NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 HAEVEY EICE. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 LEE, SHEPARD, & DILLISTGHAM. 
 
 1875. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1875, by 
 
 HARVEY RICE, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 RAKD, AVERT, & Co., PRINTERS. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 NATURE AND HER LESSONS 
 
 XL 
 
 WOMAN AND HER SPHERE 45 
 
 III. 
 EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS 91 
 
 rv. 
 
 AMERICA AND HER FUTURE 131 
 
 V. 
 
 LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS 165 
 
 VI. 
 
 MISSION MONUMENT AND ITS DEDICATION 187 
 
 272909 
 
NATUEE AND SEE LESSONS. 
 
NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 
 
 NATURE declares herself in her works. What 
 exists beyond her domain, if any thing, becomes 
 necessarily a matter of faith or imagination. 
 And yet the origin of the material universe 
 presents a problem which neither the vagaries 
 of the ancients nor the speculations of the 
 moderns have been able to solve in a satisfactory 
 manner. 
 
 In modern methods of logic, we reason from 
 cause to effect, from the known to the unknown ; 
 but, in attempting to penetrate the region of the 
 unknown, we are often left without a reliable 
 guide. Analogy may aid, but cannot assure us. 
 The powers of the human mind, if not infinite, 
 may admit of infinite culture. What is sup- 
 posed to be " unknowable " may, therefore, 
 become known. However this may be, there 
 is no divine injunction which prescribes a limit 
 to human possibilities. 
 
8 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 Whatever we may -think or believe, the 
 volume of Nature contains nothing but truth. 
 It is, in fact, God's manuscript, which awaits 
 interpreters, and which, if read aright, leaves 
 nothing to conjecture. Men of science, in at- 
 tempting to read this unerring record, have 
 advanced many plausible theories in relation to 
 the processes by which the earth acquired its 
 embodiment, and took its place among the golden 
 orbs of heaven. 
 
 There are reasons for believing that matter 
 has always existed in some form or other, and 
 that it is infinite in extent as well as in duration. 
 Nor need we hesitate to infer, from the knowl- 
 edge we have of the various forms in which 
 matter exists, that what is true of the earth, in 
 its processes of development, is equally true of 
 every other planet. 
 
 Whether the earth in its origin was a frag- 
 ment thrown off from some exploded planet 
 which had filled the measure of its destiny, or 
 whether it arose from the gradual accretion of 
 elementary substances diffused in infinite space, 
 are questions which cannot be satisfactorily 
 answered. Either method is not only plausible, 
 but consistent with the known laws and opera- 
 tions of Nature. 
 
 It seems quite probable that those erratic 
 bodies known as comets are but incipient plan- 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 9 
 
 ets, which continue, as they revolve in their 
 mystical flight, to accumulate gaseous matter 
 until they have acquired and condensed a suffi- 
 cient amount to become orbs, or worlds ; when, 
 by the influence of physical forces, they take 
 their places in some one or other of the existing 
 planetary systems. It is thus, perhaps, that the 
 law of development constructs a world with as 
 much ease as it constructs a grain of sand. Nor 
 can we doubt that the processes of aggregation 
 and dissolution are made reciprocal in their 
 relations, and perpetual in their action. 
 
 In a philosophical sense, " life " and " death " 
 are but conventional terms, meaning nothing 
 more than a change of matter from one form of 
 existence to another. Whatever changes may 
 take place, matter can neither be increased nor 
 diminished. Infinite space, being an immateri- 
 ality, could never have been created, and cannot, 
 therefore, be limited or annihilated. In all prob- 
 ability, it still is, and always has been, filled with 
 the elements of matter ; too subtile, perhaps, to 
 be perceived, yet destined, in the course of 
 eternal ages, to be wrought and re-wrought into 
 infinite varieties of corporeal existences, mineral, 
 vegetal, and animal, ever progressing from the 
 imperfect to the perfect. Thus Nature teaches 
 us the lesson that in perfection dwells the cen- 
 tral Life, the quickening power of the universe. 
 
10 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 In accordance with this view, we may regard 
 every particle of matter in the universe as the 
 germ of a world. And yet what are called 
 original elements may be such, or may not. Sup- 
 posed monads, or simple unities, if they exist at 
 all, may be capable of analysis by the applica- 
 tion of physical agencies or forces as yet un- 
 known' to science. Though science has disclosed 
 much that is wonderful in the mechanism of 
 Nature, there still lies before us an infinite 
 unknown. Whether ultimately the human mind 
 will become so enlarged and extended in its 
 powers as to comprehend the infinite, admits of 
 no positive assurance ; yet, in the unrevealed 
 design of the great future, such may be the 
 result. 
 
 It is only in modern times that science has 
 taken the advanced step, and led philosophy into 
 the beautiful avenues of Nature ; where, amid the 
 infinite, she gazes at the universe, listens to 
 the music of the spheres, and beholds the golden 
 wealth of the infinite displayed on every side. 
 It is thus that philosophy has become inspired 
 with a desire to account for every thing, and 
 finds that Nature has written her own history 
 in the hills and in the rocks, in the depths of the 
 sea, and in the stars of heaven, leaving nothing 
 more to be done than to read the record, and 
 accept its truthful teachings. In fact, the mate- 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 11 
 
 rial universe may be regarded as an outspoken 
 revelation of the infinite. 
 
 The elementary substances which compose 
 the earth and its atmosphere are essentially the 
 same, and are not numerous, so far as ascer- 
 tained. The leading vital principle is oxygen, 
 which constitutes at least one-half of all known 
 matter. The earth's crust is estimated to be 
 about fifty miles thick. This estimate is based 
 on the fact, that, in penetrating the earth, the 
 heat uniformly increases at a rate which would 
 fuse all mineral substances at that depth. 
 
 Hence the interior of the earth is believed to 
 be a region of molten substances, fiery billows 
 that roll impatient of restraint, and escape, here 
 and there, in the form of volcanic eruptions. 
 Volcanoes are, therefore, but the outposts of 
 gigantic central forces, and earthquakes but the 
 spasmodic trials of their strength. It would 
 seem, go where we will, that "fiery billows" 
 literally roll beneath our feet. What Nature's 
 ultimate designs are, it is impossible to predict. 
 But it is pretty certain that her internal fires 
 are working out some mystical problem. A 
 scientific German has recently ascertained that 
 the surface of the earth is gradually becoming 
 hotter, and that in five hundred millions of 
 years it will attain to such a degree of heat as 
 to destroy human life. And yet there are 
 
12 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 other scientists equally wise, perhaps, who as- 
 sert that the earth's crust is gradually cooling 
 and contracting, and therefore radiating less 
 heat ; the final result of which will be the de- 
 struction of all life, and a return of the glacial 
 period. 
 
 Geological science, as well as revelation, im- 
 presses us with the belief that in the beginning 
 "the earth was without form, and void," a 
 chaos of atoms which were gathered, comet-like, 
 from infinite space, and made to revolve in a 
 globular mass by physical forces, until it became, 
 by the condensation of its vapory atmosphere, 
 submerged in a flood of dark and interminable 
 waters. In consequence of the action of the 
 waters on mineral substances, vast deposits of 
 sediment accumulated ; which, with the aid of 
 pressure and chemical heat, gradually hardened 
 into rocks, strata upon strata, like solid ma- 
 sonry, and varying in thickness from the fraction 
 of a mile to thirty miles, or more. Nature seems 
 to have adopted this method of construction, as 
 a prerequisite to the severance of the land from 
 the waters. In effecting this object, the explo- 
 sive forces, long confined in the earth's interior, 
 are supposed to have burst asunder the walls of 
 their prison-house, suddenly upheaving conti- 
 nents and mountains from the depths of a dismal 
 and shoreless ocean. It was then that the 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 13 
 
 " dry land " made its first appearance, and was 
 baptized in the pure sunlight of heaven. 
 
 The virgin soil of the earth, when thus ex- 
 posed to the genial influence of the sun, soon 
 produced vegetal life, and vegetal life animal 
 life, the one the food of the other. Thus 
 Nature ever provides for her guests in advance 
 of their reception. Yet in her formative pro- 
 cesses she " makes haste slowly," though she 
 may sometimes leap to conclusions. Her work 
 never ceases. A million of years is to her as one 
 day, and one day as a million of years. Hence 
 every thing has its age, and is lost in the ages. 
 Of this fact, we have reliable evidence in the 
 strata of the rocks, and in the limited field of 
 our own observation. There can be no doubt 
 the earth has been many times baptized in fire 
 and water, and its crust broken into fragments, 
 and thrown into strange angles and relations. 
 These grand upheavals have occurred at dates 
 vastly remote from each other, and are recog- 
 nized by science as great geological periods. 
 
 The Ages of Nature, so far as relates to the 
 earth, may be classed briefly, as the primary, or 
 reign of fishes ; the secondary, or reign of rep- 
 tiles ; the tertiary, or reign of mammals ; and the 
 modern, or reign of man. Each of these ages 
 constitutes a grand chapter in the earth's his- 
 tory, which is easily read and understood by 
 
14 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 the masters of geological science. The same 
 agencies which were employed in constructing 
 the earth's crust are still employed in recon- 
 structing it. In fact, the work of creation 
 is still going on as in the beginning, if begin- 
 ning there ever was in Nature's material pro- 
 cesses. We see this illustrated in the changes 
 which are produced on the earth's surface, in our 
 own time, by the action of the rain, the wind, 
 the frost, the flood, the glacier, the volcano, and 
 the earthquake. 
 
 It is by these agencies that the hills and the 
 mountains are graded down, and the detritus de- 
 posited in the valleys and in the sea. Thus are 
 valleys enriched and broadened, vast plains and 
 deltas created, and continents enlarged. When 
 the present hills and mountains have been re- 
 duced to plains, and the fertility of the soil ex- 
 hausted, it is quite probable that another grand 
 upheaval of the earth's foundations will occur ; 
 the birth-power by which new hills and moun- 
 tains are lifted up, and continents changed to 
 ocean-beds, and ocean-beds to continents. It 
 is these mighty changes and exchanges that 
 prepare the way, and fit the earth, for the pro- 
 duction of higher orders of plants and animals, 
 and, perhaps, a higher order of man. 
 
 In the course of unknown ages, Nature has 
 enriched, and extended the valley of the Nile 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 15 
 
 hundreds of miles into the sea, by transport- 
 ing thither the pulverized wealth of the Abys- 
 sinian mountains. Thus fertilized, Egypt has for 
 many thousands of years sustained a dense pop- 
 ulation. Very justly has she been called not 
 only the cradle of mankind, but the granary of 
 the world. In like manner, the Ganges trans- 
 ports from the interior of India a sufficient 
 amount of sediment, annually, to cover a town- 
 ship, five miles square, to the depth of ten feet ; 
 and by this means has extended the land hun- 
 dreds of miles into the ocean. The Hoang, a 
 river of China, by its deposits of alluvium in the 
 sea, has added an entire province to that coun- 
 try, comprising an area of ninetj^-six thousand 
 square miles. Indeed, all rivers are tributaries 
 to the sea, and all seas tributaries to the rivers. 
 This exchange is effected mainly by the rains 
 and the snows, the exhalations and the water- 
 spouts. The clouds are but common carriers. 
 This commerce is therefore a matter of mutual 
 interest, and grows out of the positive neces- 
 sities of sea and land. Though the elements 
 appear to move in conflict, they really move in 
 perfect harmony, and bring order out of seem- 
 ing confusion. 
 
 In executing a gigantic work, no river has 
 excelled the Mississippi. This " Father of 
 Waters " has distinctly indicated, in the record 
 
16 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 of his career, the prehistorical age of the world, 
 and the equally prehistorical advent of man. 
 In his " march to the sea," he has left enduring 
 landmarks ; and with his battle-axe notched 
 centuries long lost in the mighty past. The 
 land which this majestic river has formed, by 
 depositing sediment in the Gulf of Mexico, com- 
 prises an area of thirty thousand square miles. 
 This deposit or delta has a depth exceeding 
 one thousand feet ; and the period required for 
 its accumulation has been estimated by Mr. 
 Lyell, the renowned geologist, at one hundred 
 thousand years. 
 
 This estimate only embraces the deposits since 
 the river ran in its present channel. The bluffs 
 along the river rise in many places two hundred 
 and fifty feet, and contain shells, with the re- 
 mains of the mastodon, elephant, tapir, mega- 
 lonyx, and other huge animals. It is evident 
 that these bluffs must have belonged to an 
 ancient plain or valley long anterior to the pres- 
 ent level. In several sections of the valley as 
 it now exists, excavations have been made 
 deeper than the Gulf of Mexico, and successive 
 growths of cypress-timber found, to the num- 
 ber of four or five distinct growths ; the lowest 
 lying at the depth of six hundred feet. Some 
 of these trees are ten feet in diameter, and have 
 from five to six thousand annual rings of growth. 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 17 
 
 As the plain of the river rose by deposits of 
 sediment, a new growth of cypress was pro- 
 duced, and is now supervened by the live-oak 
 plain, so called, which has had an. existence, as 
 estimated by the annual rings of the oaks, of 
 fourteen thousand years. 
 
 In excavating for gas-works at New Orleans, 
 a human skull was found beneath the roots of a 
 cypress belonging to the fourth-forest level, in a 
 good state of preservation, while the other 
 bones of the skeleton crumbled to dust on ex- 
 posure to the air. The type of the cranium 
 was that of the aboriginal American. Now, if 
 we take the period required to form the live- 
 oak level, and add it to the time required to 
 produce the next three subterranean growths of 
 cypress which overlie the fourth growth in 
 which the cranium was found, it clearly proves 
 that the human race existed in the great Valley 
 of the Mississippi more than fifty-seven thou- 
 sand years ago. 
 
 Not only in the Valley of the Mississippi have 
 fossil remains of man and animals been discov- 
 ered at depths and in formations that prove 
 their remote antiquity, but in many other parts 
 of the world. Not many years ago, a human 
 skull was found in Brazil, embedded in a sand- 
 stone rock overgrown with lofty trees. There 
 is still preserved, in the museum at Quebec, a 
 2 
 
18 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 human skull, which was excavated from the 
 solid schist-rock on which the citadel now 
 stands. Human skeletons have also been found 
 in the island of Guadaloupe, embedded in a rock 
 said to be as hard as the finest statuary marble. 
 Even so recently as the year 1868, while sink- 
 ing a well at the Antelope station, on the Union 
 Pacific Railroad, the workmen penetrated a 
 rock six feet thick, and, at eighty feet below 
 the rock, discovered a human skeleton in such a 
 state of preservation as to be readily recognized 
 as such. 
 
 In another instance, it is said that a human 
 skull was discovered in Calaveras County, Cal., 
 at the bottom of a shaft which had been 
 sunk one hundred and thirty feet below the 
 surface. It was found deposited in a bed of 
 gravel with other organic remains, and beneath 
 the eighth distinct geological layer of earth and 
 gravel ; where it must have lain, according to 
 the estimate of Prof. Whitney, the geologist, 
 for a period of at least one hundred thousand 
 years. This remote antiquity of man is also 
 confirmed by discoveries, in every part of the 
 world, of the fossil remains of domestic ani- 
 mals as well as of man, including implements 
 of human invention, such as flint arrow-heads, 
 stone axes, war-weapons, cooking-utensils, in 
 localities which preclude the idea of their be- 
 longing to an age that has a written history. 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 19 
 
 It is not unfrequent that fossil remains of 
 human bones and of animals are found embed- 
 ded in the coral-reef limestone of Florida. In 
 fact, says Prof. Agassiz, the whole peninsula 
 of Florida has been formed by successive 
 growths of coral reefs and shells. He estimates 
 the formation of the southern half of the penin- 
 sula, as occupying a period of one hundred 
 and thirty-five thousand years. The sea con- 
 tains ingredients which feed innumerable ani- 
 rnalcula, especially the polypes, or coral-builders, 
 which have the power of secreting calcareous 
 matter. These myriads of noiseless architects 
 are ever busy in building for themselves fairy 
 temples in the depths of the ocean, of the most 
 delicate and beautiful workmanship, and in 
 erecting pyramids and islands, and in extend- 
 ing continents. 
 
 In the mean time, there are other agencies of 
 a very different character continually at work, 
 modifying the earth's surface, and preparing it 
 for sustaining a still higher order of vegetal 
 and animal life. As a result of these agencies, 
 especially the volcanic, it often happens that 
 serious calamities befall the human family. In 
 the course of a century, not less than two thou- 
 sand volcanic eruptions occur on the globe, 
 equal to twenty a year, or one every eighteen 
 days. The whole number of volcanoes known 
 
20 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 to be active at the present time exceeds three 
 hundred ; and doubtless many times that number 
 have long since become extinct. 
 
 In Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, there 
 are extensive tracts or belts of country which 
 are volcanic in their character ; and especially is 
 this true of the entire American Pacific coast, 
 and the ocean-bed adjoining it. Often have 
 long lines of this coast been elevated or de- 
 pressed many feet, as if the whole continent 
 were afloat, and tossing like a ship on a stormy 
 sea. Neither in the past, nor in the present, 
 has the earth seemed to rest on a sure founda- 
 tion. Even in apparent security there is no 
 positive safety. 
 
 Nature must and will exercise her sterner as 
 well as her milder powers. In achieving gigan- 
 tic works, she employs gigantic powers. Her 
 forces are her own ; and, when she directs them 
 to execute her mandates, she is promptly obeyed. 
 She models and remodels the earth's exterior 
 and interior at pleasure, but never without a 
 beneficent design. Earthquakes break up the 
 earth's crust. Internal fires melt it. Exploding 
 gases lift it. Gravitation moulds it. The at- 
 mosphere cools it. The sun and the rain clothe 
 it with verdure ; and flowers crown it with 
 beauty. 
 
 Though Nature has made for man ample pro- 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 21 
 
 vision, she requires him not only to help him- 
 self, but to take care of himself. Nor does she 
 give him formal notice to keep out of harm's 
 way, when she wishes to break up the earth's 
 crust, and re-cast it ; but proceeds at once. She 
 may sink or elevate a continent at a blow, or 
 she may do it by slow degrees. 
 
 The earliest writers give us accounts of terrific 
 earthquakes. Thucydides alludes to volcanic 
 eruptions which occurred five hundred years be- 
 fore the Christian era. In the vicinity of volcanic 
 mountains, it has happened that city after city, in 
 the course of ages, has been ingulfed, one upon 
 another, in molten lava, or cinders, leaving no 
 record behind them of their unhappy fate. Her- 
 culaneum lies buried a hundred feet deep beneath 
 the modern city of Portici ; and, beneath Hercu- 
 laneum, a city still more ancient has been dis- 
 covered, whose name and history are entirely 
 unknown. How many other cities lie buried at 
 the foot of the old fire-crowned monarch of 
 Italy, no one can tell ; but doubtless there are 
 several of them. What induced people to 
 occupy a locality so perilous, it is difficult to 
 say, unless it was the superior fertility of a vol- 
 canic soil. 
 
 No part of the world is exempt from sudden 
 calamities of a similar character. The earth- 
 quake experienced by the city of Antioch in 
 
23 XATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 Syria, in the year 626, destroyed two hundred 
 and fifty thousand people. The great eruption of 
 Mount Etna, in 1669, overflowed fourteen towns, 
 containing from three to four thousand inhabit- 
 ants each. The stream of lava which issued 
 from the mountain was half a mile wide, and 
 forty feet deep, and swept every thing before it, 
 until lost in the sea. The earthquake at Lisbon, 
 in 1775, killed sixty thousand persons in six 
 minutes. The shock was felt in Switzerland, 
 in Scotland, in Massachusetts, and on the shore 
 of Lake Ontario. In 1783 a large river in Iceland 
 was sunk into the earth by volcanic action, and 
 entirely obliterated. In 1792 an earthquake in 
 the island of Java sunk a tract of land fifteen 
 miles long, and six miles wide, carrying down 
 with it forty small villages. In our own coun- 
 try and in our own neighborhood, in 1811, sev- 
 eral islands in the Mississippi River, near New 
 Madrid, were sunk by an earthquake, and the 
 course of the river driven back eighteen miles, 
 causing it to overflow the adjacent lands. About 
 half the county of New Madrid, as well as the 
 village, was submerged. Several new lakes 
 were created, one of which was sixty miles 
 long, and several miles wide. The earth's sur- 
 face rose in undulations like the billows of the 
 sea, and, with terrific utterances, opened yawn- 
 ing chasms, from which vast columns of sand and 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 23 
 
 water, and a substance resembling coke, were 
 thrown out. The whole face of the country in 
 that region was materially changed. And, 
 what is a little singular, one of the lakes thus 
 created by the earthquake extended to the 
 river at a point nearly opposite the famous 
 Island No. 10, thus affording a natural canal by 
 which the Union forces, in the late civil war, 
 approached and took the island. It would 
 seem that even earthquakes, though they shake 
 the Union, still aim to preserve it. 
 
 It is not improbable that the entire chain of our 
 great north-western lakes, from Ontario to Su- 
 perior, were created by the volcanic collapse of 
 a mountain range that once occupied the same 
 localities. Of this fact there are plausible, if 
 not irresistible evidences to be seen in the vol- 
 canic character of the rocks at various points 
 along the entire coast. Nor can it be very well 
 doubted that subsequent volcanic action has 
 elevated much of the coast into several corre- 
 sponding ridges, from one to two miles apart, 
 which distinctly mark the successive boundaries 
 of these inland seas. 
 
 Nature removes mountains, or creates them 
 at pleasure. She also makes and unmakes lakes 
 and rivers, to say nothing of oceans and conti- 
 nents. In California, and doubtless in other 
 parts of the world, there are as many dead as 
 
24 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 living rivers. The miners of California have 
 already discovered the old channels of a dozen or 
 more dead rivers, as they call them, incased and 
 sealed up in the very heart of the mountain 
 ranges, and extending, in some instances, hun- 
 dreds of miles in the general direction of the 
 ranges ; and leaping from mountain to mountain 
 at a common level or grade. These ancient chan- 
 nels are filled with sand, gravel, and small bowl- 
 ders, evidently worn and polished by long attri- 
 tion. Some of the channels are a mile wide, or 
 more, and from ten to one hundred feet deep. 
 In the angles or eddies, the sands are found to 
 be exceedingly rich in gold, sometimes yielding 
 fifty dollars or more to the cubic yard. It is 
 estimated that over three hundred millions of 
 dollars have already been taken from the sands 
 of these dead rivers, and that they are now 
 yielding at least ten millions a year. It is evi- 
 dent that these dead rivers must have been liv- 
 ing rivers long before the volcanic era arrived, 
 which elevated the ancient valleys into moun- 
 tain ranges, and depressed the ancient mountain 
 ranges into valleys. 
 
 In the South-American earthquake of August, 
 1868, thirty thousand lives were lost, several 
 cities entirely obliterated, and three hundred 
 millions of dollars worth of property destroyed. 
 A tidal wave, more than forty feet deep, swept 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 25 
 
 over the land, and deposited, high and dry, and 
 beyond recovery, several first-class ships. The 
 effect of this earthquake was felt along the coast 
 for a distance of six to seven thousand miles. In 
 October of the same year, the city of San 
 Francisco was visited by an earthquake, which 
 shattered many buildings, and destroyed several 
 lives. It is supposed that this was but a pro- 
 longation of the South-American earthquake. 
 
 In some parts of California and South Amer- 
 ica, thunder and lightning seldom occur, while 
 earthquakes are frequent. In regions like these, 
 earthquakes would seem to be a substitute for 
 thunder and lightning. In all probability, both 
 are but electrical phenomena, differing only in 
 the fact that the one is an earthquake, the 
 other a skyquake. It is in plains and valleys that 
 earthquakes prove the most destructive. Doubt- 
 less the solid material, composing the mountain 
 ranges, affords a better conductor of electricity 
 than the alluvial soil of the plains and the val- 
 leys. Hence, while the one serves as a light- 
 ning-rod, the other becomes the battle-ground 
 of conflicting elements. It may be that elec- 
 trical forces are generated in the earth's inte- 
 rior, as well as in the atmosphere, and that the 
 earthquake is but the shock produced by the 
 restoration of an equilibrium. The earth and 
 the atmosphere are essentially the same in their 
 
26 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 elements, and are ever contributing of their 
 substance to the requisitions of each other. 
 
 When physical science shall be so far ad- 
 vanced as to explain the true causes of the 
 earthquake, if it does not make man " master 
 of the situation," it will doubtless place in his 
 hands the power of avoiding, to some extent at 
 least, the calamities which now so often befall 
 life and property. 
 
 The earth in her physical aspects seems like 
 a veritable thing of life, possessed of flesh, 
 blood, and bones, her flesh, the soil ; her 
 blood, the rivers and the seas ; her bones, the 
 rock-ribbed mountains ; her nostrils, the volca- 
 noes ; her breath, the winds ; her eyelids, the 
 skies ; her tears, the dew-drops ; her song, the 
 melody of birds ; her smile, the flowers ; and 
 her raiment, the sunbeams. It is the delight 
 of her life to provide for her household, and at 
 the same time dance to the " music of the 
 spheres." 
 
 But, dropping metaphors, there can be no 
 doubt the earth is a physical necessity not yet 
 fully developed. Only about one-fourth part 
 of its surface is land, the remainder water. 
 Nearly three times more land lies north of the 
 equator than south of it. Why this should be 
 so, is not quite clear. In the course of the 
 earth's future development, however, it is not 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 27 
 
 improbable that additional continents and 
 islands will appear, and the waters subside into 
 narrower and deeper channels, thus giving to 
 man, and to land-life generally, a wider domain. 
 And yet the present seas were not made in vain, 
 but have always abounded with plant-life and 
 animal-life, though of an inferior order as com- 
 pared with land-life. Life in itself is infinite, 
 and appears in infinite varieties both on land 
 and in the sea. Whether man needs more land 
 for his use and future development, is difficult 
 to say. At any rate, every thing that exists 
 has its mutual relations, and adapts itself to the 
 ultimate aim of Nature, the perfection of man. 
 
 In the Western Hemisphere, the mountains 
 take the general direction of north and south ; 
 in the Eastern, the general direction of east 
 and west. In the one hemisphere, the ranges 
 essentially accord with the lines of longitude ; 
 in the other, with the lines of latitude. These 
 mountain ranges are but continental watersheds, 
 from which flows the elemental wealth that 
 enriches the plains and the valleys. The rivers 
 and their tributaries are the commercial agents. 
 The rain and the frost are the miners whose 
 labors will never cease until the mountains are 
 levelled. The mountains also attract and guide 
 the storms, and modify their force ; condense 
 the mists, the raindrop, and the dewdrop ; and 
 
28 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 thus aid in refreshing the valleys in connection 
 with the heat of the sunbeams. In this way 
 the seasons, as well as the elements of the soil, 
 are so modified and vitalized as to give to man 
 seedtime and harvest, and needful food to every 
 " living and creeping thing." 
 
 In addition to the world of life that is visible, 
 there is a world of life that is invisible ; a mi- 
 croscopic realm of animalcula, which " live and 
 move and have their being " in every element 
 of life, and in every life, and yet are so minute 
 as to be imperceptible to the naked eye. These 
 invisibles, or infusoria, abound everywhere 
 and in every thing. They pervade the sea, the 
 land, the air. They swarm in every drop of 
 water, and revel in every morsel of food. We 
 can neither eat nor drink without infringing on 
 their domain, and consigning myriads of them, 
 perhaps, to an unprovoked destruction. They 
 are almost as various in grade, size, and shape, 
 as they are numerous. Some are hideous, while 
 others are comely. They feed on each other, 
 the superior on the inferior, and are ever strug- 
 gling for life and for the mastery. They engage 
 in the " battle of life " to sustain life, and hold 
 to the doctrine that to the " victors belong the 
 spoils." It is an ascertained fact, that a speck 
 of potato-rot, the size of a pin-head, contains 
 hundreds of these little ferocious animals, fight- 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 29 
 
 ing and devouring each other without mercy 
 and without cessation. 
 
