholesome logic, will say exactly what Calvin said.
“ Certainly,” wrote the great Reformer in his energetic
freedom, “ in that God of old adopted the seed of
Abraham, He has given a sufficiently clear proof that
He did not love the whole human race equally.
Having rejected all other nations, He loved one
alone.
He restricted His special love to a small
number, whom He was pleased to choose from among
the rest.” It is well known that, up to our own time,
this theory has been frankly accepted by the theologians
called orthodox. In these days, however, when it is
clearly becoming impossible to maintain such a theory,
a peculiar explanation has been adopted. The doctrine
of absolute predestination, which Calvin consistently
made the chief corner stone of the orthodox system, is
now rejected by many theologians as incompatible with
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
9
morality: and it is said that all nations and all men
have an equal share in the love of God,—that the
■provisional and exceptional election of the Jews is not
a privilege,—that Israel is chosen only as an instru
ment, not for himself, but for the benefit of the whole
human race,—as a monitor whom God employs for the
general instruction of all His children. Supposing this
latter interpretation to be the true one, it would in
some degree be a reply to the moral objection of the
Divine partiality, which we shall repeatedly find again;
but it does not at all remove the historical objection,
which is that the sacred history causes the child to
conceive a thoroughly false idea of humanity, by the
very fact that it teaches him to divide human history
into two parts, the one sacred, the other profane ; the
one, in which God speaks, acts, and shows Himself
directly or personally on every page; and the other,
in which He does not thus interfere, and in which He
acts only by the operation of natural laws.
Until recently, it was considered orthodox to see in
ancient history, the reign of God in Israel, and the
reign of the devil everywhere else; but it is now more
generally thought correct to recognise a negative pre
paration among the Gentiles, as well as a positive pre
paration in Israel. It is thus assumed that there have
been two distinct kinds of divine revelation, all the
other nations having been enlightened only by the dim
and indirect rays of natural light; while the Jews, on
the contrary, were alone privileged to be in constant
and immediate communication with God himself. See
how much is implied in the mere expression—sacred
history.
I do not at present inquire whether this notion can
be reconciled with that of divine equity; but I ask
whether it can be for a moment maintained in the face
of history. History now enables us to say with full
assurance, that humanity is one, in all the diversity of
its families; and that God, who is also One, has
�io
Sacred History :
spoken to man always and everywhere by the same
means, and in the same forms. He is the Father of
all men and of all nations, and has not shown himself
to some, nor concealed himself from others, any more
three thousand years ago than to-day.
The Jews, indeed, affirm that they received, from
God himself, revelations of an entirely special and
supernatural kind, which are recorded in the Bible.
But the Brahmins, the Budhists, the Parsees, and I
may say all the nations of the east, are no less positive
in affirming the same pretension. There is not a single
nation of Asia, ancient or modern, which has not its
Bible, or which does not declare that it is the holy
people—the chosen people of God; not one which, in
support of this exceptional “ calling and election,” does
not appeal to miracles, to numerous interventions of
the Deity, to the testimony of thousands of their best
men, and finally to books divinely inspired.
When among so many Bibles, among so many Words
of God, you take that of the Jews as absolutely true,
and declare those of all other nations absolutely false,
can you say, in all sincerity, that you have investi
gated, with equal attention, patience, and seriousness,
the claims of all these nations to this pretended revela
tion—to this pretended office of “ special instrument ”
of the Deity? Especially with reference to primary
instruction, is it not manifest that neither the pupils
nor the teachers are in a position to make this com
parison between the Hebrew Bible, the Veda of India,
the Avesta of Persia, the Koran of the Arabs, and the
other sacred books of the East ? They are virtually
forced to regard the Bible as an isolated monument,
without even dreaming of the possibility of tracing the
connection between the sacred codes of the various
ancient religions. The children do not know, and,
according to the present system, nine-tenths of them
will never know, that there are as many sacred histories,
and as many chosen peoples, and as many divine revela-
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
11
tions, as there have been, nations in the east, and almost
in all antiquity. By far the greater number, thanks to
this early instruction, will probably remain, all through
life, ignorant or misinformed regarding the fundamen
tal idea of human history—the natural progressive
development of all the human races, a development
which each of them attributes in the first place to a
miraculous revelation, but which the comparative his
tory of civilizations shows to be governed by law's
common to all, according to a general plan of divine
providence.
But how can the immense religious superiority of
the Jews, over all other ancient nations, be explained
on historical and natural grounds ?
In the first place, this superiority is neither so
decided nor so manifest, except to minds which are
unacquainted with the study of the ancient civiliza
tions. It is quite superfluous to say that, if we select
the most beautiful of the Psalms, or the purest and most
admirable pages of the Prophets, to be compared with
some gross form of fetichism, or of primitive idolatry,
if the Jehovah of Isaiah be opposed to the Jupiter of
Lucian, our minds may well be impressed with the
contrast. But take a wider view. Compare the moral
precepts of the Mosaic law with those of Zoroaster, or
of Manu,—the Hebrew poems with those of the Big
Veda; trace and remark the analogies of almost all the
prescriptions relating to manners, to legal defilements,
to ablutions, to the whole system of ritual, among the
Persians for example, and among the Hebrews. It
will then be found that the imaginary abyss of separa
tion has been nearly levelled up; and, instead of an
immense contrast, there will remain only inequalities
of various degrees. The Hebrews will have the advan
tage upon one point, the Persians upon another, and
upon a third the Hindoos, or the Egyptians.
Let us, however, forget for a moment that the mono
theism of Zoroaster is as real, if not as precise, as that
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Sacred History:
of the Hebrews; that the Persians and Parsees, no
less than the Hebrews, have had a horror of any
sensible representation of the Deity; that charity was
recognized and preached in India at an earlier date than
in Judea; that the appreciation and esteem of purity,
of holiness, and of labour, were more ancient, and pro
bably also more complete, among the Persians than
among the Jews ; and that numerous passages can be
quoted from the Vedas, or from the Yatpias, which
would sustain, in moral sublimity, a parallel with the
most admirable pages of the Bible.
Let us forget for a moment all these patent facts,
and many others similar, which might be noted, and let
us suppose that, in religion, the Jews have had, over the
rest of humanity, a clear superiority, equal to that, for
example, which the Greeks have had in the domain of
aesthetics. Would it be absolutely necessary, in order
to explain such a difference, to place that nation out
side of the common conditions of humanity, or to intro
duce for them alone the supernatural into history 1 If
you can explain, without any miracle, the genius of a
Homer, or of a Phidias, as well as that of a Zoroaster,
of a Budha, or of a Confucius, why should the same
explanation not apply to the genius of a Moses or of
an Isaiah ?
Seriously, whether we consult our own common
sense, or whether we examine the past, can we believe
that this same God, who now speaks to all men in the
same language, employed a few centuries ago extra
ordinary means, to make himself known exclusively to
a small Semitic tribe dwelling in Palestine, while, over
all the rest of the globe, the thousands and millions of
human creatures, whom He had there brought into
existence, were left by Him to grope in darkness 1 If
we desire to give to our children our cherished modern
idea of the unity, equality, and fraternity of men of
every race, and of every time, of every colour, and of
every clime, is it wise or right to teach them to behold
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
13
in the past some nations abandoned by God, and others
enlightened by Him, a handful of elect specially sur
rounded with miraculous cares, and all the rest,—that
is to say almost the totality of the human generations,
—deprived by God of these exceptional favours ?
Confining ourselves to this general criticism of the
dualistic character, which sacred history introduces into
the notion of humanity ; let us now see whether it will
give to our children better instruction upon the subject
of nature, and whether it will impart to them a more
correct idea of the physical than of the human world.
I shall not here formally enter upon the question of
the supernatural. Although perfectly convinced, for
my own part, that there have never been, in any time
nor in any place, more miracles than are now to be
seen in our daily life, I respect and would not unneces
sarily offend those persons who still to some extent
believe in the supernatural. Thank God, history
shows us, with sufficient clearness, the progress of
humanity in this question. From age to age, the
supernatural steadily loses ground. At the commence
ment of civilization all is prodigy,—the thunder, the
wind, an eclipse, a comet, the smallest meteor. By
degrees, in proportion as men come to understand a
little better the causes or the nature of such phenomena,
the circle of miracle becomes narrower; until at length,
as among Christians of the present day, men feel them
selves compelled to refer miracles to a remote period of
legendary antiquity, there to wait until another step of
progress be accomplished, which shall cause them to be
entirely renounced. Let us patiently and hopefully
await, from the force of events and the development of
humanity, the final fall of the few, frail, and ruinous
refuges of supernaturalism which still survive. Hu
manity moves, and is now again stirring itself; but
God guides the movement, and, notwithstanding every
obstacle, He will assuredly cause yet another stride on
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Sacred History:
wards to be taken in due time. It is only a question
of time, and it is useless for us to struggle passionately
against it.
But, without pausing to inquire what degree of
belief still generally retains its hold upon the minds
of men, and judging it more useful to regard the matter
from the believers’ point of view, let us seek to ascer
tain what part ought to be assigned to miracles in
education, especially in that of the children of the
people. However much you may believe in miracles,
I would say to a believer, yet you regard them only
as exceptions. You of course acknowledge that in
general the world is guided by invariable, inflexible,
universal laws. Would it not be well to maintain the
same position in the instruction of childhood ? Is it
not necessary to insist infinitely more upon the rule
than upon the exception ? In the first place, thoroughly
impress upon the child that there are laws of nature;
and let his mind, which is so readily inclined to fantasy,
be familiarized with those laws, and accustomed to seek
everywhere and always the physical explanation of
phenomena. After this has been done, it will be soon
enough to teach him, if you think it right to do so,
that in a very small number of extraordinary cases, two
or three thousand years ago, some revocations of or de
partures from those immutable laws have taken place.
If, on the contrary, at the age when his reason is still
so tender, so pliant, and so unsteady, you speak to him
continually of miracles and of prodigies, there must be
great danger of reversing the parts, of making him take
the exception for the rule, and, worst of all, of banish
ing from his mind the idea of seeking for the rule.
It ought to be borne in mind that reflection has to
be learned by the child. His spontaneous conception
of everything is under the figure of a material image ;
and, “as he has not yet any notion of the true condi
tions of knowledge and of certainty, his faith is in
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
J5
proportion to the effect produced upon his imagination,
and not in proportion to the evidence. He believes in
what is marvellous more easily than in what is simple.
The extraordinary is not only most interesting, but
also most convincing to the mind of a child. Miracle
is the thing which he most readily comprehends. It is
sufficient to make a strong impression upon his imagina
tion in order to convince him. The more brilliant the
colours, the more readily will his young genius be
captivated therewith. Nurses know this instinctively,
and hence their incredible stories often remain graven
in the memories of children, while reasonable and
probable narratives make little or no impression.
Phantoms have a much stronger hold than realities
upon the minds of children; ghosts are to them much
more formidable than living men; and fantastic pic
tures make a far stronger impression than the clear and
distinct reality.” These reflections of a great modern
philosopher explain how very difficult it is for a child
to acquire the idea of a Nature governed by regular
laws, and not by miraculous caprice.
Such being the instinctive propensity of a child,
must it not be injurious to the development of his
reason to implant in his mind at first, as the basis of
intelligence, a thick stratum of the marvellous, which
cannot but tend strongly to stifle the faculty of
rational reflection, of which the culture and the growth
are already so difficult and so slow 1 This is precisely
the danger which, in my opinion, is presented by
sacred history. Taking possession, as it does, before
any other history, of the still vacant mind, it widely
diffuses and plants therein a taste for the miraculous,
instead of furnishing an antidote to that taste already
by nature so strong.
Recall to mind the impressions of your childhood,—
your first lessons of sacred history. You will find that
these fall into two great classes, both belonging to the
�i6
Sacred History:
marvellous ; on the one hand legends, and on the other
miracles properly so called.
By legends, I mean narratives which believers them
selves can no longer take in the literal sense, but are
now constrained to regard as allegorical, while attribut
ing to them a symbolism as profound as they may wish.
Bor example, Adam and Eve are placed naked and
innocent, in a delightful garden, at the centre of which
two mysterious trees spread their boughs. Do you
remember their magical peculiarities ? The one is the
tree of life, the other gives the knowledge of good and
evil. All at once a reptile, the serpent (for, do not
forget, Genesis does not say that this serpent was the
devil,—a personage who does not make his appearance
in the Jewish religion until a very much later time;—
it says merely that it was “more subtile than any
of the field,” Gen. iii. 1),—the serpent, then, caused
our first parents to eat the fruit of one of these trees.
It was the tree of knowledge ; and you know that, as
soon as they had eaten that fruit, it had indeed the
effect of making them know what they had till then
been ignorant of. Then, says the Bible :—
Gen. iii. 22-24.—“ The Lord God said, Behold, the man
is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now,
lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life,
and eat, and live for ever; therefore the Lord God sent
him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from
whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he
placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and
a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way
of the tree of life.”
