LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. flap..--... §mm¥ 1* Shelf_3£i04-2- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. V Modern Spiritualism Laid Bare, UNMASKED, DISSECTED, Viewed from Spiritualists' Own Teachings, and from Scriptural Standpoints. What It Is ; What Its Influences ; To What It Leads ; And What Its Final End Will Be. Complete in Two Parts: Part Second being an Appendix to and continuation of Part First. Also containing Autobiographical Sketches of the LIFE OF THE AUTHOR, And of His Travels on the American Continent, The Holy Land, and in Europe. - Q \y I Addressed and Dedicated to His Son, By Dr, John Bourbon Wasson, Author of "The Land of Sacred Story,'' (Written while Exploring Egypt, Palestine, and Syria ; Revised while living at Rome) now Ready for the Press. Also of A Popular Treatise, published while Engaged in Practice— "The Family Guide to Homoeopathy." Also, " Homoeopathy Explained from a True Standpoint ; What It Is." "The Prntrl ._ Messenger," & c, & c. v^^^^X JUL 19 1887 >)' SAN FRANCISCO : Bacon & Company, Book and Job Printers, Comer Clay and Sansome Streets. 1887. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by DR. JOHN BOURBON WASSON, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. PREFACE. (In Brief.) The wisest man concerning whom we have any record, either in ancient or modern history, tells us that " There is nothing new under the sun," etc., and the Author of this little book, be- lieving this to be true, claims no originality in anything he may write, whether it relates to what he may have read or heard from others, or indeed what he may have seen with his own eyes, heard with his own ears, or even passed through, either in the material or spiritual form, however startling, mysterious or strange, and spiritual or spirituelle, many of the things he is about to relate may indeed seem. Suffice it to say, in concluding this short preface, that all that will be found written in this book shall be facts, and veritable facts only — so far, at least, as the author's personal knowledge may be given — feeling deeply not only his personal responsi- bility to every reader into whose hands this may come, but his deep personal and individual responsibility to his Creator — God — also, in the last great day of final account. Respectfully and truly, THE AUTHOR. San Francisco, Cal., a d. 1887. INDEX. Preface 5 Introduction.., ,... 13 CHAPTER I. A Mysterious and Lonely Island ; A Strange Book taken from It, which tells of the Most Wonderful Visions, Revelations, and of Celestial Spirits or Beings in Another World ; Written many Centuries ago ; Has been Seen by Many, Read and Studied by Some, and but Little Understood by Any 15 CHAPTER II. False Teachings ; Some of the Beasts in the Apocalypse, representing Modern Spiritualism, Goddess of Liberty in the French Revolu- tion, her Nudity, and the Frenchman's Chickens without Feath- ers, Novel- Reading, etc., etc 19 CHAPTER III. Spiritualism, or "New Christian Science," so called, viewed from Scriptural Evidence, and their own Teachings ; The Touch- stone Applied 22 CHAPTER IV. Marriage, Free Love, Socialism, etc 29 CHAPTER V. Spiritualism and Spirit Teachings, as Testified to and Viewed by Spirit- ualists themselves, 32 INDEX. CHAPTER VI. The Politics of Spiritualists, which Combines Church and State, all to be Controlled entirely on Spiritualistic Principles, such as Taught in the preceding Chapters, and which is to Crush out and Break in Pieces all Present forms of Government 36 CHAPTER VII. Questions for the leaders in the New Government ; to be answered freely, without Mental Reservation, and Subscribed to Promptly, as a test of Qualification ., 42 CHAPTER VIII. The dreadful doom awaiting those who shall oppose the New, or Celes- tial government, or revile and scoff at Modern Spiritualism. They must speedily be brought to the altar of human sacrifice, after un- told, fearful calamities have come upon them. An awful retri- bution awaits those who oppose " Spiritual Communion.". .... 44 CHAPTER IX. The Common Evidence of Spirits unreliable as to Identity, either in Character, Age, Sex, Origin, or Future Condition, or whether Human or Animal ; all depending, no doubt, upon the Astuteness and yEstheticism of the Developing Medium in the occult and mysterious Science and Art 47 CHAPTER X. The Old and New Testament Scriptures all clearly Declare against Spiritualism, and its Teachings can Nowhere be Found in the Bible. The Subject carefully Examined, Weighed in the Balance, and found Wanting. " To the Law and to the Testimony; if They [the Spirits] Speak not According to the Word, it is Because there is no Light [or Truth] in them." — Isaiah 8 : 20. Also, I John 4:1, " Beloved, Believe not Every Spirit, but try the Spirits, whether they are of God for Many false Prophets are Gone out into the World." 