 What seems still more surprising is, that they 
 probably have a perfect organization, heart, 
 lungs, stomach, circulation of blood, and are 
 endowed, perhaps, with all the five senses. In- 
 finite numbers of them, it is supposed, exist in 
 so minute a form, that no microscope, however 
 great its power, can detect them. Nor need we 
 doubt that even these living invisibles are beset 
 with parasites vastly minuter than themselves, 
 which feed and breed on their surfaces. In the 
 very blood-circulation of the minutest, it is not 
 improbable that other infusoria, still more mi- 
 nute, swim and prey upon each other. The 
 uses for which this invisible world of life was 
 created, though doubtless for a wise purpose, 
 cannot be comprehended. Yet it is evident 
 that every living thing, however minute, has a 
 destiny of some sort, ever progressing, it may 
 be, from a lower to a higher sphere, from the 
 material to the spiritual, from the finite to the 
 infinite. 
 
 " All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
 Whose body Nature is, and God the soul." 
 
 The atmosphere, supposed to extend sixty 
 miles in height, surrounds the earth like an 
 invisible ocean, and gives to it, almost entirely, 
 
30 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 its life-material. In fact, the atmosphere is the 
 great reservoir of the vital elements, from which 
 is derived the principal part, if not all, the 
 material, solid or liquid, which enters into the 
 composition of both plant and animal, whether 
 it be a blade of grass, a leaf, or a tree ; an 
 insect, a fish, or a man. It is true, however, 
 that animal-life is more directly the outgrowth of 
 plant-life ; and yet the vital forces of both are 
 derived from the air, and return to the air by 
 solar agencies. It is quite certain that all mat- 
 ter, as seen embodied in various forms, consists 
 entirely of certain gases condensed or solidified 
 by chemical laws. The atmosphere itself, and 
 probably infinite space, are filled with matter in 
 the gaseous form, or in some unknown form, 
 destined to be condensed, dissolved, and re- 
 condensed in a series of changes as continuous 
 as the infinite ages. 
 
 In this sense, not only the earth, but every 
 other planet, contains within itself the seeds of 
 its own dissolution. Yet matter, whatever its 
 form, is still indestructible, and will forever 
 retain its vital forces. It would seem that life 
 is the soul of matter, and that electricity is the 
 soul of life ; immaterial, it may be, and, if so, 
 then immortal. Where the material ends, or 
 where the spiritual begins, it is impossible to 
 say. Of spirit or soul, we know nothing ; nor 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 31 
 
 can we prove their existence, unless we accept 
 the proofs as furnished by revelation. It is 
 certain, however, that our moral character sur- 
 vives us, and continues to have an influence in 
 the world for good or for evil, " according to 
 the deeds done in the body." This fact is 
 something which we can comprehend as consti- 
 tuting the ideal of our spiritual existence. Nor 
 need we doubt, that, in discharging our duties to 
 our fellow-men, we discharge our duties to God. 
 
 Everywhere about us, and especially in at- 
 mospheric phenomena, we see an epitome of 
 Nature's processes and marvellous formative 
 power. Not a snowflake falls to the ground 
 that does not bring with it a crystallization of 
 the most beautiful specimens of artistic em- 
 broidery, far excelling the finest needlework 
 ever wrought by woman's hand. The same is 
 true of the silver frostwork traced on the win- 
 dow-pane by the delicate touch of invisible fin- 
 gers. In truth, every gem that glitters in the 
 mine, every flower of the field, and every star 
 in the sky, is but a crystallized expression of the 
 beautiful, blended with a silent love that is pure 
 and heartfelt, as if akin to us. In reality they 
 are our kindred, and we are their kindred. 
 
 Nature seems to delight in creating the won- 
 derful, as well as the beautiful, and often com- 
 bines both in the same exhibition. Hence she 
 
32 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 entertains us, occasionally, with a magnificent 
 display of fireworks, known as northern lights ; 
 or with an apparent shower of falling stars ; or 
 with the sudden descent of an aerolite, all ablaze, 
 as if dropped from the fiery forge of the sun ; 
 or with a brilliant comet, which, with its long 
 and glittering trail, sweeps in ladylike style the 
 star-dust from the pavement of the sky. These 
 singular occurrences, though sometimes re- 
 garded as ominous, are but a part of Nature's 
 systematic operations. They cannot, with any 
 foundation in truth, be attributed to accident; 
 for it is impossible that accidents should happen 
 in the workshops of Nature, or in the adminis- 
 tration of her government. 
 
 How the various meteors are actually formed, 
 or whence they come, is a mystery which has 
 induced much speculation among scientific men. 
 Some say they are volcanic fragments thrown 
 from the moon, or from some distant planet, or 
 perhaps from a crater of the sun ; while others, 
 with more reason, suppose that they are gener- 
 ated in space, or in the earth's atmosphere, and 
 are nothing more than condensed gases which 
 constitute the elements of solid matter, and 
 which become, in some instances, so hardened 
 by chemical action as to assume the solidity of 
 stone or iron. 
 
 And hence it often happens that the latter 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS 33 
 
 class of these erratic strangers fall from the sky 
 to the earth with a terrific explosion. In an- 
 cient times their appearance was regarded as 
 portentous of national or individual calamities. 
 The Chinese have records of meteoric showers, 
 and the fall of aerolites, which occurred more 
 than six hundred and forty years before the 
 Christian era. The Greeks and Romans ob- 
 served and recorded similar phenomena. Be- 
 tween the years 903 and 1833, not less than 
 nineteen periodical star-showers have been re- 
 corded. The regular period of their occurrence 
 is once in every thirty-three years, or there- 
 about, and usually about the middle of Novem- 
 ber. But what are called sporadic meteors, or 
 shooting-stars, are of frequent occurrence, and 
 may be seen almost every evening in the year. 
 
 The most brilliant meteoric shower on record 
 is that of 1833, when meteors fell at the rate 
 of two hundred and forty thousand per hour, 
 creating the impression that all the stars of 
 heaven had been unsphered, and were falling 
 like a sheet of fire to the earth, and threaten- 
 ing a universal conflagration. Occurring as it 
 did at midnight, and continuing for two or 
 more hours, thousands of people, who witnessed 
 the scene with fear and trembling, supposed the 
 day of judgment had come. In just thirty- 
 three years after this, Nov. 14, 1866, occurred 
 
 3 
 
34 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 another periodical shower of a similar charac- 
 ter, which, though less brilliant, was seen on a 
 more extended scale in Europe than in the 
 United States. Why .this apparent storm of 
 fire should occur every thirty-three years, is a 
 mystery which science has not yet been able to 
 explain. It may be a part of the machinery 
 of our planetary system, and is, perhaps, as reg- 
 ular in its revolutions as the planets ; or it may 
 be a method of dissipating an over-accumula- 
 tion in the earth's atmosphere, or in infinite 
 space, of inflammable gaseous matter, which thus 
 ignites spontaneously, and presents to the eye 
 the appearance of burning sparks flying off, as 
 it were, from the broad anvil and ponderous 
 sledge employed in the great workshop of Na- 
 ture. Be this as it may, meteoric showers, so 
 far as known, have always proved harmless in 
 their results. 
 
 But the aerolite assumes a more formidable 
 character. In outline it is a globular mass 
 heated to intensity, and in its approach comes 
 with a hissing sound, and usually explodes in 
 the atmosphere or when it strikes the earth. 
 Its fragments show that it is a solid body, com- 
 posed mostly of a ferruginous material. The 
 illumination it creates in its passage through 
 the atmosphere is sometimes seen at the dis- 
 tance of five or six hundred miles. Erratic 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 35 
 
 masses of this kind have been known to fall in, 
 all ages and in all countries, and are of frequent 
 occurrence. 
 
 So recent as the year 1867 an aerolite of large 
 dimensions fell in Tennessee, penetrating a hill- 
 side of rocky formation to the depth of twenty 
 feet. It was seen at a great distance, and came 
 hissing on its way like a planet on fire, and, 
 when it struck the earth, produced a shock like 
 that of an earthquake. So intensely heated 
 was it, that, for three days after it fell, it gener- 
 ated, and sent up from the moist earth, a dense 
 column of steam, which rose and floated away 
 like a cloud in the sky. When excavated, its 
 mass was found to be composed principally of 
 iron, and measured seven feet from apex to 
 base, and ten feet in circumference. Fragments 
 of it have been preserved, and may be seen at 
 Washington, and in several collections of min- 
 erals belonging to scientific individuals. But 
 where did it come from ? Did it come from the 
 sun, the moon, the earth, or from some exploded 
 planet ? or was it generated in the atmosphere ? 
 Though the question has not been satisfac- 
 torily answered, there are plausible reasons for 
 believing that aerolites, and meteors generally, 
 are the spontaneous production of atmospheri- 
 cal agencies. Physical forces are at work all 
 over the earth, charging the atmosphere with 
 
36 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 the identical materials that compose the mete- 
 oric stone, or aerolite. Volcanoes emit their 
 gases, and hurl with terrific force burning frag- 
 ments of rock into the depths of the sky. The 
 tornado, or land-spout, takes up in its grasp 
 sand, with other solid material, and rotates it 
 with such violence as to produce fusion of the 
 mass, giving it a globular form, and hurling it 
 to an invisible height, and then leaving it to 
 gravitate brilliantly and rapidly, until it reaches 
 the earth. This theory is confirmed by many 
 facts, and especially by the occurrence of a land- 
 spout near the village of Ossonval in France, 
 where, on the 6th of July, 1822, some broken 
 clouds, coming from different directions, and 
 collecting over the sandy plain, formed a single 
 cloud which covered the heavens, when an elon- 
 gated nether portion of it descended, present- 
 ing its vortex downward, and having its base in 
 the cloud. It then became violent in its revo- 
 lutions, and, being driven by the wind, over- 
 turned buildings, uprooted trees, twirling them 
 in the air with liberal quantities of sand and 
 water, which it had scooped up in its course, 
 when, from its centre, amid sulphurous vapors, 
 globes of fire were seen to issue, as if projected 
 from an engine of terrific power, attended with 
 a sound like that of heavy cannon discharged 
 in the distance. Throughout its entire course it 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 37 
 
 left the fearful traces of its devastation. The 
 globes of fire which were projected from its 
 centre, it may well be supposed, possessed all 
 the characteristics of veritable aerolites, and 
 were thus manufactured by electrical heat and 
 fusion out of the earth-material lifted from the 
 plain. 
 
 Not long since, there fell near Romney, Ind., 
 an aerolite in a liquid, or molten state, which 
 flew into fragments the moment it struck the 
 earth's surface. The spot where it fell was 
 deeply indented and scorched ; and the material 
 of which it was composed was found scattered 
 about in the vicinity, having the appearance of 
 cinders, yet moulded into the form of small 
 spherical bodies varying in size from a buck- 
 shot to that of a cannon-ball. It is somewhat 
 remarkable, that, in subjecting fractured por- 
 tions of the cinders to intense heat, no percep- 
 tible odor was emitted, neither was the color or 
 weight changed. The fact that these cinders 
 descended in spherical bodies would seem to 
 indicate that the parent mass approached the 
 earth in a state of fusion, projecting from its 
 surface, as it revolved, detached fragments, 
 which, taking a rotatory impulse, became its 
 attendant satellites in accordance with planetary 
 laws. 
 
 Among many other aerolites that have fallen 
 
38 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 in different parts of our country, one of consid- 
 erable magnitude was seen to fall near Concord, 
 Muskingum County, O., on the 1st of May, 
 1860. It approached the earth with a brilliancy 
 as vivid as the sun, and exploded when it struck. 
 Several fragments of it were excavated while 
 quite hot, one of which, weighing eleven pounds, 
 has been deposited in the Historical Rooms at 
 Cleveland. It is composed of ferruginous mat- 
 ter, and seems almost as heavy as pure iron. 
 
 It is impossible for us to comprehend, from 
 the standpoint we occupy in this life, our real 
 relations either to the past or to the present, 
 much less to the future. Earth has her mani- 
 fold wonders, jet they are but few when com- 
 pared with the infinite wonders of the heavens. 
 Vast as our solar system truly is, it may still be 
 regarded as but a chandelier suspended in the 
 entrance-hall of Nature's great temple. When 
 we consider that infinite space has neither cen- 
 tre nor circumference, and that it is filled with 
 stars, and that every star is a world inhabited 
 like our own, and that there are still infinite 
 numbers of stars whose light, though travelling 
 at the rate of one hundred and eighty-five thou- 
 sand miles a second ever since the dawn of crea- 
 tion, has not yet reached the earth, we are lost, 
 lost in wonder and amazement, lost in thought, 
 still wanting a thought broad enough and strong 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 39 
 
 enough to grasp the infinite. Who is there that 
 would not, if he could, explore the untrodden 
 yet brilliant domains of infinite space, the gar- 
 den of God, ever blossoming with golden flow- 
 ers, and thus acquire for himself divine wisdom ? 
 If we would become as gods, and walk with 
 God, we must learn to partake the food, and 
 drink the beverage, of the gods. 
 
 In physical science there is much that has a 
 direct influence on the growth and vigor of 
 moral science. In fact, Nature does much more 
 for the welfare and education of man than he 
 does for himself. The mountains elevate his 
 thoughts, and teach him moral sublimity. The 
 vast ocean, apparently shoreless, suggests to him 
 the idea of eternity and a future life. The 
 earthquake, the hurricane, and the lightning 
 inspire him with a belief in the existence of a 
 supreme Power, a divine Governor of the uni- 
 verse. Thus impressed with a sense of his own 
 weakness and dependence, man naturally im- 
 plores protection, and trusts in the beneficence 
 and in the clemency of the great Invisible. 
 Hence his faith, his hope, his aspirations. In 
 this way was laid the primitive foundation of 
 his creed and religious tendencies. And yet 
 his weakest passion would seem to be his 
 strongest, a desire not only to perpetuate him- 
 self beyond this life, but to acquire superhuman 
 
40 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 power. It is for this that he struggles, erects 
 altars, and solicits aid from visionary as well as 
 from divine sources. 
 
 Whether the perfection of mankind be the 
 end and aim of Nature, need not be questioned. 
 It is evident that she regards man as a favorite ; 
 and for this reason solicits him to accept the 
 lessons of wisdom which are ever falling from 
 her lips. In the plenitude of her love she at- 
 tempts to lead him upward into a broader and 
 a holier sphere. If man was able to trace his 
 descent, and ascertain his origin, do you think he 
 would find it in the ape, as Darwin affirms, or 
 in the dust of the earth ? Revelation replies 
 in the dust ; and a sound philosophy confirms 
 the fact. 
 
 Nature never stultifies herself. Nor does she 
 develop a new species of animal or plant from 
 an existing species ; but, doubtless, encourages 
 " natural selection " in the line of each distinct 
 species, and, by so doing, promotes progress in 
 her grand scheme of attaining perfection. Nor 
 can it be doubted that from new conditions 
 a new species may appear. In fact, every living 
 thing is born of its appropriate conditions, and 
 will continue to propagate its kind so long as 
 its appropriate conditions exist. When condi- 
 tions change, results change. In this way a 
 new species of plant or animal may be, and 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 41 
 
 perhaps often is, generated. The process is sim- 
 ply one of change in the relation of the requi- 
 site life-elements, a process which results 
 from the unceasing operation of a great natural 
 law. In Nature there is nothing constant but 
 change. 
 
 Life, in all its varieties, whether vegetal or 
 animal, has a rudimental origin, traceable, per- 
 haps, to a minute egg, cell, or spore, call it what 
 you will, from which is evolved, in due time, a 
 perfect plant or animal. But if asked whence 
 is derived the egg, cell, or spore, we can only 
 reply, that they have their origin in certain 
 primitive life-elements, which are brought into 
 contact in a way so subtile as to elude the 
 investigations of science. This life-law, what- 
 ever it may be, acts in reference to kind, and 
 produces its kind. Nearly all forms of life have 
 resemblances. Yet it does not follow that man 
 was developed from an ape, or the bird from a 
 flying-fish. 
 
 Every thing that lives, whether plant or ani- 
 mal, has its leading characteristics. Nearly all 
 plants, as well as animals, evince a degree of 
 intelligence in their choice of nutriment, and in 
 their methods of obtaining it. Some plants, 
 like animals, shrink at the touch, while others 
 have the power of locomotion. Some seek the 
 sunlight, while others prefer the shade. Some 
 
42 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 imprison and appropriate insects as food, while 
 others extend themselves in this or that direc- 
 tion in search of favorite companionship. It is 
 doubtless true that plants, as well as animals, 
 however low their grade, have sensation, per- 
 haps consciousness, and, if so, a ray of reason. 
 It would seem that mind is but an outgrowth 
 of matter, and that every living thing has a de- 
 gree of intelligence. Indeed, every particle of 
 matter, organic or inorganic, has motive power, 
 and is, therefore, endowed with a living princi- 
 ple, however sluggish or inert it may appear. 
 An intelligent vitality seems to pervade the en- 
 tire material of the universe. Hence it has been 
 said, with some degree of plausibility, that 
 " matter thinks." However this may be, it is 
 certain that its motive power acts in reference 
 to adapting means to ends, and is, therefore, 
 controlled by reason, a reason that is infinitely 
 superior to human reason. In other words, all 
 matter is the subject of law. The one is mani- 
 festly the condition of the other. The law can- 
 not exist without the matter, nor can the matter 
 exist without the law. Both are, therefore, co- 
 existent, and doubtless co-eternal. 
 
 Nature is ever active in working " wonders in 
 the heavnes and in the earth." Her domain in- 
 cludes both. In the beam of every star she 
 sends us a messenger, revealing the fact that the 
 
NATURE AND HER LESSONS. 43 
 
 stars are constructed of the same materials as the 
 earth. In like manner we have assurance that 
 the same is true of the nebulous masses, which 
 seem to float, like continents, in infinite space, 
 awaiting the slow processes which are destined 
 to mould them into golden orbs. And thus, from 
 the depths of the infinite, comes world after 
 world, system after system, ever sweeping on- 
 ward in the " eternal dances of the sky," until 
 lost in the infinite. And thus it is that the 
 work of creation has neither beginning nor end- 
 ing, but is ever progressing in its subtile meth- 
 ods of combining, dissolving, and re-combining 
 the entire matter of the universe. Every thing, 
 whether orb or atom, moves in a circle, because 
 there is a divinity that stirs within it. 
 
 Philosophize as we may, it is certain that we 
 are surrounded by the infinite, and are of the 
 infinite. All that is terrestrial in us, all indi- 
 vidualities, are evanescent, passing from one 
 form into another. Nothing remains identical. 
 Yet, in her experiments, Nature never fails of 
 success. In dissolving pearls, she creates others 
 of higher value ; in extinguishing stars, she 
 lights up others of greater brilliancy and mag- 
 nitude. And yet nothing becomes extinct. 
 Elements never die. Every plant and every 
 animal is but the fruitage of the inherent life 
 that pervades the material world. 
 
44 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 In some form or other we always have ex- 
 isted, and always will exist. It has been well 
 said that man, in his nature, is " half dust and 
 half deity." His life does not begin with his 
 birth, nor does it end with his death. He is 
 immortal. And so is every thing, whether ani- 
 mate or inanimate, immortal. Even death sur- 
 vives itself. Nor is there a particle of matter 
 in the universe that has not lived and breathed ; 
 nor is there a drop of water in the ocean that 
 has not slaked the thirst of some living thing. 
 Every star that glitters in the fathomless depths 
 of space swarms with life, and every life 
 achieves its aim. In a word, every thing is 
 infinite, and subserves an infinite purpose. 
 We need neither go nor come to reach heaven. 
 It is here ; it is everywhere ; not a place, but a 
 state. It is only the moral atmosphere of our 
 social and individual life that requires purifica- 
 tion, a work that must begin in the head and 
 in the heart, in order to be effective. When 
 this purification has been achieved, then with 
 our earth-life will come moral elevation ; and 
 with moral elevation, harmony with heaven. 
 The God of Nature is the God in Nature, who 
 not only reveals himself in her lessons, but 
 takes us by the hand, and, with the love and 
 patience of a parent, leads us onward and up- 
 ward 
 
 " Along the line of limitless desires." 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHEEE. 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 
 
 WOMAN, like a flower, sprang to life in a 
 garden of flowers, sprang from the side of 
 her lord, and took her place at his side, as a 
 meet companion, to share his earth-life, his 
 joys, and his sorrows. 
 
 The Greeks believed that the gods collected 
 every thing that is beautiful in nature, out of 
 which they formed the first woman ; and, having 
 crowned her brow with sunshine, intrusted 
 her with the irresistible power of fascina- 
 tion. 
 
 It is certainly not less pleasant than natural 
 to believe that woman was made of a more re- 
 fined material than man ; and it is doubtless 
 true that every sincere worshipper of the beauti- 
 ful delights to regard the " angel of his dreams " 
 not only as an incarnation of all that is lovable, 
 but as a divine spirituality, a vision from a 
 brighter and holier sphere. An old writer re- 
 marks, that, in order to make an entirely beauti- 
 ful woman, it would be necessary to take the 
 head from Greece, the bust from Austria, the 
 feet from Hindostan, the shoulders from Italy, 
 
 47 
 
48 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 the walk from Spain, and the complexion from 
 England. At that rate she would be a mosaic 
 in her composition ; and the man who married 
 her might well be said to have " taken up a col- 
 lection." 
 
 However mystical may be the origin of 
 woman, it is certain that we should look to the 
 moral beauty of her life, rather than to her per- 
 sonal charms, in estimating the true value of 
 her character. In her nature, woman is a loyal- 
 ist, loyal to man, and loyal to God. In all ages 
 of the world, in all countries, and under all cir- 
 cumstances, she has ever been distinguished for 
 her patience, her fortitude, and her forbearance, 
 as well as for those still higher and diviner 
 attributes, her love and her devotion. 
 
 Endowed with charms which give her the 
 power of conquest, woman ever delights in 
 making conquests ; and, though she may some- 
 times " stoop to conquer," she never fails to 
 elevate the conquered. With the smile of love 
 resting on her brow, she aims to fulfil her mission 
 by scattering flowers along the pathway of life, 
 and inspiring the sterner sex with reverence for 
 her virtues and for the angelhood of her na- 
 ture. 
 
 The true woman exhibits a true womanhood 
 in all she does, in all she says, in her heart-life 
 and in her world-life. Her love once bestowed 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 49 
 
 on him who is worthy of it, increases with her 
 years, and becomes as enduring as her life, 
 
 " In death, a deathless flame." 
 
 Not only in the sincerity of her love, but in all 
 her sympathies, in her quick sense of duty, and 
 in her devotion to all that is good, right, and 
 just, she discloses, without being conscious of it, 
 the divinity of her character. 
 
 It is in sacred history that we find the earliest 
 record of woman's virtues, acquirements, and 
 achievements. It is there that we read of 
 women, who were not only distinguished for 
 their exalted piety and exemplary habits of 
 life, but who often excelled even the great men 
 of renown in sagacity of purpose, and in the 
 exercise of sceptred power. It is in sacred his- 
 tory that we have the earliest account of the 
 social and domestic relations of the human 
 family, the most prominent of which is the 
 institution of marriage. 
 
 The first marriage of which we have any ac- 
 count took place in a garden, without the usual 
 preliminaries and ceremonies which have marked 
 its solemnization in subsequent periods of the 
 world's history ; yet we must believe that it 
 was the most august and sublime wedding that 
 ever occurred. The witnesses of the ceremony 
 were none other than the angels of God. Nature 
 
60 NATURE AXD CULTURE. 
 
 presented her choicest flowers, and the birds of 
 Paradise sang the bridal hymn ; while earth and 
 sky rejoiced in the consummation of the " first 
 match made in heaven." 
 
 It may be presumed, perhaps, that all matches 
 are made in heaven ; yet, somehow or other, sad 
 mistakes occur when least expected. Even our 
 first parents, though placed in a garden of in- 
 nocence, encountered a serpent in their pathway. 
 It need not seem very strange, therefore, that the 
 " course of true love never did run smooth." 
 Yet there are but few who would not concur 
 with Tennyson in thinking, 
 
 " Tis better to have loved and lost, 
 Than never to have loved at all." 
 
 In affairs of the heart there is no such thing 
 as accounting for the freaks of fancy, or the 
 choice of dissimilar tastes. Singular as it may 
 be, most people admire contrasts. In other 
 words, like prefers unlike ; the tall prefer the 
 short ; the beautiful the unbeautiful ; and the 
 perverse the reverse. In this way Nature makes 
 up her counterparts with a view to assimilate 
 her materials, and bring harmony out of dis- 
 cord. It is from accords and discords that we 
 judge of music, and determine its degree of 
 excellence. In wedded life, even discords have 
 their uses ; since a family jar, now and then, is 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 51 
 
 often attended with the happiest results, by 
 bringing into timely exercise a higher degree of 
 mutual forbearance, and inspiring the heart with 
 a purer, sincerer, and diviner appreciation of the 
 " silken tie." 
 
 There is no topic, perhaps, of deeper interest 
 to a woman than that of wedlock. It is an 
 event, when it does occur, which brightens or 
 blasts forever her fondest hopes and her purest 
 affections. The matrimonial question is, there- 
 fore, the great question of a woman's life. In 
 deciding it, she takes a risk which determines 
 the future of her heart-life. When the motive 
 is stamped with the imperial seal of Heaven, it 
 is certain the heart will recognize it as genuine, 
 and trust in it. The language of love speaks 
 for itself, sometimes in mysteries, sometimes in 
 revelations. It is a telegraphic language, which 
 every woman understands, though written in 
 hieroglyphics. Hence the preliminaries to wed- 
 lock, usually called courtships, are as various in 
 their methods as the whims of the parties. In 
 many parts of the world these methods are as 
 amusing as they are singular. 
 
 In royal families matrimonial alliances are 
 controlled by state policy, and the negotiations 
 conducted through the agency of ministerial 
 confidants. In some Oriental countries, par- 
 ents contract their sons and daughters in niar- 
 
52 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 riage while yet in their infancy, nor allow 
 the parties an interview until of marriageable 
 age, when the wedding ceremonies are per- 
 formed, and the happy, pair unveiled to behold 
 each other for the first time. At such a mo- 
 ment " a penny for their thoughts " would be 
 cheap enough. The philosophy of this absurd 
 custom seems to be based on the classical idea 
 that " love is blind." This may be true ; yet 
 blind though it be, the heart will always have 
 its preference, and contrive some way or other 
 to express it. 
 
 In some of the Molucca Islands, when a 
 young man is too bashful to speak his love, he 
 seizes the first opportunity that offers of sitting 
 near the object of his affection, and tying his 
 garments to hers. If she allows him to finish 
 the knot, and neither cuts nor loosens it, she 
 truly gives her consent to the marriage. If she 
 merely loosens it, he is at liberty to try his luck 
 again at a more propitious moment. But, if she 
 cuts the knot, there is an end of hope. 
 
 In Lapland it is death to marry a girl without 
 the consent of her friends. When a young 
 man proposes marriage, the friends of both par- 
 ties meet to witness a race between them. The 
 girl is allowed, at starting, the advantage of a 
 third part of the race ; if her lover does not 
 overtake her, it is a penal offence for him ever 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 53 
 
 to renew his offers of marriage. If the damsel 
 favors his suit, she may run fast at first, to try 
 his affection ; but she will be sure to linger 
 before she comes to the end of the race. In this 
 way all marriages are made in accordance with 
 inclination ; and this is the probable reason of 
 so much domestic contentment in that country. 
 
