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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. errata I to t 9 pelure. on d n 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bo xn Society. -HV Lydia Leavitt, liKOCKVILLF. : TIMES PKINTIXG AND I'UIJLISIIIXG COMPANY. •f < .' BOHEMIAN SOCIETY, " She was not fair, Nor beautiful,— those words express her not, But, O, her looks had something excellent That wants a name." In a country house near the city of B lived a lady of cultivated mind and manners, " a noble woman nobly planned." Well read and familiar with such writers as Tyndall, Huxley, Spencer and other scien- tists, and being rather cosmopolitan in tastes, liked to gather about her, people who had-as she termed it- ^deas. At times there was a strange medley of artists authors, religious enthusiasts, spiritualists, philanthropists and even philosophers. On the evening of which I write there was the usual peculiar gathering, and each one is expressmg his or her views freely and unrestrainedly. The visionary and dreamer said : "Let me dec.cribe a modern Utopia of which I have often dreamed and thought. nOHEMIAN SOCIETY. In a fertile valley, surrounded on all sides by high mountains, lived a community or body of people who had never been outside the valley. To them the mountains proved an impassible barrier and they had no wish or de- sire to penetrate beyond. For generations they had lived in this peaceful retreat happy and content. The ground yielded sufficient for their wants and needs. No one in this little world was richer than his neighbor and if one of the community fell ill each contributed something from their own supply for his or her support. They knew nothing about the value of money, for here it was useless. No one dreamed of possessing more than his neighbor, but each and all must share alike. Time dealt kindly with these simple people, for they dealt kind- ly with time, and life flowed on smoothly and pleasantly. Men and women of seventy years were hale and hearty, for it is not so much the ntimber of years we live that leave their traces, as the events which transpire in those years ; each event, each sorrow, each disappointment making an era and each one leaving a trace For the inhabitants of the valley there were few disappointments and fewer sorrows. If the angel of death entered and took one of their number, each and all took the sorrow home for it was looked upon as a personal calamity when any one of the little community was taken from them. The sun seemed to shine brighter, the water to be clearer and more limpid, the foliage more brilliant in this BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. little world than elsewhere. Perhaps because the eyes of the people were undimmed by sorrow, perhaps because their souls were unclouded by sin, or perchance they were in complete harmony with nature and were able to see all her beauty, each charm enhanced by something within themselves. Nowhere else did the earth yield such abundant harvest. The wheat bent its yellow head from over weight. The trees were laden with fruit and here again nature seemed to be in sympathy with her children. No sordid motives, no love of gain, no thought of barter and sale en- tered their minds while sowing their fields or reaping their grain, but every one labored that each and all might be benefitted. The men were strong and self-reliant, the women contented and happy, the children rosy and healthy. Every Sabbath morning the old church bell rang a sweet summons to meet together to worship God. One church was sufficient for all. They knew nothing about heresies and schisms but assembled together to hear a simple story simply told. The venerable clergy- man, with white hair and beard, in the dimly lighted church resembled the pictures of the matryrs, his face tell- ing the story of a simple, true, pure life. His sermons were eloquent from their very simplicity ; no need there of learned dissertations, for the people would not have com- prehended had he been able to give them, and had they been able to understand, their pastor was unable to BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. teach. It was a pleasant sight, the old men, young maidens, happy matrons and rosy children assembled together in their quaint old fashioned dress, simple in the extreme, listening to the teaching of their minister. Their amusement and pleasures were simple with no unnatural craving after excitement. The ever chang- ing sky and clouds ; the mists on the mountain top ; the purple hills and yellow waving grain ; the running brook ; all these were sources of pleasure and amusement. To a few, the world out side the valley, the numerous conjectures as to the people who inhabited it, gave food for thought. At eventide the sun is setting, throwing a golden glow over the valley, from a cottage near is heard the cradle song of some happy mother lulling her child to sleep ; in the distance can be heard the tinkling cow bell, and on the purple hill side the sheep have lain down to rest. The sun has gone down a little lower and the shadows of the mountains have lengthened until they stretch almost across the valley ; the sounds of life have almost ceased ; the child is asleep and the lullaby ended ; the tinkling of the bells is scarcely heard ; the birds have gone to their nests, and up from the valley has risen a white mist that has hidden and completely covered the last sign of life. Surely a beautiful covering for such a valley, a fitting mantle for so pure a people. The morning broke dull and cloudy over the last happy day of the peaceful valley. noil EM I AN SOCIETY. A stranger from the outer world, about which they had speculated so much, appeared in their midst. Seek- ing a number of young men he soon engaged them in earnest conversation, arousing their curiosity by telling them of the strange and wonderful things which trans- pired in the world beyond the mountains ; telling them of the wonderful discoveries of science ; the fame of many brilliant men and women, telling them of the advantages of communication with the outer world, of the uselessness and folly of spending their lives in so simple a manner, ridiculing their simplicity, telling them that the mere youths of his country could teach the venerable grandsires of the valley things of which they had never dreamed, telling of the advantages of extended thought and educa- tion. After many days spent in persuasion, he gained the consent of some to erect a large college which was immediately begun. Some of the older ones shook their heads and asked each other the question, "Were we not happy ? What more can be required ?" Thus the first seeds of discord were sown where all had been harmony. Laborers came from afar to aid in the erection of the college, and day by day the work progressed and child- ren stood and gazed in open-eyed wonder at the place where they were to gain a world of information. The work was finished ; teachers came from foreign lands, mas- ters of languages, teachers of science, and metaphysicians to puzzle the heads of the old and weary the brain of the young. Teachers of music with massive organs for the liOHEMIAN SOCIETY. music rooms of the college arrived, teachers of piano and harp, all of which were a revelation to these simple people, who could not conceive of