55 INDEX. CHAPTER XL Miracles and Wonders claimed by Spiritualists. The voice of God against consulting Familiar Spirits pointed and plain. Unclean Spirits described. Texts of Scripture claimed by Spiritualists, to prove their Doctrines s 62 CHAPTER XII. King Saul, the Witch of En-dor, and Spirit of the Prophet Samuel, when Shown Up in the True Light, Prove Nothing in Favor of Spiritualism, neither does the Spirit which Eliphaz Saw, when its True Character is Brought to Light 7] CHAPTER XIII. The Spirit which Eliphaz, the Temanite, Saw, Job. 4 : 12, 21. Its Character for Truth Questioned. The Angel which Balaam's Ass Saw, and the Voice with which It Spoke, Considered. Also, Moses and Elias, on the Mount of Transfiguration 79 CHAPTER XIV. Spiritualism a Demonstrated Fact. Its General Nature and Character as Taught, and Believed, and Practiced, Dissected and Laid Bare. 86 CHAPTER XV. Being a continuation of Chapter XIV 95 CHAPTER XVI. Influences of Spiritualism on the Human Mind, and What it Leads to in its Final Results 101 CHAPTER XVII. The Divinity of Christ. His Resurrection, Miracles, etc., Viewed from a Christian Standpoint, in Contradistinction with Spiritual- ism and its False Teachings 103 IO INDEX. CHAPTER XVIII. The Age in Which we Live, Viewed in the Light of Prophecy and its Closing Scenes 108 CHAPTER XIX. Continuation of Subject of Preceding Chapter, Further Showing the Vivid Imagination of Spiritualism, Together with a Narration of the Author's Personal Experience on the Subject 119 CHAPTER XX. Subject of last Chapter continued, with Spirit Manifestations Dis- closed 124 CHAPTER XXL A brief History of the Origin, Development, and Rapid Progress of Spiritualism, and the Alarming Attitude it has Assumed, etc 132 CHAPTER XXII. What the Author Thinks he Believes, and What he Thinks he Does Not Believe about Some Things. Addressed to Every Reader, Personally 139 DR. J. B. WASSON IN PALESTINE. INTRODUCTION. In presenting this volume to the public, the Author does so without the usual form and stereotyped apology, such as " deep- ly feeling his utter incapacity or inability, etc.,'* to grapple with the subject before him, for he feels nothing of the sort, but rather to deal candidly and tersely with facts as they present themselves to his mind, remembering the old maxim, Que iex- cuse, s 1 accuse (He who excuses himself, accuses himself) ; feel- ing the better enabled to do so after much study, careful inves- tigation, and deep research, together with the advantages of much travel and extensive acquaintance in different countries, and close observation, endorsed by long personal experience in many ways, often the most mysterious and strange that could possibly happen to any one in the body, or in mortal flesh ; and this, too for a full quarter of a century, as he desires to give a brief auto- biography of himself, which will be found in the closing chapters of this book, and which may be read perhaps with both interest and profit before perusing this work further, if the reader pre- fers to do so. In this autobiography will be found reminiscences and many incidents related of the most interesting character to any one who takes the trouble to read ; which often appear more like tales of fiction or romance than real or personal history ; and however startling or mysterious and strange many of these nar- rations may appear, during a life of more than half a century 14 INTRODUCTION. which the author has passed through — often the most checker- ed and eventful — and during his travels and residence in the United States and on this Continent, as well as many travels in Europe, in the far East or Orient, as well as scenes and incidents related, which transpired while traveling in those countries and living in some parts of them, as well as his residence in Rome, etc., yet every word is true as truth itself, or as actual history can be written. And all the writer would ask, further, is that the reader will at once lay aside all prejudice, either for or against the subject, and study and read carefully this small treatise for the purpose of becoming more enlightened, as well as edified and instructed in this great and wonderfully mysterious and strange phenome- non — Spiritualism— which lies before him, and which has raised up its hydra-heads, even like unto those "great and dreadful and terrible beasts," with their many heads and horns, etc., such as Daniel and John the Revelator speak of in the Prophecies, Revelations and Visions, which will be explained in the most clear, succinct and pointed manner in connection with this, so far as relates to the subject before us. modern Spiritualism Laid Bare. CHAPTER I. A Mysterious and Lonely Island ; A Strange Book taken from It, which tells of the Most Wonderful Visions, Revelations, and of Celestial Spir- its or Beings in Another