 In ancient times marriageable women were 
 the subjects of bargain and sale, and were more 
 generally obtained by purchase than courtship. 
 The prices paid in some instances seem incredi- 
 ble, if not extortionate. Of course, " pearls of 
 great price " were not to be had for the mere 
 asking. Jacob purchased his wife, Rachel, at a 
 cost of fourteen years' hard labor. 
 
 The Babylonians, who were a practical peo- 
 ple, gathered their marriageable daughters, once 
 a year, from every district of their country, and 
 sold them at auction to bachelors, who pur- 
 chased them for wiVes, while the magistrates 
 presided at the sales. The sums of money thus 
 received for the beautiful girls, were appropri- 
 ated as doweries for the benefit of the less beau- 
 tiful. Of course rich bachelors paid liberal 
 prices for their choice ; while poor bachelors, in 
 accepting the less beautiful, generally obtained 
 the best wives, with the addition of a handsome 
 sum of money. In this way all parties were 
 accommodated who aspired to matrimonial fe 
 licity. 
 
54 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 But in these modern times, most of our young 
 men, instead of purchasing their wives, prefer 
 to sell themselves at the highest price the mar- 
 ket affords. Fortune-hunting is, therefore, re- 
 garded as legitimate. In the mind of a fast 
 young man, wealth has a magical influence, 
 which is sure to invest the possessor, if a mar- 
 riageable young lady, however unattractive, 
 with irresistible charms. If his preliminary in- 
 quiry, Is she rich ? be answered in the affirma- 
 tive, the siege commences at once. Art is so 
 practised as to conceal art, and create, if possi- 
 ble, a favorable impression. An introduction is 
 sought and obtained. Interview follows inter- 
 view in quick succession. The declaration is 
 made ; the diamond ring presented, and graciously 
 accepted ; consent obtained, and the happy day 
 set. Rumor reports an eligible match in high 
 life, and the fashionable world is on tiptoe with 
 expectation. 
 
 But, instead of its being an " affair of the 
 heart," it is really a very different affair, noth- 
 ing but a hasty transaction in fancy stocks. And 
 if the officiating clergyman were to employ an 
 appropriate formula of words in celebrating the 
 nuptials, he would address the parties thus, 
 
 " Romeo, wilt thou have this delicate consti- 
 tution, this bundle of silks and satins, this crock 
 of gold, for thy wedded wife ? " " I will." 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 55 
 
 " Juliet, wilt thou have this false pretence, this 
 profligate in broadcloth, this unpaid tailor's bill, 
 for thy wedded husband?" " I will." 
 
 The happy pair are then pronounced man and 
 wife. And what is the result ? A brief career 
 of dissipation, a splendid misery, a reduction to 
 poverty, domestic dissension, separation, and 
 finally a divorce. But how different is the re- 
 sult, when an honest man, actuated by pure 
 motives, marries a sincere woman, whose only 
 wealth consists in her love and in her practical 
 good sense. 
 
 It is man who degrades woman ; not woman 
 who degrades man. Asiatic monarchs have 
 ever regarded woman, not as a companion, but 
 as a toy, a picture, a luxury of the palace ; 
 while men of common rank throughout Asia, 
 and in many parts of Europe, treat her as a 
 slave, a drudge, a " hewer of wood and a drawer 
 of water," and make it her duty to wait, instead 
 of being waited on ; to attend, instead of being 
 attended. Out of this sordid idea of woman's 
 destiny has grown, in all probability, the cus- 
 tom of regarding her as property. Influenced 
 by this idea, there are still some persons to be 
 found among the lower classes, even in our own 
 country, who do not hesitate to sell, buy, or 
 exchange their wives for a material considera- 
 tion. Our American forefathers, in the early 
 
56 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 settlement of Jamestown, purchased their wives 
 from England, and paid in tobacco, at the rate 
 of one hundred and fifty pounds each, and 
 thought it a fair transaction. Perhaps this is 
 the reason why ladies are so generally disgusted 
 with the use of the " Virginia weed." 
 
 But the doctrine that woman was created the 
 inferior of man, though venerable for its anti- 
 quity, is not less fallacious than venerable. It is 
 simply an assertion which does not appear to be 
 sustained by historical facts. It is true that 
 woman is called in Scripture the " weaker ves- 
 sel : " weaker in physical strength she may be, 
 but it does not follow that she is weaker in 
 mind, wit, judgment, shrewdness, tact, or moral 
 power. 
 
 The sterner sex need not flatter themselves, 
 therefore, that superiority of muscle necessarily 
 implies superiority of mind. History sufficiently 
 discloses the fact that woman has often proved 
 herself not only a match, but an over-match for 
 man, in wielding the sceptre, the sword, and 
 the pen, to say nothing of the tongue. Illus- 
 trations of this great fact, like coruscations of 
 light, sparkle along the darkened track of the 
 ages, and abound in the living present. 
 
 But, in looking into the broad expanse of the 
 historical past, we cannot attempt to do more 
 than glance here and there at a particular star, 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 57 
 
 whose imdiminished lustre has given it a name 
 and a fame, not only glorious, but immortal. As 
 in all ages there have been representative men, 
 so in all ages there have been representative 
 women, who crowned the age in which they 
 lived with honor, and gave tone to its sentiment 
 and character. 
 
 In the career of Semiramis, who lived about 
 1965 years before the Christian era, we have a 
 crystallization of those subtile attributes of female 
 character, which are not less remarkable for 
 their diversity than extensive in their power 
 and influence. It will be remembered that she 
 was the reputed child of a goddess, a foundling 
 exposed in a desert, fed for a year by doves, 
 discovered by a shepherd, and adopted by him 
 as his own daughter. When grown to woman- 
 hood, she married the governor of Nineveh, and 
 assisted him in the siege and conquest of Bac- 
 tria. The wisdom and tact which she mani- 
 fested in this enterprise, and especially her per- 
 sonal beauty, attracted the attention of the 
 king of Assyria, who mysteriously relieved her 
 of her husband, obtained her hand in wedlock, 
 resigned to her his crown, and declared her 
 queen and sole empress of Assyria. The aspi- 
 rations of Semiramis became at once unbounded ; 
 and, fearing her royal consort might repent the 
 hasty step he had taken, she abruptly extin- 
 
58 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 guished his life, and soon succeeded in distin- 
 guishing her own. She levelled mountains, 
 filled up valleys, built aqueducts, commanded 
 armies, conquered neighboring nations, pene- 
 trated into Arabia and Ethiopia, amassed vast 
 treasures, founded many cities; and, wherever 
 she appeared, spread terror and consternation. 
 Under her auspices, and by means of her wealth, 
 Babylon, the capital of her empire, became the 
 most renowned and magnificent city in the 
 world. Her might was invincible ; her right 
 she regarded as co-extensive with her power. 
 Her prompt action was the secret of her success. 
 When she was informed, on one occasion, that 
 Babylon had revolted, she left her toilette half- 
 made, put herself at the head of an armed force, 
 and instantly quelled the revolt. She was a 
 woman of strong passions and of strong mind, 
 and, what is now very uncommon, of strong 
 nerves. And yet her peerless beauty and the 
 fascination of her manners appear to have been 
 as irresistible as the sway of her sceptre. The 
 fatality of her personal charms, her inordinate 
 love of power, and the evils which arise from 
 the indulgence of vain aspirations, indicate the 
 lessons which are taught by her career. In the 
 twenty-fifth year of her reign, her life was sud- 
 denly terminated by the violent hand of her 
 own son. After death she was transformed, 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 59 
 
 as it was believed, into a dove, under the symbol 
 of which she received divine honors throughout 
 Assyria. 
 
 It would seem that literary women were not 
 less unknown in ancient times than at the pres- 
 ent day. Sappho took her place in the galaxy 
 of literary fame six hundred years before Christ. 
 So sublime, and yet so sweet, were her lyric 
 strains, that the Greeks pronounced her the 
 tenth Muse. Longinus cites from her writings 
 specimens of the sublime, and extols her genius 
 as unrivalled. Beneficent as talented, she insti- 
 tuted an academy of music for young maidens ; 
 wrote nine books of lyric verse, and many other 
 compositions of great merit. But of all her 
 writings, however, only one or two of her odes 
 have survived. Her fate was an unhappy one. 
 She became violently enamoured of a young 
 man of Mitylene, who was so ungallant as not 
 to reciprocate her attachment ; and, being re- 
 duced to a state of hopeless despair, she pre- 
 cipitated herself into the sea from the steep 
 cliff of Leucate, ever since called the " Lover's 
 Leap." 
 
 In this connection we ought not to omit the 
 name of Aspasia, who, at a period two centu- 
 ries later than Sappho, emerged like a star in 
 a darkened sky, and charmed the age in 
 which she lived with the fascinations of her 
 
60 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 rhetoric. She was not less stately and queen- 
 like in her person, than accomplished in her 
 manners. It is said of her, that she possessed 
 rhetorical powers which were unequalled by the 
 public orators of her time. She was as learned 
 as eloquent. Plato says she was the instructress 
 of Socrates. She also instructed Pericles in the 
 arts of oratory, and afterwards married him. 
 He was largely indebted to her for his finish of 
 education, and elegance of manners, for which 
 he was so much distinguished. 
 
 So charming were Aspasia's conversational 
 powers, that the Athenians sought every oppor- 
 tunity to introduce their wives into her pres- 
 ence, that they might learn from her the art of 
 employing an elegant diction. On one occasion, 
 when the Athenian army had been disheart- 
 ened, she appeared in the public assembly of 
 the people, and pronounced an oration which so 
 thrilled their breasts as to inspire new hopes 
 and induce them to rally and redeem their 
 cause. 
 
 Among female sovereigns, but few have 
 evinced more tact or talent in an emergency 
 than Zenobia, queen of Palmyra. She was a 
 native of Syria, a descendant of Ptolemy ; mar- 
 ried Odenatus, a Saracen, and, after his death, 
 succeeded to the throne, about the year of our 
 Lord 267. She had been highly educated ; 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 61 
 
 wrote and spoke many different languages ; had 
 studied the beauties of Homer and Plato under 
 the tuition of Longinus ; and was not less re- 
 nowned for her beauty, melody of voice, and 
 elegance of manners, than for her heroic deeds. 
 In the five years of her reign, she conducted 
 many warlike expeditions, extended her empire, 
 compelling Cappadocia, Bithynia, and Egypt to 
 recognize her authority, and acknowledge her 
 " Queen of the East," a favorite title which 
 she had assumed. Her power had now become 
 so extended as to alarm the Roman Govern- 
 ment for their own safety, who sent Aurelian 
 with a formidable army to subjugate and reduce 
 her empire to a province. Zenobia, after being 
 defeated in two severe battles, retired with her 
 forces to Palmyra, her capital ; fortified it, and 
 resolved never to surrender. Aurelian in-vested 
 the city with his entire army, and, in the course 
 of the siege, was severely wounded by an arrow ; 
 and being thus disabled, the progress of the 
 siege was so far retarded as to give the citizens 
 of Rome occasion to utter against him bitter 
 invectives, and to question the character of the 
 " arrow " that had pierced him. In other words, 
 they accused him of complicity. In his letter 
 of self-justification to the Senate, he says, 
 " The Roman people speak with contempt 
 of the war I am waging against a woman. 
 
62 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 They are ignorant of the character and of the 
 power of Zenobia. It is impossible to enumer- 
 ate her warlike preparations of stones and 
 arrows, and every species of missile weapons. 
 The walls of the city are strongly guarded, and 
 artificial fires are thrown from her military en- 
 gines. The fear of punishment has armed her 
 with desperate courage. Still I trust in the 
 gods for a favorable result." 
 
 In this letter the stern and proud Roman gen- 
 eral frankly admits the might of woman. Feeling 
 humiliated, and almost despairing of success, he 
 now attempted to procure a surrender of the 
 city by negotiation, and offered the most liberal 
 advantages to the queen. In her reply, she said 
 to him, " It is not by negotiation, but by arms, 
 that the submission you require of me can be 
 obtained." This laconic reply was certainly 
 worthy of a heroine and of a queen. Yet, after 
 a protracted and desperate defence, and finding 
 that her allies, instead of coming to her relief 
 as they promised, had accepted bribes from the 
 enemy to remain at a distance, she saw that all 
 was lost ; and, mounting her fleetest dromedary, 
 sought to escape into Persia ; but was overtaken 
 on the banks of the Euphrates and captured. 
 When brought into the presence of her con- 
 queror, and asked how she dared resist the 
 power of Rome, she replied, " Because I recog- 
 nize Aurelian alone as my sovereign." 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 63 
 
 Zenobia was sent to Rome to grace the tri- 
 umph of Aurelian. She entered the city on 
 foot, preceded by her own chariot, with which 
 she had designed, in the event of having won 
 the victory, to make her grand entry into Rome 
 as the triumphant " Queen of the East." But 
 the fortunes of war subverted her ambitious 
 scheme, and subjected her to the mortification 
 of gracing a Roman triumph. Yet for this in- 
 dignity she felt that she was somewhat compen- 
 sated in knowing that her appearance in Rome 
 would create a sensation. In the grand proces- 
 sion she followed her chariot, so laden with 
 jewels and chains of gold as to require the 
 support of a slave to prevent her from fainting 
 beneath the weight. 
 
 After enjoying the satisfaction of a triumph, 
 Aurelian treated his beautiful captive with kind 
 consideration, and provided for her a delightful 
 residence on the banks of the Tiber, where she 
 passed the remainder of her days, honored by 
 all as a matron of rare virtue and accomplish- 
 ments. She lived to educate her daughters, and 
 to see them contract noble alliances. Her de- 
 scendants were ranked among the first citizens 
 of Rome, and did not become extinct until after 
 the fifth century. 
 
 Near the commencement of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, there appeared in France a brilliant 
 
64 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 meteor, a youthful maiden, whose develop- 
 ment of character was as mystical as it Avas 
 heroic. Joan of Arc was born of obscure 
 parents, in an obscure village on the borders of 
 Lorraine, and was bred in a school of sim- 
 plicity. She possessed beauty, united with an 
 amiable temper and generous sympathies. In 
 her religious faith she was sincere, even angelic. 
 Her love of country was ardent and irrepressi- 
 ble. Finding her countrymen distracted by a 
 bitter partisan feeling, she identified herself 
 with the patriots, and desired to secure the cor- 
 onation of Prince Charles, as the only means, in 
 her belief, of restoring the authority of the 
 legitimate government. The reigning king had 
 become hopelessly demented, and anarchy pre- 
 vailed in almost every part of his dominions. 
 
 The rival houses of Orleans and Burgundy 
 were contending for the supremacy, and had 
 entered upon a career of murder and massacre, 
 instead of adopting a regular system of warfare. 
 Both parties invoked the aid of the English, 
 and an army was accordingly sent from Eng- 
 land; but, instead of relieving either of the 
 contending parties, their interference only im- 
 posed still weightier calamities on the country. 
 At this crisis a prophecy became .current among 
 the people, that a virgin would appear, and rid 
 France of her enemies. This prophecy reached 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 65 
 
 the ear of Joan of Arc, and inspired her with 
 the belief that she was the chosen one of Heaven 
 to accomplish the work. 
 
 In confirmation of this belief, she heard mys- 
 terious voices which came to her in her dreams, 
 and which she regarded as divine communica- 
 tions, directing her to enter upon her great 
 mission. On conferring with her parents in 
 relation to the matter, they advised her to aban- 
 don her mad scheme, and desired her to marry 
 and remain with them in her native village ; 
 but she declined, insisting that the current pre- 
 diction " France shall be saved by a virgin " 
 alluded to her. The English army had already 
 besieged Orleans, and all hope of saving the 
 city seemed lost. Her friends, regarding her as 
 endowed with supernatural powers, provided 
 her with a war-horse and a military costume, 
 and sent her with an escort to the court of 
 Prince Charles, whom she had never seen, but 
 whose cause she had espoused. 
 
 He received her with distrust, though he de- 
 sired her proffered assistance. In order to avoid 
 being charged with having faith in sorcery, he 
 handed her over to a commission of ecclesias- 
 tics, to ascertain whether she was inspired of 
 Heaven, or instigated by an evil spirit. Among 
 other tests, the ecclesiastics desired her to per- 
 form miracles. She replied, " Bring me to Or- 
 
66 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 leans and you shall witness a miracle ; the 
 siege shall be raised, and Prince Charles shall 
 be crowned king at Rheims." They approved 
 her project, and she received the rank of a mil- 
 itary commander. 
 
 She then demanded a mysterious sword which 
 she averred had been concealed by a hero of 
 the olden time within the walls of an ancient 
 church. On search being made, the sword was 
 found and delivered to her. In a short time, 
 with this mysterious sword in hand, she appeared 
 at the head of an enthusiastic army, within 
 sight of the besieged city of Orleans. The 
 English army was astonished at the novel appa- 
 rition. She advanced, and demanded a surrender 
 of the city, but was indignantly refused; yet 
 the citizens of Orleans were elate with joy at 
 the prospect of relief. Joan boldly assaulted 
 the outposts, and carried them. The besieged 
 citizens, who had escaped outside the walls, now 
 rallied under her banner, and swelled the ranks 
 of her army. Fort after fort was captured. 
 The English fought with desperation. Joan, 
 cheering on her brave forces, and calling on 
 them to follow, seized a scaling-ladder, and 
 ascended the enemy's breastworks, when she 
 was pierced with an arrow in the shoulder, and 
 fell into the fosse. Her undaunted followers 
 rescued her; when she, seeing her banner in 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 67 
 
 danger, though faint and bleeding, rushed for- 
 ward, seized and bore it off in triumph. The 
 English army, amazed at this, and believing her 
 more than human, became panic-stricken, and 
 retreated in confusion. In their flight they lost 
 their commander and many of their bravest 
 men. Thus, in one week after her arrival at 
 Orleans, she compelled the English to abandon 
 the siege. In truth, she had performed a mira- 
 cle, as her countrymen believed, and as she had 
 promised the ecclesiastics she would do. For 
 this brilliant achievement she acquired the title, 
 " Maid of Orleans." 
 
 In addition to this, she subsequently fought 
 several severe battles with the English, and 
 defeated them. Even the sight of her approach- 
 ing banner often terrified the enemy into a sur- 
 render. In less than three . months from the 
 commencement of her career, she saw Prince 
 Charles crowned king at Rheims. In gratitude 
 for her pre-eminent and timely services in his 
 cause, Charles issued his royal edict ennobling 
 her and her family. Not long after this, the 
 opposing faction of King Charles captured the 
 Maid of Orleans, as she was now called, and 
 imprisoned her in a strong fortress. She at- 
 tempted to escape by leaping the walls, but was 
 secured, and transferred to the custody of the 
 English. The University of Paris, at the instance 
 
68 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 of dominant ecclesiastics, demanded her trial 
 on the charge of sorcery and the assumption of 
 divine powers. Her judges, intolerant as the 
 priests, condemned her to be burnt at the stake. 
 Her friends were overawed, and failed to inter- 
 fere in her behalf. The only condition in her 
 sentence was recantation, and the acknowledg- 
 ment of the supremacy of the Church. In view 
 of so terrific a death, she recanted ; but hear- 
 ing the mysterious voices of her former dreams 
 upbraid her, she re-asserted her faith in her 
 divine mission ; was again seized at the instance 
 of the priesthood, and the cruel sentence of 
 death at the stake carried into execution. 
 
 Never did a sadder fate overtake an innocent, 
 patriotic, and noble-hearted woman. Her only 
 crime was her love for her country, and her 
 contempt for ecclesiastical assumption. Her 
 purity of life was never questioned. It was 
 said of her that she never allowed a profane 
 word to be uttered in her presence. Her 
 religion was a religion of the heart, too exalted 
 for the times in which she lived. So sincere 
 was the belief of the populace in her sanctity, 
 that many persons made pilgrimages from every 
 part of the empire to touch her garments ; 
 believing, that, if they could be allowed the 
 privilege, they would be specially blessed, both 
 in this life and in the life to come. 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 69 
 
 There was no woman of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, perhaps, who was more conspicuous or 
 more talented than Elizabeth, queen of Eng- 
 land. Highly educated in the ancient and 
 modern languages, as well as in philosophy, she 
 embraced at an early age the Protestant faith, 
 and in consequence of the religious jealousies 
 of the times, encountered great opposition in 
 her advent to the throne ; and, while yet in her 
 girlhood, suffered a long imprisonment in the 
 Tower by order of her sister Mary, who was at 
 that time the reigning queen. But events 
 which transpired in 1558 resulted in the eleva- 
 tion of Elizabeth to the throne, at the age of 
 twenty-five. So fearful were the Catholics of 
 her influence in matters of faith that they sent 
 to her a distinguished ecclesiastic, who de- 
 manded from her a declaration of her religious 
 creed. To this intrusive demand she, being an 
 adept at rhyming, replied impromptu, 
 
 " Christ was the word that spake it ; 
 He took the bread and brake it ; 
 And what that word did make it, 
 That I believe, and take it." 
 
 So frank and faultless was this avowal that it 
 confounded the artful priest, who, feeling re- 
 buked, went away as wise as he came, if not a 
 little wiser. 
 
70 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 In her personal appearance Elizabeth was 
 stately and majestic, but by no means remarka- 
 ble for her beauty, or amiableness of temper. 
 Her good judgment and discrimination enabled 
 her to call to her aid wise men for minis- 
 ters and counsellors. She patronized talent 
 and intellect. It was during her reign that 
 Spenser, Shakspeare, Raleigh, Bacon, and 
 other eminent characters, nourished, giving to 
 her times and to literature the distinction of 
 the " Elizabethan age." The leading events of 
 her reign amply attest her capacity to grapple 
 with emergencies in sustaining her preroga- 
 tives and in maintaining the defiant attitude of 
 England. She loved money as well as power, 
 and, though penurious, wielded her power with 
 decision ; crushed domestic rebellion at a blow ; 
 removed her fears of Mary, queen of Scots, by 
 consigning her to the block ; defied the power 
 of Spain, and, with the timely assistance of a 
 providential whirlwind, sank the Spanish Arma- 
 da in the depths of the sea. 
 
 Though unattractive, her charms induced 
 sundry propositions of marriage, particularly 
 from the king of Sweden, from the king of 
 Spain, and from a young prince of France, 
 twenty-five years younger than herself. For 
 this young prince, it is said, she entertained a 
 sincere attachment, and went so far as to place 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 71 
 
 publicly on his finger a costly ring as a pledge 
 of their union ; but being overtaken soon after- 
 wards by some strange whimsicality, dismissed 
 him, and thus gave him leisure to reflect on 
 the vanity of human aspirations. Yet, like 
 most artful women, she delighted in flirtations, 
 and always retained in her retinue a few special 
 favorites, among whom were the Earls of Lei- 
 cester and of Essex. On these men she be- 
 stowed official positions of high rank, and 
 evidently desired to make great men of them ; 
 but Leicester proved to be destitute of brains, 
 and Essex turned traitor, and was finally exe- 
 cuted. 
 
 When advised to marry by her counsellors, 
 she replied that she could not indulge such a 
 thought for a moment ; for she had resolved that 
 the inscription on her tombstone should be, 
 
 " Here lies a queen who lived and died a virgin." 
 
 In her seventieth year she died of grief, it is 
 said, for having signed the death-warrant of 
 Essex, for whom she entertained a sincere, yet 
 "untold love." 
 
 The events of her reign wrought great 
 changes in the destinies of nations. By her 
 firm adherence to the Protestant faith, she con- 
 tributed much towards enlarging and strength- 
 ening the foundations of civil and religious 
 
72 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 liberty. She succeeded by her wisdom and 
 diplomacy in circumventing the subtile machina- 
 tions of rival powers. In few words, it may 
 be said of her, that she was a noble specimen 
 of manly womanhood. 
 
 Catharine I., empress of Russia, was born of 
 obscure parentage, near the close of the seven- 
 teenth century. In girlhood she was known by 
 the name of Martha, until she embraced the 
 Greek religion, when her name was changed to 
 Catharine. Her father died when she was but 
 three years old, and left her to the care of 
 an invalid mother, in reduced circumstances. 
 When old enough to be useful, Catharine de- 
 voted her services to the care and support of 
 her mother, and, in attaining to womanhood, 
 grew to be exceedingly beautiful. Her mother 
 had instructed her in the rudiments of a com- 
 mon education, which she afterwards perfected 
 under the tuition of a neighboring clergyman. 
 Among other accomplishments, Catharine ac- 
 quired a knowledge of music and dancing, and 
 soon became as attractive for her elegance of 
 manners as she was celebrated for her beauty. 
 
 In 1701 she married a Swedish dragoon, and 
 immediately accompanied him to the military 
 post assigned him in the war which had just 
 broken out between Sweden and Russia. In a 
 a battle which soon followed, she was taken 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 73 
 
 prisoner by the Russians. Her personal charms 
 soon attracted the attention of Peter the Great. 
 What became of her husband is not known, 
 but may be imagined. At any rate, the em- 
 peror succeeded in winning her affections, 
 acknowledged her as his wife, and placed the 
 imperial diadem on her head, and the sceptre in 
 her hand. She soon proved herself to be a 
 woman of wonderful tact, shrewdness, and 
 judgment, and obtained an unbounded influ- 
 ence over her husband. In fact, her advice 
 controlled his action ; and in following it, he 
 acquired the enviable and lasting title of " Pe- 
 ter the Great." Like her, thousands of women 
 have made their husbands great men, and often 
 out of very indifferent materials. 
 
 After Peter's death Catharine was pro- 
 claimed empress and autocrat of all the Rus- 
 sias. Her reign, though short, was brilliant. 
 Her frailties, if she liad any, were few, and 
 ought to be attributed to the character of her 
 favorites rather than to herself. She died at 
 the early age of forty-two, after a brief reign 
 of a little less than two years as sole empress. 
 Her native endowments constituted her bright- 
 est jewels, modesty, simplicity, and beauty. 
 It was these angelic gifts which elevated her 
 from the obscurity of rural life to the throne of 
 a great empire. 
 
74 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 Here let us turn from the Old World to the 
 New, and look into the parlor, instead of the 
 palace, for specimens of true womanhood. It 
 is in the private walks of life, in the domestic 
 and social circles, that we must look, if we 
 would contemplate the character of woman in 
 its purest and proudest development. It is in 
 her daily exhibition of heart, soul, sympathy, 
 generosity, and devotion, that woman attains to 
 perfection, and crowns herself with a diadem. 
 Everywhere in this great Republic are thou- 
 sands of women whose excellence of character 
 challenges our admiration. Among those who 
 have passed into the better life, and whose 
 names are recorded on the tablet of every Ameri- 
 can heart, is Martha Washington. 
 
 In her character we have the character of an 
 accomplished American lady. Few, if any, 
 have ever excelled her. When the war of the 
 Revolution commenced, she accompanied her 
 husband, who had just been appointed com- 
 mander-in-chief of the American armies, to the 
 military lines about Boston, and witnessed the 
 siege and evacuation of that city. She was 
 ever the guardian spirit of the general, and 
 aided him materially in his military career by 
 her wise counsels and timely attentions. While 
 he reasoned logically and deliberately, she came 
 to logical conclusions instantly, without seem- 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 75 
 
 ing to reason, a facility of logic which charac- 
 terizes almost every woman. 
 
 In her figure Martha was slight ; in her 
 manners easy and graceful ; in her temper, 
 mild, yet cheerful ; in her conversation, calm, 
 yet fascinating ; in her looks, beautiful, espe- 
 cially in her youthful days. So universally 
 admired and respected was she, that everybody 
 spoke of her as " Lady Washington." 
 