Surely it cannot wound the religious feelings of my
readers to enquire simply, whether any of them can
here believe the Bible in the literal sense. Who can
now be found to maintain that there really did exist
two trees of which the magical fruits had these virtues,
the one to make man think, and the other to render
him immortal ? Who ever imagines now that the
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
17
knowledge of good and evil, which we all in some
degree possess, is actually derived, as Genesis says it is,
from a certain fruit eaten by our first parents 1 Who
can believe that God drove man out of Eden, for fear
that he should steal for himself immortality, as he had
already stolen knowledge ?—No one, assuredly. It is
so little believed, that, among modern theologians, it
is now generally thought necessary to apply a fanciful
interpretation to the whole of this primitive legend.
It has also been argued by some that it is impossible
to determine clearly what portion of this picture ought
to be taken literally, and what in a figurative sense.
Perhaps so; but that is precisely the character of a
myth. The phrase magical fruit, as here employed,
may be objected to, because there is no such expression
in the Bible; but then is not this one tree called the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that other
the tree of life ? These words must either signify
nothing, or else they suppose qualities very different
from those of ordinary trees. Doubtless you may
spiritualize all this •, but then, who hinders you from
doing the same with all the analogous myths of the
Vedas and of the Avesta? If you were to give this
story to the children, as you in reality take it your
selves,—as a beautiful myth,—as an ancient and
simple legend, enveloping a great moral truth, it might
then be all right and proper. But was it necessary
that God should intervene to dictate only myths ? If
so, what difference, of any value, can you establish
between the Word of God and mythology1? Among
two neighbouring nations you find the same cosmogonic
allegory under different forms more or less poetic : in
the one case it shall be only an imposture, while in
the other case it is celestial truth ! Is this reasonable?
Without insisting upon a crowd of other myths, to
which the same or similar reflections would apply, let
us come to the miracles properly so called.
May it not be said that the most important function
B
�18
Sacred History:
and aim of instruction ought to be, to make children
early practise the habit of putting to themselves always
these two questions,—WHY ? and HOW ? It is only
thus that they can acquire the knowledge that the things
which they learn from their teachers or from their
books, are truths and realities; and this alone is true
knowledge. It is only thus that they can be educa
tionally inspired with that thirst for the knowledge of
all things real and true, which is the mainspring of
human progress. It is only thus that their reasoning
powers, the highest faculties of their minds, can be
exercised, disciplined, trained, and developed.
But will a history composed of miracles, that is to
say, of things which cannot be explained—of which it
is impossible to know the why and the how ;—will such
a history tend to encourage or to extinguish the scien
tific curiosity of a child ? It has, to all his questions,
a stereotyped reply, which cuts short the spirit of
investigation:— Why.?—Because God willed it. How?
—As God willed it.
It is the peculiar character of the Semitic peoples,
and especially of the Jewish race, to disdain secondary
causes, and to prefer always, overleaping all intermedi
ate steps, to ascend at once to first principles, or to the
great First Cause. The necessary consequence of this is
a general want of relish for the detailed study of facts,
for the scientific observation of nature, for comparative
criticism and analysis. Ask an Arab how the grass
grows, how the stream flows, what produces earth
quakes, famines, or epidemics,-—a thousand similar
questions; and he will reply to you, astonished at your
ignorant curiosity,—Allah is Allah. Is not the reason
and cause of everything a decree of God ? What is the
use of climbing step by step in the series of secondary
causes ? Why not accept the will of God as a univer
sally sufficient explanation ?
This is exactly the effect which sacred history inevi
tably produces upon the intellect of childhood. It
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
J9
accustoms the mind to dispense with the laborious
investigation of the how and the why, causing it to
refer things directly to God without any other explana
tion. Instead of being trained to see God in all those
secondary causes and natural laws, by which He con
stantly manifests himself to us,—instead of being made
to perceive that every pathway of science leads straight
up to the Author of all, the child is led, through the
irregular eross-roads and by-ways of miracle, to seek
God chiefly by imagination, and is hindered from
learning that He is rather to be found by reason on the
one hand, and by conscience on the other.
Suppose that a pupil were to ask the question,—
Why and how could there be a universal deluge 1—■
Instead of having imparted to him a few scientific
notions as to the natural character and physical causes
of the great changes and revolutions of the globe, his
legitimate and wholesome curiosity will be snubbed and
repulsed, and he will be instructed to behold and to
wonder at the act of God, whereby “the fountains of the
great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven
were opened,” (Gen. vii. 11). Will not that child be
very much enlightened ?
When the account of the appearance of the rainbow
after the deluge is the Bible-lesson for the day; this
might be a favourable opportunity for making the chil
dren understand, in opposition to their natural propen
sity for seeing miracles everywhere, that there is
absolutely nothing at all supernatural about the rain
bow, and that it was quite in the nature of things that
a rainbow should be produced at the time, for example,
when the rains of the deluge ceased. But listen to the
explanation of the matter which they will be required
to accept:—
Gen. viii. 13.—“ And it came to pass in the six hundredth
and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month,
the waters were dried up from off the earth.”
Gen. ix. 8-17.—“ And God spake unto Noah, and to his
�20
Sacred History:
sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my cove
nant with you, and with your seed after you; and with
every living creature that is with you: . . . neither shall
there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God
said, This is the token of the covenant. ... I do set my bow
in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant be
tween me and the earth : and it shall come to pass, when I
bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in
the cloud; . . . and I will look upon it that I may remem
ber the everlasting covenant between God and every living
creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”
I do not insist upon the significance of this latter
clause, which, taken in its literal sense, as it must be
taken by children, will represent to them God looking
upon His bow in order that He may remember His
covenant. The myth, which is here put in the place
of natural causes, is of small importance for wellinformed persons, but the truly important consideration
is that it is presented to children as an absolute fact,
and that they are thus taught and accustomed to rest
satisfied with merely chimerical explanations of natural
phenomena.
What must be the influence of a primary education,
which turns thus continually upon an inexhaustible
stock of marvels 1 How can we expect the intellectual
faculties of our children to be awakened, confirmed and
developed, if, to all their questions about the nature of
things, the only reply is this,—God is God, and He is
omnipotent.
Master, the child will say, is it really true that there
have been men who lived more than 900 years ? Is it
really true that one or two men have ascended up to
heaven in a chariot of fire ? That two or three others,
being actually dead, have come to life again ?—What
presumption to ask if these things are true ! How can
you be so wicked as to doubt it ?—They are written in
the Bible.
Master, how can a she-ass speak?—Everything is
possible to God.
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
21
But that cruse of oil which never failed nor was
exhausted, how was that?—God is all-powerful.
And how could Jonah have been able to live three
days and three nights in the belly of a fish?—My
child, if the Bible said that Jonah swallowed the whale,
instead of being swallowed by it, it would still be
necessary to believe it.
It is thus that, while wishing to teach our children
to honour God, and to believe His Word, they are in
reality taught to learn nothing, but to bend their minds
in passive submission to this modern and Protestant
form of the worst feature of Popery,—the Bible says
so, or the Bible does not say so.
I have often heard it said that there is nothing
which children learn more willingly than sacred history.
I can easily believe it ; for, excepting fairy tales, there
is nothing better suited to please their childish minds :
it is so full of prodigies ! But will the recounting of
prodigies convey genuine instruction to the children?
Will they thus be taught to think, to reflect, to observe,
and to search always for truth and reality ? Or will
the influence of such teaching be exactly the reverse ?
You see it is a practical question, demanding the
most serious consideration. The teacher of a primary
school is in the presence of children, by far the greater
number of whom cannot be expected to acquire in after
life any regular knowledge of the natural, physical, or
mathematical sciences. It must certainly be injurious
to make such children believe that one day, at the end
of a battle between two Asiatic tribes, in order to con
fer upon a Jewish captain the signal advantage of
slaughtering a few more fugitives, God actually caused
the sun to halt in its diurnal motion through the sky,
and to stand still for “ about a whole day,” and that
He moreover set to work, (for the Bible says so, and
the children will take it in the most literal sense,)
to “cast dozen great stones from heaven,” (hailstones)
whereby more of the fugitives died than those who
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Sacred History:
were slain by the victorious Israelites. (Josh. x. 11-13.)
To confirm the impression of this prodigious miracle as
a literal fact upon their minds, the children will
probably be reminded of another occasion, when,
touched by the prayers and tears of a sick king who
had been told that he was about to die, God relented
so far as to promise him a supplement of fifteen years
of life, and, as a sign that the promise would be ful
filled, “ He brought the shadow ten degrees backward,
by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz,” (2
Kings xx. 11); “So the sun returned ten degrees, by
which it was gone down,” (Isaiah xxxviii. 8).
What man of common sense, if he will only give the
matter a serious thought, can ever be persuaded that
this profusion of miracles, bidding defiance to all the
conclusions of human reason, and even to the laws of
mathematics, is a wholesome education for the minds
of children, ignorant, credulous, imaginative, and con
fiding, who will probably never afterwards be in a
position to acquire a scientific notion of the laws of
nature, and to whom therefore and henceforth, it will
seem, as it did to the primitive peoples, quite natural
that a miracle should, at any moment, interfere with
and upset the regular course of nature ?
There are, however, some teachers who, on the con
trary, maintain that nothing is better fitted to form the
intellect and to improve the mind of a child, than the
study of miracles. The miraculous is, according to
them, one of the best means of culture. Such a thesis
can only be maintained by those who do not properly
understand what a miracle is. If a child sets himself
to reflect upon the miracle of Isaiah or of Joshua, how
ever little he may have been taught of the elements of
cosmography, it will immediately occur to him that, if
the Sun (or the Earth) had stood still or gone backwards
in space, there must have thence resulted, in instant
succession, throughout vast systems of worlds, endless
perturbations, huge catastrophes, universal destruction ;
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
23
and, rather than, suppose such impossibilities to serve
no purpose but to favour a petty Jewish king, or to
complete the massacre of a troop of Amorites, a child
who has been truly taught to reflect will think of these
miracles exactly what you think of those of all re
ligions, except your own.
It is impossible to find any mode but one, of recon
ciling the miraculous with good instruction ; and that
is to explain it, or, in other words, to deny it; and
this is what even the believers are now, in some
measure, forced to do. In these days, for example,
even among the orthodox, you will find very few
persons who believe in the plagues of Egypt. It is
not now uncommon to hear even fervent defenders of
miracle explaining, that these plagues arose from natural
causes which occur in Egypt every year but in smaller
proportions; that frogs, lice, locusts, water resembling
blood, etc., are well known there; and that the Bible
narrative only shows us God giving to these facts a
proportion and a fitness, which raised them to the
sphere of the miraculous. Well, be it so ; but having
once entered upon this path, how far are we to go ?
With regard to the passage of the Red sea, the
physical possibility of this famous miracle may be
explained to the children by the action of the tides
combined with violent winds. As to the manna and the
quails it may be said that in winter innumerable flocks
of quails reach the warm countries, and that the manna
appears to have been the savoury fruit of a shrub which
grows abundantly in thedesert of Arabia. Elsewhere, the
teacher may explain to his pupils that the art of discover
ing springs of water, and of rendering the water drink
able, still continues to be a requisite qualification for the
guide of an army or of a tribe in the sands of Arabia, etc.
It is thus that some of our Protestant theologians
are now disposed to treat sacred history, while others,
more conservative, are ready to exclaim,—Take care
what you do, to explain a miracle is to reject it, and
�24
Sacred History:
all the miracles hang together, so that if you reject
one of them, you reject them all.
Very true; and, likewise, if you adopt one of them,
you adopt all the others. Human history is one great
book, of which every page is full of miracles. How
can the supernatural be preserved whole and entire in
a single one of these pages, when it is banished with
out hesitation from all the others? Tf God has
performed miracles among the Jews, why deny that
He may have done the same among the Hindoos and
among the Persians, among the Celts and among the
Germans, as the ancient writings of all these peoples
abundantly affirm that He did ?
Then you had better say at once that, in the name of
science and through hatred of the supernatural, you mean
to deprive us of the whole Bible, Old and New Testaments.
No, this discussion has no tendency whatever to
deprive you of the Bible, but only of the superstition
of the Bible. Even you who profess so absolutely to
revere the Bible as the “Word of God,” do you think
it would be difficult to make you confess that you
reject many passages of it as containing indefensible
errors? Do you believe, for example, that the hare
and the rabbit are ruminants ? It is not merely Moses
however, it is God himself who, according to two
formal texts of the Bible (I speak always of the Bible
which is in every hand), directly affirms that both these
animals chew the cud, (Lev. xi. 4-6; Deut. xiv. 7).
If there be one single error in the Bible, there may
be two, there may he ten, and we thenceforth differ
from one another only about a question of number;
which amounts to saying that no person can any longer
maintain the absolute infallibility of the Bible; and,
if it contains errors, then there is nothing, even from
the believers’ point of view, to hinder us or them from
regarding the supernatural as one of these errors.
Upon the third point, it is often affirmed that sacred
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
25
history abundantly compensates, in precious advan
tages, for all the objections which can otherwise be
brought against it. There are many who admit that
it presents deficiencies and inaccuracies with regard to
the knowledge of humanity and of nature, while main
taining its entire perfection with regard to the know
ledge of God.