World ; Written many Centuries ago ; Has been Seen by Many, Read and Studied by Some, and but Little Un- derstood by Any. Having been carried away at one time in mortal vision to a most desolate, rocky, bare, and lonely island, which is only about eight miles in length, and but one in width, and eighteen in circumference, surrounded by the ^Egean Sea, and which is now called " Patmosa," also "Patimo." And on viewing this little, lonely, barren isle, thus cut off from humanity's reach, we find it, as we have said, desolate and uninhabited by living man, save one small town only. And yet it still has its charms, which memory never can ef- face so long as this earth stands ; for, permit me to tell you, kind reader, this little spot to which we refer, has a halo hang- ing round and over it, such as time itself can never obliterate or blot from the memory of millions who now dwell upon earth, as well as multiplied millions who have lived in ages past. " But what place," the reader is ready to ask, " is this, and where can it be, which is of such wonderful importance?" " We are anxious to know more about it, unless you have start- 1 6 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. ed out with some old story of romance dressed up in new cloth, or some silly tale of fiction." We assure you, it is neither, as you shall presently see, but a fact founded on truth, which has stood for more than eighteen hundred years, and continues so to stand, as firm and unshaken as the everlasting hills, and Rocky Mountain chain which crosses this Continent of ours, dividing the East from the West. And now, what we are about to further tell you is well au- thenticated history, which has been believed, and is still be- lieved by millions of people at the present day, many of whom have been, and are still, among the best men and women, too, and the best minds of the age in which they now live or have ever lived. But to return again to the lonely isle of which we have spok- en, and give very briefly a more minute description, which may not be uninteresting to the reader, before we pass on to further notice of the subject before us. This little sad and lonely, but sacred, spot to so many, we have said is surrounded by the iEgean Sea, off the coast of Asia Minor, between the Island of Icaria and the promontory of the Island of Miletus, which juts out into the great sea ; and the small town to which we have already referred, being the only inhabited site, stands perched upon a high, rocky mountain, rising up abruptly out of the sea also. About half way up this mountain on which the town is built, there is to be seen a natural grotto in the rock (usually called a cave). In this lonely cave, some eighteen hundred years ago, dwelt an aged man, who had been banished thither to this lonely spot by the wicked decree of a certain heathen Emperor MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 1 7 and tyrant, whose name was Domitian. At the time of this ban- ishment (of course, for the remainder of his lifetime) this harm- less old man, for such he was, and holy also, had already arrived at about the age of 94. And it would be reasonable to suppose that at so great an age he would certainly not live very long upon this barren isle and in that lonely cave, and that he had no doubt already become very decrepit and feeble. But such was not indeed the case, for, as we will tell you fur- ther on, he not only lived to escape from that lonely spot to which he had been banished, even after the death of the in- famously vile tyrant who had thus doomed him, but the truth is — and you know truth is often stranger than fiction — this old man, while there on that island, and in that lonely cave, and on a certain day, saw some of the most mysteriously strange and wonderful sights, as well as saw, and even talked with and held intercourse with Celestial beings or Spirits in another world. But just how long these communications were kept up, or he was permitted to behold the wonderful visions which he saw, this ancient record does not exactly tell us ; but it was long enough, however, for him to write a book, telling us what he did see and hear, that had been indelibly stamped and fixed on the tablets of his memory, never to be forgotten. And al- though eighteen centuries have passed since then, during which new continents have been discovered, new empires established, and again crumbled and fallen to decay, and new governments and kingdoms, more than we can now mention, have been set up, only to endure for a time, and then moulder and lapse back again into oblivion, yet this marvelous book of spirit com- munications and visions and revelations still stands out in bright and living characters, as does its aged Author in the 1 8 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. hearts of all who have ever read and believed