 She did the honors of the presidential man- 
 sion with polished ease, dignity, and grace. 
 Her connubial life with Washington was not 
 less exemplary than it was happy. His regard 
 for her was as profound as her devotion to him 
 was sincere. So solicitous was she for preserv- 
 ing his good name and fame, that, immediately 
 after his death, she destroyed all the domestic 
 letters which he had addressed to her, for fear 
 they might, some day, be published, and be 
 found to contain some word or expression of a 
 political nature which might be construed to 
 his prejudice. 
 
 Faithful as a wife, as a friend, and as a Chris- 
 tian, she proved herself a model woman. She 
 survived her husband but two years, and died 
 at the age of seventy. In life she occupied a 
 position which queens might envy ; and in 
 death, bequeathed a memory which will be 
 cherished in a nation's heart, when the proud 
 
76 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 monuments of kings and queens have crumbled 
 into dust and been forgotten. 
 
 If time would permit us, and if it could be 
 done without making invidious distinctions, it 
 would be no less delightful than instructive to 
 refer specifically to the names and deeds of 
 many other American women who have graced 
 the age in which they lived, and added lustre 
 to the annals of our Republic. But we must 
 content ourselves by alluding to them in general 
 terms ; and, in doing this, we must admit the 
 fact, that the noble deeds and exalted virtues 
 of woman occupy a much less space in the 
 world's history than they ought. 
 
 It is sufficiently evident to everybody that 
 women, in all the relations of life, exhibit a 
 keener appreciation of right and wrong than 
 men. Hence they are usually the first to ap- 
 prove what is right, and the last to concur in 
 what is wrong. It was this devotion to princi- 
 ple which induced American women in the days 
 of the Revolution to submit to the severest 
 trials and deprivations, while they encouraged 
 their sons, husbands, and brothers, to go forth 
 to the battle-field in defence of their country. 
 In proof of their patriotism, these noble women, 
 with their own hands and with cheerful hearts, 
 spun, wove, knit, and baked for the brave and 
 suffering soldiers; and even made an offering 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 77 
 
 of their jewels on the altar of liberty ; and 
 rather than see the enemy enriched by traffic 
 and unjust revenues, complacently approved the 
 policy which cast rich cargoes of their favorite 
 beverage into the depths of the sea. 
 
 It was the same spirit, the same patriotism, 
 which inspired the women of our own times, on 
 a still broader scale, in the late struggle of the 
 North to crush the rebellion of the South, and 
 sustain in all its purity, its honor, and its glory, 
 the dear old flag of the Union. This great 
 work has been done manfully and nobly, and at 
 immense sacrifices of treasure and of blood ; 
 but it could not have been done without the 
 aid and encouragement of woman. It was 
 woman who held the key and unlocked the 
 hearts of twenty millions of people, and induced 
 them, by her pleading appeals, to pour out their 
 noble charities, as from floodgates, to supply 
 the urgent needs of the largest and the bravest 
 army the world ever beheld. It was woman, 
 whose delicate hand nursed the sick, the 
 wounded, and the dying soldier, and whose 
 sympathies and prayers soothed and cheered his 
 departing spirit. 
 
 In the Sanitary Commission, in the Christian 
 Commission, woman was the master-spirit, the 
 angel of mercy, the music of whose hovering 
 wings animated the weary march of our gallant 
 
78 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 volunteers, and inspired their souls with invin- 
 cible courage. It is woman who weaves the 
 only wreath of honor which a true-hearted hero 
 desires to wear on his brow, and the only one 
 worthy of his highest aspirations. It is an in- 
 disputable fact that the power, the patriotism, 
 and the influence of woman, constitute the great 
 moral elements of our Republic, and of our civil 
 and religious institutions. 
 
 It is the educated and accomplished women 
 of our country who have refined the men, as 
 well as the youth of the land, and given tone 
 to public sentiment. It is this class of women 
 who have purified our literature, and moulded 
 it to harmonize with the pure principles of 
 a Christian philosophy. In the fine arts, and 
 even in the abstruse sciences, women have ex- 
 celled as well as men. In the catalogue of dis- 
 tinguished authors there are to be found, both 
 in this country and in Europe, nearly as many 
 women as men. From the facts which we have 
 already adduced, it is evident enough that wo- 
 man, in the exercise of intellectual, if not polit- 
 ical power, is fully the equal of man, while in 
 tact and shrewdness she is generally his supe- 
 rior. According to the old, but truthful saying, 
 it is impossible for a man to outwit a shrewd 
 woman; and, instead of asking what can a 
 woman do, we should ask, what is there a wo- 
 man cannot do ? 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 79 
 
 Whenever women are left to take care of 
 themselves in the world, as thousands are, they 
 should not only have the right, but it is their 
 duty, to engage in any of the industrial pur- 
 suits for which they are fitted. The principal 
 difference between man and woman is physical 
 strength ; and, for this reason, the lighter em- 
 ployments should be assigned to women. In 
 whatever employment men are out of place, 
 women should take their place ; especially in 
 retailing fancy goods, in book-keeping, in tele- 
 graphing, in type-setting, in school-teaching, 
 and in many other like employments ; nor need 
 they be excluded from the learned professions. 
 In fact, we already have lady clergymen, and 
 lady physicians ; and doubtless the character of 
 the bar would be much elevated by the admis- 
 sion of lady lawyers ; nor can we doubt but that 
 they would excel in prosecuting suits com- 
 menced by " attachment," if not in every other 
 class of cases. 
 
 If women choose to compete with men in 
 any of the learned professions, or in any other 
 pursuit, and are fitted to achieve success, there 
 is nothing in the way to prevent them ; yet it 
 does not follow that they can take the places 
 of men in every thing, especially in those em- 
 ployments which require masculine strength and 
 great physical endurance. Nor does it follow 
 
80 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 that women who pay taxes should therefore 
 have the right of suffrage. The fact that they 
 hold property does not change their status, nor 
 does it confer political rights. 
 
 The right of suffrage is a political right, and 
 not a natural right. The exercise of this polit- 
 
 al right carries with it the law-making power, 
 the duty of protecting persons and property, 
 and consequently of maintaining and defending 
 the government. They who make the govern- 
 ment are therefore bound to defend it. Nature 
 never intended that women should become sol- 
 diers, and face the cannon's mouth in the battle- 
 field ; nor did she give them strength to construct 
 railroads, tunnel mountains, build war-ships, or 
 man them. Yet women, prompted by affection 
 or romantic sentiment, have been known to 
 become soldiers in disguise, and perhaps have 
 fought bravely in the battle-field ; but this, of 
 itself, proves nothing : it is merely an exception 
 to a general rule ; or, in other words, an eccen- 
 tricity of character. In all ages of the world, 
 as we have shown, the mere force of circum- 
 stances has occasionally unsphered woman, and 
 placed her in unnatural situations, in which she 
 has sometimes achieved a brilliant success, on 
 the throne and off the throne, in peace and in 
 war, in political life and in social life. Yet in 
 stepping out of her sphere, whatever may be 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 81 
 
 her success, every true woman feels that she 
 " o'ersteps the modesty of nature." 
 
 When woman glides into her natural position, 
 that of a wife, it is then only that she 
 occupies her appropriate sphere, and exhibits in 
 its most attractive form the loveliness of her 
 character. Marriage is an institution as essen- 
 tial to the stability and harmony of the social 
 system as gravity is to the order and preserva- 
 tion of the planetary system. In the domestic 
 circle, the devoted wife becomes the centre of 
 attraction, the " angel of the household." Her 
 world is her home ; her altar, the hearthstone. 
 In her daily ministrations, she makes herself 
 angelic by making home a heaven, and every 
 one happy who may come within the " charmed 
 circle " of her kind cares and generous sympa- 
 thies. 'In fact, there is no place like home, 
 " sweet home," when on its sacred altar burns 
 the blended incense of harmonious souls, 
 
 "Two souls with but a single thought, 
 Two hearts that beat as one." 
 
 It is certain that man and woman were never 
 created to live independent of each other. 
 They are but counterparts, and therefore incom- 
 plete until united in wedlock. Hence they who 
 prefer single blessedness are justly chargeable 
 with the " sin of omission," if not the " unpar- 
 
 6 
 
82 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 donable sin." It is difficult to estimate the 
 fearful responsibilities of those fossilized bachel- 
 ors who persist in sewing on their own buttons 
 and in mending their own stockings. Yet these 
 selfish gentlemen frankly admit that there may 
 have been such a thing as " true love " in the 
 olden times ; but now, say they, the idea has 
 become obsolete ; and if a bachelor were to ask 
 a young lady to share his lot, she would imme- 
 diately want to know how large the "lot" is, 
 and what is its value. In further justification, 
 they quote Socrates, who, being asked whether 
 it were better for a man to marry or live single, 
 replied, " Let him do either, and he will repent 
 it." But this is not argument, nor is it always 
 true, even in a sordid marriage, as appears in 
 the following instance. Not long since, in New 
 York, a bachelor of twenty-two married a rich 
 maiden of fifty-five, who died within a month 
 after the nuptials, and left him a half million of 
 dollars. He says he has never " repented " the 
 marriage. 
 
 The age in which we live is one of experi- 
 ment and of novel theories, both in religion and 
 in politics. In modern spiritualism we have 
 entranced women, who give us reports from the 
 dead. In modern crusades we have devout 
 women, who visit tippling-houses, and convert 
 them into sanctuaries of prayer. In politics we 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 83 
 
 have mismated and unmated women, who hold 
 conventions, clamor for the ballot, and advocate 
 the doctrine of " natural selection." 
 
 It is true that every marriageable woman has 
 a natural right to select, if not elect, a husband ; 
 and this she may and ought to do, not by bal- 
 lot, but by the influence of her charms and her 
 virtues. If all marriageable men and women 
 were but crystallized into happy families, earth 
 would soon become a paradise. Yet, if thisri 
 were done, I doubt not there would still remain 
 some " strong-minded " women, who would get 
 up a convention to reform paradise. The truth 
 is, the women will do pretty much as they 
 please, and the best way is to let them. 
 
 Yet all must admit that a woman of refine- 
 ment is not only a ruling spirit, but " a power 
 behind the throne greater than the power on \ 
 the throne." Her rights are, therefore, within 
 her own grasp. Among these, she has the 
 right, and to her belongs the responsible duty, 
 of educating her children in first principles, and 
 in those sanctified lessons which have been 
 revealed to man from Heaven. It is the mother's 
 precepts which constitute the permanent foun- 
 dation of the child's future character. Hence 
 no woman is really competent to discharge the 
 responsible duties of a mother as she ought, 
 unless she has first been properly educated. 
 
84 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 There can be no object more deserving of com- 
 miseration, perhaps, than a mother who is sur- 
 rounded by a family of young children, and yet 
 is so ignorant as to be unable to instruct them 
 in the rudiments of a common school education, 
 and in the fundamental principles of a Christian 
 life. The character of every child, it may be 
 assumed, is essentially formed at seven years of 
 age. The mother of Washington knew this, 
 and felt it, and, in the education of her son, 
 taught him at an early age the leading truths 
 of Christianity. She took the Bible for her 
 guide, and taught him to take the Bible for his 
 guide. His subsequent career proves that he 
 adhered to the instructions of his mother. 
 When he came to pay her a visit, at the close 
 of the war, after an absence of seven long 
 years, she received him, with the overflowing 
 heart of a mother, as her dutiful son, and 
 thought of him, only as a dutiful son ; never 
 uttering a word in reference to the honors he 
 had won as a military chieftain. 
 
 Soon after this, Gen. Lafayette, wishing to 
 make the acquaintance of the mother of Wash- 
 ington before returning to France, called at her 
 residence in Virginia, and introduced himself. 
 He found her at work in the garden, clad in a 
 homespun dress, and her gray head covered 
 with a plain straw hat. She saluted him kindly, 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 85 
 
 and calmly remarked, " Ah, Marquis, you see 
 an old woman ; but come, I can make you wel- 
 come in my poor dwelling without the parade 
 of changing my dress." In the course of con- 
 versation Lafayette complimented her as the 
 mother of a son who had achieved the indepen- 
 dence of his country, and acquired lasting honors 
 for himself. The old lady, without the least 
 manifestation of gratified pride, simply re- 
 sponded, " I am not surprised at what George 
 has done, for he was always a very good boy." 
 What a noble response, in its moral grandeur, 
 was this ? Certain it is that such a mother was 
 worthy of such a son. A monument, plain, yet 
 expressive in its design, has been erected at 
 Fredericksburg, to her memory. It bears this 
 simple, yet sublime inscription, 
 
 " Mary, the Mother of Washington." 
 
 The extent of woman's moral power can only 
 be limited by the extent of her capacities. In 
 every circle, whether domestic, social, or polit- 
 ical, the accomplished woman is a central 
 power, imperium in imperio ; and, though she 
 may not directly exercise the right of suffrage, 
 yet her influence and her counsels, even an ex- 
 pression of her wish, enable her to control the 
 political, as well as the social destinies of men 
 and of nations. It is in this way that she may 
 
86 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 " have her way." It was the accomplished wife 
 of Mr. Monroe who made him President of the 
 United States. She was the first to propose his 
 name as a candidate. Her influence with mem- 
 bers of Congress induced them to concur in 
 advocating his election. He was elected. His 
 administration, as we all know, was distinguished 
 as " the era of good feeling." 
 
 The prevalent idea that women need less 
 education than men, is a gross error, worthy of 
 heathendom perhaps, but entirely unworthy of 
 Christendom. Let women be as generally and 
 as liberally educated as men, and, my word for 
 it, the question of women's rights would soon 
 settle itself. The right of women to be thus 
 educated cannot be doubted, because it is a 
 divine right, and because God has made woman 
 the maternal teacher of mankind, and the chief 
 cornerstone of the social fabric. Yet she should 
 be educated with reference to her proper sphere 
 as woman, a sphere which is higher than 
 that of man in the economy of Nature. Her 
 capacities for industrial pursuits, such as are 
 consistent with her physical abilities, should be 
 developed so that she may be qualified to pro- 
 vide for herself, and to sustain herself in life's 
 battle, if need be, without the aid of a " com- 
 panion in arms." 
 
 Nevertheless, niarm^e is one of heaven's 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 87 
 
 irrevocable laws. It is, in fact, the great law of 
 all animal life, and even of plant life. Nowhere 
 in nature is there a single instance in which this 
 law is not obeyed, in due time, except in the case 
 of mankind. Why is this? It certainly would 
 not be so if it were not for some grand defect 
 in our social system, some false notions ac- 
 quired by education, which are peculiar to our 
 civilization, and which induce apostasy to truth 
 and natural justice. Man was created to be the 
 protector of woman, and woman to be the help- 
 meet of man. Each, therefore, has an appro- 
 priate sphere ; and the obligations of each are 
 mutual, growing out of their mutual interests 
 and dependence. The sphere of the one is 
 just as important as the sphere of the other. 
 Neither can live, nor ought to live, without the 
 aid, the love, and the sympathy of the other. 
 Whether so disposed or not, neither can commit 
 an infraction of the other's rights, without vio- 
 lating a law of Nature. 
 
 Whatever may be the evils of our present 
 social or political system, it is evident that the 
 right of suffrage, if extended to woman, could 
 not afford a remedy ; but, on the contrary, 
 would tend to weaken, rather than strengthen, 
 mutual interests, by creating unwomanly aspira- 
 tions and domestic dissensions, thus sunder- 
 ing the ties of love aud affection which naturally 
 
88 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 exist between the sexes. In a word, it would 
 be opening Pandora's box, and letting escape 
 the imps of social and political discord, and 
 finally result in universal misrule, if not in 
 positive anarchy. 
 
 Modesty and delicacy are the crowning char- 
 acteristics of a true woman. She naturally 
 shrinks from the storms of political strife. Give 
 her the right of suffrage, a boon no sensible 
 woman desires, place her in office, in the halls 
 of legislation, in the Presidential chair ; enrobe 
 her with the judicial ermine ; or make her the 
 executive officer of a criminal tribunal ; and how 
 could she assume the tender relations of a 
 mother, and at the same time officiate in either 
 of these high places of public trust, in which 
 the sternest and most inflexible duties are often 
 required to be performed ? 
 
 It is not possible, however, that the erratic 
 comets, whose trailing light occasionally flashes 
 athwart our political sky, will ever acquire 
 sufficient momentum to jostle the " fixed stars " 
 out of place, because there is a fixed law of 
 \ ^--Nature which preserves them in place. There 
 is also a law of Nature which makes man not 
 only the protector, but the worshipper of woman, 
 a worship which is as instinctively paid as 
 reciprocated ; and which is by no means incon- 
 sistent with the worship of God, but, in truth, 
 
WOMAN AND HER SPHERE. 89 
 
 is a part of it. It is this kind of worship, this 
 natural and holy impulse of the heart, which con- 
 stitutes the basis of man's rights, and of woman's 
 rights, and should harmonize all their relations 
 in life. 
 
 We see the instinctive exhibition of man's 
 reverence for woman almost every day of our 
 lives, and often in a way that proves how ridicu- 
 lous are modern theories in regard to woman's 
 rights, when brought to the test in practical \ \ 
 life. Not long since, in one of our cities where 
 a woman's-rights convention was in session, a 
 strong-minded female delegate entered a street- 
 railway car, when an old gentleman rose to give 
 her his seat ; but, at the moment, suspecting 
 her to be a delegate, asked, " Be you one of 
 these women's righters ? " "I am." " You 
 believe a woman should have all the rights of a 
 man ? " " Yes, I do." u Then stand up and 
 enjoy them like a man." And stand up she did, 
 the old gentleman coolly resuming his seat, 
 to the great amusement of the other passen- 
 gers. 
 
 Whatever may be the pretensions of agitators, 
 it is certain that no woman of refined culture, 
 or of proper self-respect, will attempt to step 
 outside of her appropriate sphere. This she 
 cannot do if she would, without doing violence 
 to the sensibilities of her nature. When true 
 
90 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 to herself, woman, like the lily of the valley, 
 prefers the valley, where she can display her 
 native loveliness in comparative retirement, 
 secure from the inclemencies of a frowning sky ; 
 while man, born with a more rugged nature, 
 prefers, like the sturdy oak, to climb the hills 
 and the mountains, where he delights to breast 
 the assaults of storm and tempest, and to fling 
 the shadow of his stately form over the valley, 
 as if to protect the ethereal beauty of the lily 
 from the too ardent gaze of the sun. And, 
 though a solitary flower may sometimes be seen 
 climbing the mountain height, it is only the 
 modest lily of the valley, the true woman, whose 
 approving smile man aspires to share, and whose 
 virtue and purity call into exercise his noblest 
 and holiest sympathies. 
 
 " Honored be woman ! she beams on the sight, 
 Graceful and fair as an angel of light ; 
 Scatters around her, wherever she strays, 
 Roses of bliss on our thorn-covered ways ; 
 Roses of Paradise, sent from above, 
 To be gathered and twined in a garland of love ! " 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS EEEOES, 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 
 
 IT is the welfare of society, rather than that 
 of the individual, which is sought to be pro- 
 moted by a system of popular education. 
 Every part of the social fabric should be fitted 
 to its place, and go into place like the materials 
 in Solomon's temple, without the sound of the 
 hammer. Yet a refined civilization cannot be 
 attained without first securing a liberal mental 
 culture of the masses. 
 
 Nature, as if inspired by a divine instinct, is 
 ever engaged in refining her materials. The 
 laws by which she works are as applicable to 
 mind as to matter. In man we see both mind 
 and matter combined two natures: the intel- 
 lectual and the physical. But in order to learn 
 what we are, and what we should be, we must 
 first understand the relations in which we are 
 placed. In attempting to do this, we must 
 study man as well as nature, and advance step 
 by step, if we would achieve the highest attain- 
 ments of which we are capable. 
 
 He only is a man, in the true sense, whose 
 mental, moral, and physical capacities have been 
 
 93 
 
94 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 fully developed. To be " twenty-one years of 
 age and six feet high" does not, of itself, con- 
 stitute a man. He must attain to something 
 more than this. He must have the head and 
 the heart and the soul of a man. He must 
 appreciate the true character of his position, 
 and have the moral courage to discharge his 
 duties ; in short, he must live for others as well 
 as for himself ; act from generous impulses, and, 
 in all he does, yield to " the divinity that stirs 
 within him," if he would comprehend the import 
 of his godlike destiny. 
 
 The highway to knowledge, though rugged, 
 is equally free and open to all. Whoever will 
 may enter the temple of Nature, interrogate 
 her face to face, unlock her treasures, appro- 
 priate her wealth, and subject her subtile agen- 
 cies to human service. This the nineteenth 
 century has already done to a considerable 
 extent. Thus far it has been a bold century, 
 and has taken many bold steps : it has " knocked 
 holes through the blind walls " of the last ten 
 centuries, and exposed to daylight the " moles 
 and the bats" of antiquity; and still it demands 
 more light. Such is the spirit of the age, a 
 demand for naked truth in all its beautiful pro- 
 portions. Never, until this nineteenth century, 
 have the masses really discovered their mission, 
 the great fact that they were created to think 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 95 
 
 as well as work, and to govern as well as be 
 governed. And yet the world may be regarded 
 as still in its infancy ; nor has the human mind, 
 as compared with its possibilities, emerged from 
 its cradle, or even thrown off its swaddling 
 garments. 
 
 Though capable of sublime achievements, 
 man, at birth, is not only one of the most help- 
 less, but one of the most ignorant specimens of 
 animal existence. It is said by physiologists 
 that an infant can neither smile nor shed a tear 
 until forty days old. In his infancy the world 
 to him is but a panorama of strange objects. 
 In due time, however, he discovers that he has 
 every thing to learn, and needs to learn every 
 thing before he can comprehend himself or 
 wield the power which Heaven has assigned 
 him. 
 
 The degree of culture required to render man 
 what he should be godlike in his character 
 admits of no compromise with ignorance, super- 
 stition, or sectarianism; but, on the contrary, 
 involves the necessity of establishing and sus- 
 taining such an educational system as will be 
 adapted to the needs of the masses, and work 
 in accordance with the laws of matter and of 
 mind. 
 
 It is to the masses that our country must look 
 for her best material and for her future intellectual 
 
96 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 giants. In every age of the world more or 
 less great men have been produced. At a time 
 when most needed our own country produced 
 a Washington, a Jefferson, and a Franklin, who 
 distinguished themselves and the age in which 
 they lived, the age which gave birth to human 
 rights. At a later period appeared a Jackson, 
 a Clay, and a Webster, the defenders of the 
 Constitution and of the Union, who have left 
 behind them a brilliant record. But, notwith- 
 standing their conservative efforts, there came a 
 spirit of reform, sowing dragon-teeth, which soon 
 sprang to life, and filled the land with armed 
 heroes, who bravely met in deadly conflict, and 
 decided forever the great question of human 
 freedom ; and consequently we now have, instead 
 of a few, a great many men of world-wide 
 renown, who have made for themselves and for 
 their country a proud history. 
 
 In order to preserve our liberties we must 
 have men of large hearts and wise heads, men 
 who can wear the armor of giants because they 
 are giants. In short, we must recognize the 
 great fact that every child in the land has a 
 God-given right to an education, a right which 
 no parent should be allowed to sell for u a mess 
 of pottage." Our national watchword should 
 be " Education ;" and the system should be so 
 constructed as to reach all classes of youth by 
 methods not only efficient but attractive. 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 97 
 
 It will be said by some, perhaps, that it is 
 quite impossible to educate the masses in the 
 higher branches of learning, unless they be 
 withdrawn from the indispensable labors of the 
 field and the workshop, and thus be compelled 
 to neglect the industrial pursuits on which they 
 must depend for their physical comforts, bread, 
 raiment, and shelter. However plausible this 
 objection may seem, it certainly does not afford 
 a sufficient reason why the facilities of acquiring 
 a good education should not be equally extended 
 to all classes. 
 
 Manual labor and a high degree of intelli- 
 gence are by no means incompatible ; but, on 
 the contrary, must be associated, in order to 
 achieve great or brilliant results. It is true, 
 however, that the physical wants of man must 
 first be supplied, before you can proceed suc- 
 cessfully with the cultivation of his intellectual 
 powers. The fact is every day exemplified, 
 that bread is much easier gained by an intelli- 
 gent than by an ignorant laborer. Whatever 
 faith may do, it is certain that science and labor 
 must be combined if we would either tunnel or 
 " remove mountains ; " and though native tal- 
 ent may have been distributed with more liber- 
 ality to some than to others, all are under the 
 highest obligations to improve such as they 
 have, whether it be one talent or twenty talents. 
 
98 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 The farmer, the mechanic, the merchant, and 
 even the busy housewife, have more or less 
 leisure hours, long winter evenings, holidays, 
 and sabbath days, amounting to nearly half a 
 lifetime, which might, with great profit, be 
 employed in the acquisition of useful knowl- 
 edge, through the medium of choice books and 
 interchange of thought. Indeed, almost every 
 one who has received a common-school educa- 
 tion may so improve the fragments of time 
 which fall in his way as to acquire, in the 
 course of an ordinary lifetime, a pretty thor- 
 ough acquaintance with the sciences, and with 
 general literature. 
 
 Though our leisure hours may seem too few 
 to be worth improving, yet it is by saving pen- 
 nies that we accumulate wealth. Surprising as 
 it may seem, there are within the allotted age 
 of man, ten years of sabbaths when taken in 
 the aggregate ; ample time, one would suppose, 
 for perfecting, in a good degree at least, his 
 intellectual and moral culture. If mankind 
 were as orthodox in their actions as they pro- 
 fess to be in their creeds, the moral regeneration 
 of the world would soon be accomplished. One 
 of the most formidable barriers in the way of 
 human advancement is the faith we have de- 
 rived, not from revelation, but from the blind 
 interpretation of it. A true theology and a 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 99 
 
 sound philosophy can never come in conflict. 
 In this enlightened age, it is absurd to expect 
 that science will confine her inquiries within, 
 the circumference of a circle, or so modify her 
 annunciations of truth as to coincide with the 
 mystical traditions which have been handed 
 down to us from a remote antiquity. 
 
 As an encouragement to the friends of pop- 
 ular education, the fact should not be over- 
 looked, that the masses have been, to a great 
 extent, relieved from the necessity of constant 
 toil by the introduction of modern machinery. 
 In fact, genius has conquered time, and given 
 time to the masses. It has broken the fetters 
 that bound them, and thus afforded them leisure 
 for self-culture, social intercourse, and the inves- 
 tigation of truth. 
 
 It is the magic power of genius which has 
 given life and brain to machinery, and which 
 compels it to perform the hard work of the fac- 
 tory, of the workshop, of the farm, and of the 
 household. In almost every department of in- 
 dustry, machinery does the hard work. It 
 spins and weaves and knits. It saws and 
 planes and wields the hammer. It reaps and 
 mows and thrashes. It churns and washes and 
 plies the needle. In fact, it does nearly every 
 thing else for us, except to breathe, eat, and 
 digest our food. It was the inventive genius of 
 
100 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 our Northern people, the legitimate growth of 
 our common-school system, that produced, at 
 the moment when wanted, iron-clads, monster 
 cannon, and Greek fire ; and, in the sequel, 
 saved the Union, and overawed the powers of 
 Europe. It was these warlike inventions which 
 secured us the elements of a lasting peace, and 
 the respect of the civilized world. 
 