I do not forget that Biblical history, suitably treated
from the Christian point of view, often serves admir
ably to impress upon the children these two grand ideas,
—that of the one God, and that of the living God.
Even here, however, is there not some illusion ?
Among the men of three or four thousand years ago,
the notion of God evidently was not, could not be,
that which it has become with the progress of humanity.
In the earliest times of which the vestiges have been
preserved to us in certain books of the Bible, it bore
the stamp of a rude anthropomorphism. But, however
rude it may have been, it is not we who shall forget
that, in its time, anthropomorphism was a progress,
and that it marked the first dawn of religious and
philosophical thought.
We do not at all wonder to see God humanized in
the most ancient pages of this same Bible, in the later
portions of which we shall find the purest and highest
expression of the religious sentiment, precisely because
we know that the Bible is neither an exceptional book,
nor even the work of one single period ; but merely a
collection of Hebrew literature from its first attempts
to its highest development.
In the earliest portions, everything bears the trace
of a primitive social state, everything there has, so
to say, the tone and the aspect of childhood; but by
degrees the images change, the symbols are purified,
and the worship, as well as the literature of the nation,
becomes more elevated and more spiritual. If this
development be taken into account, the differences
which appear between Genesis, for example, and the
�q.6
Sacred History:
poetic writings of the later period, are not greater nor
more surprising than the interval which separates the
Niebelungen from Klopstock and from Goethe, or than
the contrast between the “ legends of the round table ”
and the works of our modern historians. If, on the
contrary, this successive and progressive character be
abstracted from the books of the Bible, then sacred
history becomes a chaotic mixture of sublime and of
rude ideas, and then it must tend, upon many points,
to mislead the mind of a child.
If the Bible is a human book, its anthropomorphism
is not only no reproach, but must even be admired, as
it is admired in the commencements of other ancient
religions. When I read therein, God repents, God is
angry, God forgets, and God remembers, God is glad,
and God is grieved, when I read on every page, God
speaks, or God appears, I easily reduce to their true
value these various symbols, while fully appreciating
their ingenuity or simplicity, and the beauty or the
truth which they may contain. But when you give
these same symbols to a child, as so many supernatural
facts, derived from a book which not only is true, but
which is the very Word of God, then the danger com
mences, and it is necessary to protest against this sub
stitution of ancient Hebrew anthropomorphism for
eternal and pure truth.
God is not only thus humanly personified in the
Bible, but He is therein sometimes materialized to an
extent which is now almost inconceivable to us, who
are accustomed to contemplate Jehovah only through
the light of Gospel times. For example, when Noah
came out of the Ark, he offered a burnt-offering of
many animals to God ; “ and the Lord smelled a sweet
savour
“ and the Lord said in his heart, I will not
again curse the ground any more,” (Gen. viii. 21).
Would the most fervent imitators of the Biblical style
now venture to employ such an expression, even
under the pretext of symbolism ?
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
27
It would be more than wearisome to collect here all
the traces of a similar materialism, all the texts in
which corporeal forms are attributed to God. Think
of the burning bush; think of Sinai, where, from the
midst of cloudsand of thunders, with “the voice of
the trumpet exceeding loud,” God gives, with his own
hand, to Moses, two tables, written, says Exodus,
“with the finger of God,” (xxxi. 18 ; xxxii. 16). Think
especially of the prominence given to this idea,—
majestic, if its poetic symbolism be understood, but
extremely rude if taken literally as given in the Bible:
—no man can see or hear God without instantly
dying: one single people has been able to hear him,
one single man has been able to see him—without
perishing. Would it be easy to explain the following
passages, so that they shall not have, at least for
children, a sense decidedly too material ?
Exod. xix. 18-24.—“And Mount Sinai was altogether
on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire:
and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace,
and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice
of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder,
Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the
Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the
mount; and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the
mount; and Moses went up. And the Lord said unto
Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break
through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.
And let the priests also, which come near unto the
Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon
them........... Thou shalt come up, thou and Aaron with
thee; but let not the priests and the people break
through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth
upon them.”
Exod. xx. 18-21.—“And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and
the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they
removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses,
Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God
speak with us lest we die..............And the people stood afar
�Sacred History:
off: and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where
God was."
Deut. v. 24-26.—“Behold, the Lord onr God hath
shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard
his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this
day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now,
therefore, why should we die ? for this great fire will con
sume us : if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any
more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh that
hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the
midst of the fire, AS WE have, and lived? ”
And, as a commentary upon this scene, as grand
and imposing, as it is possible for an exhibition of
symbols to be, addressed only to the senses through
the imagination, let us see how Moses afterwards sums
it up and estimates its importance:—
Deut. iv. 32-36.—“ Ask now of the days that are past,
which were before thee, since the day that God created
man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven
unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing
as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it. . Did ever
people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the
fire, as thou hast heard, and live? .... Out of heaven he
made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee :
and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou
heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.”
Elsewhere it is not the voice, it is the sight of God
which kills. It is said to have happened, in a small
number of quite exceptional cases, that God has con
sented to let himself be seen, and seen by the eyes of
the flesh. These miracles are accordingly narrated to
us with the greatest solemnity.
One day, the seventy elders of Israel followed Moses
up into “ the Mount of God.” Moses, however, alone
went up to God in the mount, but the elders went up
so far, that, according to the text,—
Exod. xxiv. 10. 11.—“ They saw the God of Israel: and
there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a
sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
29
clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he
laid not his hand : also they saw God and did eat and drink."
Moses alone,—and it was this which gave him in the
eyes of his people a supernatural character,-—was able
to penetrate into that cloud where resided “ the glory
of God,” and out of which God appeared like a con
suming fire. God himself renders to him this testimony,
that He would speak with him “ mouth to mouth" even
apparently, and not in dark speeches,” (Num. xii. 8.)
This peculiar privilege is repeatedly described —“The
Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as -a man speaketh
unto his friend,” (Exod. xxxiii. 11; Deut. xxxiv. 10,
&c.).
Such declarations as these, and many more such
might be quoted, have a character thoroughly and
undeniably materialistic, if regarded as records of literal
facts, and not as poetic fictions; but even these are
Dot the worst. The material conception or representa
tion of God has been carried to a degree of still more
astounding grossness. Witness that passage which
equals, in primitive rudeness, anything which the most
barbarous nations have written about the nature of
their, gods. Moses had long conversed with God, but
hitherto he had not seen him. He said to God one
day, “ I beseech thee, show me thy glory! ” God did
not reply that his essence being incorporeal cannot be
seen ; but, on the contrary, He consented to pass before
Moses, and to let him hear his voice: but, added He,—
Exod. xxxiii. 20-23.—“ Thou canst not see my face; for
there shall no man see me and five. And the Lord said,
Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon
a rock: and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth
by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will
cover thee with my hand while I pass by : And I will take
away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts; but my
face shall not be seen.”
Would it not be highly irreverent and even profane
to regard this passage as a literal, and divinely inspired,
�30
Sacred History:
and therefore infallible record of facts ? What would
be said of such a story, if it were found anywhere else
than in “ the Holy Bible I ”
When people and teachers come to see, in all these
pretended miracles of Horeb and of Sinai, only their
true character of tragic and sombre poetry, there will
no longer be any question about the propriety of putting
them into the hands and heads of children, any more
than there is at present about the ‘ Prometheus ’ of
TEschylus, or the 1 Inferno ’ of Dante, or Milton’s
‘ Paradise Lost.’ But, once more, do you not perceive
what an abyss there is between admiring myths as
myths, and accepting them as supernatural facts dic
tated by God himself?
Elsewhere, God is represented as a man obliged to
make personal inquiry as to whether a rumour which
has reached him is correct or not:—
Gen. xviii. 20, 21.—“ And the Lord said, Because the
cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is great, and because their sin
is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they
have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is
come unto me; and if not, I will know.”
Again, men began to build a tower, whose top should
reach unto heaven :—
Gen. xi. 5-7.—“ And the Lord came down to see the city
and the tower, which the children of men builded. And
the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all
one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing
will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to
do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their
language.”
And it is thus that the famous confusion of languages
is explained !
Surely the specimens which I have quoted, though
the series might easily be largely extended, are amply
sufficient to show, to those who require such proof,
that not everything in the Bible is fitted to convey to
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
31
our children such a pure and spiritual notion of God as
it has been customary to believe. Some one will hasten to reply:—11 But we never
read these passages in the schools, we suppress them,
or we suitably modify them in our lesson-hooks.”—I
am fain to believe that in many cases it is so; but,
whether you teach these things or not, they are never
theless in the Bible, and are there by the same title as
the most admirable passages; so that they suffice to
show to us clearly, in its true aspect, the degree of
civilization and of enlightenment, to which the books
containing them belong.
And then, although you may, in some measure,
suppress such passages as bear too visibly their date
upon them, you do not suppress those innumerable
revelations, apparitions, or manifestations of God, of
which the Bible is full, and you cannot deny that they
all (excepting perhaps some of the prophecies which,
moreover, do not come under the denomination of
sacred history) address themselves to the senses through
the imagination.
From one end of the Bible to the other, God speaks
to patriarchs, to judges, to kings, to warriors, to priests.
Is it by the voice of conscience 1 No, it is by a vision,
a “ sign,” by a miracle, by a dream. When He
speaks to all his people, it is by blessings or cursings
of a temporal kind. It is not from within, it is from
without that He governs : it is not by love, it is by fear.
Ah ! my readers, is there not still a necessity, even
after so many centuries of Christianity, for a fresh and
vigorous effort to extirpate that superstitious instinct,
which even now makes so many people tremble at the
noise of thunder and at the flash of lightning, as if God
were then either more present or more to be feared
than when the sun shines clearly in a serene sky ?
Must we still continue to propagate, in our families or
in our schools, that false idea which is the very soul of
the primitive history of every nation, and of the- Jews
�32
Sacred History:
as of the others :—if you suffer, God is punishing you :
if you prosper, God is blessing you: if an epidemic, a
famine, or an earthquake ravages a country, God is
angry : if the harvest is double, God is favourable : you
have been victorious, then the Eternal has fought upon
your side : vanquished, it is because He has abandoned
you 1
One of the masterpieces of Semitic literature, which
has been and must ever be in all ages admired,—the
poem of Job,—presents to us the first recorded protest
of the human conscience against this idea. Job is struck
with plagues and afflictions, and his friends thence infer,
according to the custom, that God is thus punishing
him for his sin. But Job replies with indignant
eloquence—“ No, I am not guilty. No, my suffering
is not an expiation.”
Job xiii. 15-18.—“ Though he slay me, yet will I trust
in him ; but I will maintain (in the margin, prove or argue)
mine own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation ;
for an hypocrite shall not come before him..............Behold
now, I have ordered my cause: I know that I shall be jus
tified.” (Read also ch. xxxi. &c.).
Every one knows that, at the end of the poem, God
declares to the three friends that they have been wrong,
and that Job’s view of the matter is correct :—
Job xlii. 7.—“For ye have not spoken of me the thing
that is right, as my servant Job bath.''''
This is manifestly the chief signification and purport
of the book ■, and it is to this that the attention of our
children ought chiefly to be directed, if we would have
them to understand what they read; instead of insisting
precisely upon the one circumstance which weakens the
lesson, by shewing them that, in the end, God restores
to Job all his possessions, and by thus teaching them,
here also, to regard material prosperity as a criterium of
the divine favour.
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
33
Plato, wishing to make us understand how entirely
the moral life is independent of external conditions,
shows to us the just man overwhelmed with sufferings,
with contempt, with calumnies, and with afflictions of
every kind; in the midst of which, and even upon the
cross where he dies, we are taught to recognize in him
the just man, the teacher of truth, the friend of God,
the pattern for our imitation, and, at the same time,
the most truly happy of men ! Would not this sublime
lesson be worth more than hundreds of Biblical miracles
for teaching our children to realize that they are more
or less near to God, not in proportion to the success of
their enterprises, not according to external indications
of prosperity or adversity, popularity or contempt, but
according to the internal testimony of their own con
science, according to their degree of obedience to duty ?
It would be absurd to look for this profound intelli
gence of the spiritual sense of religion, in a nation or
tribe at the commencement of its social development.
But it is none the less absurd that, three or four thou
sand years afterwards, it should still be imagined that
we have only to reproduce, without any change, the
first lispings of human thought, and to regard this
reproduction as an infallible revelation.
Where the notion of the Bather Almighty, revealing
himself to the reason and to the conscience, has not yet
acquired all its fulness, we need not wonder to find
that the relations between God and man are often pre
sented in a very imperfect fashion.
Take, for example, prayer or blessing, as it appears
in the first books of the Old Testament, and try to
discover in these a spiritual and moral character. You
will not find it any more than you will find there the
God who is purely spirit and purely love.
Prayer* is there, as among all the peoples of that
period, a mystic spell, a sort of magic power, a cabal* And Imprecation. See the history of Balaam, Num. xxiii.