his writ- ings. And perhaps stranger still to very many, as it will no doubt seem, it is even believed by some, who may perhaps be more credulous than others, that this same Author, although he wrote so many centuries ago, still lives here in mortal flesh, and walks this same earth of ours. And be not startled, gentle reader, when I tell you further- more, that this belief, however strange it may seem, is enter- tained by some of the best and most earnest Christian minds who live to-day, as well as many who have lived in long ages past. But where, where, you are ready to ask, do they get even so much as a scintilla of proof, for what, perhaps, you may be pleased to call sheer nonsense. But be not overamazed when I tell you further, that they are not only earnest, intelligent Chris- tian men and women who believe this, but they also believe and accept the whole inspired word of God, and earnestly and conscientiously try to obey its commands; and from those Scriptures they derive, at least, a part of their evidences for so believing that this wonderful man of whom I have just spoken still lives and walks this earth, as I have said, in his mortal body. And now, to conclude this chapter briefly, just as we purpose this whole book shall be — some who read this are, no doubt, ready to ask who this strange and mysterious person of whom we have been speaking can be ; and also the name of the book ; and when I tell you that his name, and the name of the book also, is as familiarly known to every reader and student of the Bible as your name is to you, I have simply stated a fact, which hardly needs to be dwelt longer upon. MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 1 9 CHAPTER II. False Teachings ; Some of the Beasts in the Apocalypse, representing Mod- ern Spiritualism, Goddess of Liberty in the French Revolution, her Nudity, and the Frenchman's Chickens without Feathers, Novel- Reading, etc., etc, In the Gospel of New Testament Scriptures by Matthew, 24th chapter, Christ tells his disciples, " That in latter days there will arise false Christs and false prophets, which shall de- ceive the very elect, if it were possible." And that apostle, " the beloved John," in his Apocalyptic vision, tells us he saw " three unclean spirits like frogs come up out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophets," and adds, l: They are the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world" etc. . And the inspired and marvelously gifted, illustrious Apostle Paul, in one of his epistles, tells us that " in the last days peril- ous times shall come," and mentions characters, the most des- perately infamous and vile, who shall arise, ' ' having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof," etc. Telling us, " from such to turn away," for this sort, said he, " are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly wo- men, laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (See II Tim. 3 : 6.) But the reader is perhaps ready to ask, "What have we to do with the passages of Scripture referred to ? " And we an- swer, Nothing for the present, only to prove, so far as they serve 20 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. the purpose, just what age we now live in, and what Modern Spiritualism, so-called, is, when viewed from a Scriptural stand- point ; and just this, and nothing more. And that is simply to say, that when once stripped of its cloak, under which is concealed its infamously vile and corrupt teach- ings, that it stands forth to the gaze of every one as nude or naked and destitute of covering as did the Goddess of Liberty, which was none other than a notorious theatrical courtesan, and was exposed to the public gaze and admiration of those who led the French Revolution in Paris a century ago.* And that thus it is with Spiritualism, seemingly perfect in all its appointments and manifestations, and however subtle and * Or as bare of any covering as was the French chemist's chicken. He, having carefully formulated the substance of an egg, endeavored to hatch it out if possible ; and placing it in a suitable temperature for the purpose, he watched it with the most intense anxiety, day and night, for many days, when lo ! to his unspeakable joy he saw the bird, of whatever kind it might be, begin to peck through the shell, which he had also chemically prepared for the egg substance within, when soon the young fledgling (?) came out in perfect health, perfect in its formation, members and functions, though of nameless origin as to kind. And now, reader, can you conceive of a more wonderful achievement in mechanics, or in modern science and art, or even in chemistry, than the creation of living matter, which he had actually accomplished ? And in his esctacy of joy and de- light he came well nigh losing his wits. But imagine his dole- ful look, full of the