any sweeter music than the song of the birds, their mothers evening hymn or the soft sweet notes of the happy wife as she crooned her babe to sleep. The children were sent to the college and and in a short time the strife began, each one trying to excel the other. No more time to study the effect of the misty mountain tops, no more time to listen to the songs of the birds, for here within these four walls were to be found and learned stranger things than they had ever thought of. After a few years the youths who went to the old church could scarcely be recognized. The same sweet welcome was given by the old church bell but how changed were the people who assembled together ! Where all had been love and faith before, there was now doubt and discord. For had they not dabbled in science? Some of the more learned ones even whispered that the old clergyman should be replaced by a younger man, one more advanced in culture and training. True his head was bent and very grey, his hands shook and voice trembled and at times it was almost difficult to under- stand him, his prayer was so weak and broken. But at the bed-side of the sick he was always welcome, the in- firmities of age were forgotten there. For over half ^ century he had held himself in readiness to attend the bedside of all who might call upon him to speak cheer- ing, hopeful words to the dying. But now our little com- BOJIEMIA N SOCIE T Y. muiiity has become e fact that here is a lady, as with easy s^race she moves clown the street. The afternoon is somewhat advanced and the occa- sional glimpses which we get of the flower girl show that her basket has been replenished but she does not move quite so quickly as in the morning. Her limbs are get- ting weary, and there is a pathetic little note in her voice now as she offers her (lowers for sale. But see ! on the bridge is the figure of a woman. No need to hear her history, the face tells its own story of sin and misery. She is looking down at the river which flows sluggishly on ; down perhaps at her own reflection in the water, down perhaps deeper still into her own soul. The face is hardened and set arid there is scarcely a trace of womanly likeness left. A life of sin and shame has almost obliterated all that is good in her nature, almost I say, for no one, no matter how low or degraded, can be wholly bad. But here it is difficult to discern one soft look, as she leans wearily over the railing of the bridge — a silent, sad, sin-stained creature. Soon there is a sound of wheels and gay laughter and a carriage rolls by, and there can be no mistaking the nature and errand of the occupants. A young girl, with sweet, pure face, all in white, with white flowers in her hair and carrying a bouquet of white flowers in her hand, is being driven towards the church. Passing the solitary woman on the bridge she picks a beautiful flower from the boquet she is carrying and tosses it at her feet, for she wishes to-day BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 19 to make all whom she sees as happy as herself. A little of the hard look leaves the woman's face as she stoops to pick the flower. Mechanically she follows the carriage, with stealthy steps and bated breath she enters the church, choosing a dark corner where she will not be observed, she sits listning to the clergyman as he pro- ceeds with the marriage rites and not until all is over and the lovely bride is passing down the aisle on the arm of her husband, does she dare to raise her eyes, and as she does so they meet the pure frank gaze of the lovely girl who smiles in her face as she recognizes the woman to whom she threw the flower. The woman sits in her dark corner. Of what can she be thinking ? Her head is bowed and on her face is a look of agony. What a hell has arisen in her breast! Her thoughts have wandered to her country home which she has not seen for years. — To the time when she was as pure as the young girl, who just pronounced her mar- riage vows ; to the mother's blessing as she saw her young daughter depart for the great city ; to the early days when she first arrived and worked honestly for her bread; to the pride she felt over the first money she sent home to her old mother. Her thoughts wandered back to the time when men and women turned to look at her fresh rosy face on the street, wondering at her beauty which partook so largely of the wild rose and mountain daisy. Could this be the same woman, with the hardened face and form covered with rags ? It seemed so long ago. 20 BOHEMIA N S0( 'IE T Y. Then came the thoughts of striving with temptation, then the promises made and broken, of ruin and shame, then of the long illness, of dreadful poverty, and at last she sees herself as she is, a ruined, homeless, sin-stained creature. Oh the misery, the agony ! What hell can be greater than this! While she is still sitting there the bell begins to toll, and soon there is a procession moving slowly up the aisle and four young boys are carrying a little coffin. It too is covered with white flowers, placed there by loving hands. In the coffin is a little waxen form almost covered with the same beautiful flowers. The clergyman who had read the marriage ceremony, is now repeating the last sad rites for the dead. Again they take up their burden and move slowly down the aisle. As the coffin passes the woman, one of the white flowers drops almost at her feet. She stoops reverently and picks it up ; almost hesitatingly as if afraid her touch will soil its purity, and placing it tenderly by the side of the bridal flower she walks slowly from the church. Watch her move along hurriedly, till she comes to a narrow alley and stops in front of a wretched tenement house. Enter- ing quickly she passes up the rickety stairs and goes into a room where there is a little child upon a wretched bed. Sickness and poverty have almost finished their work. The child is sleeping and the woman steals softly to the bed side and places the white flowers on its breast. Even as she does so the little creature smiles in its sleep. Perhaps the happy smiling face of the lovely noil EM IAN SOCIETY. 91 bride has visited it in its slumber, or the spirit of the dead babe has come with the Howers. to take the hand of the sick child and h'ad it "across the river." 1 hear the voice of the Pessimist. Pessimism is increasing daily. Any person who takes tmie to think on the subject can not fail to see that human misery is increasing. With all the boasted ad- vantages of civilization, it has failed to bring happiness into the lives of the people. The more enlightened people become, the more they will recognize the fact that knowledge does not bring happiness. Scientific dis- coveries do not tend to lighten the load of human misery. Since "Man's disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into the world -and all our woe." sin has gone on increasing, consequently there has been more unhappiness. People are asking themselves daily ' IS life worth living," and most persons answer in the 22 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. negative. Are there any who grasp the prize for which they have struggled ? If there are a few who succeed in reaching to the height to which they aspire, they find happiness is just as much beyond their reach as when they first started in their career. In the middle ages the magicians who created monsters were haunted by them forever after. We are all haunted by dreams and shadows. The dreams of happiness and the shadows of disappointments. Looking back upon our past and taking a retrospective glance at years gone by we find our lives have been made up not oi great events — but of a succession of disappointments. Each one is haunted by ii phantom or ideal which they are vainly striving to reach but seldom attain. The garden of hope seems to bear well ; we put forth our hands to reach the fruit and we find we have only the ashes of Dead Hopes. As Shelly says : * "First our pleasures, die — and then Our hopes, and then our fears — and when These are dead, the debt is due Dust claims dust — and we die too." It is bitter mockery to say that the man who strug- gles for daily bread is happy. He may do his work un- complainingly, but he cannot be happy. He gets to be but little better that a machine and does his work mechanically, perhaps never looking into his own heart, to ask the question, "Is this a happy life .