25, 26.
�^4
Sacred History:
istic formula. Let us look at a single specimen. It is
at the crisis of a battle : Moses has not taken part in
the fight, but has withdrawn to an adjoining hill, armed
with his rod, and there he intercedes for his people.
Exod. xvii. 11-14.—“And it came to pass, when Moses
held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let
down his hand Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were
heavy ; and they took a stone and put it under him, and he
sat thereon : and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the
one on the one side, and the other on the other side : and
his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the
edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write
this for a memorial in a book.”
Here again I would be the first to recognise a beauti
ful poetic image, if the story is to be understood in
the same manner as the analogous stories, which we
may read in the Vedas, or elsewhere. But those who
desire to make us and our children believe that the
thing has actually taken place, ought to see that, if
such virtue must be literally attributed to this
mechanical prayer of Moses, they have no longer any
right to ridicule the prayer-mills of the Budhists, or
the rosaries of the Roman Catholics.
But, it is said by some, this is a type, an emblem, an
allegory, which we must “interpret spiritually.”
Be it so, but who hinders you from interpreting
spiritually all the similar imagery, which abounds in
the other religious and mythological books of antiquity?
If you have so much indulgence for the rudest allegories
of Hebrew legend, whence comes your severity or con
tempt for the most beautiful and symbolical stories of
Greek, Hindoo, or Scandinavian legend ? God speaks,
God appears in person, God dictates a book ! and that
book contains pages which, in order to be accepted by
reason, require to be “ spiritualized,” neither more nor
less than those of Hesiod, of the Vedas, or of the
Eddas!
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
35
The truth, is that, among all primitive peoples,
prayer, blessing, and cursing have a peculiar virtue, a
mysterious influence, a magic power. Of this the
history of Isaac is one of the clearest examples.
The old man, wishing and intending to bless Esau,
is the dupe of a coarse imposition; and the words
which, in his thought, he addresses to Esau, fall,
unknown to him, upon the ears of Jacob. When
Esau returns from his hunting, to which he had been
sent by his father himself, Isaac, astonished and
trembling, says to him :—
Gen. xxvii. 33-37.—“ Thy brother came with subtilty,
and hath taken away thy blessing........... I have blessed
him, yea, and he shall be blessed............ I have made him
thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for
servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him:
and what shall I do now unto thee, my son ? ”
Can it be denied in presence of words so clear, that,
for the Isaac of Genesis, the blessing was a kind of
talisman or spell, an enchanted formula, consisting in
the words, not in the thought, and having a virtue
equally independent of the intention of him who gave
it, and of the merit of him who received it 1 A stolen
blessing was not on that account the less valid I
How can all this be explained to children 1
But an explanation is not withheld, we have often
heard and read it, as follows :—Isaac knew very well
that, before the birth of the twin brothers, God had
said to Rebecca, “ the elder shall serve the younger.”
Moreover, when the blessing had been given to Jacob,
Isaac felt that it was, notwithstanding the imposture
of his son, an accomplished fact, which he did not feel
himself at liberty to undo, and which had acquired, by
its very accomplishment, a providential character.
The whole was the result of a divine decree, and this
was perceived by the conscience of Isaac at the very
moment when the act of blessing was consummated.
�36
Sacred History:
We frankly confess that, in morality no less than in
good sense, this incredible theory, of an accomplished
fact which acquires by its very accomplishment a provi
dential character, appears to us even more deficient, if
that be possible, than the explanation of the biblical
Isaac. “ Thy brother hath come with subtilty, and hath
taken away thy blessing, I have blessed him, yea, and he
shall be blessed.”
Samson is again another example, among a thousand,
of these false and rude ideas, regarding the relations
between God and man. Here it is neither a prayer
nor a blessing, but a vow, in virtue of which the hair
of Samson’s head (orthodox theologians believe it
still), was the thing, the charm, or the talisman,
wherein his supernatural strength lay !
Samson keeps company with a woman of loose
character, (Judges xvi.); but that does not in the
smallest degree deprive him of the divine favour
attached to his hair. His head being cropped, he
loses the distinctive blessing of God; but his hair
grows again, and with it comes back the divine bless
ing. It is impossible to see anything else in the text,
unless it be put there by force; for, immediately
before narrating the last exploit of Samson, the Bible
explains to us how he has regained his strength by
telling us :—
Judges xvi. 22.—“ Howbeit the hair of his head began
to grow again after he was shaven.”
What is the profound religious idea which we may
hope, without sophistry, to derive from this lesson, for
the improvement of the minds or the hearts of our
children ? Explain it as you may, Samson will always
be for them only the Jewish Hercules ; and, I confess
it, I greatly prefer for their instruction the Hercules of
the Greeks. The latter, at least, will not now teach
them to think that God—the true God, the God whom
they themselves ought to worship—has actually figured
�Its Influence on the Intellect.
y]
in scenes and anecdotes, which, like those about Samson,
are trifling, superstitious, and absurd.
In conclusion :—To excite, to over-excite, in children
the taste for the extraordinary, to make them seek God,
not where He is ever to he found, not in the laws of
the physical or moral world, not in the eternal har
mony of the stars, not in the marvellous organisation
of the flower or of the insect, not in the sublime spec
tacle of unity and design presented by the Universe,
but in all sorts of disorders and capricious interferences
which, if they had taken place, would have proved
nothing but the divine instability, improvidence, and
weakness ; thus greatly to exaggerate and to confirm,
instead of counteracting, in their young minds, their
naturally fantastic and chimerical notions of things,
their ignorance of causes, their disregard of rule, fear
instead of thought, credulity instead of knowledge ;
and then to seal the whole with this disastrous idea,
that, if they have the misfortune to contest the absolute
truth of even the most absurd narratives, doctrines, or
miracles attested by a pretended Word of God, they are
guilty of blasphemous sacrilege, and doomed therefore
to eternal damnation, unless they repent and learn at
least to say, that the whole book is a divine revelation
of truth:—behold and consider the kind of influence
which the teaching of sacred history always inevitably
exerts, only in greater or less degree according to the
absence or presence of various antidotes, upon the cul
ture of our children’s intelligence, and upon the forma
tion of their ideas of humanity, of nature, and of God.
Ere long we will publish the second and the more
important division of the subject; and therein we will
strive to show how this kind of teaching acts upon the
conscience, and upon the moral direction of life.
�
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Sacred history as a branch elementary education. Part I. Its influence on the intellect
Description
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Place of publication: Ramsgate
Collation: 37 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Date of publication from British Library catalogue.
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Thomas Scott
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[1870]
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CT208
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[Unknown]
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Education
Bible
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Bible-Criticism
Conway Tracts
Education
Religious Education
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24
Ijfofre of fjre
Of all the joys in life, none is greater than the joy of arriving on the
outskirts of Switzerland at the end of a long dusty day’s journey from
Paris. The true epicure in refined pleasures will never travel to Basle by
night. He courts the heat of the sun and the uninteresting monotony of
French plains,—then- sluggish streams and never-ending poplar-trees,—•
for the sake of the evening coolness and the gradual approach to the great
Alps which await him at the close of day. It is about Mulhausen that
he begins to feel a change in the landscape. The fields broaden into
rolling downs, watered by clear and running streams ; the green Swiss
thistle grows by river-side and cowshed ; pines begin to tuft the slopes of
gently rising hills ; and now the sun has set, the stars come out, first
Hesper, then the troop of lesser fights ; and he feels,—yes, indeed, there
is now no mistake,—the well-known, well-loved, magical fresh air that
never fails to blow from snowy mountains and meadows watered by
perennial streams. The last hour is one of exquisite enjoyment, and when
he reaches Basle, he scarcely sleeps all night for hearing the swift Rhine
beneath the balconies, and knowing that the moon is shining on its
waters, through the town, beneath the bridges, between pasture lands
and copses, up the still mountain-girdled valleys to the ice-caves where
the water springs. There is nothing in all experience of travelling like
this. We may greet the Mediterranean at Marseilles with enthusiasm;
on entering Rome by the Porta del Popolo, we may reflect with pride
that we have reached the goal of our pilgrimage, and are at last among
world-shaking memories. But neither Rome nor the Riviera wins our
hearts like Switzerland. We do not lie awake in London thinking of'
them; we do not long so intensely, as the year comes round, to
revisit them. Our affection is less a passion than that which we cherish
for Switzerland.
Why, then, is this ? What, after all, is the love of the Alps, and
when and where did it begin ? It is easier to ask these questions than to
answer them. The classic nations hated mountains. Greek and Roman
poets talk of them with disgust and dread. Nothing could have been more
depressing to a courtier of Augustus than residence at Aosta, even though
he found his theatres and triumphal arches there. "Wheiever classical
feeling has predominated, this has been the case. Cellini’s Memoir®,
written in the height of pagan Renaissance, well express the aversion which
a Florentine or Roman felt for the inhospitable wildernesses of Switzerland.
Dryden, in his dedication to The Indian Emperor,-says, “ High objects,
it is true, attract the sight; but it looks up with pain on craggy rocks and
�THE LOVE OE THE ALPS.
25
barren mountains, and continues not intent on any object which is wanting
in shades and green to entertain it.”
Addison and Gray had no better epithets than “rugged,” “horrid,”
and the like for Alpine landscape. The classic spirit was adverse to
ffittthnsiasm for mere nature. Humanity was too prominent, and city life
absorbed all interests,—not to speak of what perhaps is the weightiest
reason—that solitude, indifferent accommodation, and imperfect means of
travelling, rendered mountainous countries peculiarly disagreeable. It is
impossible to enjoy art or nature while suffering from fatigue and cold,
dreading the attacks of robbers, and wondering whether you will find food
and shelter at the end of your day’s journey. Nor was it different in the
Middle Ages. Then individuals had either no leisure from war or strife
with the elements, or else they devoted themselves to the salvation of
their souls. But when the ideas of the Middle Ages had decayed, when
improved arts of life had freed men from servile subjection to daily needs,
when the bondage of religious tyranny had been thrown off and political
liberty allowed the full development of tastes and instincts, when moreover
the classical traditions had lost their power, and courts and coteries became
too narrow for the activity of man; then suddenly it was discovered that
Nature in herself possessed transcendent charms. It may seem absurd
to class them all together ; yet there is no doubt that the French
devolution, the criticism of the Bible, Pantheistic forms of worship,
landscape-painting, Alpine travelling, and the poetry of Nature, are all
signs of the same movement—of a new Renaissance. Limitations of'
every sort have been shaken off during the last century, all forms have
been destroyed, all questions asked. The classical spirit loved to arrange,
model,, preserve traditions, obey laws. We are intolerant of everything
that is not simple, unbiassed by prescription, liberal as the wind, and
natural as the mountain crags. We go to feed this spirit of freedom
among the Alps. What the virgin forests of America are to the Americans
the Alps are to us. What there is in these huge blocks and walls of
granite crowned with ice that fascinates us it is hard to analyze. Why,
Seeing that we find them so attractive, they should have repelled our
ancestors of the fourth generation and all the world before them, is another
mystery. We cannot explain what rapport there is between our human
souls and these inequalities in the surface of the earth which we call
Alps. Tennyson speaks of—•
Some vague emotion of delight
In gazing up an Alpine height,—
and its vagueness eludes definition. The interest which physical science
has created for natural objects has something to do with it. Curiosity and
the charm of novelty increase this interest. No towns, no cultivated
tracts of Europe, however beautiful, form such a contrast to our London
life as Switzerland. Then there is the health and joy that comes from
exercise in open air; the senses freshened by good sleep ; the blood
quickened by a lighter and rarer atmosphere. Our modes of life, the
�26
THE LOVE OF THE ALPS.
breaking down of class privileges, the extension of education, which con
tribute to make the individual greater and society less, render the solitude
of mountains refreshing. Facilities of travelling and improved accom
modation leave us free to enjoy the natural beauty which we seek. Our
minds, too, are prepared to sympathize with the inanimate world ; we
have learned to look on the universe as a whole, and ourselves as a part
of it, related by close ties of friendship to all its other members. Shelley’s,
Wordsworth’s, Goethe’s poetry has taught us this ; we are all more or
less Pantheists, worshippers of “ God in Nature,” convinced of the omni
presence of the informing mind.
Thus, when we admire the Alps we are after all but children of the
century. We follow its inspiration blindly ; and, while we think ourselves
spontaneous in our ecstasy, perform the part for which we have been
trained from childhood by the atmosphere in which we live. It is this
very unconsciousness and universality of the impulse we obey which
makes it hard to analyze. Contemporary history is difficult to write ; to
dp.fiup. the spirit of the age in which we live is still more difficult ; to
account for “impressions which owe all their force to their identity with
themselves ” is most difficult of all. We must be content to feel, and not
to analyze.
Rousseau has the credit of having invented the love of Nature.