saddest disappointment that can be conceiv- ed of, when behold, the bird which now stood before him made a feeble attempt to flutter its wings, when he discovered, for the first time, that his wonderful creation was entirely destitute of so much as even the sign of down or a feather, but stood be- fore him a naked, nameless, " What is it ! " Here we shall at once see that despite his almost unbounded science and genius, he entirely forgot to add the ingredients which compose feath- ers. MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 21 cunning it may unfold and present itself in its different garbs of seeming truth and light, so as "to deceive, even if it were possible, the very elect " of the faithful followers of Christ, yet, as one who has faith and trust in him and by his grace sustain- ing, and spirit so directing, we propose to show briefly before we are done with the subject before us, that this hydra-headed monster which has so recently appeared (as it would seem) and yet not so very modern in its origin as it would make believe, will have its feathers plucked from it, until it will stand before the world and its votaries, as unsightly and naked as did the French Atheistic, Communistic, Socialistic and Spiritualistic, fair Goddess in her nude state, or the chicken of the same begetting. This is not simply an idle boast or threat, engendered either through egotism or prejudice, as we shall certainly endeavor to give no place to either, or any similar weaknesses, so often seen and so prevalent either in book writing or the newspaper press of the day ; not to mention the insipid, silly nonsense in most of the sensational novels, and other yellow backed trash, with which all enlightened Christendom is now being flooded, and which are so loathsome, obscene, immoral, degraded and de- moralizing in their influences upon every reader of whatever age, but more especially upon the young of either sex. Strange indeed, in a land like this, a Christian land so called, where the most stringent laws should not only exist, but be en- forced for the suppression of this most dreadful evil, as well as for the suppression of distilling liquors, their sale under any pretext whatever, and all other similar vices and crimes. MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. CHAPTER III. Spiritualism, or " New Christian Science," so called, viewed from Scrip- tural Evidence, and their own Teachings; The Touchstone Ap- plied. The holy prophet Isaiah tells us to go — " To the law and to the testimony, and if they (the spirits) speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." — Chap. 8 : 20. And the beloved disciple and Apostle of our Saviour in 1st John 4:1, "tells the followers of the 'meek and lowly Naza- rene ' not to believe every spirit, but to try the spirits, whether they be of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world." And then in the two following verses he tells us just how we are to "try " them, and also gives us the certain evidences where- by we may always know just who and what they are. " Hereby know ye," says he, " the Spirit of God. Every spirit that con- fessed that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God ; and every spirit that does not this, is not of God, but is the spirit of Anti-Christ, which is now in the world" But some who read this, are now ready to ask : "Do not modern Spiritualists believe in Christ, and his divinity and hu- manity ? " We have thought they did ! The following, kind reader, is what they, the Spiritualists, their leading lights and teachers, tell us about that. "He {Christ) was the natural son of Joseph" — a bastard — " No more the Son of God than you or I." " He did no mira- cles." " No matter about Christ and him crucified — dead bodies MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 2$ are of little consequence." In brief, preach a living Christ ; Christ incarnate in our present humanity. Christ as the Christ principle. " Love, truth, wisdom, the great redemptive powers of the universe." " I do not believe Jesus Christ was any more the Son of God than you are." I believe he was divine and human too. " So are you ; I should pity you exceedingly if I believed otherwise." In answer to the question, " By what right do Spiritualists, and those intelligences said to be Spirits of our departed friends, ignore the doctrine of the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ our Saviour ? " an intelligent Spirit responds, " He takes it for granted that Spiritualists and Spirits have no belief in the literal resurrection of the body of Jesus." And in point of fact, so far, he is only consistent ; for in the first place, it is contrary to all known laws such as relate to nat- ural or spiritual law. But this spirit goes further, and says : " That such a man lived, that he died a natural death, that