-*" Some writer has said that there are two classes of people, those who are BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 93 driven to death and those who are bored to death. There can be no sympathy between the rich and poor. There is an impassible gulf that can never be crossed, 'I'he man who has never known the want of money cannot know the sorrows and struggles of the poor. ICach must go his own way, the poor man to his pallet of straw ; the rich man to his bed of down. In the world of dreams all are equal. It is an un- real world, true, but to many it is the happiest. In it there are no distinctions. The woman who is old and wrinkled and gray, who has known nothing but hard work and sorrow in this world, in the land of dreams finds pleasure she has never known. In spirit, she is in pleasant places, carried back perhaps to scenes she loved in childhood, to the old home ; sees pleasant faces of the almost forgotten dead, is carried above and beyond the world of reality into the dim shadowy land of dreams. Then comes the wak- ing, and with the waking the regret of what^"might have been." In this land of dreams the rich may travel with the poor, may revisit the same old scenes, see the same faces of the dead, leave all that is "earth earthy,"jmd the spirit or soul wander abroad, over land and seas and in dreams kneel again at a mother's knee repeating the prayer she taught and which has long since been forgotten, to awake with regret to the cares which riches bring. 24 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. ■i i( : There is one more journey which the rich and the poor take together and that is down and through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It is a curious study to watch the faces one meets in a large city or town. Every face has a history, every life a story, if we but take the trouble to read. The face is but an index of the heart, and even in the heart of the happiest the "muffled drums are beating." As Longfellow so beautifully expresses it in "Hyperion" "and then mark ! how amid the chorus of a hundred voices and a hundred instruments — of flutes and drums, and trumpets — this unreal shout and whirlwind of the vexed air, you can so clearly distinguish the melan- choly vibration of a single string touched by the finger— a mournful sobbing sound. Ah this is indeed human life ! where in the rushing noisy crowd, and sounds of gladness, and a thousand mingling emotions, distinctly audible to the ear of thought, are the pulsations of some melancholy string of the heart, touched by iin invisible hand." :h and the rough the )ne meets a history, - to read, en in the ating." tis it in orus of a Tutes and rlwind of le nielan- : finofer — man life ! gladness, Jdible to :Iancholy BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 3. An Optimist, a pleasant, sweet f^iced woman, with a voice like the chime of silver bells, is saying : "It is only to morbid and diseased minds that exist- ence looks colorless. People who live too much within themselves, whose imagination becomes disordered see only the dark side of life. It was not intended that life should be all sunshine and no shadow." "For life is one, and in its warp and woof, There runs a thread of gold that glitters fair, ' And sometimes in the pattern shows most sweet Where there are sombre colors." Dark clouds must appear in the life of each, and one of the great lessons of life is to learn to bear dis- appointments philosophically, not sit down with folded hands and watch the clouds approaching until our vision becomes obscured. There is sunshine in the lives of each and every one if they will but see it, and banish vain regrets and useless repinings. Inertia causes a vast deal of trouble. "Lose this day loitering, t'will be the same story To morrow, and the rest more dilatory The indecision brings its own delays. Are you in earnest .? Sieze this very minute ! What you can do or think you can, begin it ! Only engage, and then the mind grows heated, Begin it, and the work will be completed." Fortunately the day of fine ladyism has passed and there are noble women who are not afraid nor ashamed to take upon themselves the duties and responsibilities of I! l!i 26 BOHEMIAN aOCIETY. life, women who do their work well and faithfully, duties that perhaps in themselves are not noble, but by the manner in which they are done the work in itself is elevated. The common laborer who does his work well and to the best of his ability is more to be commended than the President who puts but half his energy in his duties. What can be more pitiful than the apathy and utter uselessness of the would-be fine lady who is enmiied to the last degree ; one perhaps with good ability who is conscious of the fact that she is capable of something better, would like to turn her attention to something use ful, but is restrained from doing so by the fear of what "society" will say. Any society which is worth knowing will extend the right hand of fellowship to the self-reliant noble woman, much more readily that to the useless nonentity. Life to be pleasant must have an aim, an object, and every one has been given some talent to make use of and for such he or she must answer at "the last great day." Life can not but be pleasant to those who make nature a study. There is a vast book open before us and every one who chooses can open a page. The study will never grow monotonous, for nature is constantly changing and with lavish hand showers upon her children from her great store house innumerable blessings, to those who "see books in running brooks, sermons in stones and good in everything." BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 27 From tht; fern by the way side to the study of psychology — the most fascinating of all studies — there is something in which all can interest themselves, but more specially for women, for to me this seems woman's kingdom. With much quicker perceptive faculties than men, they are better able to see the finer more deli- cate portion of nature's handiwork and mysteries. Un- fortunately in small towns if a woman tries to investigate spiritualism, she is immediately called a spiritualist. If she takes an interest in mesmerism and psychology, she is called visionary. If she takes an interest in the religi- ous discussion of the day, she is called an atheist. If she takes an interest in pathology she is called strong mhided , and who does not abhor the so-called strong minded woman. A woman may be essentially womanly and take an interest in all these things. Brain was given to woman for reason and investigation, and "I rather choose to endure the wounds of those darts which envy casteth at novelty, than to go on safely and sleepily in the easy ways of ancient mistakings." Life cannot but be pleasant to those who are fond of books, "our silent companions." They speak a language all their own and we can find companionship for every mood, grave, gay, dreamy, dis- cursive, philosophical and scientific. If you are a busy worker in a large city and wish a breath of country air, a breeze from the meadow, a ram- ble along a country road, read Whittier's "Among the Hills." 