Perhaps he first expressed, in literature, the pleasures of open life among the
mountains, of walking tours, of the “ école buissonnière,'” away from courts,
and schools, and cities, which it is the fashion now to love. His bourgeois
birth and tastes, his peculiar religious and social views, his intense self
engrossment, all favoured the development of Nature-worship. But
Rousseau was not alone, nor yet creative in this instance. He was but
one of the earliest to seize and express a new idea of growing humanity.
For those who seem to be the most original in their inauguration of
periods are only such as have been favourably placed by birth and educa
tion to imbibe the floating creeds of the whole race. They resemble the
first cases of an epidemic which become the centres of infection and pro
pagate disease. At the time of Rousseau’s greatness the French people
were initiative. In politics, in literature, in fashions, and in philosophy
they had for some time led the taste of Europe. But the sentiment which
first received a clear and powerful expression in the works of Rousseau
soon declared itself in the arts and literature of other nations. Goethe,
Wordsworth, and the earlier landscape-painters, proved that Germany
and England were not far behind the French. In England this love
of Nature for its own sake is indigenous, and has at all times been
peculiarly characteristic of our genius. Therefore it is not surprising that
our life, and literature, and art have been foremost in developing the sen
timent of which we are speaking. Our poets, painters, and prose writers
gave the tone to European thought in this respect. Our travellers in
search of the adventurous and picturesque, our Alpine Club, have made of
Switzerland an English playground.
�THE LOVE OF THE ALPS.
27
The greatest period in our history was but a foreshadowing of this.
To return to Nature-worship was but to reassume the habits of the
Elizabethan age, altered indeed by all the changes of religion, politics,
society, and science, which the last three centuries have wrought, yet still
in its original love of free open life among the fields and woods, and on the
sea, the same. Now the French national genius is classical. It reverts
to the age of Louis XIV., and Rousseauism in their literature is as true
an innovation and parenthesis as Pope-and-Drydenism was in ours. Asin
the age of the Reformation, so in this, the German element of the modern
character predominates. During the two centuries from which we have
emerged, the Latin element had the upper hand. Our love of the Alps is
a Gothic, a Teutonic, instinct ; sympathetic with all that is vague, infinite,
and unsubordinate to rules, at war with all that is defined and systematic
in our genius. This we may perceive in individuals as well as in the broader
aspects of arts and literatures. The classically-minded man, the reader of
Latin poets, the lover of-brilliant conversation, the frequenter of clubs and
drawing-rooms, nice in his personal requirements, scrupulous in his choice
of words, averse to unnecessary physical exertion, preferring town to
country life, cannot deeply feel the charm of the Alps. Such a man will
dislike German art, and, however much he may strive to be catholic in his
tastes, will find as he grows older, that his liking for Gothic architecture
and modern painting diminish almost to aversion before an increasing
admiration for Greek peristyles and the Medicean Venus. If in respect of
speculation all men are either Platonists, or Aristotelians, in respect of
taste, all men are either Greek or German.
At present the German, the indefinite, the natural, commands ; the
Greek, the finite, the cultivated, is in abeyance. We who talk so much
about the feeling of the Alps, are creatures, not creators of our cultus,—a
strange reflection, proving how much greater man is than men ; the
common reason of the age in which we five than our own reasons, its
constituents and subjects.
Perhaps it is our modern tendency to “ individualism ” which makes
the Alps so much to us. Society is there reduced to a vanishing point,—
no claims are made on human sympathies,—there is no need to toil in
yoke-service with our fellows. We may be alone, dream our own dreams,
and sound the depths of personality without the reproach of selfishness,
without a restless wish to join in action or money-making, or the pursuit
of fame. To habitual residents among the Alps this absence of social
duties and advantages is of necessity barbarizing, even brutalizing. But
to men wearied with too much civilization, and deafened by the noise of
great cities, it is beyond measure refreshing. Then again among the
mountains history finds no place. The Alps have no past nor present nor
future. The human beings who live upon their sides are at odds with nature,
clinging on for bare existence to the soil, sheltering themselves beneath
protecting rocks from avalanches, damming up destructive streams, all but
annihilated every spring. Man who is all things in the plain is nothing
�28
THE LOVE OF THE ALPS.
here. His arts and sciences, and dynasties, and modes of life, and mighty
works, and conquests and decays, demand our whole attention in Italy or
Egypt. But here the mountains, immemorially the same, which were,
which are, and which are to be, present a theatre on which the soul breathes
freely and feels herself alone. Around her on all sides is God and Nature,
who is here the face of God, and not the slave of man. The spirit of the
world hath here not yet grown old. She is as young as on the first day;
and the Alps are a symbol of the self-creating, self-sufficing, self-enjoying
universe which lives for its own ends. For why do the slopes gleam with
flowers, and the hillsides deck themselves with grass, and the inaccessible
ledges of black rock bear their tufts of crimson primroses, and flaunting
tiger-lilies ? Why, morning after morning, does the red dawn flush the
pinnacles of Monte Rosa above cloud and mist unheeded ? Why does
the torrent shout, the avalanche reply in thunder to the music of the sun,
the trees and rocks and meadows cry their “ Holy, Holy, Holy ? ” Surely
not for us. We are an accident here, and even the few men whose
eyes are fixed habitually upon these things are dead to them the peasants
do not even know the names of their own flowers, and sigh with envy
when you tell them of the plains of Lincolnshire or Russian steppes.
But indeed there is something awful in the Alpine elevation above
human things. We do not like Switzerland merely because we associate
its thought with recollections of holidays and health and joyfulness.
Some of the most solemn moments of life are spent high up above
among the mountains, on the barren tops of rocky passes, where the
soul has seemed to hear in solitude a low controlling voice. It is
almost, necessary for the development of our deepest affections that some
sad and sombre moments should be interchanged with hours of merri
ment and elasticity. It is this variety in the woof of daily life which
endears our home to us ; and, perhaps, none have fully loved the Alps
who have not spent some days of meditation, or it may be of sorrow,
among their solitudes. Splendid scenery, like music, has the power to
make “ of grief itself a fiery chariot for mounting above the sources of
grief,” to ennoble and refine our passions, and to teach us that our lives
are merely moments in the years of the eternal Being. There are many,
perhaps, who, within sight of some great scene among the Alps, upon the
height of the Stelvio, or the slopes of Murreu, or at night in the valley of
Cormayeur, have felt themselves raised above cares and doubts and miseries
by the mere recognition of unchangeable magnificence ; have found a deep
peace in the sense of their own nothingness. It is not granted to us every
day to stand upon these pinnacles of rest and faith above the world. But
having once stood there, how can we forget the station ? How can we
fail, amid the tumult of our common life, to feel at times the hush of that
far-off tranquillity ? When our life is most commonplace, when we are ill
or weary in London streets, we can remember the clouds upon the moun
tains we have seen, the sound of innumerable waterfalls, and the scent of
countless flowers. A photograph of Bisson’s, the name of some well-
�THE LOVE OF THE ALPS.
29
¡rnnwn valley, the picture of some Alpine plant, rouses the sacred hunger
in our souls, and stirs again the faith in beauty and in rest beyond our
selves which, no man can take from us. We owe a deep debt of gratitude
to everything which enables us to rise above depressing and enslaving
circumstances, which brings us nearer in some way or other to what is
eternal in the universe, and which makes us feel that, whether we live or
suffer or enjoy, life and gladness are still strong in the world. On
ihi« account, the proper attitude of the soul among the Alps is one of
reverential silence. It is almost impossible without a kind of impiety to
frame in words the feelings they inspire. Yet there are some sayings,
hallowed by long usage, which throng the mind through a whole summer s
day, and seem in harmony with its emotions—some portions of the Psalms
or lines of greatest poets, inai’ticulate hymns of Beethoven and Mendelssohn,
waifs and strays not always apposite, but linked by strong and subtle
chains of feeling with the grandeur of the mountains. This reverential
feeling for the Alps is connected with the Pantheistic form of our religious
sentiments to which we have before alluded. It is a trite remark, that
even devout men of the present generation prefer temples not made with
bands to churches, and worship God in the fields more contentedly than
in their pews. What Mr. Ruskin calls “ the instinctive sense of the divine
presence not formed into distinct belief ’ ’ lies at the root of our profound
veneration for the nobler aspects of mountain scenery. This instinctive sense
has been very variously expressed by Goethe in Faust’s celebrated Confes
sion of Faith, by Shelley in the stanzas of Adonais which begin, “He is made
one with nature,” and by Wordsworth in the lines on Tintern Abbey. It is
more or less strongly felt by all who have recognized the indubitable fact
that religious belief is undergoing a sure process of change from the
dogmatic distinctness of the past to some at present dimly descried creed
of the future. Such periods of transition are of necessity full of discomfort,
doubt, and anxiety, vague, variable, and unsatisfying. The men in whose
spirits the fermentation of the change is felt, who have abandoned their
old moorings, and have not yet reached the haven for which they are
steering, cannot but be indistinct and undecided in their faith. The
universe of which they form a part becomes important to them in its
infinite immensity ; the principles of beauty, goodness, order, and law, no
longer definitely connected in their minds with certain articles of faith, find
symbols in the outer world; they are glad to fly at certain moments from
mankind and its oppressive problems, for which religion no longer provides
a satisfactory solution, to Nature, where they vaguely localize the spirit that
broods over us controlling all our being. Connected with this transitional
condition of the modern mind is the double tendency to science and to
mysticism, to progress in knowledge of the world around us, and to
indistinct yearnings after something that has gone away from us or lies
in front of us. On the one side we see chemists and engineers conquering
&e brute powers of Nature, on the other jaded, anxious, irritable men
adrift upon an ocean of doubt and ennui. With regard to the former
�30
THE LOVE OF THE ALPS.
class there is no difficulty : they swim with the stream and are not
oppressed by any anxious yearnings : to them the Alps are a playground
for refreshment after toil—a field for the pursuit of physical experiment.
But the other class complain, “ Bo what we will, we suffer; it is now too
late to eat and drink and die obliviously ; the world has worn itself to old
age; a boundless hope has passed across the earth, and we must lift our
eyes to heaven.” The heaven to which they have to lift their eyes is very
shadowy, far off, and problematical. The temple of their worship is the
Alps; their oracles are voices of the winds and streams and avalanches ;
their Urim and Thummim are the gleams of light on ice or snow ; their
Shekinah is the sunrise and the sunset of the mountains.
Of the two tendencies here broadly indicated, the former is represented
by physical research—the science of our day; the latter by music and land
scape painting—the art of our day. There is a profound sympathy between
music and fine scenery: they both affect us in the same way, stirring
strong but undefined emotions, which express themselves in “ idle tears,”
or evoking thoughts “which lie,” as Wordsworth says, “ too deep fortears,”
beyond the reach of any words. How little we know what multitudes
of mingling reminiscences, held in solution by the mind, and colouring its
fancy with the iridescence of variable hues, go to make up the senti
ments which music or which mountains stir. It is the very vagueness,
changefulness, and dreamlike indistinctness of these feelings which cause
their charm ; they harmonize with the haziness of our beliefs and seem to
make our very doubts melodious. For this reason it is obvious that unre
strained indulgence in the pleasures of music or of scenery must destroy
habits of clear thinking, sentimentalize the mind, and render it more apt
to entertain embryonic ideas than to bring thoughts to definite perfection.
As illustrating the development of music in modem times, and the love
of Switzerland, it is not a little remarkable that the German style of music
has asserted an unquestionable ascendancy, that the greatest lovers of this
art prefer Beethoven’s symphonies to merely vocal music, and that harmony
is even more regarded than melody. That is to say, the vocal element of
music has been comparatively disregarded for the instrumental; and the art,
emancipated from its subordination to words, has become the most accurate
interpreter of all the vague and powerful emotions of yearning and reflec
tive and perturbed humanity. If some hours of thoughtfulness and
seclusion are necessary to the development of a true love for the Alps,
it is no less essential to a right understanding of their beauty that we
should pass some wet and gloomy days among the mountains. The
unclouded sunsets and sunrises which often follow one another in September
in the Alps have something terrible. They produce a satiety of splendour,
and oppress the mind with the sense of perpetuity. I remember spending
such a season in one of the Oberland valleys, high up above the pine-trees,
in a little chalet. Morning after morning I awoke to see the sunbeams
glittering on the Eiger and the Jungfrau ; noon after noon the snowfields
blazed beneath a steady fire; evening after evening they shone like beacons
�THE LOVE OF THE ALPS.
31
in the red light of the setting sun. Then peak by peak they lost the glow;
the soul passed from them, and they stood pale and garish against the
darkened sky. The stars came out, the moon shone, but not a cloud
sailed over the untroubled heavens. Thus day after day for several weeks
there was no change, till I was seized with an overpowering horror of
unbroken calm. I left the valley for a time ; and when I returned to it in
wind and rain I found that the partial veiling of the mountain heights
restored the charm which I had lost and made me feel once more at home.
The landscape takes a graver tone beneath the mist that hides the higher
peaks, and comes drifting, creeping, feeling, through the pines »upon their
slopes—white, silent, blinding vapour wreaths around the sable spires.