he was resurrected as all souls are, we fully believe ; but that he rose from the dead, bodily or physically, after having been ab- solutely dead, without having come under the rule of nature and its laws, we deny. We deny it because it is untrue, because everything in past history declares it to be untrue, and he whose senses are so benighted as to believe it, is to be pitied, and there are many such on earth today." What a startling revelation is here given in this above closing sentence, namely : that there are actually many on earth, even at the present day who do indeed believe in the literal resur- rection of Christ's body. And only think of it, Christian reader, that you and I, and all who are so benighted and ignorant as to thus believe, are " to be pitied." But this wise spirit does 24 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. not tell us he does really pity us, but only says we ought to be pitied. Let us, however, follow their infinite and unbounded wisdom, a little further. u Christendom directs us to a man- who lived 1800 years ago, as having in himself a power to heal all the wounds inflicted on the human soul, by violation of the laws under which it (the soul) exists. * * * Nature points to God in our souls. The Bible says, " Look to Jesus on the Cross." Nature says, " Look to your own soul." The Bible says, *' Seek and find eternal life in the blood of Christ." Nature says, "Seek and find it in obedience to the laws of your own soul, that primeval revelation of which every human being has a copy." " Every substance endowed with life, is endowed with an in- herent power of healing." " Every man and woman may be, ought to be, a Savior, a Lamb of God, to take away the sins of the world." (The above are the inspired teachings of one H. C. Wright, a leading light in modern spiritism.) Concerning the atonement, another great leader (S. I. Finney) says, " All nature gives this doctrine in the face the lie." " The sins of a whole race forgiven, blotted out, in the blood of a reformer ! It is awful ! Faith in a living and suicidal God ? What natural relation has the blood of the righteousness of Christ to a man's sins, actually committed ? Can that blood wash out those sins ? No!" Death and the resurrection. On these subjects, the Spirits, through their mediums, the Spiritualists, boldly assert that it is well to repeat, in the most emphatic manner, "There is no death! but instead thereof, there are perpetually unfolding lives." "All descriptions of the resurrection of the body are so many fic- tions." MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 25 " The resurrection of the body is a physical impossibility and a mental absurdity." So much for the foregoing, concerning the JVazarene, the ' Savior of 'sinners ,' the 'Son of the living God,' upon which, however, we will not stop now to comment. But reader, whoever you are, whether Christian, saint or sinner, in- fidel, Spiritualist or heathen, let me earnestly ask you to pause just here for a few moments, before reading further, and seri- ously ask yourself the question : " What can all these things mean, anyhow, and how are we to understand them ? " Think, I say, on these things — even here in this enlightened, Christian land of ours, with all the intelligence, education, re- finement and literature, and the wonderful and indeed marvel- lous developments in this, the last half of the nineteenth cen- tury — even here, on this Continent of ours, without going abroad to see or contemplate this hydra-headed monster in the alarm- ly rapid progress which it is making in other lands. You will read in the obituary notices of their papers the fol- lowing, when speaking of persons who have died : He or she 41 passed on, to dwell with kindred spirits " ; " ascended to Spir- it life " ; " passed over the river to rest with the Angels " ; "" Death is a misnomer, as her radiant, uprisen glory proves, be- yond all doubt." In answer to a question, " What new truths Spiritualism has given to the world," the answer is, " Here is one. There is no death. All nature throbs with life ; throughout the boundless domain of the universe, nothing dies. No other system or re- ligion has ever announced so g r and and inspiring a truth as this, therefore it is one of the new truths Spiritualism has given to the world." — W. F. Jamison. An eminent Christian minister, a personal friend of ours, and 26 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. an able exponent of the true Christian religion (name, T. W. Smith), now doing a great missionary work on the island of Ta- hiti, and to whom we acknowledge our indebtedness for many of the compilations here given, pertinently remarks, that " The above statement is hardly a new truth or false statement either, for it is a very old sentiment, uttered by the first inspirational medium, in the