 It may be truly said that we now live longer 
 in ten years than our ancestors did in twenty, 
 and accomplish twenty times as much. Still it 
 is not possible for any one man to know and do 
 every thing. Men of genius are specialties, 
 seldom or never universalities. Hence a diver- 
 sity of talent naturally dictates a division of 
 labor. And yet American genius, if not uni- 
 versal, must be acknowledged eminently inven- 
 tive and practical. The Americans have made, 
 we may venture to assert, more valuable dis- 
 coveries in the last half century than all the 
 world besides. The reason why this is so may 
 be attributed to the operation of a physical law, 
 in connection with the effect of a liberal system 
 of popular education. The Americans are a 
 mixed race, made up of all nations, and have 
 been improved and elevated, as a race, by trans- 
 fusion of blood, which has resulted in producing 
 increased activity of brain, with new modes of 
 thought, and new exhibitions of intellectual 
 power. 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 101 
 
 But notwithstanding this peculiarity of char- 
 acter, there still remains, as it seems to me, one 
 great and glaring error in the prevailing system 
 of American education. This error consists in 
 our neglecting to develop more fully the physi- 
 cal man, through the instrumentalities of sys- 
 tematic labor combined with systematic study. 
 In many of the German States, if not in all, 
 the plan of educating youth is much more 
 sensible and philosophical than in this country. 
 There they combine daily labor with daily 
 study ; and the result is, that the youth of Ger- 
 many acquire vigor of body and vigor of mind 
 at the same time. From youth to manhood 
 they are taught to regard labor as honorable, 
 and they feel that it is so. Hence the Germans 
 are characterized, as a race, by the possession 
 of an iron constitution, and by a mental energy 
 which enables them to meet the stern realities 
 of life, not only with fortitude, but with a spirit 
 that never yields to adversity. No country has 
 ever produced a more athletic or a more endur- 
 ing race than Germany ; nor has any country 
 produced finer scholars in every branch of hu- 
 man learning, especially in philosophy and in 
 classical literature. 
 
 But in this country it may be difficult, per- 
 haps impracticable, to establish an educational 
 system of this character, to any considerable 
 
102 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 extent, for the reason that we are, for the most 
 part, an agricultural people, who do not concen- 
 trate in hamlets, like the peasantry of Europe ; 
 but prefer to occupy many acres, and to dis- 
 tribute ourselves over a vast expanse of terri- 
 tory ; and what is more, have a way of our own 
 in all we do. The truth is, Young America does 
 not like work. He prefers fine clothes and fast 
 horses, and apes the man before he is a man. 
 And yet he assumes to know every thing, and 
 to do every thing except work. These pecu- 
 liarities in the character of Young America seem 
 to have been generated by the spirit of our free 
 institutions. Whether too much freedom, or 
 too little freedom, is the greater evil, presents a 
 grave question. Whatever may be the cause, 
 it is evident that we, as a people, are degenerat- 
 ing into a nation of speculators. 
 
 Almost every man, now-a-days, seeks to ac- 
 quire wealth by some grand speculation, by some 
 other means than by the honest " sweat of his 
 brow." Even mental acquisitions are often 
 sought as a means of speculation, as a means of 
 living without work ; and hence we see the 
 learned professions crowded to overflowing. Go 
 into the main streets of our cities and villages, 
 and you will see the fronts of nearly all the 
 buildings, on either side of the way, shingled 
 over with the signs of lawyers and doctors, who, 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 103 
 
 in the estimation of the populace, lead lives of 
 little work and great dignity. Doubtless a for- 
 eigner, with such an exhibition before his eyes, 
 would think us a nation of lawyers and doctors, 
 living on the misfortunes of each other; nor 
 would his conclusion be very wide of the mark. 
 
 Nor can it be doubted that there are thousands 
 in the clerical profession, who, if they do not 
 subsist on each other, subsist in a " mysterious 
 way " on salaries entirely inadequate to their 
 support. It would seem that the supply of pro- 
 fessional men in this country exceeds the de- 
 mand. For this there may be no remedy. Yet 
 a step in the right direction should be taken, as 
 it seems to me, by advancing the standard of 
 professional attainments so as to exclude medi- 
 ocrity and shallow pretence from registration 
 on the " roll of honor." Wide as the world is, 
 it has no room for idlers or pretenders. 
 
 This over-supply of professional men not 
 only indicates a false estimate of what really 
 constitutes a true manhood, but clearly proves 
 that in American education, and in American 
 public sentiment, there are prevalent errors 
 which are inconsistent with the welfare of man, 
 and the democratic character of our institutions. 
 These errors can be corrected only through the 
 influence of a well-directed course of popular 
 education. But nothing is more difficult than 
 
104 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 the correction of popular errors. It is a task 
 the reformer often attempts, but seldom accom- 
 plishes. In most cases it must be a work of 
 time, perhaps of ages. In every school there 
 should be a regular system of physical, as well 
 as mental exercises, established. Health and 
 strength of body are prerequisites to health and 
 strength of mind. 
 
 In most of our colleges and boarding-schools 
 the physical development of the pupil receives 
 but little attention, and, consequently, he is en- 
 feebled in body if not in mind, and is then 
 sent out into the world to endure its hardships 
 without the physical ability to take care of him- 
 self. All this is radically wrong, and calls 
 loudly for reform. An exclusive culture of the 
 mental powers can never produce a strong man 
 or woman. This fact is painfully illustrated in 
 all our large towns and cities. The kind of 
 education, therefore, which attempts to refine 
 our young men and young ladies, by giving 
 them an artificial nature too delicate to endure 
 soiled hands, will never do. The coarse as well 
 as the fine work of practical life must be done 
 by somebody. Though some may be too proud, 
 none are too good to work, however elevated 
 may be their social position. There is really 
 nothing in our daily routine of duty in the 
 coarse work of the world from which an en- 
 lightened mind should shrink. 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 105 
 
 It is lo be hoped the time soon will come 
 when all our public schools, colleges, and uni- 
 versities will have their workshops and gardens, 
 affording the necessary facilities for instructing 
 our youth, male and female, in some industrial 
 art or trade, as well as in books, and thus give 
 them a relish for labor, and the physical ability 
 to endure it. 
 
 If such a method were adopted, the women 
 of our country would soon become practically 
 fitted to compete with the men in many, if not 
 all the channels of a business-life. If it be true 
 that the women have been deprived of their 
 rights, it is certainly not the fault of the men, 
 but a fault of education, a radical error which 
 should be remedied. If parents will not apply 
 the remedy in the early education of their 
 daughters, then there is no relief. Let a course 
 of education make it as fashionable for a woman 
 to pursue some industrial art or trade, as it is to 
 be a lily that neither " toils nor spins," and you 
 would soon see American women not only capa- 
 ble of taking care of themselves, but more gen- 
 erally solicited than now to assume the endear- 
 ing cares of their appropriate sphere. 
 
 The true mission of woman is divine. To her 
 belongs the post of honor, that of a wife and 
 mother, a position which she prefers to occupy 
 when yielding to the impulses of her nature. 
 
106 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 In educating her, therefore, this great fact should 
 be kept in view. There is no knowledge she 
 needs more than a correct knowledge of human 
 character. This she can only acquire Toy coming 
 in contact with the world as it is, in childhood 
 as well as in womanhood ; in the public school, 
 as well as in the social circle. The old Puri- 
 tanic idea that the sexes must be schooled sep- 
 arately in order to secure them from exposure 
 to moral dangers, seems to me not only erro- 
 neous, but absurd. The public school, when 
 made up of both sexes, is, in fact, an epitome of 
 the world, where its good and its evil are seen, 
 and where the child should be taught to accept 
 the good and reject the evil, under the guidance 
 of correct moral principles. It is in a pure home- 
 influence, however, that a primary education 
 should begin. Indeed, mothers must take the 
 initiatory step in giving to youthful impulse the 
 right direction. 
 
 "Just as the twig is bent, the tree 's inclined." 
 
 But in order to appreciate the full import of 
 their duties and responsibilities, mothers them- 
 selves must first be properly educated. Where, 
 then, is this all-important work to be com- 
 menced ? Where can it be commenced, except 
 in our common schools ? It is in the common 
 schools only that the masses can be educated. 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 107 
 
 It is to the common schools only that \ve can 
 look for the proper education of the future 
 fathers and mothers of the land, and for the 
 correction of popular errors. It is to this class 
 of schools, more than to any other, that we 
 must look for our future patriots and scholars, 
 statesmen and philosophers, and last, not least, 
 for our future school-teachers. 
 
 The mission of a school-teacher is truly a 
 mission of divine import. It is the school-teacher 
 who moulds the youthful mind, and converts it 
 into a casket of gems. It is the school-teacher 
 who gives direction to budding thought, and 
 awakens in the soul of youth the slumbering 
 fires of genius. In short, it is the school-teacher 
 who lays the broad foundations of the Republic, 
 and hews the pillars that sustain our civil and 
 religious institutions. The school-teacher should, 
 therefore, possess the qualifications of a master- 
 builder, be able to plan his work, and execute 
 it with tact, taste, and judgment. He should 
 not only govern himself, but should be able to 
 govern his pupils without seeming to govern. 
 In a word, he should be a model character, and 
 regard his profession as one of honor ; and honor 
 his profession by elevating it to the dignity of a 
 learned profession. He should remember that 
 he is placed in a position which gives him a vast 
 influence, an influence broad as the ocean of 
 
108 2TATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 time an influence which should be pure in its 
 character, and as refreshing to the growth of 
 the inner-life as the dews of heaven to the un- 
 folding flowers. 
 
 There is no means, perhaps, more efficient in 
 promoting the success of a professional teacher 
 than the instruction to be derived from insti- 
 tutes, or normal schools, in which the art of 
 teaching is made a specialty. This class of 
 schools should be made a part of our school 
 system. At least every Congressional district, 
 if not every county, should have its normal 
 school. It is only in this way that our public 
 schools can be supplied with accomplished 
 teachers, and be made worthy of being called 
 the "people's colleges." 
 
 But the truth is, the masses are not as yet 
 more than half awake to their real interests. In 
 the cause of popular education the wonder is, 
 that educators have done so much, and legisla- 
 tors so little. The true educator is a philan- 
 thropist. He sees and feels that public senti- 
 ment needs to be enlightened and liberalized, 
 before it will yield its sanction to such a system 
 of public schools as ought to be established. 
 
 In perfecting our present system, we need a 
 National Bureau of Education, to act as a cen- 
 tral power in representing, if not in controlling, 
 the general educational interests of the entire 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 109 
 
 country. A department of this kind, it is be- 
 lieved, would give efficiency and equality to all 
 public schools, and thus greatly elevate their 
 general character. And with this view Con- 
 gress should be required by the Constitution, not 
 only to establish, but support in each of the 
 States at least one national college ; and these 
 colleges should constitute a national univer- 
 sity, in which the crowning studies should 
 be natural science, military science, and the 
 science of government. 
 
 It is doubtless true that educators have al- 
 ready become a power in the land. Of this fact 
 they seem to be aware, and the danger is that 
 their influence may be subordinated to the uses 
 of political aspirants. Every educator has a 
 right, of course, to express his own individual 
 opinions ; but he certainly has not the right to 
 employ educational instrumentalities to promote 
 the interests of a selfish partisanship, either in 
 State or Church. Whenever it is attempted 
 to sow " tares " of this kind among the wheat, 
 it is to be hoped that an indignant public senti- 
 ment will eradicate them with an unsparing 
 hand. 
 
 It is always pleasant to recall our early school- 
 days, with their many delightful and refreshing 
 memories, which still linger about the old 
 schoolhouse where we received our elemen- 
 
110 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 tary education the dear old schoolhouse by the 
 wayside, with its noisy group, its sunny spots, 
 and its hours of fun and frolic, and especially 
 its birchen sceptre, which so often taught us 
 the " doctrine of passive obedience." It is un- 
 questionably true that every schoolhouse, to 
 some extent at least, reflects its character in the 
 character of its pupils. Hence we should not 
 only look to the character of our schools, but 
 should build our schoolhouses in a neat, if not 
 imposing style ; for they, though silent, are elo- 
 quent teachers, whose influence should create 
 such impressions as will tend to refine the tastes 
 and elevate the aspirations of the youthful 
 mind. 
 
 But no system of education which is con- 
 tracted, or revolves in a circle, can fully meet 
 the exigencies of the mind, or satisfy the de- 
 mands of the age. In most American colleges, 
 as well as in the universities of Europe, a defi- 
 nite course of study is prescribed, and made a 
 fixed fact a kind of Procrustean bed which 
 every lad is either stretched or abridged to fit ; 
 and this is done, as scholastics tell us, for the pur- 
 pose of disciplining the mind. No two persons 
 were ever created to think, act, or look alike, in 
 in every respect ; nor can an educational system 
 be prescribed by square and compass which 
 will be alike adapted to all minds. In iny hum- 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. Ill 
 
 ble judgment, those studies best discipline the 
 mind which tend most to enlarge and liberalize 
 it, and which are essentially concordant with 
 its native powers and capacities. The course of 
 education, therefore, which will best develop 
 the peculiar genius, talent, or marked prefer- 
 ence of the pupil, should be adopted, so far 
 as practicable. If a young man, for instance, 
 exhibits a native talent or taste for music, 
 painting, mechanics, law, medicine, theology, 
 agriculture, or commerce, his education should 
 take the direction indicated. If this plan were 
 p.ursued in all our colleges and other schools of a 
 high order, we should soon see instead of 
 here and there a star a galaxy of brilliant 
 men and women in the sky of our national 
 renown, whose excellence in their several spe- 
 cialties would challenge the admiration of man- 
 kind. 
 
 The truth is, our modern colleges are not 
 modern enough. They look to the ancients for 
 wisdom, instead of seeking it from Nature and 
 the revelations of modern science. In a word, 
 the dead languages are studied too much ; the 
 living, too little. Next to mathematics, the 
 natural sciences should take the preference. No 
 man is thoroughly educated, who is not thor- 
 oughly instructed in these sciences, especially in 
 chemistry and geology. Every farmer should 
 
112 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 be familiar with agricultural chemistry, and be 
 able to apply its principles. It is the utility, 
 the practical good to be derived from an educa- 
 tion, that gives to it value and solidity. 
 
 It is practical, not fanciful knowledge, which 
 the masses need. In order to secure their eleva- 
 tion and social equality, every State in the 
 Union should be required to maintain an effi- 
 cient system of common schools, accessible to all 
 classes of youth, and made " good enough for 
 the richest, and cheap enough for the poorest." 
 In order to effect this, the system should recog- 
 nize the theory as an equitable principle, that 
 the property of the State is bound to educate 
 the youth of the State. This principle is cer- 
 tainly a just one, since the man of property, 
 though he have no children, is as much bene- 
 fited by its application as the man who has 
 children, but no property ; for the reason, that 
 the security of property, as well as the rights of 
 persons, and the stability of the Republic, must 
 ever depend on the degree of intelligence pos- 
 sessed by the people. 
 
 In fact, each State should be regarded as one 
 great school-district, and all its resident youth 
 as the children of the State, for whose common 
 education every citizen, having taxable prop- 
 erty, is bound to contribute his proportionate 
 share. In this way every child can be edu- 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 113 
 
 cated, and elevated to the social position of a 
 true manhood ; and it is only in this way that 
 a work of such magnitude can be accomplished. 
 In every point of view, it is much wiser to edu- 
 cate than to punish, much wiser to build 
 schoolhouses than prisons, much wiser to sus- 
 tain school libraries than billiard-tables. 
 
 It is a matter of congratulation, however, 
 that there is now much more confidence placed 
 in the theory of common schools than in former 
 years. In most of the States prejudice has 
 yielded to enlightened sentiment, and the 
 "people's colleges" have come to be regarded 
 as the most useful and influential institutions in 
 the land. All should be done that can be, to 
 render these schools pleasant and attractive. 
 The schoolhouse should be built not only in 
 good taste, but its surroundings should be made 
 as cheerful and inviting as possible by planting 
 about it ornamental trees, shrubs, and flowers. 
 Its interior walls should be enriched with ap- 
 propriate maps and charts, historical paintings, 
 and portraits of renowned men and women. In 
 addition to this, every school should be supplied 
 with an ample apparatus, embracing specimen 
 weights and measures, mathematical figures in 
 wood, together with globes and a planetarium, 
 not omitting a cabinet of the leading minerals, 
 metals, and coins. Their uses and character- 
 
 8 
 
114 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 istics should be explained and illustrated by 
 the teacher in a simple style of language, and in 
 the presence of the entire school, at least once 
 or twice a week. 
 
 Familiar exercises of this kind would deeply 
 interest the pupils, and impart to their minds a 
 degree of valuable knowledge which they would 
 not be likely to obtain in any other way, and 
 which might awaken, perhaps, some unconscious 
 genius, who would, in after life, so develop his 
 powers as to advance the interests of science, 
 and take his place among her proudest masters. 
 In nearly every instance our truly great men 
 have arisen from an obscure origin. 
 
 The time has already arrived, I am inclined 
 to think, when there should be added to the 
 usual course of studies pursued in our colleges, 
 academies, and high schools, a systematic train- 
 ing in military science and discipline, as a 
 means not only of physical culture, but as an 
 easy method of fitting our young men to be- 
 come practical soldiers and defenders of the 
 Republic. We, as a people, in consequence of 
 the late civil war in which we have been in- 
 volved, are evidently undergoing a transition, 
 which has already had the effect to change, in 
 a good degree, our national traits of character. 
 If we would have invincible men, we must, 
 like the ancient Greeks, accustom our sons to 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 115 
 
 hardships and manly exercises, give them 
 muscle as well as mind, teach them to love 
 and defend their country, and, if need be, to 
 die for it, die on the battle-field 
 
 " Where gory sabres rise and fall, 
 Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall ! " 
 
 The attempt which we are making in our 
 public schools to educate our children in the 
 shortest possible time, is a grave error. We 
 ought rather to make "haste slowly," if we 
 would do the work well. A work of this char- 
 acter is one which requires patience and perse- 
 verance. There is no short way to knowledge, 
 no patent right that can produce it to order. 
 It can only be obtained by study, persevering 
 study. It is all-important, therefore, that we 
 should furnish our children with such elemen- 
 tary books as are best adapted to their capaci- 
 ties and needs, and with such teachers as are 
 qualified to teach them lessons contained, not 
 only inside of books, but outside of books, 
 lessons which abound everywhere, both in the 
 natural and in the moral world. We should 
 also furnish them with school libraries composed 
 of standard works, and including the best cur- 
 rent literature of the day. A library of this 
 character should be established in every school- 
 district, and be made accessible to every citizen. 
 
116 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 In this way, and only in this way, can the 
 masses be supplied with the mental food which 
 they so much need, and which is indispensable 
 to their moral and intellectual elevation. No 
 matter what the cost, public libraries always 
 pay a liberal dividend in the shape of mental 
 and moral power, if not in dollars and cents. 
 No matter what dangers may threaten our free 
 institutions, depend upon it, a reading people 
 will take care of themselves. 
 
 The ancients built temples to their gods. We 
 build schoolhouses for our children. This one 
 fact exhibits, perhaps, more clearly than any 
 other, the distinctive character which marks the 
 career of ancient and modern civilization, and 
 indicates the great change which has been 
 wrought in the progress of ages by the law of 
 progress. In the Northern States we may justly 
 regard our numerous schoolhouses and churches 
 as the mirrors, not only of moral character, but 
 as the safeguards of the Republic. If the South- 
 ern jStates had adopted a regular system of 
 common schools contemporaneously with the 
 Northern States, the doctrine of secession would 
 never have disturbed the peace and harmony of 
 the Union. 
 
 In the pursuit of knowledge, it is quite ab- 
 surd to suppose that all high attainment in art, 
 hi literature, and in science, must, of necessity, 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 117 
 
 be confined to the " learned professions," as 
 they are called by way of pre-eminence. It 
 does not matter what a man professes to know, 
 but the question is, what does he know, com- 
 pared with what he might know ? There should 
 never be such a monopoly allowed to exist, as a 
 monopoly of knowledge. The learned profes- 
 sions have nothing in them sacred, no forbid- 
 den fruit, nothing more than what everybody 
 may know who chooses. Nor can there be any 
 good reason why every employment in the various 
 departments of human industry every trade, 
 every mechanic art should not be regarded as 
 a learned profession, and be made a learned pro- 
 fession, in which brains as well as hands should 
 co-operate in achieving success, and in solving 
 new problems. 
 
 There is food for thought in every human 
 pursuit. In order to be successful, in order 'to 
 achieve high aims, the laboring man must not 
 only think, but be capable of thinking profoundly. 
 Indeed, every man may live like a philosopher, 
 and be a philosopher, if he will. But no man 
 can be a true philosopher who is not both a 
 practical worker and a practical thinker. There 
 is nothing the world needs more than workers 
 and thinkers to make it a paradise. The masses 
 are workers, and, if educated, would become 
 thinkers. It is only once or twice in a century, 
 
118 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 it is said, that " God lets loose upon the earth a 
 great thinker." Of the past, this may be true ; 
 but not of the present. We have scores of men 
 now living who are greater thinkers than Plato, 
 Newton, or Franklin, because modern science 
 has introduced them into broader Jftelds of 
 thought. The chemists, geologists, inventors, 
 and discoverers of the present day have never 
 been excelled as profound thinkers. Ours is 
 literally an age of philosophers. 
 
 Truth, though eternal, is never stationary; 
 nor will the law of progress ever reach a stand- 
 point. There is always something to be done ; 
 some vacuum to be filled. It is said by philoso- 
 phers that Nature abhors a vacuum. I do not 
 doubt it, especially if it be a vacuum in the 
 human head. It is pretty certain that the youth- 
 ful head, if not filled with sense at the proper 
 time, will soon be filled with nonsense. Neither 
 errors of the head, nor errors of the heart, can 
 be easily eradicated, when once implanted. 
 The moral nature of the child may be moulded 
 at will ; but the cherished opinions of age can 
 seldom, if ever, be either reversed or essentially 
 modified. In the great battle of life our success 
 as individuals must depend on the kind of 
 armor in which we are clad, and the kind of 
 weapons with which we are supplied. For effect- 
 ive service there is nothing which can be 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 119 
 
 brought into the field so formidable or so 
 irresistible as the artillery of logic. Intellect 
 is always sure of becoming the ultimate victor. 
 We read of giants in the chronicles of the early 
 ages, physical giants, who could overthrow the 
 pillars of the proudest temples, and bear off 
 mountains upon their shoulders ; yet, of what 
 value to the world were their marvellous ex- 
 ploits, if really true, compared with the achieve- 
 ments of those intellectual giants who have 
 appeared at different epochs, and taught man- 
 kind the most useful lessons in the arts, in 
 the sciences, and in philosophy ? And here let 
 me say to the young aspirant for worldly hon- 
 ors, that if he would achieve high aims, he must 
 not only aim high, but have faith in himself as 
 well as in a divine Providence. Indeed, every 
 man, however humble, may become great in his 
 vocation, if he will. Yet no man can become 
 truly great who is not truly good. 
 
 So far as human perfection can be defined, it 
 consists in the purity and sublimity of moral 
 action, a perfection which may be approached, 
 if not reached, by all who are so disposed. How 
 truly has it been said that we are never too old 
 or too wise to learn. Nor is any man so igno- 
 rant but he may teach a philosopher some- 
 thing. 
 
 No matter how conservative we may be in 
 
120 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 our creeds and opinions, the world will continue 
 to move onward ; nor can it stand still if it would. 
 The time is at hand when errors in creed, as 
 well as in education, to which we cling, will not 
 only be exposed, but exploded. However hope- 
 less the condition of the masses may seem, they 
 are already demanding more light, and only 
 await an opportunity to proclaim their emanci- 
 pation from mental thraldom. 
 
 The statistics relating to the numbers of man- 
 kind, and to the frail tenure of human life, 
 convey lessons which ought not to be disre- 
 garded in the estimate we make of what man 
 can do to elevate himself. Strange as it may 
 seem, it is a fact pretty well ascertained, that 
 the entire population of the globe neither in- 
 creases nor diminishes, but remains essentially 
 the same, about one thousand millions. And 
 yet the population of the earth is continually 
 undergoing changes from the operation of 
 local causes, increasing here, and diminishing 
 there, as the ages advance. The law involved 
 seems based on the principle of a just compen- 
 sation for all diminution. In other words, the 
 earth has a limited capacity ; and, like a cup 
 when filled, can hold no more, yet always re- 
 mains full. 
 
 When we consider the fact that one-fourth of 
 mankind die before reaching seven years of 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 121 
 
 age ; one-half before reaching seventeen years ; 
 and that sixty persons die every minute, we are 
 struck with astonishment, and are naturally led 
 to inquire into the reasons. The causes which 
 abridge life may, for the most part, be attributed 
 to popular ignorance, or disregard of physical 
 law, either in ancestor, parent, or child. 
 Nothing can be truer than the fact that the 
 " sins of the fathers are visited upon their 
 children unto the third and fourth generation," 
 and even to indefinite generations. It is indeed 
 a fearful inheritance, when life comes to us 
 tainted with constitutional disease. For this 
 there seems to be no remedy, except in the 
 adoption of such a popular system of education 
 as will diffuse a practical knowledge of the laws 
 of health. 
 
 It may be safely asserted that most people, 
 especially in America, where food is abundant 
 and the style of living luxurious, " dig their own 
 graves with their teeth." Americans, as we all 
 know, are disposed to live fast ; and, of course, 
 die prematurely. In short, we are a sanguine, 
 impatient people ; have morbid appetites ; crave 
 rich viands ; seek wealth and office ; and care for 
 little else. In our successes we commit excesses. 
 In the pure elixir of life we infuse drops of 
 poison. Yet Nature proffers us the gift of long 
 life, and waits our acceptance with a patient 
 
122 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 spirit. Though extreme longevity may not be 
 desirable, yet many more than now do, might 
 attain to the dignity of centenarians, if they 
 would but live in obedience to physical law. 
 
 In the elements of his physical nature, man is 
 truly " of the earth earthy." Chemists say 
 that a man of ordinary size is composed of forty 
 pounds solid matter and five buckets of water, 
 all of which may be converted into gas. If 
 this be so, it sufficiently accounts for the lead- 
 ing characteristic of some of our modern politi- 
 cians. However this may be, man is a delicate 
 piece of mechanism, a combination of divine 
 inventions. For example, his eye is a telescope, 
 which penetrates the mysteries of the stars ; 
 his ear is a drum, which repeats every sound in 
 nature ; his heart a timepiece, which marks, with 
 measured beat, the fleeting moments of his life ; 
 his vocal organs a harp with a thousand strings, 
 which is capable of uttering the divinest music. 
 
 And yet man, in his moral nature, though 
 created but " a little lower than the angels," is 
 a profound puzzle. He advances many theories, 
 questions even divine truth, yet believes in 
 absurdities. Nor need we marvel at this, per- 
 haps, when we recall the fact that mankind 
 speak more than three thousand different lan- 
 guages, and profess more than one thousand dif- 
 ferent religions. 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 123 
 
 Whether regarded as a common brotherhood, 
 or as composed of distinct races, it is evident 
 that the human family have made rapid advance- 
 ment in the amelioration of their condition, 
 during the last century, through the instrumen- 
 talities of a world-wide commercial intercourse, 
 and the consequent diffusion of nobler incen- 
 tives to action. Yet of the one thousand mil- 
 lions that compose the great family of man, 
 more than six hundred millions are still groping 
 their way in the darkness of a moral midnight, 
 awaiting the advent of the schoolmaster and the 
 promulgation of a purer and holier faith. Even 
 in Christian countries, especially in the South 
 American States, and in many parts of Europe, 
 the masses are almost universally illiterate and 
 superstitious, and have so long been accustomed 
 to oppression that they have become quite indif- 
 ferent, if not insensible, to their natural rights ; 
 nor dare they, if they would, assert their man- 
 hood. 
 
 In Italy, the land of art and of beauty, the 
 proportion of those who can read is from twenty 
 to thirty in a hundred, while among the inhabit- 
 ants of districts within a circle of thirty miles 
 around Rome, there is not one in a hundred 
 who can read. Not only in these countries, but 
 in more than half the globe, the masses submit 
 to oppression, because it is the policy of their 
 
124 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 oppressors to hold them, spell bound, in ignor- 
 ance. If they are ever elevated to the social 
 and political rank which the God of nature 
 designed them to occupy, it must be done by 
 the schoolmaster, armed with his text-books, and 
 sustained by the efforts of an enlightened Chris- 
 tian philanthropy. For this ultimate object 
 God works, and man should work. 
 