38 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. , "Pleasant it was when woods were green And winds we soft and low, To lie amid some sylvan scene Where shadows dark — and sunlight sheen, Alternate come and go." If you are weary with brain work and seek repose, read Longfellow. "And the cares that infest the day, Shall told their tents like the Arabs, And as silently steal away." If in an heroic mood read Mihon. "For with thee Certain my resolution is to die, How can I live without thee ? how forgo Thy sweet converse, and love so dearly joined." If fortune has smiled upon you and flattery falls sweet on your ear, and you are in danger of forgetting the final end of all ambition read "Grays Elegy." "Can storied urn, or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ? Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust Or flattery sooth the dull cold ear of death ?" If you wish to be transported to the mystic cloud- land of fancy, read Hawthorne. •'Sleeping or waking, we hear not the airy footsteps of the strange things that almost happen. He knew not that a phantom of wealth had thrown a golden hue upon its waters. Nor that one of death had threatened to BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 29 crimson them with his blood, all in the brief hour since he lay down to sleep." To a dreamy and poetic mind what can be more exquisite than these few lines: "The next morning Heronymus put the the scroll into his bosom, and went his way in search of the Fountain of Oblivion, A few days brought him to the skirts of the Black forest. He entered, not without a feeling of dread, that land of shadows, and passed onward under melancholy pines and cedars, whose branches grew abroad and mingled together, and, as they swayed up and down, filled the air with solemn twilight and a sound of sorrow. As he advanced into the forest the waving moss hung, like cur- tains, from the branches overhead, and more shut out the light of heaven ; and he knew the Fountain of Obliv- ion was not far off. Even then the sound of falling waters was mingling with the roar of the pines above him ; and ere long he came to a river, moving in solemn majesty through the forest, and falling with a dull, leaden sound into a motionless stagnant lake, above which the branches of the forest met and mingled, forming perpetual night. This was the Fountain of Oblivion. Upon its brink the Student paused, and gazed into the dark waters with a steadfast look. They were limpid waters dark with shadows only. And as he gazed, he beheld, far down in their silent depths, dim and ill-defined outlines, wavering to and fro, like the folds of a white garment in the twilight. Then more distinct and permanent shapes arose, Fli 30 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. — shapes familiar to his mind, yet forgotten and remember- ed again, as the fragments of a dream ; till at length, far, far below him he beheld the great City of the Past, with silent marble streets, and moss-grown walls, and spires up- rising with a wave-like, flickering motion. And, amid the crowd that thronged those streets he beheld faces once familiar and dear to him ; and heard sorrowful, sweet voices singing, O' forget us not ! forget us not !' and then the distant, mournful sound of funeral bells, that were tolling below, in the City of the Past/' An artist is speaking : A person may be a true artist, who has never made a stroke with a brush. Any one who can blend colors harmoniously or produce effective contrasts in dress, or even in so trival a thing as fancy work, is an artist. Again, one may paint for years without the slightest BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 31 knowledge of, or taste for true art. In painting a por- trait, something more is required than the mere likeness, something besides pink and white prettiness. Perhaps in two or three centuries an artist is born, one who in paint- ing a portrait produces almost a living, breathing crea- ture ; and is able by his magic touch, to paint in the thoughts which flit through the brain ; the feelings which move the heart, and is able to read almost the very soul. Many years ago a poor struggling painter in an Italian studio, conceived the idea of painting a picture of the Madonna. He shut his doors to visitors in order to give full play to his imagination. Days and nights were spent in dreaming and working, until he lost conscious- ness of the outer world and only lived for his work, for this picture, he was sure would make him famous. Days rolled into weeks and weeks into months, and still the realization of his dream seemed as for off as when he first began. The figure was standing with hands clasped and head bent in humble submission to the Divine will ; the graceful, easy repose of the limbs, every curve and line was perfect. But the face! It seemed at times as if he had accomplished the great task, yet the expression always eluded his most earnest efforts, the heavenly expression of the Divine mother was wanting. At last, after many failures and vain efforts, it occured to him to open his doors to visitors and perchance he could catch the longed- for expression from the faces of the women who might visit him. As soon as it was announced that the artist R IP 32 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. had opened his doors, people came from neighboring towns and cities, attracted as much by the desire to see the strange person whom they thought a monomanic, as by the wish to see the picture. Women of rank and fashion arrived daily, and it was a curious study to watch the intent gaze which he fixed upon them, hoping, praying, in each one to find the desired expression. Occasionally he would request some beautiful woman to remain stand- ing in a certain attitude, when he fancied he had caught the look for which he was striving, but it always proved unsatisfactory, for often the stately robes covered an aching heart which told its story very plainly on the canvass. Again a lovely girl would be asked to pose, but here alas was disappointment, for oftentimes the face expressed prettiness, but nothing more. Then again the canvass reflected the image of some worldly-wise woman with selfishness stamped upon it. Again the look of envy stared him in the face, or pride mocked at him while he struggled vainly on. As the last resort a young mother and her child were requested to favor him with a sitting. Here he thought "I shall surely succeed." He