garden of Eden ; even the serpent, who, in con- tradiction to the word of God, had said to Adam and Eve, in case they should transgress, ' Thou shalt surely die ' ; but the inspirational serpent said, £ Thou shalt not surely die, but shall ■ be as gods," etc. And so we find these Spiritualists today, who have no doubt taken their inspirational teachings from the same source, viz., the Father of lies, and are now simply rehashing the same old story over again, which Satan, the Prince and ori- gin of all modern Spiritualism, then put into the mouth of the serpent, on the above occasion. As for sin ; they tell us 1 There is no such thing ' ; ' no future judgment ' ; ' Man is being judged by his own conscience.' ' All the judgment bar we shall ever appear before is the inherent sense of right.' ' What- ever is, is right.' ' Man is his own judge.' ' The most despicable passions of men, their excesses, their vices and their crimes, often forward more certainly the good ca?tse than the endeavors of the virtuous man, who will never do evil that good may come? ' There are greater uses in sin than in holiness.' 'The vital spark of Christianity is no less in the heart of the sinner than it is in the heart of the saint.' ' There is no merit in what the world calls, religion, and there is no demerit in what the world calls irreligion.' 'No one church has a truer religion than any other church (this: of course includes the Mohammedan, etc.), and all the other churches have no truer religion than the great church of sin- MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 27 ners with which all men, if not visibly, are invisibly connect- ed.' " Reader, pause a moment, and consider the foregoing sen- tences ; analyze carefully, and then ask yourself the question, If indeed anything more corrupt, more infamously vile, degrading, dreadful, and desperately wicked could possibly come from the lowest depths of the bottomless pit. And yet all these teach- ings are promulgated and accepted by highly educated, intelli- gent men and women not a few. Indeed, they are only consistent with the whole fabric, warp, and woof of modern Spiritualism, modern Scientists, etc., at the present day, such as Huxley, Tyndall, and others, all of whom borrowed their faint shimmerings of light from the late Darwin and his teachings, and to whom may be added the lesser lights, such as Bob Ingersol. And in mentioning Ingersol's name among others — for I can barely take time to mention it in this short treatise — I am reminded to remark that I have sometimes wondered how many out of the vast multitudes of Christian thousands who have crowded the halls all over our own country, and paid their dollar for the privilege of listening to this gifted, bold blasphemer, and foul-mouthed, profane orator vilify " Mr. Moses," pointing out his (Moses') mistakes; hurl his wicked anathemas at the Bible and its Author, against Jesus Christ, the great teacher, and against all Christianity in general, of whatever name. I ask and wonder how many of these profes- fessing Christians on such occasions, when clapping their hands, cheering in rapt admiration at such gifted eloquence, knew, or even yet know, that Bob Ingersol is a bright and shining light among modern Spiritualists, and believes their doctrine and teachings with all his mind and soul. But this, indeed, is sim- 28 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. ply true, whether generally known outside of the brotherhood of Spiritualists or not.* * Under the head of " Christian Science," a new healing method has been recently introduced and suggested as an "Eastern Idea," the sum of which- is that health — physical, mental, and moral — is something everyone can acquire, through instruction and practice in the laws of divine mind, i. or a Spirit, com- ing up out of the earth, but Gods. But Saul perceived that it was Samuel. "Just the same." But how did he know it? This is the question we want some highly enlightened, and educated Spiritualist to answer, for we are compelled to con- fess, just here, we really have but little means, otherwise, of knowing this fact, if fact it was indeed. Saul's mind, as we have already said, and everyone ought to know, from the very nature of the circumstances, was in a most dreadful state of suspense and anxiety, and doubtless had been so, perhaps for some days, until he had become completely worn down, both physically and mentally ; and having his whole mind, as we also already remarked, completely absorbed and fastened upon, the one idea only, viz : that of seeing the spirit of Sa??tuel ; it was therefore but an easy matter in his then condition, to even see Samuel himself, in bodily form, for the record tells us that he perceived it was Samuel, and says nothing about its being the spirit of Samuel. And that is just what the old witch herself had