Sometimes the cloud descends and blots out everything. Again it lifts a
little, showing cottages and distant Alps beneath its skirts. Then it sweeps
over the whole valley like a veil, just broken here and there, above a lonely
chalet, or a thread of distant dangling torrent foam. Sounds, too, beneath
the mist are more strange. The torrent seems to have a hoarser voice and
grinds the stones more passionately against its boulders. The cry of
shepherds through the fog suggests the loneliness and danger of the hills.
The bleating of penned sheep or goats, and the tinkling of the cow-bells, are
mysteriously distant in the dull dead air. Then again, how immeasurably
high above our heads appear the domes and peaks of snow revealed through
chasms in the drifting cloud; how desolate the glaciers and the avalanches
in gleams of light that struggle through the mist! There is a leaden glare
peculiar to clouds, which makes the snow and ice more lurid. Not far from
the house where I am writing, the avalanche that swept away the bridge
last winter is lying now, dripping away, dank and dirty, like a rotting
whale. I can see it from my window, green beech-boughs nodding over it,
forlorn larches bending their tattered branches by its side, splinters of
broken pine protruding from its muddy cayes, the boulders on its flank, and
the hoarse hungry torrent tossing up its tongues to lick the ragged edge of
snow. Close by the meadows, spangled with yellow flowers, and red and
blue, look even more brilliant than if the sun were shining on them.
Every cup and blade of grass is drinking. But the scene changes ; the
mist has turned into rain-clouds, and the steady rain drips down, incessant,
blotting out the view.
Then, too, what a joy it is if the clouds break towards evening with a
north wind, and a rainbow in the valley gives promise of a bright to-morrow.
We look up to the cliffs above our heads, and see that they have just been
.powdered with the snow that is a sign of better weather. Such rainy
days ought to be spent in places like Seelisberg and Miirreu, at the edge of
precipices, in front of mountains, or above a lake. The cloud-masses
crawl and tumble about the valleys like a brood of dragons ; now creeping
along the ledges of the rock with sinuous self-adjustment to its turns and
twists; now launching out into the deep, repelled by battling winds, or
driven onward in a coil of twisted and contorted serpent curls. In the
midst of summer these wet seasons often end in a heavy fall of snow.
�32
.THE LOVE OF THE ALPS.
You wake some morning to see the meadows which last night were gay
with July flowers huddled up in snow a foot in depth. But fair weatherj
does not tarry long to reappear. You put on your thickest boots and
sally forth to find the great cups of the gentians full of snow, and to
watch the rising of the cloud-wreaths under the hot sun. Bad dreams
or sickly thoughts, dissipated by returning daylight or a friend’s face,
do not fly away more rapidly and pleasantly than those swift glory-coated
mists that lose themselves we know not where in the blue depths of
the sky.
In contrast with these rainy days nothing can be more perfect than
clear moonlight nights. There is a terrace upon the roof of the inn at
Cormayeur where one may spend hours in the silent watches when all the
world has gone to sleep beneath. The Mont Chétif and the Mont de la
Saxe form a gigantic portal not unworthy of the pile that lies beyond.
For Mont Blanc resembles a vast cathedral ; its countless spires are
scattered over a mass like that of the Duomo at Milan, rising into one
tower at the end. By night the glaciers glitter in the steady moon ;
domes, pinnacles, and buttresses stand clear of clouds. Needles of every
height and most fantastic shapes rise from the central ridge, some solitary
like sharp arrows shot against the sky, some clustering into sheaves. On
every horn of snow .and bank of grassy hill stars sparkle, rising, setting,
rolling round through the long silent night. Moonlight simplifies and
softens the landscape. Colours become scarcely distinguishable, and forms,
deprived of half their detail, gain in majesty and size. The mountains
seem greater far by night than day—higher heights and deepei' depths,
more snowy pyramids, more beetling crags, softer meadows, and darker
pines. The whole valley is hushed, but for the torrent and the chirping
grasshopper and the striking of the village clocks. The black tower and
the houses of Cormayeur in the foreground gleam beneath the moon until
she reaches the edge of the firmament, and then sinks quietly away, once
more to reappear among the pines, then finally to leave the valley dark
beneath the shadow of the mountain’s bulk. Meanwhile the heights of
snow still glitter in the steady light : they, too, will soon be dark, until
the dawn breaks, tingeing them with rose.
But it is not fair to dwell exclusively upon the mere sombre aspect of
Swiss beauty when there are so many lively scenes of which to speak.
The sunlight and the freshness and the flowers of Alpine meadows form
more than half the charm of Switzerland. The other day we walked to a
pasture called the Col de Checruit, high up the valley of Cormayeur, where
the spring was still in its first freshness. Gradually we climbed by dusty
roads, and through hot fields where the grass had just been mown, beneath
the fierce light of the morning sun. Not a breath of air was stirring, and
the heavy pines hung overhead upon their crags, as if to fence the gorge
from every wandering breeze. There is nothing more oppressive than
these scorching sides of narrow rifts, shut in by woods and precipices.
But suddenly the valley broadened, the pines and larches disappeared,
�THE LOVE OF THE ALPS.
83
fond we found ourselves upon a wide green semicircle of the softest meadows.
Little rills of water went rushing through them, rippling over pebbles,
rustling under dockleaves, and eddying against their wooden barriers.
Far and wide 11 you scarce could see the grass for flowers,” while on every
side the tinkling of cow-bells, and the voices of shepherds calling to one
another from the Alps, or singing at then- work, were borne across the
fields. As we climbed we came into still fresher pastures where the snow
had scarcely melted. There the goats and cattle were collected, and the
shepherds sat among them, fondling the kids and calling them by name.
When they called, the creatures came, expecting salt and bread. It was
pretty to see them lying near their masters, playing and butting at them
with their horns, or bleating for the sweet rye-bread. The women knitted
st,oe,kings, laughing among themselves, and singing all the while. As soon
as we reached them they gathered round to talk. An old herdsman, who
was clearly the patriarch of this Arcadia, asked us many questions in a
slow deliberate voice. We told him who we were, and tried to interest
him in the cattle-plague, which he appeared to regard as an evil very
unreal and far away,—like the murrain upon Pharaoh’s herds which one
reads about in Exodus. But he was courteous and polite, doing the
honours of his pasture with simplicity and ease. He took us to his chalet
and gave us bowls of pure cold milk. It was a funny little wooden house,
clean and dark. The sky peeped through its tiles, and if shepherds were
not in the habit of sleeping soundly all night long they might count the
setting and rising stars without lifting their heads from the pillow. He
told us how far pleasanter they found the summer season than the long
cold winter which they have to spend in gloomy houses in Cormayeur.
This indeed is the true pastoral life which poets have described,—a happy
summer life among the flowers, well occupied with simple cares, and
harassed by “no enemy but winter and rough weather.”
Very much of the charm of Switzerland belongs to simple things, to
greetings from the herdsmen, the “ Gluten Morgen ” and “ Guten Abend,”
that are invariably given and taken upon mountain paths ; to the tame
creatures, with their large dark eyes, who raise their heads one moment
from the pasture while you pass; and to the plants that grow beneath
your feet. It is almost sacrilegious to speak of the great mountains in
this hasty way. Let us, before we finish, take one glance at the multitude
of Alpine flowers.
The latter end of May is the time when spring begins in the high Alps.
Wherever sunlight smiles away a patch of snow the brown turf soon becomes
green velvet, and the velvet stars itself with red and white and gold and
blue. You almost see the grass and lilies grow. First come pale crocuses
and lilac soldanellas. These break the last dissolving clods of snow, and
stand up on an island, with the cold wall they have thawed all round them.
It is the fate of these poor flowers to spring and flourish on the very skirts
of retreating winter ; they soon wither—the frilled chalice of the soldanella
shrivels up and the crocus fades away before the grass has grown; the
vol. xvi.—no. 91.
8.
�84
THE LOVE OF THE ALPS.
sun, which is bringing all the other plants to life, scorches their tender
petals. Often when summer has fairly come, you still may see their
pearly cups and lilac bells by the' side of avalanches, between the chill
snow and the fiery sun, blooming and fading hour by hour. They have,
as it were, but a Pisgah view of the promised land, of the spring which
they are foremost to proclaim. Next come the clumsy gentians and yellow
anemones, covered with soft down like fledgeling birds. These are among
the earliest and hardiest blossoms that embroider the high meadows with
a drift of blue and gold. About the same time primroses and auriculas
begin to tuft the dripping rocks, while frail white fleurs-de-lis, like flakes
of snow forgotten by the sun, and golden-balled ranunculuses, join with
forget-me-nots and cranesbill in a never-ending dance upon the grassy
floor. Happy, too, is he who finds the likes of the valley clustering
about the chestnut boles upon the Colma, or in the beechwood by the stream
at Macugnaga, mixed with fragrant white narcissus, which the people of
the villages call “ Angiolini.” There, too, is Solomon’s seal, with waxen
bells and leaves expanded like the wings of hovering butterflies. But
these fists of flowers are tiresome and cold; it would be better to draw
the portrait of one which is particularly fascinating. I think that botanists
have called it saxífraga cotyledon; yet, in spite of its long name, it is a
simple and poetic flower. London pride is the commonest of all the
saxifrages ; but the one of which I speak is as different from London pride
as a Plantagenet upon his throne from that last Plantagenet who died
obscure and penniless some years ago. It is a great majestic flower, which
plumes the granite rocks of Monte Rosa in the spring. At other times of
the year you see a little tuft of fleshy leaves, set like a cushion on cold
ledges and dark places of dripping cliffs. You take it for a stone crop—
one of those weeds doomed to obscurity, and safe from being picked
because they are so uninviting—and you pass it by incuriously. But
about June it puts forth its power, and from the cushion of pale leaves
there springs a strong pink stem, which rises upward for a while, and then
comes down and breaks into a shower of snow-white blossoms. Far away
the splendour gleams, hanging, like a plume of ostrich-feathers, from the
roof of rock, waving to the wind, or stooping down to touch the water of
the mountain stream that dashes it with dew. The snow at evening,
glaring with a sunset flush, is not more rosy pure than this cascade of
pendent blossoms. It loves to be alone—inaccessible ledges, chasms
where winds combat, or moist caverns overarched near thundering falls,
are the places that it seeks. I will not compare it to a spirit of the
mountains or to a proud lovely soul, for such comparisons desecrate the
simplicity of nature, and no simile can add a glory to the flower. It
seems to have a conscious life of its own, so large and glorious it is, so
sensitive to every breath of air, so nobly placed upon its bending stem, so
gorgeous in its solitude. I first saw it years ago on the Simplon, feather
ing the drizzling crags above Isella. Then we found it near Baveno, in a
crack of sombre cliff beneath the mines. The other day we cut an armful
�
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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The love of the alps
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Place of publication: [London]
Collation: 24-35 p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. From the Cornhill Magazine (Vol. 30, July 1874). Attribution of journal title and date: Virginia Clark catalogue. Incomplete copy - text ends mid-sentence on p.34.
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Alps
Conway Tracts
Travels
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Text
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS SCOTT,
II THE TERRACE, FARQUHAR ROAD, UPPER NORWOOD
LONDON, S.E.
1876.
Price Sixpence.
�LONDON :
FEINTED RY C. W. EEYNELL, LITTLE PULTENEY STREET,
HAYMARKET, W.
�INTRODUCTION.
Those who, having given a cursory glance at
this “ Interior,” put it down and never resume it,
have the cordial sympathy of the writer, who "is
well aware that portions of it strongly resemble
passages from the ‘ Lives of the Saints,’ a work
said to have been “ written by knaves and read
by fools.” These pages can interest those only
who have had some experience of earnest, per
severing, fruitless prayer. They can be useful
to those only who may still be running after
phantoms, building beautiful castles upon fallacious texts, and striving to grasp the unattain
9
able.
Those who are satisfied with themselves and
their prayers are advised not to give their atten
tion to this “Interior,” which is calculated to
wound their feelings and to suggest doubts which
may disturb their peace of mind.
�w’-.■j/
�AN INTERIOR.
AM a straightforward1 practical woman. I have
never been into hysterics, and was never fond
of allegories, fairy tales, or ghost stories. I was not
particularly piously brought up. Religion in our
family was viewed mainly from a controversial point
of view. My mother was a consistent churchwoman,
and went to church once a week. My father cared
only for good sermons and good organs ; he generally
waited till all the prayers were over before he entered
any place of worship. There was nothing at home
to draw my attention to the subject of prayer. I
may have been about eighteen when an aunt came to
see us, and hearing that I had not been confirmed,
said it would be “as well” to send in my name,
because, if in after years, I should wish to be con
firmed, I might “feel awkward among the young
people.” This view of the subject was entertained,
and, to’ avoid the contemplated contingency, it was
voted that I might “ as well ” be confirmed. The
Rev. Llewelyn Davies prepared me for the rite. He
did not inquire into the state of my religious belief,
which, considering the praiseworthy motive which
brought me to him, was fortunate. He gave me
many questions, which I answered to his satisfaction,
and obtained my ticket for Confirmation.