worked steadily on and success seemed at last before him. The last stroke of the brush had been made and stepping back to view the work, his heart sank within him, for here he had succeeded in catching the look of lovely maternity, with the expression of the earthly mother im- printed thereon, but the combination of human love and Divine motherhood was wanting. ji!i BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 33 Just at nightfall, sick at heart, weary and discour- aged, he wandered out into the streets, going on and on until he found himself in the portion of the city inhabited by the very poor ; passing an old church, he was attrac- ted toward it, scarcely knowing how or why. On enter- ing the door, .he saw a woman dressed in rags, kneeling before the altar. The man gazed in wonder and awe, for here amidst poverty and distress, he had found the ex- pression vainly sought after, for weeks and months. In the face before him, there was no envy, hatred or selfish- ness, no vain glory or hypocricy, but the resigned look of one who suffered but bowed, meekly to the chastizement. At eventide, and alone, she had brought her sufferings to the foot of the Cross. I hear the voice of the Cynic. Friendship is a myth. In prosperity and sunshine you find yourself surrounded by flatterers and so called friends, but let the waves of adversity beat about and 34 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. threaten to engulf you — then stretch forth your hands for the friends you have known and you will find yourself stranded and — alone. There may be a few timid, shrink- ing creatures who feel they would like to give the right hand of fellowship, but popular opinion and example prove too much for their weak natures and it is but char- ity to let them go. "There are times when we are even inclined to smile at our own misery, but it is the smile which brings wrinkles instead of dimples." 'f, ' The Philosopher is saying : "Time in its resistless onward sweep" has taught us many things ; has disabused our minds of many false ideas and erroneous views, has opened a new world to the thinking mind — a world of thought. When God created man he gave to him the divine instinct of reason, by which all persons, high and low, rich and poor, can solve for herself and himself the great problem of life. Very BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 35 young children can only see objects that come within easy range of their vision ; they are in the world of instinct, but after a time their vision becomes enlarged, they are able to see a greater distance, and in the larger space ; more to arrest the eye — then comes consciousness. After consciousness ~ reason. The minds of many adults are still in their infancy, only seeing in a small circle the things by which they are surrounded and in close proxim- ity. Others are in a state of consciousness and nothing more. They live, they breath, they have their being, but the great mysteries which surround them, the wonderful problems of life, are as nothing to them. Then again there is the mind that has reached the height of reason, and to that mind what a vast world has opened before it. The wonderful works of an all-wise Greater, the myster- ies of nature that are so perplexing, are all open for the investigation of the reasoning thinking mind. "The venomous insect beneath our feet, and the noblest and best of our domestic animals ; the terrible forces of the earth, the tornado and valcano ; the gently murmuring spring and the boisterous ocean ; the forest monarch and the pale forget-me-not within its shade, are all witnesses of a creative power." From the animalculae up to Gods noblest work, man, there is the evidence of an all-ruling power and intelli- gence Interwoven and interlined through all nature's great mysteries there is the mark of an invisible hand and all-seeing power, which rules and guides the universe. 9 I 36 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. "That very law which moulds a tear And bids it trickle from its source, That law preserves the earth a sphere And guides the planets in their course." It is by reason and investigation that we are permit- ted to partially understand the strange mysteries of a wonderful world. Each one must reason for himself or what better are they intellectually, than the child who only sees and cannot understand ? Had it not been lor investigation and reason, we would still have believed the earth to be flat, and, in the rising and setting of the sun. There is a law governing all things. There is a connecting link between earth, air and sea, between flowers, beasts and birds, between mankind and all ani- mals, and inanimite things, a mysterious joining of mind to matter. It is an intangible something, perhaps an electrical current, but certain it is that the line is there and unbroken, and betwen every human creature whom God has made, there is the same unbroken chain, which can be followed up link by link, step by step, until we find our- selves on the boundaries of the next world and perhaps beyond ; who can tell ? The chain may be unbroken even then. What matters it if I do not believeP-perhaps because I do no not understand your creeds, your dognas. What matters it if I do not interpret the working of Gods ways in the same manner which you do ? 1! I BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 37 There is the same principle guiding us all, and we 'IS the : permit- ies of a himself hild who been tor ieved the ; the sun. here is a between ^d all ani- of mind laps an there and lom God ch can be find our- 1 perhaps unbroken >s because ;. What ods ways bow the head reverently to the one God who same yesterday, to day and forever." Nations, like individuals, pass through the usual form of youth, manhood, old age, and decay. Religion, like nations and individuals, passes through the regular grad- ation, first of infancy, when religious ideas and thoughts are crude in the extreme ; the age of Puritanism, when innocent women and children are burned at the stake for witchcraft, when with gloomy faces and in unsightly dress the poor fanatics sacrificed every pleasure on the altar of duty; the time when Sunday was a day of horror to children from its gloom, a day when every innocent amusement was forbidden. After religions infancy comes youth. At that stage, the absurd dress and gloomy faces were not considered essential adjuncts to religion, but free discus- sion, was not allowed, upon religious subjects. Every- thing must be taken for granted, without any investiga- tion on the part of the people. After youth comes manhood, the time when reason has full sway, when super- stition and credulites form no part of religious teaching and thought. People are able to think, to reason for them- selves. After the age of manhood, comes old age and that is the stage of agnosticism. Questions are being asked, and ideas propounded which must not be over- looked nor treated with contempt. All questions asked in a fair spirit, must be answered in a fair manner. It is not sufficient to say, "it is so*', but good and tangible 38 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. reasons must be given to prove the truth ot an assertion. We are now^in the stage' of "old age." Agnosticism"and Infidelity are wide spread. After old age comes'decay and the