 There can be no doubt but natural scenery, as 
 well as climate, exercises a decided influence in 
 the formation of national character. Whether 
 we advert to Palestine, Switzerland, or New 
 England, it is easy to discover that the moun- 
 tains of these countries have, by their silent 
 eloquence, inspired the masses of the people, not 
 only with reverence, but with a love of free- 
 dom. In. the sublimity of the cloud-capped 
 mountains, they seem to recognize a divine 
 presence which has taught them to look sky- 
 ward, and to feel that they are destined to 
 ascend in the scale of existence ; while in low 
 and level countries, especially on the plains of 
 Russia and Asia, the inhabitants take horizontal 
 views of things, and consequently submit to 
 oppression, and never dare, like mountain-bred 
 men, to break their fetters or question the de- 
 crees of fate. 
 
 The ancient inhabitants of Palestine, as every- 
 body knows, were not only brave in warfare, 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 125 
 
 but were distinguished above all other nations 
 as a reverential and God-fearing people. Their 
 form of government was essentially theocratic. 
 In the earthquake they recognized the footsteps 
 of God ; in the solemn thunder they heard his 
 voice ; in the lightning's flash they saw an ex- 
 pression of his anger; in the rainbow they 
 beheld a token of his promise ; in a word, they 
 were a peculiar people, who have, in the record 
 of their experiences, transmitted to mankind a 
 sacred inheritance. 
 
 Switzerland is emphaticalty a land of moun- 
 tains and of heroes. Almost every hill and 
 vale within her borders has its consecrated 
 spots and its sanctified memories. In the 
 recesses of her mountains the love of freedom 
 ever burns with a pure and a holy flame, because 
 it is a love which was born of the mountains. 
 
 In New England it is equally apparent that 
 the silent grandeur of her mountains contributes 
 to inspire her inhabitants with lofty sentiments, 
 and with a love of civil and religious liberty, a 
 love which can never be subjected to the reign 
 of oppression, nor be misdirected in its action, 
 except by its own enthusiasm. 
 
 It often happens that the inhabitants who 
 occupy distinct portions of a common country 
 differ as widely in their sentiments as in their 
 manners and customs. Especially is this true 
 
126 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 of the United States, where it is easy to distin- 
 guish the Eastern, Western, and Southern peo- 
 ple from each other. It maybe natural causes, 
 or it may be local interests, that have created 
 these differences, and marked the people of 
 each region with the peculiar traits of character 
 which give them character. 
 
 The New Englanders are generally character- 
 ized as sedate, formal, and puritanical ; guessing 
 at every thing, yet pretty shrewd at guessing. 
 They possess genius, are prolific in inventions, 
 and scrupulous in matters of faith. In discuss- 
 ing theological questions, they split hairs ; in 
 making a bargain, they conclude to split the 
 difference. In all things they are quick to see 
 advantages, and apt to take advantages. In 
 whatever they undertake, they look ahead and 
 go ahead. In every sixpence which falls within 
 their grasp, they recognize an element of power 
 which " leads on to fortune ; " and when they 
 have acquired a fortune, they are pretty sure to 
 keep it. And, as Halleck, the poet, says, 
 
 " They love their land because it is their own, 
 And scorn to give aught other reason why; 
 Would shake hands with a king upon his throne, 
 
 And think it kindness to his majesty; 
 A stubborn race, fearing and flattering none. 
 
 Such are they nurtured, such they live and die; 
 All, but a few apostates, who are meddling 
 With merchandise, pounds, shillings, pence, and ped- 
 dling!" 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 127 
 
 In the Western States, where Nature educates 
 men on a liberal scale, by giving them broad 
 rivers, broad lakes, and broad prairies, we find 
 a people characterized by broad and liberal 
 views of things, large-heartedness, frank man- 
 ners, generous sympathies ; a philanthropy 
 which regards all mankind as a brotherhood, 
 and a public sentiment which rebukes intoler- 
 ance. In truth, Western men despise "little 
 things " and devise " liberal things," and would 
 sooner sacrifice their lives than yield obedience 
 to the mandates of either political or ecclesiasti- 
 cal oppression. 
 
 In the Southern States Nature has not, as yet, 
 effected much in the exercise of her educational 
 influences. In whatever she has attempted in 
 this direction she seems to have been overruled 
 by circumstances : by the difference in races, and 
 by the prejudices of caste. Though the South 
 has produced a few intellectual men of a high 
 order, she has contributed, comparatively, but 
 little either to science or to standard literature. 
 Yet it must be conceded that the South has 
 always been justly distinguished for her hospi- 
 tality ; and it is to be hoped that she will yet 
 become as distinguished for her loyalty and for 
 the triumphs of a true civilization, as for her 
 rash attempt to dissever the Union. 
 
 Whatever human institutions may achieve, it 
 
128 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 is certain that Nature, in the manifest wisdom 
 of her works, contributes largely to the educa- 
 tion of all classes of men in all countries. In 
 her great school, even the uncivilized man not 
 unfrequently becomes a profound philosopher. 
 The coinage of her mint has the true ring in it, 
 and passes current everywhere. Her light is 
 the light of the world, yet the masses are too 
 blind, or rather too ignorant, to see it. With- 
 out intending the least disrespect to the one 
 thousand different theologies which distract 
 mankind, it may be asserted that the Book of 
 Nature is, in itself, a divine revelation, which 
 has been divided by her own hand into chapter 
 and verse, and may be read in the alphabet of 
 the flowers, in the rocks of the hills, and in the 
 stars. In its language it is not only beautiful, 
 but every word is suggestive ; in its doctrines 
 it is pure and truthful ; in its wide range of 
 thought it treats principally of life, and of the 
 conditions of life, and assures us that the silent 
 process of creation of eternal change still 
 goes on, now as ever; and that every particle 
 of matter in the universe is constantly active, 
 achieving something. 
 
 In a philosophical sense, there is nothing dead 
 that does not live. Matter combines, dissolves, 
 and re-combines. New forms of life, and new 
 conditions of life, appear and disappear. The 
 
EDUCATION AND ITS ERRORS. 129 
 
 very dust under our feet has lived and breathed, 
 and will live again. Nature waits to be gra- 
 cious, and is ever ready to reveal her mysteries 
 as fast as man can comprehend them. And 
 though she speaks with a silent lip, she invites 
 all to share her bounties. Her wealth is infinite. 
 
 In every star, in every flower, in every blade 
 of grass, in every grain of sand, in every thing 
 visible and invisible, there is life, light, and 
 beauty. In every thing there is power. We 
 cannot look at a grain of sand, insignificant as 
 it may seem, without seeing in its composition 
 the material which enables us to read the golden 
 record of the heavens. In the falling raindrop, 
 when converted into steam, we recognize the 
 existence of a power which has revolutionized 
 the world. In the kiss of the sunbeam we dis- 
 cover a magical influence which tints the flower, 
 gives color to every thing in Nature, and by its 
 impress presents us with an exact and lifelike 
 transcript of ourselves and of our friends. In 
 the lightning's flash we have a language in 
 which we can converse with our friends, three 
 thousand miles away, at any moment we please. 
 
 When we consider what has been achieved in 
 the way of scientific discovery during the last 
 half century, who can tell what may not be 
 achieved in the next century, in the next ten 
 centuries, when the great mysteries of Nature 
 
130 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 shall be more fully revealed, and when new 
 sciences, now unknown, shall disclose new prin- 
 ciples, new forces, and still subtler agencies ? 
 
 In her desire to perfect the manhood of man, 
 Nature invokes interpreters unborn interpre- 
 ters who, though far away in the distance, 
 will yet come, and, when they do come, will 
 interpret in accordance with truth the mystical 
 language in which her undiscovered secrets are 
 written, and thus extend the empire of thought 
 until it becomes infinite, an empire in which 
 the human soul, still rising in the scale of intel- 
 ligence, will acquire divine powers, and finally 
 be transformed into a permanent crystallization 
 of the good, the true, and the beautiful. 
 
AIEEICA AND HER FUTURE. 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 
 
 THERE is something in the very name of 
 America, when applied to the United States, 
 which carries with it an inspiring influence, an 
 ideal of freedom and of true manhood. In 
 referring to the incidents of her origin, in con- 
 nection with the events of her subsequent 
 career, it would seem that America is none other 
 than a " child of destiny." 
 
 She was born amid the storms of a revolu- 
 tion, and commenced, at birth, to work out the 
 great problems of civil and religious liberty. 
 She has an abiding faith in herself, and believes 
 it to be her mission to originate new views and 
 discover new principles, as well as try new 
 experiments in the science of popular govern- 
 ment. The greatest peculiarity in her character 
 is, that her past cannot be safely accepted as an 
 index of her future ; in other words, her past is 
 not likely to be repeated. In fact, she does not 
 wish to repeat or perpetuate any thing that can 
 be improved. Her political creed is as simple 
 as it is brief, the " greatest good to the great- 
 est number ; " and yet it is the most complex 
 
134 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 creed, perhaps, that ever existed, involving 
 questions which have not been and cannot be 
 satisfactorily settled. 
 
 America knows what she has been, but does 
 not know what she will be. It is doubtful if 
 she knows what she would be. She has several 
 favorite watchwords, such as progress, freedom, 
 and equal rights, and but few, if any, settled 
 opinions. Her present position is her stand- 
 point of judgment. In attempting to achieve 
 what she most desires, she relies on experiment 
 rather than precedent. In her forecast consist 
 her welfare and her political sagacity ; yet she 
 can no more predict than control her future. 
 None but a divine intelligence can comprehend 
 the extent or grandeur of her future. 
 
 One thing is certain, the rapidity of her 
 career approaches railway speed. What imped- 
 iments may lie in her track, or what collisions 
 may occur, it is impossible for man to foresee. 
 It would seem, however, that she is an instru- 
 mentality in divine hands ; a nationality, whose 
 task it is to work out the great problem of a 
 just government, one in which all political 
 power is vested in the people, and exercised by 
 the people for the common purpose of securing 
 the greatest possible good to the greatest 
 possible number. The right to live under such 
 a government is a natural right, and should 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 135 
 
 be accorded to every human being, the world 
 over. 
 
 In all human governments there are, and 
 probably ever will be, more or less imperfections 
 growing out of mistaken theories, or arising from 
 their practical workings. Though it may not be 
 possible by legislation or otherwise to remedy 
 every imperfection, yet there can be no political 
 inequality which may not be so far modified as 
 to extend to every citizen equal rights and equal 
 justice. There is a natural love of freedom and 
 of justice implanted within the human breast, 
 which lies at the foundation, not only of the 
 political, but of the social fabric. This love of 
 freedom and of justice is an instinctive feeling, 
 if not an inspired sentiment, which ennobles the 
 patriot, and converts him into a hero. When 
 oppressed, the true hero smites his oppressor. 
 This is a law of his nature an attempt to re- 
 dress a wrong and therefore an element of 
 human government. When a civil government 
 has been instituted, positive law becomes the rule 
 of right. But when nations differ, and diplo- 
 macy fails in its mission, there remains no 
 recognized alternative for adjustment but a 
 reference to the arbitrament of the sword. This 
 final method of redressing national wrongs has 
 descended to modern times from the primitive 
 ages of barbarism, and, when adopted, as often 
 
136 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 terminates in perpetuating the wrong as in re- 
 dressing it. It is, to say the least of it, a method 
 which is entirely inconsistent with the refined 
 civilization of the present age. 
 
 There seems to be no good reason why an 
 international code of laws might not be adopted 
 by all civilized nations for their common govern- 
 ment in redressing their grievances. If such a 
 code could be framed and accepted, it would not 
 only secure the just rights of nations from in- 
 fraction as against each other, but would unite 
 them in their mutual interests and sympathies 
 by the indissoluble ties of a common fraternity. 
 Then all differences and dissensions could be 
 settled, as they should be, by negotiation or 
 voluntary submission to arbitration ; and then 
 wars would cease and rivers of blood no longer 
 flow. 
 
 Nations, in their relations to each other, are 
 but individuals, and should, as such, be sub- 
 jected to wholesome restraints by some recog- 
 nized authority. The proper authority would 
 seem to be a representative Congress of Nations. 
 This view of the matter is an American idea, 
 and one which has been suggested by American 
 experience. The assumption that every nation 
 is an independent sovereignty, if not absurd in 
 theory, is by no means true in fact. No civilized 
 nation can live within itself and for itself ; but 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 137 
 
 must and will, in order to supply its wants, 
 hold commercial intercourse with other nations. 
 The productions of the earth belong to man, 
 and are essential, whether of this or that clime, 
 to his health and happiness, and will, therefore, 
 be sought and distributed. Even the social 
 relations of one nation with another are hardly 
 less conducive to the general welfare than their 
 commercial relations, especially since steam- 
 power and the telegraph-wire have compara- 
 tively made all men next door neighbors. 
 
 In these modern times no government which 
 is not just in its administration can long survive 
 without provoking a revolution. It is only as 
 a last resort that revolution becomes an ele- 
 mentary right, and then it must succeed in order 
 to be recognized as a right. Nations succeed 
 each other as naturally as individuals, sooner or 
 later. The interest of all, whether national or 
 individual, is the interest of each. Hence, man- 
 kind the world over, should be regarded as a 
 common brotherhood, entitled to the enjoyment 
 of equal rights and equal justice as the legiti- 
 mate sequence of their fraternal relationship. 
 And yet, neither in ancient nor in modern times 
 do we find a perfect government. It is true, 
 however, that we sometimes speak of our own 
 American Republic as a perfect system of 
 popular government ; yet it is nothing more, in 
 
138 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 fact, than an unsatisfactory experiment. It is 
 a system which grew out of circumstances, and 
 one which changes with circumstances. 
 
 It was near the close of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury when America began to lose her affec- 
 tionate regard for her mother England. This 
 change in her affections grew out of the fact 
 that the mother evinced a sincerer love for 
 money than for the welfare of her daughter. 
 Remonstrance, though calmly uttered, proved 
 unavailing. It was then that America, for the 
 first time, gave indications of possessing a proud 
 Puritanic spirit that would not brook oppression. 
 The imposition of the stamp-act had incurred 
 her displeasure ; nor did an invitation to " take 
 tea " restore her to equanimity. Instead of 
 condescending to take so much as a "sip "of 
 that favorite beverage, she had the audacity to 
 commit whole cargoes of it to the voracity of 
 the " ocean wave." This offence provoked 
 England to take an avowed hostile attitude. 
 America, still unawed, proceeded to beat her 
 ploughshares and pruning-hooks into broad- 
 swords. War, with all its horrors, ensued. 
 The result was, that, after a seven years' con- 
 test, liberty triumphed, and American indepen-* 
 dence became an acknowledged fact. 
 
 America had statesmen in those days who 
 were men of pluck. When they signed the 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 139 
 
 Declaration of American Independence, and 
 proclaimed it to the civilized world, they took 
 their lives in their hands, and, so far as human 
 foresight could determine, were as likely to 
 reach the gallows as to maintain the position 
 they had assumed. But fortune " favored the 
 brave," and, instead of ascending the gallows, 
 they ascended the pinnacle of fame, and now 
 take rank among 
 
 ' ' The few, the immortal names 
 That were not born to die." 
 
 It will be recollected that our Pilgrim Fathers, 
 on landing at Plymouth Rock, entered into a 
 written compact which contained the germs of 
 a republic, principles which were expanded in 
 the subsequent articles of colonial confedera- 
 tion, and finally were so developed and enlarged 
 in their sweep and comprehension as to constitute 
 not only the framework, but the life and spirit, 
 of the Federal Constitution, which has been 
 accepted as the written will of a free and magnan- 
 imous people. In a republic like ours, the 
 popular will, when clearly expressed, commands 
 respect, and must be obeyed. There is no alter- 
 native, nor should there be. As Americans, we 
 believe in the Constitution, and in the " stars and 
 stripes," and would die, if need be, in their 
 defence. We also believe in ourselves, and in 
 
140 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 our capacity to take care of ourselves. This 
 great fact is sufficiently illustrated in our past 
 history as a nation. 
 
 When her population was but a small fraction 
 of what it now is, America not only compelled 
 England to acknowledge her independence, but 
 also compelled her, in a subsequent war, to 
 acknowledge the doctrine of " free trade and 
 sailors' rights." 
 
 Ever intent on enlarging the " area of free- 
 dom," America next sent out her armies and 
 took possession of the ancient palaces of the 
 Montezumas, and finally settled differences by 
 accepting the " golden land " of California, nor 
 thought it, at the time, much of a bargain. 
 And last, not least, she suppressed within her 
 own borders, despite the adverse influences of 
 England, one of the most formidable rebellions 
 the world ever beheld, and succeeded in restor- 
 ing fraternal harmony throughout the Union. 
 
 In the history of the world there have been 
 many forms of human government, which have 
 arisen at successive periods, and which may be 
 classed as the patriarchal, the monarchical, the 
 aristocratic, and the democratic. The last was 
 originally a direct rule of the people ; but, from 
 necessity and convenience, has now become a 
 representative government, chosen by the peo- 
 ple, and controlled by their will and action as 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 141 
 
 expressed through the medium of the ballot-box. 
 The doctrine that " the majority must rule " 
 is evidently based on the scriptural idea, that 
 in a " multitude of counsellors there is safety ; " 
 and yet this is not always true. Minorities are 
 often right, and majorities wrong. What is right, 
 and what is wrong, is a matter of opinion, ever 
 changing with the advance of civilization. 
 
 Take any form of government you. please, and 
 analyze it, and you will find that its vitality, 
 and its ability to preserve itself, are based on 
 physical power, a power to coerce ; and when 
 this power fails, the government fails, and either 
 anarchy or revolution is the inevitable conse- 
 quence. Yet the moral power of a government, 
 though it may not save it, is not less important 
 than its physical power. When both are exer- 
 cised with no other view than a sincere desire 
 to promote the public welfare, the government 
 is pretty certain of being sustained, and simply 
 for the reason that it is approved by a generous 
 and healthful public sentiment. But let public 
 sentiment become corrupted by the influences 
 of aspiring demagogues, or by men who avow 
 principles in conflict with the public interests, 
 and no government, however pure and just in 
 its inception, can long command respect, or pre- 
 serve its authority. 
 
 Every nation has its representative men. 
 
142 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 America has hers. Cotton Mather was a Puri- 
 tan and a theocrat ; Benjamin Franklin, a 
 patriot and a philosopher ; George Washington, 
 a great general and a model man ; Thomas Jef- 
 ferson, a true democrat and a wise statesman ; 
 Andrew Jackson, a hero at New Orleans, and a 
 Jupiter in the presidential chair ; and Abraham 
 Lincoln, a man of destiny, who crushed rebel- 
 lion, and proclaimed freedom to four millions of 
 slaves. These were the men of power in the 
 hands of Divine Power ; and yet they did not 
 comprehend the sequence of their mission. 
 Their achievements marked the age in which 
 they lived, and will doubtless exercise a living 
 influence, more or less controlling, throughout 
 the coming ages of the civilized world. 
 
 Nations, as well as individuals, have their 
 destiny in their own hands. It is the char- 
 acter of the individuals constituting the nation 
 which gives to the nation its true character. 
 America began her career by laying the founda- 
 tions of her character, not in the sand, but on 
 the rock of free schools, free churches, and a free 
 public press. Without these institutions true 
 freedom can neither be acquired, nor be pre- 
 served. They are the only legitimate nurseries 
 of a healthful and vigorous public sentiment. 
 Preserve these institutions, and the nation will 
 continue to be free and prosperous and happy 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 143 
 
 and powerful and glorious. And yet there 
 may be corrupting influences growing out of the 
 manner in which a popular government is ad- 
 ministered, or growing out of the exercise and 
 extent of the right of popular suffrage. 
 
 Indeed, it has already become a grave ques- 
 tion how far it is safe to extend the right of 
 suffrage. It cannot be denied that our American 
 population is but an intermixture of different 
 nationalities, thrown together by a common de- 
 sire to become free men in a free land. Yet 
 immigrants continue to come from the old 
 world, differing as widely in their political and 
 religious education and predilections as in their 
 language, customs, and social habits. It is this 
 foreign element that makes our population what 
 it is, an assimilating, and yet an unassimilated 
 mass. A five years' residence, under our pres- 
 ent naturalization laws, entitles aliens to citizen- 
 ship and the right of suffrage. When they 
 have acquired citizenship, demagogues assume 
 to be their best friends only to deceive them 
 and advance their own selfish aspirations. In 
 this way the original peculiarities of the differ- 
 ent nationalities are wrought into political sub- 
 serviency, and employed as an element of 
 power in securing the balance of power. It is 
 in this way that the people are first corrupted, 
 and then the government. It is in this way 
 
144 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 that we, as a nation, allow demagogues to edu- 
 cate the masses into a low and degrading esti- 
 mate of what constitutes a popular government, 
 and of what are its true legitimate objects. 
 
 The right of suffrage is clearly a political, 
 not a natural right. It should be exercised with 
 wisdom, and only with reference to the " greatest 
 good to the greatest number." The ignorant can- 
 not exercise this right with safety, for the reason 
 that they are not sufficiently intelligent. A 
 certain degree of education should therefore be 
 regarded as an indispensable prerequisite. A 
 mere residence of five years in the country, 
 without the ability to read and write the English 
 language, should not be accepted as a presump- 
 tive qualification, though strengthened by an 
 oath of allegiance. 
 
 There are some statesmen, as well as other 
 persons, both in this country and in Europe, 
 who are earnestly engaged in agitating the 
 question of extending the right of suffrage to 
 women, on the ground that women are citizens, 
 and often own taxable property, and conse- 
 quently have the same interest as men in se- 
 curing and maintaining a just and proper ad- 
 ministration of the government under which 
 they live. While this is true, it is equally true 
 that men are endowed by nature with more 
 physical, if not more mental strength than 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 145 
 
 women, and have a higher regard for the diviner 
 sex than they have for themselves, and, con- 
 sequently, were created to be their protectors 
 and guardians. In fact, the two sexes are but 
 counterparts of each other, as much so as the 
 two halves of an apple. In Nature's arithmetic, 
 the two count but one, and should be but one 
 in heart and in life. But, somehow or other, 
 many of these halves get strangely mismatched, 
 or are never matched at all. This is not a fault 
 of Nature, but a defect in our social system. If 
 it were considered as proper for women as for 
 men to be the first to propose marriage, it 
 would, doubtless, lead to the happiest re- 
 sults. But, taking things as they are, the 
 thought has occurred to me that it would be 
 wise for the State to limit the right of suffrage 
 to men who are, or have been married, for the 
 reason that such men would naturally feel the 
 deepest interest in sustaining a good govern- 
 ment. Let the right to vote and to hold office 
 depend on marriage ; let the honors of State 
 and of society be conferred on none but those 
 who have honored themselves by assuming the 
 duties and responsibilities of wedded life, and I 
 doubt not that all marriageable bachelors 
 would aspire to the honors of full citizenship, 
 while marriageable women would soon find their 
 proper places in their proper sphere, and the 
 10 
 
146 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 government become what it should be, pure 
 in its principles and just in its administration. 
 
 America is in a transition state, and will, in 
 all probability, continue to trust in the success 
 of untried experiment, rather than rely on her 
 past experience. But still there survives within 
 the American breast a popular sentiment, which, 
 like the magnetic needle, ever points to an 
 unerring polar-star. It is only amid clouds and 
 storms that dangers arise, or become alarming. 
 It is therefore important that the ship of state 
 should be intrusted to none but skilful mari- 
 ners. The pilot should appreciate the dignity 
 of his position, and comprehend the extent of 
 his responsibilities. Whether the " golden age " 
 of America terminated with the outbreak of her 
 great civil rebellion, or commenced at the date 
 of its final suppression, remains, perhaps, an 
 undecided question ; yet there are thousands 
 who believe that her golden age has passed, 
 never to return. This may or may not be true. 
 
 It is hardly to be expected, however, that a 
 happier age will ever arrive than that which 
 existed prior to the Southern rebellion. The 
 people generally, both North and South, before 
 an appeal to arms occurred, were characterized 
 by a genial sincerity in the expression of their 
 political views and in the recognition of their 
 constitutional obligations, as well as in their 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 147 
 
 ecclesiastical connections and social relations. 
 They, in fact, felt that they were akin to each 
 other, and regarded each other as a common 
 brotherhood, having mutual interests in sustain- 
 ing a common government, a government 
 which their fathers had framed, and bequeathed 
 to them and to coming generations. In this rela- 
 tion, for nearly a century, the North and the 
 South enjoyed uninterrupted peace and pros- 
 perity, and America took her position as one of 
 the great and powerful nations of the earth. 
 
 But in the midst of this happy period of 
 American history appeared interpreters of the 
 " higher law," so called, whose aggressive fanat- 
 icism disregarded constitutional rights, and 
 thereby engendered the " doctrine of secession." 
 The first blow in the contest was struck at 
 Harper's Ferry ; the second at Fort Sumter. 
 Secession became a living fact. Conflict fol- 
 lowed conflict, and millions of brave men were 
 slain on the battle-field. The lamentations of 
 widows and orphans were heard all over the 
 land, and the cries of despair ascended to 
 heaven ; even " Freedom shrieked " amid the 
 devastation. At last, with the exhaustion of 
 the South, came the white-winged messenger of 
 peace. The military power of the North had 
 triumphed; and, as a result, four millions of 
 ignorant slaves were emancipated, and invested 
 
148 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 at once with all the rights of citizenship. In 
 addition to this an oppressive public debt was 
 created, accompanied with a national demoral- 
 ization still more to be deplored. 
 
 And now it becomes a grave question, whether 
 the freedom of these emancipated slaves will 
 prove a boon or a curse to them. As yet they 
 cannot comprehend their relative position ; nor 
 can they foresee their ultimate, though not dis- 
 tant destiny, extinction. As a race they differ 
 widely in their natural characteristics from the 
 superior race among whom they have been dif- 
 fused. They belong to Africa. The two races, 
 being distinct in the conditions of their origin 
 and physical structure, as well as in their tem- 
 perament and tastes, can never harmonize as 
 one people, either in their social or political 
 relations, on the basis of a perfect equality. 
 The thing is impossible, simply for the reason 
 that the law of antagonism which exists 
 between the two races is founded in Nature, 
 and is therefore a divine law, which can neither 
 be controlled nor essentially modified by legisla- 
 tion or education. In fact, a " war of races " 
 has already become imminent, and must, when 
 it does come, terminate in the expulsion, if not 
 extinction, of the inferior race. 
 
 In the future of America there are mystic 
 events which time only can disclose. " On- 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 149 
 
 ward " is the watchword of the living present. 
 Every American believes there is " a tide in the 
 affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads 
 on to fortune." The " almighty dollar " is his 
 leading star. Hoards of gold and silver glitter 
 in the distance. In acquiring wealth he acquires 
 power. He knows that wealth is power ; and 
 hence the acquisition of wealth has become the 
 ruling passion of the age. In other words, 
 money supersedes merit, while moral honesty is 
 held at a discount. Lamentable as the fact may 
 be, it is evident that an unscrupulous desire to 
 obtain wealth and political honors pervades all 
 classes of American society, from the highest 
 to the lowest. 
 