I suppose the rite had already been delayed too
I
•
B
�6
An Interior.
long, for I felt exceedingly awkward on the Confir
mation day; others, especially the boys, looked as if
they felt uncommonly awkward too. However, they
might have felt still more ill at ease in after life, and
it was perhaps “ as well ” to confirm them then.
That day was an eventful one, for my aunt had her
pocket picked in the church, and an impression was
made upon me which may be called the beginning of
my spiritual career. Upon returning to the pew
after kneeling at the altar, I took my seat; therewere no hassocks. Presently the young lady next
me placed herself upon her knees upon the dirty
floor, and began praying with evident fervour. Her
hands covered her face, and I could see the tears
streaming between her fingers. I felt inclined to
laugh, but was ashamed of myself. I ended by
admiring her moral courage, and by envying her her
apparent faith and sincerity.
Converting in the received sense of the word I did
not require. I was a thoughtful, studious girl. I
hated dancing and all other amusements which
involved late hours. I never omitted morning and
evening prayers, and was rather fond of going to
church. I had long been a communicant, so that
Confirmation was not in my case a stepping-stone to
the Lord’s Supper. I had looked upon it as an
optional affair, and went through it without faith or
fervour. By prayer, I understood nothing beyond
reading over or repeating by heart other people’s
compositions. That young girl did not appear to me
to be doing either, and her conduct struck me, though
the impression faded away.
Some months later we passed a few weeks with a
friend who had an Irish cook. One winter’s morning
I rose for some forgotten reason earlier than usual,
and went into the kitchen at a quarter to seven. At
the same moment in walked the Irish cook out of the
foggy street. An unworthy suspicion crossed my
�An Interior.
7
mind, and I wished myself back in my room ; it wasdark enough for me to retreat unobserved, but Nancy
had the gas alight in a trice, and we stood face to
face. In her chapped hand was a well-worn prayer
book, and round her huge wrist was a rosary. She
had been to Mass, and it was not Sunday. “ That,”
said my friend, “ is the best of Nancy, she gets my
husband’s breakfast ready every morning at half-past
seven.” Nancy’s conduct made a deep and lasting
impression upon me. There was something earnest
and practical about it that edified me, and I began to
“meditate upon these things.” I determined to
devote more time and attention to prayer, and, as
there was morning service twice a week at our own
church, I began to attend it with great regularity. I
made quite a study of the Liturgy, and at length
came with reluctance to the conclusion that it was
an inappropriate manual for constant use. I was
not always in the same mood, but the prayers were
always equally melancholy, depressing, and mono
tonous. My spirits were frequently at high water
mark, and on those occasions I felt like a dissembler
while saying my prayers—or rather somebody else’s
prayers—for it never entered my head to use words
of my own when speaking to God, or even to ask
Him for anything that was not named in the Prayer
Book. However, it very often struck me that we
were saying an immense deal to God, and not giving
Him the opportunity of saying anything to us. I
felt attracted towards God, dissatisfied with the
means I was using to get at Him, and very anxious
to feel upon a surer footing with Him. I suppose I
was what is called “ awakened ”—I was in earnest.
I repeated my prayers with unflagging reverence, and
while wishing they were more in harmony with my
grateful happy frame of mind, continued to use them,
until one morning, while the curate was reading a
chapter in the Old Testament consisting principally
�8
An Interior.
of names, if struck me that I was making no spiritual
progress; that those prayers would remain the same;
that, having admitted for the millionth time that I
was a miserable sinner, I was absolutely unable to
keep my soul in such a penitential attitude any
longer. I required a more varied diet; and though
nobody I knew found any fault with the Liturgy,. I
was painfully conscious that it no longer suited me,, so
I began to. confine my devotions to Sunday. It seems
very strange that it never occurred to me to address
God in words of my own choosing. Though most
anxious to become better acquainted with God, and
to realise something like fervour, I saw no further
than that melancholy Prayer Book, and of mental
prayer I had, no idea whatever. The people I knew
never appeared to care at all about these things, so- I
kept my aspirations to myself. Now and then I
went to dissenting chapels, but the vulgarity of the
extempore prayers I heard there soon thoroughly dis
gusted me, and for a while I took more kindly to my
own sad Liturgy as- the lesser of two evils. I
wonder it never once occurred to me to pray extem
pore myself, for I was deeply interested in my soul’s
welfare, but it did not. I was very well acquainted
with the tenets, of the Church of Rome, but took no
interest in Catholics^ and never went to their chapels.
However, I always defended them whenever I heard
them ridiculed for the absurdity of their doctrines. I
used to say, with pertinent flippancy,, “thosewho live
in glass houses should not throw stones; and you
must give u.p nearly all you hold before you are in a
position, to twit them with the absurdity of what they
hold.” My friends were shocked. We had but one
Roman Catholic acquaintance, and he was far above
the average: at that time he was our most intellectual
visitor.
One morning,, long after my interest in the Church
prayers had considerably diminished, I was walking
�An Interior.
9
in the region of the wretched little French Catholic
Chapel and it began to rain heavily. The door was
open ; I went in, and there I saw one solitary man
kneeling near the altar. I had never noticed a man
on his knees before. He was in a very cramped
position and must have been extremely uncom
fortable ; but there he remained for a long time, and
I sat watching him. He had no book. I could see
his profile. His lips were closed, his eyes were fixed
upon the altar. Not until he turned his full face
towards me as he came down the aisle did I recognise
our highly-cultivated Roman Catholic friend. I
wished myself out in the rain, and fancied he would
feel ashamed of being caught upon his knees in such
a miserable little place as that chapel was then. I
felt myself turn scarlet, but he came forward with
his usual simple, manly manner, and said, “ Say a
little prayer for my intention, I am rather in a fix; ”
then composedly beating the dust off his knees with
his gloves he went away, leaving me with abundant
matter for meditation.
I had never seen any one praying in a church when
no service was going on. I had never seen any one
praying mentally. The people I knew viewed prayer
solely as a duty and were glad if anything prevented
its accomplishment. They never seemed to me to
expect any results to ensue from their prayers, and
they laughed at those who went to church on week
days. Here was a man of more than ordinary acute
ness who came on a week-day to pray upon his knees
for half-an-hour without a book, in an empty church,
to be helped out of “ a fix.” The simplicity of the
scene puzzled me beyond measure. Of course I was
well aware that Adam’s conduct had placed us all in
“ a fix,” and that we must be continually beseeching
God to ‘‘have mercy upon us miserable sinners;” but
here was a man asking his Father to help him out of
a private, personal dilemma, and I envied him his
�IO
An Interior.
filial confidence towards that Being with whom I so
earnestly longed to become better acquainted.
Four years’ practical experience of the lachrymose
Liturgy of the Church of England had wofully
disappointed me. For some months I had been
merely putting up with it, but the idea of leaving
the Anglican communion never occurred to me,
not even on that memorable morning in the little
chapel.
It was not as a Homan Catholic that my friend
came before me, but simply as one who seemed on a
very enviable footing with God. He appeared to
have attained what I was aiming at. Had I seen a
Quaker or a Mahommedan thus earnestly engaged in
prayer, I should have been equally sure that he was
nearer God than I was, and should have envied him
as I envied my friend; moreover he had asked me
to pray for his intention, which nobody had ever
done before. I knew people who were in “a fix,”
but they never said “Let us prayperhaps they
had found out the futility of prayer, as I did later on.
I was just thinking about leaving the chapel when
the door was pushed, and in came a man. He did not
take the trouble to go into a seat, he knelt in the aisle
close to the door, slightly in advance of me. After
several failures he at length succeeded in poising his
dripping hat upon the knob of his umbrella, and
producing a very thick book, began to pray. I
looked over his shoulder and read “ Litany of the
Holy Ghost.” Here was a discovery! there were
other Litanies.
I might have asked for the title of the book, but
in leaning forward, shook the woodwork, and down
went the hat and umbrella; so I merely apologised
and took my leave.
As far as I was concerned there might as well
have been no Holy Ghost, though I was supposed to
have received Him in Confirmation.
�An Interior.
11
I walked home full of good resolutions, which for
fifteen years were, in spite, of many obstacles,
religiously kept.
Before going further it seems necessary to state
what my idea of religion was. I lived in an atmo
sphere of religious discussion, and had come to the
conclusion that doctrinal difficulties had nothing to
do with personal piety. I had seen my father con
found men of different persuasions with the simplest
questions, and was of opinion that the doctrines
about which they grew so vehement could never be
satisfactorily proved, and that therefore salvation
could not depend upon them. I was tired of these
continual discussions, which rarely ended amicably,
and which were so hostile to my notion of piety.
So little interest did I take in the subjects generally
brought forward that I could defend either side
without scruples of conscience. The truth of Chris
tianity and the inspiration of the Bible were never
attacked in our house. I firmly believed both ; but
so contrary to common sense did I consider the
doctrine of the Trinity, that I wondered how
believers in that could cavil at Transubstantiation,
Baptismal Regeneration, &c.
To know and to love God under the name of
Christ, and to get into communication with Him by
His own appointed means—Prayer—was my ambition.
Quite tired of the Church Prayers, and thoroughly
disgusted with the lamentable want of unity among
Christians generally, I found no help from without.
I was in the Anglican Church, but not of it. Still
I had no intention of joining any other sect. Por
forms, ceremonies, choral services, and sermons, I
cared not one whit. Sermons I always thought a
vexatious excrescence thrust in when the attention
was wearied with so many prayers ; my mother and
I often sneaked off before the sermon began. I only
cared for Prayer. Those who are neither tired of
�I2
An Interior.
the Liturgy nor much interested in these matters will
fail to appreciate the intense delight and sense of
relief I experienced while turning over the leaves of
the Catholic prayer-books I bought.
After having addressed God in a minor key until
I no longer felt sorry at all, it was indescribably
refreshing to get into a major key, and find prayers
suggested by a spirit of love from which all fear was
banished—prayers emanating from a feeling of grati
tude, not merely for abstract and contingent blessings,
but for tangible, every-day advantages—prayers, in
short, of which the spirit was in harmony with my
own, and which gave a fillip to my devotion, then on
the wane. It was not that I admired those prayers
—far from it: as compositions they were inferior to
those in our Liturgy, and the translations were less
dignified; but as a bird would rather fly around a
large barn than hop about a golden cage, so I, after
my long confinement to the Liturgy, enjoyed the
wider range afforded by a book in which there were
more varied devotions, and where the Holy Ghost was
prominently brought forward as the great illuminator
and consoler of the faithful.
*
Conscious how utterly I had neglected Him, and
most anxious to be enlightened, I commenced in
voking Him with a fervour and a perseverance which
in the retrospect amazes me.
Casting aside the feeble translations, I committed
the noble Latin hymns to memory, and in the simple
words of the fine old “Veni Sancte Spiritus,” I
invoked the Holy Ghost w’ith all my heart. Not by
fits and starts, but many times a day for many
months did I implore Him to give me light to know
and strength to execute God’s will. I addressed Him
in a spirit of reparation for past neglect, and long
after I had entered the more lofty region of mental
prayer the “ Veni Sancte Spiritus ” was one of my
daily companions. It became painful to me to listen
�An Interior.
13
to the frequent discussions concerning His personality,
mission, procession, etc., which went on in our
family; I ceased to take any share in them, and used
to pray that they might be discontinued. The Ghost,
however, was not invoked to the exclusion of the
Father and the Son. I invoked them all with all the
faith, hope, charity, reverence, and humility I could
command. I did my very best. I used to visit
Catholic chapels merely because they were open, and
as others were praying too, I was not an object of
attention. I always chose times when no service was
going on, and was aiming at feeling alone with God.
Occasionally I prayed mentally, but it was not until
Christ became the main object of my love and
devotion that I dived deeply into the depths of that
unfathomable ocean called mental prayer. I had
been quite ashamed of having for years all but
ignored the existence of the Holy Ghost, and had
been zealously making up for past negligence; but
now it occurred to me that Protestants, at any rate
Anglicans, were extremely remiss in reference to Christ
too ; for they pray to the Father almost exclusively.
There is but one Collect in their Prayer-book to
God the Son, while in my Catholic manual He took
precedence, and the petitions to the Father were few
and far between. I preferred the Son to the Father,
and could no longer blind myself to the fact that I
was of the Roman Catholic Church, but not in it.
Led, as I firmly believed, by the Holy Ghost, whom
I was continually petitioning for light, I abandoned
the Anglicans entirely. Ever since I had found out
that even on Sunday during High Mass Catholics
were quite at liberty to use what prayers they pleased,
and were by no means compelled to follow the priest,
I had given up going to my own Church. I dearly
loved the liberty I enjoyed, and ardently did I thank
God for leading me, through the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost, along the flowery path of prayer. I had
�14
An Interior.
not a misgiving. I looked upon the tendency of my
mind as an answer to prayer, and was content to
follow the guidance of that Ghost whithersoever it
might lead me ; it led me into the Church of Rome.
Of course my relatives had no faith in the holiness
of any ghost who led the way to Rome, and she
who had formerly promoted my Confirmation now
refused to kiss me !