decline of the absolutely orthodox. From time immemorial, every religion has passed through the same gradation, of infancy, youth, old age and decay finally comes philosophy. A Swedenborgian is speaking : Down by the sounding sea, in a lonely cottage, lives a woman, so wrinkled, old and bent that even death seems to have forgotten her existence. It would be diffi- cult to imagine that once she was a beauty, but true it is that many years ago no fresher, fairer maiden could be found than this same strange old woman. Sixty years ago she had a sailor lover, who loved her truly and well. On his return after every cruise it was a sight to soften the heart of even the hardest, to witness the joyful meet- BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 35 ing, the lovers kiss, in which there was no shame, the tears of joy in which there was no weakness ; the heart- felt pleasure of two honest hearts. But the part- ings were soon to be over, for after the next voyacre the young lovers were to be wedded. The simple wedding dress was made and all was ready. With gay snatches of song, and merry feet the young girl flitted about the house, impatiently waiting the day which was to bring her lover. There was only one more day of waiting and "to-morrow, to-morrow he comes," she sang. Early in the evening dark clouds formed in the sky, the wind began to moan, the waves beat high upon the shore the murmering winds changed to howling blasts, the waves rolled mountains high, the spirits of the sea and air seemed to have arisen in their fury, doors rattled, houses shook on .heir foundations—and to-morrow came but no lover. The wedding clothes were laid away, and the day which was to have seen the young girl made a happy wife, found her a heart-broken stricken woman ; and now she must take up her burden, and from month to month and year to year, carry this leaden weight called a heart. The years rolled by taking with them her girlish beauty, and leaving in its place the wrinkles of time and sorrow. As time passed the idea took possesion of her that her lover would still come back. True the vessel in which he sailed had been wrecked, but still there I.„^..^ ed the one faint hope, and_every night she lit the hmp nger- ili H 40 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY, and placed it in the window as she had done in her youth, as the beacon Hght for the absent love. As time passed she followed her father to the grave and in a short time stood by the bed of her dying mother. And now she was alone in her loneliness and desolation. Every year when the day came which was to have been her wedding day, the white dress, which had grown yellow with age, was taken out, folded and flowers scattered over it as carefully as we would sprinkle flowers over a child's grave, for in the box in which the garment lay, were buried all her hopes. Does it not seem strange that one can live on year after year, with no hope, no joy ; waken in the morning with the thought that "here is another day to be passed over," another night with the sad dreams and gloomy awaking. At the approach of a storm, when the clouds began to gather, the solitary woman could be seen standing on the shore gazing long and earnestly over the dark waters. But at last it was with difiiculty that she dragged herself to the beach and her hands trembled so that she could scarcely light the lamp for the window, but she said to herself "he will surely come," for if faith, hope and long suffering, if patient waiting, prayers and longing have power to affect disembodied spirits, my faith will surely be rewarded. And now another year has passed and again the anniversary of the sad day has dawned. With trembling, withered hands, she once more unfolds the wedding dress. BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. .^ She must make one more visit to the shore, for she feels it will be for the last time, as with slow uncertain steps she drags herself along. And now as night approaches she IS too ill to light the lamp. Neighbors miss the accustomed light, find the lonely woman too ill to rise, and they know that in a few hours all will be over. They lit the lamp to humor the whim of a dying woman. The winds began to moan fitfully ; the waves could be heard dashing on the shore, while the licdu- nmg flashed and illuminated the room in which the woman ay. There is something weird in the whole scene-the lighted lamp for the lover, dead over half a century the dying woman, the moaning wind, and the sound of the waters. And now she is muttering in her dreams, and talking to her lover, she has forgotten all the years that have passed, and is bidding him a joyous welcome and while the storm is at its height, a smile of tenderness has passed over the face of the old creature, making her look almost young, when the door opens ; a fio-ure in a wet winding sheet, with hair in which was mingled sea weed, glides to the bed-side, a whispered utterance from the dying woman, "he has come." the figure moves again to the door. An invisible power has extinguished th. light, and the flame of the lamp and the woman's soul, have " gone out together, while from the bedside to the door there is the trail of wet garments. 42 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. w Again I hear the voice of the Cynic. This is an aije of shoddyism, and it is difficult at times to distini^uish the real from the sham. The woman who is covered with jewelry, lookinjr like a travelling door- plate, is the kind from whom we expect the bow to vary, in coldness or cordiality, according to the clothes we wear, or the entertainments we are able to give. With such people money means everything, brains and breeding being secondary considerations. And it is very amusing on meeting Madam Shoddy to note the look with which she scans one from head to foot, balancing in her mind the cost of each article of apparel, her mind wholly given up to dollars and cents, and woe unto the person, who does not come up to the proper standard, of pounds, shil- lings and pence. In talking with such a one you will find their conver- sation frequently interlarded with the use of the words /aiilies and gentlemen. But madam shoddy does really very little actual harm, all these things being a harmless sort of imbecility. But at the hands of Madam Snob, one will not fare as well, for having nothing noble in her own nature she is con- stantly picking flaws in the character of others. Madam Snob will entertain you with a long account of her family connections. Poor soul she is constantly resurrecting the remains of dead and gone ancestors ; her life is spent in the charnel house, being very careful however, to let the remains of a certain few rest in peace, while she rattles BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 4- the dry bones of her favored ones in our face, until we are tempted to cry "peace." At last our curiosity is aroused, and we make inquiries as to these noble ancestors, and find the overwhelming fact-that they had been born ! and that they had died ! very noble of them to have been born, and very heroic, to have died. If the successors would follow their illustrious example in the last act the world would still exist. But you say "this is harmless and only another form of idiocy." True if it stopped there, no harm would be done. But did any one ever know Madam Snob to stop there ? After having visited her fam.ly vault, you are requested to enter the abode of your neighbor's dead, and then your turn will come next and you are asked by madam to unearth your dead. Now to people who know little and care less about their great, great, great grandfather, all this is very amusing. If the Bible be true, and who can doubt it ? there was a^n ark built in which God's chosen were placed for safety. Now aiiy one is safe in saying "my ancestry dates from the ark" but I think it would be rather difficult for a person to trace their ancestry from the time the chosen few stepped from the ark to dry land, down to the present time. But every one has some imagination and m order to gratify Madam Snob's curiosity, just make use of It. Tell her some were hanged, some were drowned, some were in prison for debt, one fought in the War of the Roses, one was killed in a street brawl, another hanged for treason. Tell her-well tell her anythir.