 In order to facilitate the accumulation of 
 wealth, and achieve their ambitious aims, indi- 
 viduals consolidate their capital in corporations, 
 and corporations consolidate themselves into 
 overgrown monopolies. In this way almost 
 every leading branch of trade and of manufac- 
 tures, as well as railroad interests, shipping 
 interests, and telegraph lines, are merged in 
 corporations, in fact, nearly all that remains of 
 individuality is lost in eorporationality. Of 
 course the mere individual, however meritorious, 
 becomes literally powerless, unless recognized 
 by a corporation. Though a trite saying, it is 
 nevertheless true, that corporations are " soul- 
 
150 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 less," and therefore devoid of human feeling 
 and of human sympathies. Among the most 
 formidable of these monopolies are the railroad 
 corporations, ever busy in weaving their spider- 
 like webs over the entire continent. In dis- 
 charging their duties to the public they seldom 
 subordinate their own interests. 
 
 Almost every man of wealth in America is a 
 stockholder in one or more incorporated compa- 
 nies, and will, of course, act politically, as well 
 as individually, in accordance with his interests. 
 Both the commercial and financial operations of 
 the country are essentially in the hands of cor- 
 porations. They, in fact, monopolize the bank- 
 ing institutions; and if they do not control, 
 they evidently desire to control the legislation 
 and government of the entire country. Indeed, 
 the time has already come, when, in quite too 
 many instances, the popular voice yields to the 
 corporative voice, while personal merit and 
 qualification for office become questions of sec- 
 ondary importance. It is easy to be seen that 
 corporative interests have become not only 
 gigantic, but are engaged, with pick and spade, 
 in undermining the very foundations of the Re- 
 public. If the people would preserve their equal 
 rights, and enjoy the blessings of a free govern- 
 ment, they must not only remember, but act on 
 the principle, that " eternal vigilance is the price 
 of liberty." 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 151 
 
 It is owing to the tendency of capital to com- 
 bine its productive energies that workingmen, 
 as they are pleased to designate themselves, 
 conceive the idea that capital and labor are an- 
 tagonistic in their interests. Hence working- 
 men, especially miners and mechanics, combine 
 against capitalists for the purpose of securing 
 higher rates of wages. In doing this, they 
 resort to " strikes," violate their contracts, and 
 dictate their own prices. If their terms are not 
 accepted, they refuse to work, and the great 
 leading industries of the country are crippled, 
 if not suspended. A train of moral and phys- 
 ical evils follows, which are more seriously felt 
 by the " strikers " than by capitalists. If move- 
 ments of this kind are continued, the obvious 
 result will be to drive capital out of the coun- 
 try to seek a more reliable investment. It is 
 labor that produces capital, and capital that 
 furnishes labor. The one must depend on the 
 other. Their interests are therefore mutual, 
 and both are entitled to equal protection. Their 
 relations to each other must necessarily be reg- 
 ulated by the law of supply and demand. 
 There is no other law or power that can do it. 
 If force be applied, it is certain to re-act. Yet 
 the field is alike open to all. The laborer 
 often becomes a capitalist, and the capitalist a 
 laborer. What are known as " strikes," there- 
 
152 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 fore, can effect no lasting good to any one. 
 They are but elements of social discord, which 
 demagogues seize and control for their own 
 aggrandizement. In fact, " Trades Unions " are 
 nothing more nor less than organized conspi- 
 racies against capitalists and the best interests 
 of the country. If tolerated, the government 
 itself is in danger of being ultimately subverted. 
 It is clear that the tendency of these unions is 
 to produce disunion. They have already be- 
 come so formidable in numbers, and in political 
 influence, as to render it doubtful whether any 
 legislation could be obtained, or military power 
 enforced, which would either control or restrain 
 them in their action and ultimate aims. In view 
 of this state of things, it would seem that the 
 time has come when the American people, as a 
 nation, should pause and " take the sober second 
 thought." 
 
 It is often said that the world is governed too 
 much. But, so far as this country is concerned, 
 the reverse seems much nearer the truth. Our 
 government is presumed to be the creature of 
 public opinion. In theory it is so ; but in prac- 
 tice we generally find that what is called pub- 
 lic opinion is manufactured by a few scheming 
 politicians, through the instrumentalities of 
 packed conventions and a subservient public 
 press. And hence candidates for office are 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 153 
 
 selected with a view to their availability rather 
 than for their known capacity and integrity. 
 This failure to select the best men of the coun- 
 try to govern it, and administer its laws, has 
 already resulted in degrading American charac- 
 ter by the corrupt practices which it has gener- 
 ated, if not sanctioned, in every department of 
 government, whether federal, state, or munici- 
 pal. 
 
 In fact, dangers lurk on every side. There 
 is no safety, unless it can be found in the 
 virtue and intelligence of the people. If in 
 this respect the people are deficient, it is 
 the fault of their education. The rights of 
 citizenship should depend on education, and the 
 masses, if need be, should be educated by com- 
 pulsion. As it now is, the learned professions 
 are regarded as the main pillars that sustain 
 the social fabric. They, in fact, give tone to 
 public sentiment, and erect the standard of 
 public morals. The masses accept their opin- 
 ions, and seldom question their accuracy. And 
 yet the masses are often misled. The few 
 corrupt the many. Hence it is that we so 
 often see the lawyer, the doctor, and even the 
 clergyman, swayed in their political action by 
 improper incentives ; and especially is this true 
 of professed politicians and official dignitaries. 
 As a matter of course public sentiment becomes 
 
154 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 demoralized, and almost every species of fraud 
 and corruption comes to be regarded as quite 
 respectable. If for this state of things there be 
 a remedy, it is only to be found in our public 
 schools and in the moral teachings of our 
 churches. It is here that the work of reform 
 must begin, the sooner the better. It should 
 begin by relaying the foundations of the Repub- 
 lic deeper and broader, and with principles as 
 solid and permanent as the masonry of the 
 everlasting hills. When this great radical work 
 has been accomplished, the threatening clouds 
 which now cast their shadows over our national 
 future, 
 
 " Will fold their tents, like the Arabs, 
 And as silently steal away." 
 
 While in the tendencies of the age we see 
 much to admire, we also see much to be re- 
 gretted. In a word, there is too much friction 
 in the complicated machinery that spins and 
 weaves the web and woof of American charac- 
 ter. In religion, morals, and politics, wide 
 differences of opinion are to be expected, yet 
 they should be honest. While a free public 
 press may be regarded in theory as the " palla- 
 dium of American liberty," it seems to proceed, 
 practically, on the belief that its own interests 
 are the public interests. Especially is this true 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 155 
 
 of the political press. Money, instead of prin- 
 ciple, is too often its guiding star. By its in- 
 fluence, men in office, and out of office, are 
 made and unmade at pleasure. And this will 
 ever be the case so long as editorial utterances 
 are accepted as oracular. And yet there is 
 hope, and perhaps safety, even in the freedom 
 of our partisan prints, so long as they continue 
 to expose the falsities of each other, whatever 
 may be their motives. If, as in China, the head 
 of every editor who knowingly publishes an 
 untruth were demanded as a forfeit, it is to be 
 feared that gentlemen of the " tripod " would 
 soon become " few and far between" in this 
 broad land of the free. Yet the newspaper is 
 the controlling power of the government, and 
 the mouth-piece of public sentiment. Editors 
 should, therefore, appreciate their responsibility, 
 as well as " take the responsibility." 
 
 Though rotation in office may be regarded as 
 a wholesome principle in the administration of 
 a popular government, it is evident, from the 
 history of the past, that frequent elections tend 
 to disturb the peace and harmony of society. 
 One political campaign scarcely ends before 
 another begins. Especially is this true of our 
 Presidential elections. The spirit of these 
 elections extends to all our local elections, and 
 often renders them equally bitter and intolerant. 
 
156 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 The keynote is usually sounded by the friends of 
 the administration, who wish to retain its pat- 
 ronage ; or by opponents, who seek to overthrow 
 it for the sake of the " spoils." Though candi- 
 dates for office contend loudly for principles 
 and reform, it is evident, that, with many of 
 them, the public treasury is the centre of attrac- 
 tion. It is true, however, that there are some 
 honorable exceptions, some men who are influ- 
 enced by patriotic motives, who love their 
 country, and desire to promote its real welfare, 
 and who would rather " do right than be Presi- 
 dent of the United States." 
 
 In a government like ours, which is essen- 
 tially partisan in its character, there exists a 
 manifest want of promptitude in the exercise 
 of its central power. In other words, it takes 
 a Republic too long to move and execute in a 
 crisis. It is prevented from doing this by the 
 popular trammels which environ it. And yet 
 it is often as difficult to ascertain what is the 
 popular will as it is to comply with it. For 
 this reason it is often a slavish fear, rather than 
 a sense of right, that controls the administra- 
 tion of the government. Even our best men, 
 when placed in power, become so sensitive to 
 public opinion that their moral courage " oozes 
 out at their fingers' ends." They see lions in 
 their path, and therefore fear to do their duty. 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 157 
 
 So long as a love of office, rather than a love of 
 country, influences the action of the politician 
 and the statesman, there can be neither strength 
 nor stability in the framework of democratic in- 
 stitutions. For an illustration of this, we need 
 only appeal to the histories of Greece and Rome. 
 America has produced, however, many model 
 men, and, doubtless, will produce many more of 
 a like character. It is men that we want, men 
 of nerve and pluck, as well as men of wisdom. 
 
 It is impossible to predict the future, except 
 as we see it from a standpoint of the present. 
 Hence it is, perhaps, that we apprehend dan- 
 gers Avhen there are none. Yet we know that 
 the elements of dissolution are incorporated 
 into the very material that constitutes the uni- 
 verse. And so it is with the nations of the 
 earth. The law of change is universal. It 
 affects alike both the moral and the physical 
 world. In his desires, man, as an individual, is 
 insatiable ; and so are nations. It is a promi- 
 nent trait of Americans to want territory, and 
 to acquire territory. They must have elbow- 
 room ; but the misfortune is, they do not know 
 when they have enough. It seems as if they 
 aspired to grasp the world, and to govern the 
 world. 
 
 It is doubtless true that we, as a nation, have 
 already acquired too much territory. The re- 
 
158 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 suit is, the government has become unwieldy, 
 and the danger great that it will break down, 
 sooner or later, of its own weight. So vast is 
 the national domain, and so various is it in its 
 climate, productions, and population, that its 
 central power cannot so legislate as to do equal 
 justice to all interests, and, at the same time, 
 harmonize the conflict of public sentiment. 
 This stajte of things had its influence in pro- 
 ducing the outbreak of the late rebellion. For 
 grievances of this character, there would seem 
 to be no other remedy than that of revolution 
 or secession. 
 
 We can but hope, however, that the States 
 now known as the United States, will continue 
 to increase in numbers, and to harmonize as one 
 people, one nation, and one government. Yet 
 it is quite possible that the time will come when 
 they will sever into groups, and become inde- 
 pendent of their present federal relation to each 
 other, in accordance with their peculiar sectional 
 interests, " peaceably if they can, forcibly if 
 they must." Then, instead of one, we shall 
 probably have several independent American 
 confederacies, whose future boundaries are 
 clearly indicated not only by differences of 
 climate and productions, but by Nature, as 
 marked by her great intervening rivers, lakes, 
 and mountain ranges. These confederacies, 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 159 
 
 when organized, will doubtless consist of those 
 groups of States now known as the Eastern, 
 Western, Southern, and Pacific States. 
 
 In addition to sectional interests and geo- 
 graphical differences, there are other considera- 
 tions tending to induce a dissolution of the 
 Union. Among these are an almost unlimited 
 number of political aspirants, and a rapidly in- 
 creasing population. In Europe, and in many 
 parts of Asia, an overgrown population, in con- 
 nection with geographical differences and tribal 
 distinctions, is doubtless the original cause which 
 led to subdivisions of empire, and the establish- 
 ment of so many petty kingdoms as now exist 
 in those countries. The same causes are evi- 
 dently at work on the American continent, and 
 must ultimately produce similar results. In less 
 than a century our population has increased from 
 seven to forty millions. In the next century, at 
 present rates, the increase from natural growth 
 and the influx from foreign emigration will, in 
 all probability, approximate to two or three hun- 
 dred millions. Asia alone, judging from present 
 indications, will transfer to this continent, within 
 that period, two-thirds or more of that number. 
 If this be assumed as worthy of credence, is it 
 not time that we, as American citizens, should 
 look ahead, as well as go ahead ; and, if possible, 
 preserve our national character ? 
 
160 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 It is true that an intermixture of foreign 
 blood with American blood may tend to develop 
 a higher order of manhood ; yet, when we go 
 so far as to permit foreign languages to be 
 taught in our public schools at the public ex- 
 pense as essential to an American education, 
 and that, too, at the dictation of denizens whose 
 education and predilections are in conflict with 
 our own, have we not reason to fear the ulti- 
 mate results ? If this insidious influence of 
 foreign growth be allowed to control our educa- 
 tional system, it will not be long before we shall 
 adopt foreign habits and sentiments, and lose 
 forever our American nationality. 
 
 If America would be true to herself, she must 
 preserve not only the purity of her principles, but 
 the purity of her spoken language. If foreigners 
 choose to become American citizens, they must 
 expect to become Americanized in language and 
 sentiment, as well as accept our form of govern- 
 ment. We want no foreign element incorpo- 
 rated into our free institutions which does not 
 harmonize with them. In a word, we want no 
 union of Church and State, no " confusion of 
 tongues " in our public schools, no aping of 
 foreign manners and habits, no foreign dicta- 
 tion, nothing but pure American freedom and 
 pure American principles. 
 
 It is in this country that Church and State, for 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 161 
 
 the first time in the history of the civilized 
 world, have been separated, and allowed to con- 
 duct their own affairs in their own way, and 
 independently of each other. So far as experi- 
 ence has gone in this respect, it proves the 
 wisdom of the policy. And yet there are many 
 statesmen, who, in reading the " signs of the 
 times," think there are reasons for believing 
 that the priesthood have inherited their ancient 
 love of civil power, and are quietly endeavoring, 
 in various ways, to secure such a degree of 
 moral power over the popular mind as will, 
 in effect if not in fact, transfer to them the 
 control of the civil government. 
 
 If the priesthood are to control the govern- 
 ment, it matters but little whether it be the 
 Catholic or the Protestant. Both seem equally 
 ambitious of the mastery, and only lack the 
 power to decide which shall triumph. In adopt- 
 ing ways and means, both seem to be influenced 
 by the same ultimate design. Catholicism re- 
 gards the Church as supreme and the State 
 as subordinate ; repudiates public schools, and 
 trains her youth in the church, and for the 
 church, thus preparing them to become not only 
 adherents to the faith, but " soldiers of the 
 cross ; " while Protestantism asks the recogni- 
 tion of God in the constitution ; urges a fraternal 
 
 union of all her various denominations, with a 
 11 
 
162 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 view to concentrate and direct their moral force ; 
 and even goes so far as to discuss politics in the 
 pulpit, thus attempting to control the results 
 of our popular elections, especially when great 
 moral questions are supposed to be involved. 
 In all this there may be no insidious design ; 
 but facts carry with them a degree of signifi- 
 cance which ought not to be disregarded. If a 
 " religious war" must come, it will be a fearful 
 contest ; and one which must result in the sub- 
 version of free government, and finally extin- 
 guish the last hope of every true philanthro- 
 pist. 
 
 And yet, as a people, we need never " despair 
 of the Republic," so long as we sustain free 
 public schools, and confide the government to 
 none other than an enlightened and philan- 
 thropic statesmanship. If America continues 
 to respect herself, she is evidently destined to 
 wield, not only the moral power of the world, 
 but to complete the civilization of the world,. 
 Inspired with a desire to ameliorate the condi- 
 tion of mankind the world over, she annually 
 expends millions of money in advancing the 
 cause of a true Christianity. So inviting are her 
 free institutions that she is rapidly becoming a 
 central nation, in point of wealth, talent, and 
 population, as well as in moral and political 
 influence. It should be her pleasure, as well as 
 
AMERICA AND HER FUTURE. 163 
 
 aim, not only to perfect her own government, 
 but to diffuse a knowledge of her liberal princi- 
 ples throughout the world. 
 
 In reverting to the history of the past, we 
 see that nations, like individuals, have their 
 career, succeed each other, and finally become 
 extinct. On this continent the red race has 
 been rapidly succeeded by the white race. 
 Whether a still higher order of man will succeed 
 the white race, is a question which time only 
 can determine. 
 
 Nature is provident, and, like Divine Provi- 
 dence, works in " mysterious ways," and with 
 an aim to achieve ultimate results. What 
 America now is, we know ; what she will be, 
 we know not. It is devoutly to be wished, 
 however, that her career may continue to be 
 characterized by great and noble achievements, 
 and that her " star-spangled banner " may for- 
 ever float in triumph 
 
 " O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 
 
 IN addressing you as a graduating class, per- 
 mit me to suggest for your consideration a few 
 thoughts on the importance of regarding self- 
 culture not only as a duty, but as the only 
 means of elevating and ennobling your aspira- 
 tions in life. 
 
 Though you have completed your academical 
 course with a degree of success which does you 
 credit, you should remember that the great 
 work of education still lies before you, and that 
 the formation of your characters and the shap- 
 ing of your destinies are committed to your own 
 hands. And here let me assure you that it is 
 little, rather than great things, which mark the 
 character of a true gentleman. In fact, there is 
 but one way in which a refined education can 
 be acquired, and that is, " little by little." 
 
 It is thus from day to day, from year to year, 
 from everybody, and from every thing, that 
 you may learn, if you will, something new, 
 something useful ; and though you care not to 
 do it, yet you will, in spite of yourselves, learn 
 
168 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 something, good or evil, just as you may choose 
 to apply it. 
 
 You certainly have the power to choose be- 
 tween good and evil ; in other words, to achieve 
 the loftiest aims. Yet, in directing j^our aspira- 
 tions, you must adapt means to ends ; collect 
 your materials and refine them, and in refining 
 them give them the brilliancy of costly jewels, 
 jewels which you can wear'with becoming grace 
 and dignity wherever you may go, and at all 
 times, and under all circumstances. 
 
 The acquisition of a mere book-knowledge, 
 however desirable, will avail you but little, 
 unless you acquire, at the same time, correct 
 habits and principles, united with refinement of 
 manners. The world will be likely to take your 
 personal appearance, your style of dress and 
 address, as the true index of your character ; 
 and, whether deceived at first view or not, will 
 finally estimate you at your true value. In 
 perfecting your education, it is not to be ex- 
 pected that you are to master every branch of 
 human learning, but rather that you are to 
 make your life a life of thought, of study, of 
 observation ; of strife to excel in all that is 
 good, and in doing good. 
 
 In attempting to achieve great things in the 
 world, you must not overlook little things, little 
 attentions, little civilities due to others with 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 169 
 
 whom you may come in contact; for your 
 claims to consideration will be estimated by the 
 character of your conduct in social life. There 
 are certain conventionalities recognized in good 
 society which you must respect, and to which 
 you must conform, if you would be well re- 
 ceived. Your manners and habits are, there- 
 fore, of vital importance as elements of 
 character. 
 
 It has been truly said that man is a " bundle 
 of habits." It may be said with equal truth 
 that our own worst enemies are " bad habits." 
 We all know that bad habits fasten themselves 
 upon us, as it were, by stealth ; and though we 
 may not perceive the influence which they exert 
 over us, yet other persons perceive it, remark 
 it, and judge us accordingly. The formation 
 of correct habits in early life is comparatively 
 easy, while the correction of bad habits, when 
 once formed, is always difficult, especially in 
 more advanced years. In a word, if you would 
 become model characters, you must discard all 
 bad habits, all odd habits, all that is ungracious 
 or ungraceful in word, deed, or manner, and 
 make it the leading rule of your life to observe 
 the proprieties of life, in all places and under 
 all circumstances. In order to achieve all this, 
 it is indispensable that you should study your- 
 selves, watch yourselves, criticise yourselves, 
 
170 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 and know yourselves as others know you. The 
 value of self-examination has been forcibly, as 
 well as beautifully expressed in a single stanza 
 by Robert Burns, 
 
 ' ' O wad some power the gif tie gie us 
 To see oursel's as ithers see us ! 
 It wad frae monie a blunder free us, 
 
 An' foolish notion: 
 What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us, 
 
 An' ev'n devotion! " 
 
 It is true that in relation to the laws of eti- 
 quette many books have been written, which 
 are in fact more read than observed, and which 
 are more perplexing than practical. No lady or 
 gentleman was ever made truly polite, truly 
 agreeable, truly amiable, by a strict observance 
 of artificial rules. Something more is needed ; 
 something must be done. It is in the heart, in 
 the exercise of all the moral and Christian vir- 
 tues, that true politeness has its foundation. 
 True politeness is never selfish, never ostenta- 
 tious, but always overflowing with kindness, 
 always angelic in its attributes. In word and 
 deed, it is always considerate, delicate, and 
 graceful ; yet in its ministrations it always pre- 
 serves its own self-respect, while it manifests its 
 sincere respect for all that is good and for all 
 that is meritorious. 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 171 
 
 Heaven has imposed on us the duty of acquir- 
 ing all the knowledge we can. In discharge of 
 this heaven-born duty, we should begin at once 
 the great work of self-culture, a work never 
 to be discontinued. He who would build a 
 spacious and a lofty temple, a fit dwelling-place 
 for divinity, must first lay the foundations broad 
 and deep ; not in sand, but on a rock ; and 
 then, though storm and tempest beat against it, 
 it cannot fall, because it is founded on a rock. 
 
 But in adopting a system of self-culture, too 
 much care cannot be bestowed on the cultiva- 
 tion of your manners, your attitudes, your style 
 of conversation, and your expression of senti- 
 ment. In regard to manners, it is impossible to 
 prescribe exact rules. The best models for you 
 to copy are to be found in the manners of the 
 model men and women of our country who 
 give tone to society. At any rate, be governed 
 by good sense and by the dictates of nature, so 
 modified by art as to conceal art. To disguise 
 art is the perfection of art. In this lies the 
 secret power of angelic charms, the charm of 
 polished womanhood and manhood. 
 
 In your social intercourse employ a pure and 
 unambitious style of diction, and be careful to 
 maintain a quiet and unobtrusive deportment ; 
 and above all things avoid singularities and 
 eccentricities, nor attempt to attract attention 
 
172 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 for the sake of gratifying an overweaning van- 
 ity. And while you manifest a due respect for 
 others, bQ careful to maintain your own self- 
 respect. Never indulge in exhibiting violence 
 of temper; but on all occasions control your 
 feelings and expressions, though provocations 
 arise which justly excite your indignation. 
 
 If you would attain to the highest possible 
 standard of social refinement and moral virtue, 
 you must rely on yourselves, must look into the 
 mirror of your own hearts, and behold your own 
 defects, and then proceed at once to apply the 
 appropriate remedies. To do this effectively 
 may cost you much labor, yet the task will be 
 found comparatively easy when you have re- 
 solved to execute it. 
 
 It is not only your privilege, but your duty, 
 to acquire knowledge from every source, as the 
 bee gathers honey from every flower. Collect 
 and compare facts ; for in every fact, whether 
 great or small, there lies hid a lesson of wisdom, 
 a logic which is not only irresistible, but divine. 
 Theories are of but little value unless attested 
 by facts. All mere theories are alike worthless, 
 whether they relate to the physical or moral 
 world. " Prove all things, and hold fast that 
 which is good." No better rule than this, for 
 your guidance through life, ever was, or ever can 
 be given. Facts, though " stubborn things," are 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 173 
 
 never falsehoods. You may, therefore, regard 
 facts as truth, as the kind of mental food you 
 should acquire, digest, and convert into nutri- 
 ment, and thus grow strong and wise, until you 
 have realized the great fact, that "man was 
 created but a little lower than the angels." 
 
 For the purpose of self-culture, in its highest 
 sense, an ordinary lifetime seems quite too 
 short, though prolonged to threescore years 
 and ten. The value of time cannot be over- 
 estimated. If we would but consider how many 
 precious moments we fritter away and lose in 
 an unprofitable manner, we should see that it is 
 the want of a due regard for the value of time, 
 rather than a want of time, of which we should 
 complain. It is not, therefore, the fault of a 
 Divine Providence that we have not time enough 
 to perfect ourselves in the arts of a refined 
 civilization, and in the realization of the highest 
 enjoyment of which our nature is capable. 
 Whatever else you may lose, never lose a 
 moment of time which can be profitably em- 
 ployed. A moment of time once lost can 
 never be regained. Insignificant as a moment 
 may seem, your destiny may depend on the 
 improvement you may make of it, on the deed 
 or thought it may prompt. Life, though long, 
 is made up of moments, and terminates in a 
 moment ; and all true knowledge is founded in 
 truth. 
 
174 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 If you would prolong your lives, and enjoy 
 health and happiness accompanied with vigor 
 of mind, study the laws of health and obey 
 them. Make yourselves thoroughly acquainted 
 with yourselves, by becoming acquainted with 
 the plrysiology of the human system, and by 
 living in compliance with the requisitions of its 
 principles. Nature is the best physician you 
 can employ, whatever may be your malady ; but, 
 in order to be healed by her prescriptions, you 
 must apply to her in time, and adopt the uni- 
 form and temperate habits of life which her 
 laws require. 
 
 It is said that Nature has her favorites. This 
 may be true. It would seem that some persons 
 are born poets, some philosophers, some fiddlers, 
 some one thing, and some another. It may be 
 said that such persons are specialists, born to 
 accomplish a special purpose. They doubtless 
 subserve the interests of mankind as models, or 
 standards of merit, in their respective special- 
 ties ; yet to be born a genius is not, in itself, a 
 matter of merit, but it is the good one does in 
 the world which creates merit and crowns life 
 with honors. 
 
 Nearly all of our truly great men are men of 
 self-culture, who have acquired brains by the 
 slow process of a life-long industry in the pur- 
 suit of knowledge. This class of men are not 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 175 
 
 only much more numerous than born geniuses, 
 but much more useful. They have a wider 
 range of intellect and wield a wider influence. 
 They are men who read, think, and digest what 
 they read. In their choice of books they select 
 standard authors. They are not book-worms, 
 devouring every thing that is published ; nor 
 are they literary dyspeptics, who feed on sen- 
 timentalism and French cookery; but hale, 
 hearty men, who prefer common sense and roast 
 beef, caring more for the quality of their food 
 than for the quantity. 
 
 The world in which we live is a beautiful 
 world. He who made it pronounced it good, 
 and designed it for the residence of the good. 
 It is, in itself, a paradise for all who choose to 
 make it a paradise. In a physical sense, it is 
 not only a beautiful world, but a great store- 
 house full of knowledge, full of wisdom, full of 
 facts, a record of the past and of the future, 
 written by a divine hand. In short, it is the 
 great Book of Life of Revelation in every 
 word of which we may find an outspoken 
 thought, 
 
 " Tongues in trees, books in running brooks, 
 Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." 
 
 In estimating your life-work, you should feel 
 that yours is a high destiny, and that much is 
 
176 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 expected of you. If you would succeed in the 
 world, you must have faith in yourselves, as 
 well as in a Divine Providence, and act upon 
 the principle that " God helps those who help 
 themselves." Wherever you go, make your- 
 selves as acceptable and as agreeable to all with 
 whom you come in contact as possible. If you 
 would be preferred, prefer others ; and if you 
 would be beloved, scatter flowers by the way- 
 side of life, but never plant thorns ; and, in all 
 you do and say, unite modesty with simplicity 
 and sincerity. 
 
 There can be no true manhood or womanhood 
 that does not rest on character, in the highest 
 sense of the term. In fact, it is the character 
 we bear that defines our social position. The 
 formation of character is a work of our own, 
 and requires the exercise of all the better and 
 higher powers of our nature. On character de- 
 pends not only our usefulness in life, but our 
 individual happiness. Character is the engraved 
 mark, or sign, by which every individual is 
 known, and indicates the essential traits of his 
 moral composition, the qualities of his head and 
 heart, as displayed in his aspirations and in the 
 work of his life. Character is more enduring 
 than reputation. God respects character ; man 
 respects reputation. The one is as lasting as 
 eternity ; the other as evanescent as the bubble 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 177 
 
 that glitters in the sunshine for a moment, and 
 then disappears forever. 
 