I had not one Romish acquaintance; he of the
“ fix ” had gone to the colonies. Reared for none of
the Romish ceremonies. I cared solely for what I
believed to be the Holy Ghost and His inspiration ;
if I was mistaken it was not my fault. The ill-will
of my relations did not disturb my peace of mind ; I
went on my way rejoicing, doing all I could to be
good, and trying to imitate the Christ of the Gospels
to the best of my poor ability.
Had it occurred to me (and I wonder it did not) to go
up with the others to Communion as if I were a Catholic
I believe I should never have joined Rome outwardly.
But I longed to get nearer to Jesus'. All the best
prayers were addressed to Him “ in the Blessed Sacra
ment,” and I was most anxious to become one with
Him in that mysterious rite. Knowing that Confes
sion and Absolution preceded Communion in the
Roman Church, I again and with renewed fervour
besought the Holy Ghost to “ show me the way
wherein I should walk,” and he (or, as some Pro
testants would say, a “ lying spirit ”) led me into the
Church of Rome. I went to a Jesuit, told him how
hard I had been praying, explained to him the bent
of my inclination, but assured him that I could not
care at all about Indulgences, Purgatory, Angels,
Saints, Sacred Hearts, Scapulars, &c.
He said that faith in all these things would come
by-and-by, that if I was willing to receive the teaching
of the Church, God would supply what was wanting.
After three interviews he baptised me, and three
�An Interior.
*5
weeks later I made my first Communion. I made it
with boundless faith. I really believed most fervently
that Jesus would help me to overcome some of my
faults. For many years I communicated four times
weekly, and no inducement would have been strong
enough to divert me from my purpose. Through all
weathers, at all seasons, I took a walk of twenty
minutes, before seven, for I was always in church
long before Mass began, and with never-failing fervour
I engaged in earnest mental prayer.
I am sure that no worldly advantages would have
induced me to forego my Communions. I delibe
rately gave up a trip to Paris because I feared that
my devotion might cool amid the festivities of that
gay capital; so I stayed at home by myself.
“ Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye
shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” I
was ready to lay down my life for the truth of those
assertions, and though I was painfully conscious that
hitherto I had not realised any of the help I sought,
either for myself or others, I thought it must be my
fault, and turned with importunity to the Holy
Ghost to teach me how to pray.
Prayer now engrossed nearly all my attention and
a great portion of my time.
Of distractions in prayer I knew nothing. Entirely
engrossed with my subject, I could remain for an
hour sunk in a species of mute adoration, called con
templation, so profound that not until it was over was
I aware how stiff and tender my knees had become.
No slamming of doors, tuning of the organ, or any
other disturbance could rouse me. I was intensely
happy. Occasionally all sense of weight seemed to
leave my limbs, and sometimes while walking down
the aisle I was not conscious of the boards. Torrents
of delicious tears gushed from my eyes, and thus
cradled, as I fancied myself, in 11 the everlasting
arms,” I enjoyed every day what S. Climachus calls
�An Interior.
.
a “ spiritual feast; ” for the “ gift of tears” is, accord
ing to him and all the Saints, a very great favour. I
had no difficulty in realising what is called “ The Pre
sence of God,” and whether in the street, a railway
station, or even in a place of amusement, my heart
was always kneeling before the altar. I lost all
interest in the studies which had formerly been my
delight. I gave up the several languages of which
I had previously been so fond, and for ten years or
more I rarely looked into a secular book. God, I
knew, was a jealous God. I was aiming at becoming
a faithful spouse of the Holy Ghost, who demanded
all my heart, all my soul, and all my strength. He
wanted all, and I gave him all, not grudgingly, but
cheerfully, lovingly, and devotedly. I occupied my
time with visiting the sick poor and with other
charitable undertakings. Unaware that mine was an
exceptional class of prayer, and that even to be able to
pray without distractions was extremely rare; unaware,
moreover, that Catholics were encouraged to add
experiences such as mine when they went to Confes
sion, and that these experiences were called a 11 mani
festation of conscience,” I should in all probability
have kept all these things and “ pondered them in my
heart,” without having recourse to priests, had I not
become acquainted with some very fervent and intel
ligent Roman Catholic ladies.
Not a syllable did I utter respecting the state of my
“ interior,” but soon collected that I was the recipient
of unusual “ graces ”—graces which were ordinarily
the portion of great saints; they talked about
“ spiritual direction,” and mentioned St. Teresa and
Penelon. Through them I made the unwelcome dis
covery that it Was very rare indeed to receive an
answer to prayer, so rare that I ought not to expect
any. Prayer, said they, is a duty; if God gave us
what we want we might become proud ; He withholds
His gifts to try us and to keep us humble. It struck
�An Interior.
me that if by prayer they meant the irreverent
gabble which so lamentably disfigures the public
services of the Church of Rome, it was not surprising
that no results ensued.
I did not like what the ladies said. I would not
believe that Christ could deceive. “ Everyone that
asketh receiveth,” were words attributed to Him, and
I clung to them. From £ime to time,, however, an
ominous cloud had crossed, my horizon, many miser
able misgivings had assailed me. Over and. over
again had I struggled with irrepressible doubts as to
the veracity of such assertions as “ all things whatso
ever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive,”
and I could not conceal from myself the budding con
viction that the whole affair was a delusion. Such
notions I did my best to eject as suggestions from
the Evil One; I accused myself in Confession of
“ doubting about God’s mercy,” got absolution, and
recommenced praying with renewed fervour. I never
undertook anything without earnestly imploring God
to enlighten me as to whether it was His will that I
should engage in it. No light came. My prayers
were mainly for others—for the sick, the suffering,
for people in “ fixes,” and, above all, for the conver
sion of sinners. To prayer I added penance, care
fully abstaining from everything that gratified my
senses. Every Friday, by the advice of my Confessor,
I took the discipline for seven minutes, and wore a
hair shirt d discretion; in short, I endeavoured by
every means in. my power to propitiate God in the
various ways approved by the Church of Rome. The
non-success of my prayers I attributed to my own
remissness, want of faith, hope, charity, &c., though
I knew I was doing my best. I was very glad that
my earthly parents were not so inexorable as my
heavenly one, but thought it wicked to draw com
parisons. I did not neglect Mary. For years I said
the rosary daily with a definite object, but nothing
�i8
An Interior.
ever came of it. I thought over what the ladies had
said, and procured Fenelon’s works and Teresa’s
autobiography. The plot thickened. A new era
began in my spiritual life.
To my exceeding amazement, that remarkable
woman’s experience of prayer, &c., seemed marvel
lously like my own. I could have written many of
the pages I was reading w-jth such interest. Here I
found the same love of solitude, devotion to mental
prayer, indifference to transitory things, zeal for the
conversion of sinners, and, above all, the same, though
in her case intensified, mysterious physical sensations,
such as lightness of body, bright light, interior words,
&c. However, though she was in ecstasies with
God, she seemed to have found Joseph more propi
tious, for she very distinctly tells us that she never
appealed to him in vain, and the Church, in a prayer
to St. Joseph called the “ Memorare,” reminds him
that St. Teresa had never had recourse to him
in vain.
I was both amazed and amused. Here was a great
saint, a woman of experience who, after soaring into
celestial regions and communing for hours with the
Blessed Trinity, came down to Joseph io get what she
wanted 1 Hitherto I had been disposed to ridicule
Catholics for having so many strings to their bow. I
thought it so Uncomplimentary to Christ and his pro
mises ; now my eyes were opened. Even the sublime
Teresa sighed for reciprocity—had she found it in God
would it have occurred to her to turn to Joseph ?
After basking in the ineffable rays of God’s myste
rious presence, she went round like any other beggar
to the back door for some broken victuals. Joseph
received her well, gave her what she wanted, and,
like a sensible woman, she made frequent appeals to
his generosity, and was never refused. In simple,
forcible language, she urges everybody to apply to
Joseph; she gives her “experience,” and a verystrik-
�An Interior.
*9
ing one it is. 1 had no faith in Joseph. She and
Fenelon strongly advise “ direction.” I was bewildered
about many things, and determined I would have a
director—but I took my time. It consoled me to find
that St. Teresa had heartily hated manifesting her
interior to her director ; for so thoroughly did I abhor
even the mere thought of it, that I hesitated some
time before I could entertain it at all. My own old
Confessor had gone abroad, and the new one did not
know me so well, which enhanced the difficulty.
Before exposing myself to an ordeal so objection
able, and which was not of obligation, I determined
to take the opinion of an eminent Jesuit. Praying
earnestly to know the will of God from the mouth of
His minister, I entered his confessional and said
“ Father, I have come merely to ask your advice as
to whether it is expedient to expose other things in
dependent of sins to one’s Confessor—to have, in
short, a “ director.”
“Far better,” said he, “for every one to be his or
her own director.” An anwer so opposed to my ex
pectation and so entirely at variance with the opinions
of so many distinguished writers, perplexed and dis
appointed me. I determined to try another priest.
Prefacing my visit with a prayer to the Ghost as
before, I applied to an oblate of St. Charles, a man of
vast psychological experience and well-known piety.
“Hot only,” said he, “ do I earnestly recommend
you to have a director, but I tell you it is your bounden
duty to have one.” There is but one Holy Ghost,
thought I. Two entirely different counsels can never
come from the same ghost. I had better have no
director; he might be under the influence of the
wrong ghost and mislead me. St. Teresa had
suffered grievously for years, owing to an inexpert
director; so might I. However, one morning I
was in Church absorbed as usual with my devo
tions, when, just as the Sanctus bell rang, a bright
�20
An Interior.
light shone round me. I lost all consciousness of the
church, the priest, etc. I saw happy faces, felt in
tensely happy, and,, upon regaining my normal condi
tion at the“Domine non sum dignus,” thought the
altar, the vestments, the flowers^ etc., all looked
wofully faded, and paltry by, comparison with the
scene I had just left. This species . of vision deter
mined me to have a “ spiritual conference ” with my
Confessor.. Fully but briefly I stated all I considered
necessary to enable him to judge of my “ interior.”
With some hesitation he assured me that it was
extremely difficult to distinguish the operations of
God from those of the devil; that Satan could trans
form himself into an angel of light, that even St.
Teresa had pronounced it well nigh impossible to feel
certain on these matters—that he felt unequal to the
responsibility of “directing” me, and advised me to
seek counsel elsewhere.- I did nothing of the sort.
I bought a bottle of medicine to cure the ulcers
which fasting had induced in my throat, and bade a
long farewell to “ directors ” and to ghosts generally !
In my quiet corner of the church I loved so well,
and where I had passed so many hours, not merely
in petitioning but in devoutly worshipping God, I
reviewed my fifteen years’ experience of that eleva
tion of the soul to God commonly called mental
prayer.
. Not once nor twice, but frequently, did I meditate
upon the practice of prayer, and finally determined
to give it up entirely as useless, presumptuous, and
absurd. Not in a moment of fretful impatience, of
unwonted dejection, or of sudden indignation, but
after considerable reflection, with reverence and hu
mility, with confidence and gratitude, did I abandon
a practice from which I had learnt many a solemn
lesson. As we smile at a child who fills his pockets
with salt in the hope of catching birds, so I smiled at
my former self for believing that the Changeless One
�An Interior,
21
would alter His course to suit me, for wishing Him to
do so, and for supposing that He wanted any prompt
ing from me as to the time when He should set about
His own business.
In me the religious faculty was largely developed ;
but in my loftiest flights I had felt the futility, the
want of reciprocity, the chilling discouragement of
the whole affair, and prayer in the sense of mere
petition I had given up long before I had ceased
communing with God in the various methods which,
under the names of meditation, contemplation, prayer
of silence, ecstacy, &c., have engrossed religious
minds of all denominations. I never pray now.
I have left off running after ghosts. I have
given up building castles upon fallacious texts. I
no longer try to grasp the unattainable. I am
happy and contented. Formerly I fancied every
thing would go wrong if I neglected my prayers;
now I am convinced that the power we call God is
and ought to be uninfluenced by our petitions. Now
I am satisfied with God; I am certain He will do the
right thing at the right time, and that fortunately His
creatures can neither say nor do anything which can
interfere with the perfect harmony of His mighty'
operations. “I was blind, now I see.” Upon those
fifteen years I look back with more amazement than
regret. I was in good faith doing my best, and quite
unconscious what a poor, mean, childish idea I bad
formed of our great Creator. I have broader notions
now and live in a healthier atmosphere. It took me
many years to learn my lesson, but at length I mas
tered it, and am daily profiting by it.
PRINTED BY C. W. REYNELL, LITTLE PULTENEY STREET, HAYMARKET.
�
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Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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An interior
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 21 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A personal account, by an anonymous woman, of religious life and disillusion. Printed by C.W. Reynell, Little Pulteney Street, London.
Publisher
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Thomas Scott
Date
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1876
Identifier
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CT188
Creator
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[Unknown]
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (An interior), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Subject
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Catholic Church
Prayer
Conway Tracts
Faith
Prayer
Roman Catholic Church