^ ijiat ' ill 1 I 44 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. will satisfy her curiosity, for there are times wlien an elastic conscience is excusable. There is another Madam Snob, who not knowing in the slightest degree what con- stitutes a lady, is ignorant of the fact that a lady is civil to everyone ; this madam is uncivil to her servants, but does not iitsitote to gossip with them, is careless, in speech and manner, in the presence of inferiors, in fact is guided wholly in matters of civility by the position in which the people are in, whom she is with ; is constantly talking oi socu(y, and turning up her aristocratic nose at trades-peop]' and in nine cases out of ten, her father was r> cobbler, or kept a peanut stand, neither of which woul J. do he* any liarm. if she only knew that "silence is golden.'' V^'e say, ^/la^ is the lowest form of sno6 feinine and rarely met with. There is another form of snobbery which is not so easily recognized, and recjuires a good judge of human nature to detect. This Madam Snob is one who should be a lady, for by education and good breeding she is entitled to the name. Now, she really posses a good, kind heart, is kind to the poor, tries to do her duty, but away down, under several layers of good intentions, there is a little taint of snobbery, and she really has not the moral courage to rid herself of it. This Mrs. Snob may have a large circle of friends, but to each one she accords a different reception ; to all she is kind, remember, but you can judge of her opinion of different ones, from the invita- tions which she issues. First in her estimation, come the BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 45 \ an Llam Gon- dii to but ,s, in ict is 3n in antly nose I, her ler of r that rm of fashionable people, those she asks to her dinner parties ; then the people whose position in life is not very good, she asks to luncheon ; then at last, come those whom she really does not know how to place, and they are the ones she asks to meet her alone. Now this poor woman, for whom I have a degree of pity, not unmixed with contempt, is in a constant struggle with herself, in her desire to do what she thinks to be right, and at the same time, do everything that her neighbors do, for she is bound hand and foot and dare not make an independent move. But if Mrs. Fitznoodle were to do certain things, Mrs. P'itzsnob would follow her example, and the people who are asked to meet their hostess — alone, might find themselves seated around the mahogany with Mr. and Mrs. Fitznoodle and daughters and a select circle of little Noodles. Again, Mrs. Fitznoodle, with several marriagable daughters, is constantly on the lookout for unwary young men, ignoring the fact of their want of brains, lack of breeding, and wholly regardless of the fact that they have ro "family" connections, but she spreads her net and per- haps succeeds in catching this "elegible" young man. Mrs. Fritzsnob immediately sees something in that young man to admire, and seeks his acquaintance, and much to his surprise, and to the surprise of everyone else, he finds himself for the first time in what is termed good society. Now this Mrs. Fitzsnob is not a rara arts, but is frequently met with. Yet how many ladies do 46 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. we see ? We meet many calling themselves such, who do not hesitate to talk scandal, to injure their neighbors ; to ridicule people, to accept of hospitality and comment ill-naturedly upon it, to talk slang. All these things and more, people do who call themselves, ladies. There are houses on which should be placed signs, as on pest houses, and whose occupants should be labelled "dangerous," for their tongues are more dangerous than the sting of the adder, and they are in so-called "society." Heaven save the mark ! Woman, the most perfect of all God's work, why do you not scourge society of scandal mongers, of snobs ? Why do you not iiare to do what you think and know to be right ? Why will you allow yourselves to be ruled and guided by the opinion of others ? A woman's in- s.tinct is her safest guide ; if she follows it she will not err. It is not women alone, who are tainted with snob- bishness and shoddyism, but how frequently we see it in men, generally those who have very little brain and often in those whom the world calls self-made-men. Now there is nothing in the world so aggressive as the same self- made-man. The air with which he moves along, as though upon him depended the revolution of the world on its axis, and the safety and welfare of its inhabitants. He never allows himself, nor others, to forget the fact that he is self-made. The laborer, who, by dint of hard work and economy, has succeeded in making a little money ; with what eagerness he tries to gain some petty office, B.''^"J BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 47 /ho »rs ; icnt and are ises, ' for the save ly do obs? )W to ruled 's in- tern snob- it in often there self- iig, as rid on He hat he work [oney ; office, and in a few years his daughters will tell us that they " belong to the old families." How much old families have got to answer for ! It would sound refreshing in this age of snobbery, to see some one who did not con- sider themselves "as belonging to one of the old families." The male snob has developed within the past year, into the dude. By a process of evolution, which Darwin un- doubtedly could have traced, we have him before us in all his beauty. To commence, first, he must have a little money, with that he buys a tight fitting suit of clothes, a diamond ring, a gold headed cane, a very small hat, carries his arms akimbo, and in all the perfection of loveliness, he stands out, a thing apart from the rest of humanity. Perhaps in two or three centuries, the process of evolution taking place all the time, something may be put into the small cranium, which will be called a "brain," but it must evolute rapidly or the sun will have cooled, and there will be another glacial period before that event takes place. Then we have before us the man with three hundred dollars a ye:ir income, who apes the manner of the gentle- man of leisure. And now again we have what may be called an in- tellectual snob ; the man who has a fair share of brain, but not sufficient to make a name for himself, not