 In forming a true character, such an one as 
 crowns the true man with an imperishable dia- 
 dem, there are many things to be considered, 
 especially the materials which enter into its 
 moral masonry. Its foundation must be solid 
 and immovable ; its superstructure chaste and 
 elegant; and its proportions harmonious and 
 beautiful. Like a temple built for the gods, ifc 
 should be worthy of the gods. It should be 
 not only beautiful in its exterior, but be, in its 
 interior, the life-work of a truly heroic soul. 
 
 Character represents soul. As character is 
 moulded by human instrumentalities, so is soul. 
 Soul is, therefore, the essence of a true man- 
 hood, a living principle that cannot die. It is 
 an influence in itself, and out of itself, felt 
 everywhere and forever. It is the moral life 
 and the eternal life. Like a pebble cast into the 
 broad ocean, its impulse is sensibly felt by the 
 entire ocean. Every particle moves a particle, 
 until the vast deep is moved. Such is indi- 
 vidual influence. If character, then, be what it 
 should be, truthful, noble, divine, it will neces- 
 sarily be Godlike, and exert an influence in 
 harmony with the benevolent designs of 
 heaven. 
 
 And yet there are thousands who ^em to 
 12 
 
178 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 live without purpose, live merely to vegetate. 
 Of course such persons do not live in earnest, 
 and hence, do nothing in earnest. They have life, 
 but no lofty aspirations. They may have souls ; 
 but, if so, they remain undeveloped. In fact, 
 persons of this character have no character, no 
 earnest work, no significance. And for this 
 reason, though living, they are literally dead. 
 If we would make the world what it should 
 be, we must first make ourselves what we should 
 be. The work must begin at home, in our own 
 own hearts, and with a view to our own moral 
 needs. 
 
 In the cultivation of a pure heart-life, we 
 should begin by cultivating " a conscience void 
 of offence." If we would unlock the gate of 
 Paradise, we must look for the key where it is 
 to be found. We may rest assured that it can- 
 not be found in an uncultivated field of brambles 
 and briers, nor amid the rubbish of a misspent 
 life. Yet, to find it, only requires diligent 
 search. Though every thing beautiful, every 
 thing noble, every thing sublime, may lie in the 
 distance, yet it is attainable. It is the ultimatum 
 that we should seek, something substantial, 
 something eternal. Mere fame is nothing 
 worth. It is a thing of earth, and not of 
 heaven. 
 
 There may be an innate feeling or principle 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 179 
 
 that constitutes what is called conscience ; yet 
 it must be conceded that conscience is practically 
 but the product or outgrowth of education, and 
 may therefore be so moulded as to become the 
 just or unjust judge of the moral questions which 
 involve both our present and future welfare. 
 How important, then, that this judge should not 
 only be a righteous, but an educated judge, famil- 
 iar with the principles of right and wrong, and 
 stern in the application of them. In a word, 
 conscience is the central life of character, the 
 silent monitor within our own breasts, whose 
 moral influence controls our destiny. 
 
 The law of love may be regarded as the 
 great law which underlies all law, because it is 
 divine. In fact, love is the law that pervades 
 the universe ; and, in itself, is sufficiently indic- 
 ative of our moral obligations. He who is 
 governed by it, cannot err. It is not, however, 
 what we do for ourselves, but rather what we 
 do for others, that can afford the most substan- 
 tial happiness. If you would receive, you must 
 give, influenced by a kind and generous spirit. 
 " Overcome evil with good." In this way, like 
 a moral Alexander, you may conquer the world. 
 
 It is doubtless true that conscience, being 
 essentially the outgrowth of education, is ever 
 in a formative state, and may therefore be 
 strengthened and elevated in its moral percep- 
 
180 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 tions by culture. The more perfect its judg- 
 ment, the more perfect the man or woman. 
 There can be no religion without conscience ; 
 nor can there be conscience without religion. 
 The one is a counterpart of the other; and 
 equally true is it, that the character of the one 
 reflects the character of the other. 
 
 A true religion does not consist in a mere 
 profession of faith, nor in church membership, 
 but in that which is the leading principle of our 
 lives ; in that which binds us to achieve an ulti- 
 mate aim ; in that which calls into exercise all 
 our moral powers, and harmonizes our lives with 
 the requisitions of the divine law. Yet any 
 religion is better than none. Even the pagan 
 is not destitute of a religion of some sort, how- 
 ever debased it may be. It is simply the refine- 
 ment of a higher civilization which has made 
 the difference between the pagan and the Chris- 
 tian. Nothing can be more important, there- 
 fore, than the kind of education which is be- 
 stowed on us in childhood, or the kind of self- 
 culture which we choose to bestow on ourselves. 
 And though circumstances may be adverse to 
 our interests, it is our duty to conquer circum- 
 stances, and take into our own hands the fab- 
 rication of our fortunes. In this life every 
 day brings with it new lessons; and though some 
 of them may be pernicious, all of them have 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 181 
 
 their value. If there were nothing evil, there 
 would be nothing good ; for the reason that 
 there would be no contrast, no standard of com- 
 parison. And yet between good and evil there 
 is no half-way house, no " happy medium." 
 
 In every question of right and wrong there 
 are but two sides. The one or the other we 
 must take, either directly or indirectly. We 
 cannot take a neutral stand if we would ; nor 
 can we identify ourselves with both sides. Sin- 
 cerity and hypocrisy are not born of the same 
 parentage, and cannot, therefore, walk hand in 
 hand, nor take the same social position. They 
 are marked by a different sign, and by their 
 sign they are readily recognized. Appear where 
 they will, the one will be respected, the other 
 despised. 
 
 If you would excel in any thing, in any par- 
 ticular pursuit, you must first resolve to excel ; 
 and then persevere, cost what it will. If you 
 encounter lions in your path, exterminate them. 
 In ascending mountains make difficulties your 
 stepping-stones, and never look back until you 
 reach the summit, and can breathe freely in a 
 pure atmosphere. If you would reach the stars, 
 construct your own ladder, and climb until you 
 not only reach them, but are crowned with 
 them. The soul never becomes truly heroic 
 until it becomes truly Godlike in its aspirations 
 and purposes. 
 
182 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 It is only in the practice of the cardinal vir- 
 tues, prudence, justice, temperance, forti- 
 tude, that we acquire that divine power which 
 alone can make us divine. It is only in the adop- 
 tion of lofty aims that we can expect to reach a 
 lofty ideal. Every thing is possible to him who 
 has resolved to make it possible. In other 
 words, where there is a will there is a way. 
 The will is the motive-power : if this be want- 
 ing, then all is wanting that goes to make up 
 the character of an heroic soul. The world 
 needs moral as well as physical heroes, heroes 
 who know their dutj 7 , and dare do it. In the 
 battle of life none but the wise and the valiant 
 can be safely intrusted with the command. 
 The hostile powers of darkness, of ignorance, 
 of superstition, challenge the field, and cannot 
 be overcome without a severe conflict. The 
 crisis has come. Whether armed or unarmed, 
 you must meet the foe ; for results you must 
 trust in yourselves. It will never do to trust 
 in shields, in breastplates, in fire-arms, or in 
 faith without works. If you would conquer, 
 you must go into battle inspired with lofty 
 aims, and with a divine enthusiasm ; then 
 will victory perch on your standard, and the 
 eagle of freedom, fire-eyed, pierce the sun. 
 
 And yet you should remember that in your 
 attempts to achieve success, you must deserve 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS, 183 
 
 success. It is only in severe moral discipline 
 that you can see what you need, and acquire 
 what you need, eminent virtue, industry, and 
 sagacity. In social life, be social, amiable, and 
 accomplished; in domestic life, be something 
 more, be kind, considerate, and sympathetic. 
 Whether you have one or more talents, improve 
 them : they will grow brighter by constant use. 
 Whatever may be your capacities, never indulge 
 in vain aspirations. However seductive the 
 temptations which may beset you, never com- 
 promise your integrity. However ambitious 
 you may be in your ultimate aims, regard a good 
 moral character as of infinite value. Always 
 true to yourselves, be true to others. Place 
 implicit confidence in no one, but confide in the 
 strength of your own individuality. In adver- 
 sity be hopeful, and always look on the bright 
 side of things. 
 
 In selecting a profession or business for life, 
 be governed by your natural taste or capacity, 
 your peculiar talent for this or that pursuit. If 
 embarrassed by circumstances, never yield to 
 them, but resolve to excel in whatever you 
 undertake. Perseverance is the secret of suc- 
 cess. If born with the gift of genius, make it 
 available ; do something new ; invent something 
 new ; and, in this way, bequeath something 
 valuable to mankind. In other words, live for 
 
184 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 mankind, and, if need be, die for mankind. 
 Adopt this as the religious sentiment of your 
 life, and act in accordance with it, and your 
 works will sufficiently attest the purity of your 
 faith. 
 
 And yet you are not required to crucify your- 
 selves; but, on the contrary, it is your duty, 
 while striving to live for others, to live for your- 
 selves, and thus make yourselves and your 
 homes as happy as possible. It is not in the 
 shade, but in the sunshine, that you should seek 
 to live. It is only the now of life, the fleeting 
 present, of which you are certain. If, then, you 
 would be prosperous, if you would be happy, 
 if you would look to the future with a pleasing 
 hope, so live as to feel that you are sustained, 
 in all you do, by an approving conscience, and 
 by the divine counsels of Infinite Wisdom. It 
 is only by living thus that you can make life on 
 earth what it should be, a heaven-life. 
 
 He who made all things has made no dis- 
 tinction between heaven and earth. It is man 
 that has made the distinction. The natural 
 atmosphere which surrounds the earth is pure 
 and healthful : it is only the moral atmosphere 
 that has become impure and deleterious. It 
 needs no chemical agencies to purify it. It 
 must be purified, if at all, by moral agencies. 
 In other words, we must recognize our obliga- 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 185 
 
 tions to our fellow-men, and obey the " Golden 
 Rule " as prescribed by the law of love, if we 
 would succeed in making earth a heaven. 
 
 Almost every American of culture has an 
 object in view for which he lives, some ultimate 
 aim or aspiration which stimulates him to 
 effort. It may be a desire to excel in some one 
 of the learned professions, or to become a million- 
 naire, a hero in the battle-field, a Solon in the 
 halls of legislation, perhaps president of the 
 United States. In attempting achievements of 
 this character, it should be remembered that 
 knowledge is the basis of success. It is knowl- 
 edge that gives power, and wisdom that should 
 direct us in wielding it. Yet a man may be 
 learned, and still be a cipher in the world. 
 God gave to man a divine outline, and then left 
 him to perfect himself, at least in a mental 
 sense. This he must do, or remain an animal, 
 and "feed on husks." 
 
 Nearly all our great men are self-made men. 
 This is true of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, 
 and scores of others, who, like them, have 
 acquired an enviable renown. Thus, in all 
 ages of the world, have men of lofty aspirations 
 reached lofty standpoints, and immortalized 
 their names. 
 
 It is somewhat surprising, however, that most 
 of our American graduates look to the learned 
 
186 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 professions, rather than to a practical business 
 life, as affording the widest field for the acquisi- 
 tion of wealth and high social position. This, 
 it seems to me, is a great mistake, nine cases 
 in ten. Not more than one professional man in 
 ten ever rises above mediocrity in his profes- 
 sion, while the remaining nine generally regard 
 themselves as fortunate if they succeed in ac- 
 quiring a comfortable livelihood. 
 
 In fact, the learned professions have yet to 
 learn that the supply exceeds the demand. 
 And hence there is but little use in attempting 
 to shine as a "star" in any of the professions, 
 unless you have a sufficient brilliancy to take 
 rank as a " star of the first magnitude." 
 
 And yet we cannot have too many men of 
 liberal education : the more the better. They 
 are needed in every pursuit in life, and in every 
 place. It is not the occupation that dignifies a 
 man, but the man that dignifies the occupation. 
 When you have chosen a pursuit, whatever it 
 may be, aim high. Yes, 
 
 " Give me a man with an aim, 
 
 Whatever that aim may be ; 
 Whether it's wealth, or whether it's fame, 
 
 It matters not to me. 
 Let him walk in the path of right, 
 And keep his aim in sight, 
 And work and pray in faith alway, 
 With his eye on the glittering height. 
 
LIFE AND ITS ASPIRATIONS. 187 
 
 Give me a man who says, 
 
 " I will do something well, 
 And make the fleeting days 
 
 A story of labor tell." 
 Though aim he has be small, 
 It is better than none at all : 
 With something to do the whole year through, 
 He will not stumble or fall. 
 
 But Satan weaves a snare 
 
 For the feet of those who stray 
 With never a thought or care 
 
 Where the path may lead away. 
 The man who has no aim, 
 Not only leaves no name 
 When this life is done, but, ten to one, 
 He leaves a record of shame. 
 
 me a man whose heart 
 Is filled with ambition's fire ; 
 Who sets his mark in the start, 
 
 And keeps moving higher and higher. 
 Better to die in the strife, 
 The hands with labor rife, 
 Than to glide with the stream in an idle dream, 
 And lead a purposeless life. 
 
 Better to strive and climb, 
 
 And never reach the goal, 
 Than to drift along with time, 
 
 An aimless, worthless soul. 
 Ay, better to climb and fall, 
 Or sow, though the yield be small, 
 Than to throw away day after day, 
 And never strive at all." 
 
MISSION MONUMENT AND ITS 
 DEDICATION. 
 
MISSION MONUMENT AND ITS DEDI- 
 CATION. 
 
 JUNE 28, 1867. 
 
 IN the accomplishment of great moral pur- 
 poses, a Divine Providence employs human in- 
 strumentalities. Of this we have ample evi- 
 dence, not only in the history of nations, but in 
 the career of individuals. 
 
 A little more than eighteen centuries ago a 
 few obscure fishermen, while casting their nets 
 into the Sea of Galilee, were called to abandon 
 their nets, and become " fishers of men." 
 
 A little more than sixty years ago a few 
 obscure young men, while pursuing their clas- 
 sical studies in Williams College, were called to 
 go into benighted lands beyond the sea, and 
 proclaim the divine doctrine of " peace on earth 
 and good will to men." 
 
 These students, though unknown to fame, 
 were young men of thought, and of high moral 
 aspirations. Influenced by a devotional spirit, 
 they felt that God had a great work for them to 
 do; and that it was, therefore, important for 
 
192 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 them to comprehend their true relations, both 
 to God and to man. 
 
 What was the precise character of the great 
 work assigned them, they did not seem to know ; 
 and for this reason they sought for more light, 
 and for guidance from the Mighty Counsellor, 
 whose wisdom is infinite, and who cannot err. 
 In seeking for that knowledge which " cometh 
 from above," they were accustomed, in the 
 milder months of the year, to hold occasional 
 prayer-meetings in the solitudes of Nature, be- 
 lieving that 
 
 " The groves were God's first temples." 
 
 And doubtless they felt that the Divine Pres- 
 ence dwells more essentially in the silent sanc- 
 tuaries of Nature than in " temples made with 
 hands." 
 
 It was here, within the quiet and cool retreat 
 of the maple-grove in which we are now assem- 
 bled, that they had convened, at the close of a 
 sultry summer-day, in the year 1806, to hold 
 the accustomed prayer-meeting, when they were 
 overtaken by a sudden shower of rain, and 
 compelled to seek the friendly shelter afforded 
 them \>y a neighboring haystack. 
 
 The group of young evangelists who were 
 present at the prayer-meeting on this particular 
 occasion, consisted of Samuel J. Mills, James 
 
MISSION MONUMENT: ITS DEDICATION. 193 
 
 Richards, Francis L. Robbins, Harvey Loomis, 
 and Byram Green. Protected from the rain by 
 the haystack, they continued, amid the conflict 
 of the elements, their devotional exercises, and 
 also discussed religious topics of deep interest 
 to themselves and to the world. It was a sub- 
 lime moment for them and for the world. The 
 heavens were darkened ; the lightnings flashed ; 
 dread thunders rolled ; the rain fell ; yet, amid 
 this conflict of the elements, there came " a still 
 small voice," as if from the storm-cloud. It 
 was a divine whisper, an inspired thought, which 
 stirred the life-currents in the heart of Mills, 
 and diffused upon his brow a celestial radiance. 
 That inspired thought, broad as the earth in its 
 comprehension, Mills announced to his devout 
 companions. They felt its divinity, and regarded 
 it as a divine communication. At the instance 
 of Mills, they knelt in prayer, and besought 
 divine aid and guidance in executing the great 
 work which they now believed had been re- 
 vealed to them. It was nothing less than a 
 mission to some foreign heathen land, and the 
 ultimate evangelization of the world. In offer- 
 ing up the last prayer at this meeting, so enthu- 
 siastic became Mills, that he invoked " the red 
 artillery of heaven to strike down the arm that 
 should be raised against a herald of the cross." 
 And now, as the storm-cloud passed away, 
 
 13 
 
194 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 the skies became bright and serene ; the air was 
 pure and fragrant as balm. The raindrops, like 
 jewels, glittered on the leaves in the grove, and 
 on the grass and wild-flowers in the meadows. 
 In short, the smile of Heaven was reflected in 
 the face of Nature. And the sublimity of the 
 scene, as it may be supposed, was heightened 
 by the appearance of a rainbow in the east, 
 that glorious emblem of a divine love, which is 
 so ample in its character as to embrace within 
 its golden circle the great world of mankind, of 
 " every nation, kindred, and tongue." 
 
 As these inspired young men of the haystack 
 wended their way back to the college halls, 
 they " pondered these things in their hearts," 
 and communicated their thoughts to such of 
 their fellow-students as they believed would 
 sympathize with them in the desire they felt to 
 consecrate their lives to the great work of 
 foreign missions, and especially a mission to 
 India. Several of their associates became at 
 once inspired with a similar missionary spirit. 
 But as yet the interest felt in this new enter- 
 prise was restricted to the circle of the " Society 
 of Brethren," as it was designated. This soci- 
 ety was a secret organization, composed of such 
 students as had made a profession of religion, 
 and had for its object the promotion of the 
 spiritual welfare of its members. In pursuance 
 
MISSION MONUMENT: ITS DEDICATION. 195 
 
 of this object, they held private prayer-meetings 
 in each others' rooms, and discussed questions 
 of special religious interest ; and often, in the 
 summer season, retired for the same purpose to 
 the neighboring groves. 
 
 In this way was sown the first grain of " mus- 
 tard seed," which was destined soon to vege- 
 tate and grow to a tree of gigantic proportions. 
 The planting of this " smallest of all seeds " 
 constituted a nucleus for more extended effort. 
 Consequently, other societies were soon organ- 
 ized to promote the good work. In fact, new 
 life was breathed into the " dry bones "of every 
 valley; and heaven repeated the command, 
 " Go, teach all nations." 
 
 The grand result of this day of "small 
 things " was the organization, at Bradford, in 
 1810, of the American Board of Commissioners 
 for Foreign Missions, an organization which, 
 under the direction and favor of a Divine Provi- 
 dence, has achieved so much for the civilization 
 and evangelization of the benighted races of 
 mankind. Of this we need adduce no other 
 proof than the leading facts of its history. 
 
 In its inception, this Board consisted of but 
 few members. At its first meeting there were 
 but five members present ; and at its second, but 
 seven. Its receipts for the first year were but 
 a thousand dollars. Now its annual receipts 
 
196 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 exceed a half million of dollars, and its annual 
 meetings are attended by thousands of people. 
 In the aggregate, it has collected and disbursed 
 nearly twelve millions of dollars. It has never 
 lost a dollar by the fraud or embezzlement of 
 any of its officers or agents. Since its first 
 meeting of five persons, in 1810, its corporate 
 members have been increased to two hundred, 
 and its honorary members to seventeen thousand. 
 
 It has sent into the missionary field thirteen 
 hundred persons in various capacities, including 
 nearly five hundred ordained missionaries. It 
 has established missions in almost every be- 
 nighted region of the habitable globe, especially 
 in the eastern hemisphere, in India, in China, 
 in Persia, in Syria, in Greece, in Turkey, in 
 Africa, and also in several isles of the sea, 
 including the Sandwich Islands. It has more 
 than a hundred missionary stations, and nearly 
 two hundred out-stations occupied by native 
 helpers. It has in the native ministry three 
 hundred Christian converts, about seventy of 
 whom are pastors of churches. These native 
 Christian churches have now increased to two 
 hundred, in communion with which more than 
 sixty thousand hopeful converts have been 
 received. 
 
 It has printing presses, which have printed 
 more than a thousand millions of pages of 
 
MISSION MONUMENT: ITS DEDICATION. 197 
 
 religious and educational matter, which has been 
 distributed in forty-two living languages, as 
 now spoken in pagan and other unevangelized 
 lands. It has invented alphabets, and reduced 
 eighteen native languages to writing. It has 
 put in successful operation more than four hun- 
 dred native schools, in which more than twelve 
 thousand native children have been taught. 
 All this has been done in less than sixty years, 
 and still the great work progresses with increas- 
 ing zeal and efficiency. 
 
 Thus has the Board proved itself to be, in 
 the providence of God, a great moral power in 
 the nineteenth century. It is the star in the 
 West, which flings its cheering light into the 
 East. The wise men have seen it, and the shep- 
 herds have seen it. Like the star of Bethle- 
 hem, its errand is divine ; for it was born of an 
 inspired thought which has now become an 
 invincible element in the moral world, a power 
 which must and will do its work ; and though 
 opposition and discouragement may come, 
 
 " Truth crushed to earth shall rise again." 
 
 Yes, millions of Christian heroes will come to 
 the rescue, still bearing aloft the banner of the 
 cross, and shouting the battle-cry of civil and 
 religious freedom. And woman, first at the 
 sepulchre, first in deeds of charity, first in every 
 
198 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 good work, will renew her activities in the great 
 warfare with moral darkness, until the " utter- 
 most parts of the earth " have been illuminated 
 with the light of divine truth. 
 
 It is expected, perhaps, that some allusion 
 will be made to the motive which has induced 
 the erection of the monument you see standing 
 before you in its modest, yet truthful signifi- 
 cance. The motive was simply a desire felt in 
 common with many other persons to see a spot 
 which has become sacred in missionary history, 
 commemorated by some permanent expression 
 of Christian gratitude. An expression of this 
 kind seemed due, not only to the great and good 
 cause of American Foreign Missions, but to the 
 revered memories of the five young men of 
 prayer, who knelt here, under shelter of the 
 haystack, and received from on high a divine 
 commission. And permit me to add, that the 
 filial regard I entertain for my Alma Mater, and 
 for my native State of Massachusetts, has had 
 its influence in disposing me to make this con- 
 tribution to a heaven-born enterprise, and in 
 remembrance of those truly good, and therefore 
 truly great men, whose names are inscribed on 
 the monument. The plan of the monument, 
 as well as its erection here, it gives me pleasure 
 to state, has received the cordial approval of 
 the faculty and trustees of the college. The 
 
MISSION MONUMENT: ITS DEDICATION. 199 
 
 grand object for which the monument has been 
 erected, is the commemoration of the " birth- 
 place of American Foreign Missions ; " and to 
 this object we now dedicate it, in the name of 
 a Christian philanthropy, whose " field is the 
 world." 
 
 In its character, the monument is not less 
 unique than emblematical. It stands on the 
 identical spot where the haystack stood. As a 
 specimen of fine material and artistic sculpture, 
 it is strictly a Berkshire production, composed 
 of Berkshire marble quarried at Alford, and 
 wrought in the workshops of " The Berkshire 
 Marble Company." Its entire height is twelve 
 feet ; its shaft, cap, and base, square ; its surface 
 polished ; its color a silver-blue. It is sur- 
 mounted with a globe, three feet in diameter, 
 traced in geographical lines. On its eastern 
 face, and immediately below the globe, are 
 inscribed these words, " The Field is the World." 
 Then follows a similitude of the haystack, 
 sculptured in bas-relief, and encircled with these 
 words, " The Birthplace of American Foreign 
 Missions, 1806." And beneath this, appear the 
 names of the five young men who held the 
 prayer-meeting under the shelter of the hay- 
 stack. The maple-grove, amid whose cool 
 shadows we now stand, is the same grove from 
 which the five heavenly-minded young men 
 were driven by the impending rain-storm. 
 
200 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 This maple-grove, which has now become 
 ever memorable, is included within the bounda- 
 ries of Mission Park. The park contains ten 
 acres, and was purchased on account of its his- 
 torical interest, and made part of the domains 
 of Williams College. It is the design of the 
 friends of the college to embellish the park with 
 specimens of the trees and shrubs and flowers 
 of every foreign land to which missionaries 
 have been sent by the American Board, so far, 
 at least, as such specimens can be successfully 
 acclimated in this country. 
 
 When its embellishments have been perfected 
 Mission Park will become a place of delightful 
 resort, full of sacred memories, which will 
 accumulate and grow in interest with the lapse 
 of time. Every year will bring within its in- 
 viting precincts hundreds of pilgrims, and every 
 college commencement its missionary jubilee. 
 Then will Mission Park possess, not only an 
 attractive aspect, but a moral power which will 
 awaken a renewed zeal in behalf of missions. 
 And here may this consecrated monument, 
 which is so expressive of a highly interesting 
 fact in the history of missions, ever remain as 
 an educator of coming generations, and as a 
 landmark in the pathway of the citizen, the 
 student, and the stranger. And here let the 
 moral hero of the present, and of the future, 
 
MISSION MONUMENT: ITS DEDICATION. 201 
 
 stay his steps, and make still higher and holier 
 resolves. Nor let us of the present generation 
 forget that we have a great work still to accom- 
 plish in the moral field, a field which is as broad 
 as the earth, and in which we ought to renew 
 our diligence, feeling assured, that, with the 
 final triumph of truth, will come universal free- 
 dom, universal love, and universal brother- 
 hood. 
 
 It is due to Williams College to say that her 
 educational and Christian influences have ever 
 been directed by a benevolent and philanthropic 
 spirit, a spirit that burned on the prayerful lips 
 of Mills at the haystack, and which has inspired 
 with heroic zeal, in the cause of truth, thousands 
 of human souls throughout our western hemi- 
 sphere. Humble as the college may have been 
 in its infancy, time and the favor of Heaven 
 have made it a power in the land. In every 
 department of literature and of science it has 
 furnished mental giants, who have made their 
 mark in the world. In addition to this, it has 
 sent forth its thousands of faithful workers, 
 who are engaged, far and near, in pulling down 
 the strongholds of error, and in building up in 
 their stead towers of strength, founded on a 
 Christian basis. In its teachings of literature 
 and of science, it teaches those still higher and 
 diviner principles which give to man the graces 
 
202 NATURE AND CULTURE. 
 
 of a true manhood. In a word, its refining and 
 harmonizing influences are felt, not only by its 
 sons, but by thousands of others, the world over. 
 Few indeed, are the "men who have wielded a 
 more extensive influence for good, or contributed 
 more to the permanent value of our theological 
 literature, than the learned and venerated Pres- 
 ident of Williams College, Dr. Hopkins. 
 
 Though the world owes much more to the 
 efforts and vigilance of the faculty and trustees 
 of Williams College than it has ever acknowl- 
 edged, yet these patient, earnest, and hopeful 
 men will continue to work on in silence, still 
 inspired with the belief, that in casting " a 
 handful of corn in the earth, upon the top of 
 the mountains, the fruit thereof shall shake like 
 Lebanon." 
 

 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 LD 21A-50w-12 '60 
 (B6221 S 10)476B 
 
 .General Library 
 
 University of California 
 
 Berkeley 
 
YB 06841