enough to make himself distinguished in any way. So where, honest candor would expose him, he a[jes the manner of clever men, allowing himself to get decidedly "out at elbows," to m 48 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. we arclothes which clccidcdly require brushing, seats him- self in a corner as though pondering some weighty matter, tries to look profound — when he probably looks simply, stupid. This is intellectual snobbishness. How many people we meet who cover their ignorance by a look of profundity. When will people learn that snobbery is the evidence of a small mind, and that shoddyism is the proof of a vulgar one ? How long before people will be convinced of the fact, that, education, talent, and good breeding, are the most essential requisites for success. The psychologist says. In dreams, and profound reveries we forget our surroundings, we travel over land and seas, through sunny lands, and many persons tell us that it !s simply the mind which creates, the mind which travels. Not so ; it is the soul which journies forth and is actually in those places, having left the body while it wanders alone. BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 49 our )ugh (mply )t so ; in lilone. A person lyint,'' chmgcrously ill, suffering acute pain, is given a narcotic and after a time, sleep is produced. The pain-racked body lies there motionless as a lump of clay, pain is forgotten but the soul takes a journey, and for a time revels in joy, flits through a shady grove, or stops for a moment beside a running brook, scales lofty heights or lingers in a lovely valley ; the effect of the nar- cotic wears off, pain returns and the pleasant vision is ended. Now the mind could not have created these pleasant scenes, for as everyone knows, there is complete sym[>athy between the body and mind, and a diseased, pain-tossed body, would produce a diseased mind. Be- tween sleep and death there is a wonderful similarity. In sleep the soul wanders forth and returns to the body, in death it journeys over the broad sea of eternity into the great unknown. Have you ever stood at the bedside of a dying child and seen the look of joy that passes over its face ? In many instances the child being too young to reason, too young to create for itself plea- sant scenes. Then what could have produced the estatic joy ? I stood by the bed of a dying child, a mere infant. The little sufferer had lain unconscious during the day, efforts were made to arouse it, the mother was bending over the bed anxious for one look of recognition, but the efforts were useless, the stupor continued until suddenly, to the surprise of the watchers, the little crea- ture raised its hand, and pointed upward, with a smile of perfect joy, and at that moment the soul winged its flight. iSSM 5" non KMiA N aoci ety. Materialists will say the child had been told of the beauties of another world, and at the last moment memory and reason returned, and the beauties which had been depicted, were suddenly repealled to mind. But in this in- stance the child was too youn<^ to have been told pleasinj^ stories ; and the mind could not have created for itself a vision. Then what was it ? At the moment of dissolu- tion the soul had llitted through the gates of the eternal city. A study in sombre tints : In one of the large cities in the wretched portion where men, women and children hive together, there lived — or existed — a little boy, so small, so insignificant, that the people with whom he came in contact would scarcely have considered him worthy of mention. He was a wee specimen of humanity with flaxen hair and blue eyes, and people who stopped to notice him at all, saw something so strange, so pathetic in the childish look, that they in- voluntarily turned to look again. He spent the days sel- noiIEMIAN SOCIETY. 51 f the mory been us in- :asinj^ self a ssolu- ternal )ortion lived It, that :arcely a wee s, and ithing ey ys in- sel- ling matches ; the nights he spent as he could, in empty boxes, on bundles of straw, in miserable alleys, any- where, where night overtook him. There was no one to make enquiries, for he was alone, alone in the great city, alone in the world. One stormy night a woman found her way to one of the wretched tenement houses, bearing in her arms a tiny burden. One of the inhabi- tants, more kindly than the rest, took her in, gave her the only bed they had, a pallet of straw, on which she lay fcr a few days, making no complaint, giving little trouble. The women saw at a glance that she was a different order of being from themselves, that she belonged to another world than theirs. But by what chance had she wander- ed there ? Questions were asked but no answers return- ed. She simply asked to be lelt alone. In a short time she died, leaving behind the litrlc bundle of humanity, bequeathing to him nothing but ' r own sensitive nature, the same blue eyes and flaxen hair, and the name "Ned," nothing more. They buried her in the potter's field, and a life's tragedy was ended. Little Ned lived among them, getting more blows than kind words, nearly always hungry, but never complaining. If they gave him food he ate it ; if he got none, he never murmured. The rough women, involuntarily, lowered their voices when little Ned was present, for there was something they could never comprehend about the strange child. They felt he was with them but not of them. He was unlike the children in the street, never seeking, but shunning 52 BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. !:i M their society. After a time he was old enough to go on the street and sell matches, and it was a relief to the women when he was gone, for then there was no res- traint, and the little lonely waif was turned adrift. Little Ned seemed never quite alone, for he frequently talked alone, asked questions which seemed to have been an- swered —in fact lived in a world, peopled by his own childish fancy, and passed unharmed through danger and sin, where one, more conscious of evil, would have fallen. How unlike the world he was in, was the one he pictured to himself. At night he crawled into empty boxes, scarcely knowing vhat it was to go to sleep without feeling hungry, but the Goddess of dreams wove golden threads through the brain of little Ned, weaving her most brilliant colors, through the warp and woof of his childish dreams, as if in compensation for the sombre colors and gloom of his waking moments, and no child lying on his bed of down, placed there by the careful hands of nurse, and receiving the mother's good night kiss, ever had sweeter, purer dreams, than the friendless, homeless match-seller on his bed of straw. Mothers, do you ever think when you see your children safe in their warm beds, of the numberless little waifs in large cities, whose resting places are pallets of straw, whose good night kisses are the cold breath of poverty ? There was very little variety in the life of little Ned. Waking in the morning, he would start out with the matches, selling them if he could, if not, hunger, to which BOHEMIAN SOCIETY. 33 he was so accustomed, was his companion. So from day today it was the same story, the only variation, the only change was in his dreams and visions ; lumger coi,14 not deprive liim of that solace, the cold could not freeze the warm fancies and imaginations. One mornin