told him she saw too, viz : "An old man cometh up/' etc. Men often see wonderful sights, under certain trying circum- stances. I, myself, have ; and some men, when bordering on delirium tremens, have actually seen snakes coiled up in the decanter from which they were about to take another fatal draught, and have, with trembling hand, started back in amaze- ment and horror at the sight ; and others also have felt and seen them in their boots, and so shook them out, and then ran away, to escape them. Such things are of daily occurrence, and a disordered mind is capable often of seeing, hearing, and believing anything. But to the question again : Was it Samuel Saul saw, or his 78 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. voice that he heard! And do Spiritualists themselves, who make this passage of Scripture one of their very strongest supports, believe it? And why not! Do they believe and teach that dead bodies or their Spirits ascend up from the ground, or come up out of earth. Oh, no, no / Then we at once see that if this case proves anything at all for Spiritualists, it proves entirely too much, and hence just nothing at all. And just here we might rest the case as it is, were it not that we desire to add a few more brief remarks fur- ther, viz : that whilst we have not denied that Saul, and the old witch, too, both saw and heard all he claims to have seen and heard, yet we do deny that it was either the body, or spirit, or the deceased body's spirit of Samuel which Saul saw. And we deny it on the grounds that the record is pointed and clear, that Saul had already sold himself to the devil, and was now fully and entirely under his control ; and that he — the devil — as we have already said, had arranged the whole affair for Saul, and was there present on the occasion, managing the whole seance to suit himself, and doubtless taking much delight in it, too ; and, as the Scriptures tell us he can transform himself even into an " angel of light," that it was the simplest matter imag- inable for himself personally, or one of his spirits, to imperson- ate the body or spirit of the prophet Samuel, as well as imitate his voice, and so managed the whole diabolical affair to their full content. And now, if any Spiritualist can make anything more or better out of this little seance, they are entirely wel- come to it, and can take the case. MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 79 CHAPTER XIII. The Spirit which Eliphaz, the Temanite, Saw, Job. 4 : 12, 21. Its Char- acter for Truth Questioned. The Angel which Balaam's Ass Saw, and the Voice with wkich It Spoke, Considered. Also, Moses and Elias, on the Mount of Transfiguration. In the Book of Job, 4 :i2, 21, Eliphaz tells us : "A thing was secretly, or by stealth, brought to him," etc. And in thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon him, and trembling, which made all his bones to shake. "Then," said he, "a spirit passed before my face ; the hair of my flesh stood up. It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof; an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice saying : ' Shall man be more just than God, or shall man be more pure than his Maker ? Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants, and his angels he charged with folly,' " etc. Any one, on reading the above, will at 'once see that it is very probable that Eliphaz had been suddenly roused up from some terrible dream, superinduced, perhaps, by a heavy supper, which had occasioned a violent attack of " nightmare," and in this perturbed state of mind, he beheld the Spirit to which he alludes ; and being, no doubt, of a rather visionary and nervous temperament, naturally, it is only reasonable to suppose that he would be dreadfully frightened at what he saw. And, we may add, such things, indeed, often occur to men, and women, too. We speak not only from a general knowledge, but actual expe- rience also, for we have passed through just such or similar sensations, and know just what the effect is. 80 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. But what was it that Eliphaz saw ? Was it a Spirit, as Spir- itualists claim it to have been ? And if so, of what form, and to what sort of creature, when in the body, did it belong ; and what was its character — true or false, good or bad ? Eliphaz first tells us, after he had become dreadfully fright- ened, "scared," as the general expression is, out of his wits ; he then "saw a spirit pass before his face," which, after "fear and trembling" had already seized upon him, so as to "make all his bones to shake," now caused " the hair of his flesh to stand up." "It," he says, "stood still," but he "could not discern the form thereof." And he next tells us " an image was before his eyes," etc. There can be no doubt, from the record here given, that the mind of Eliphaz was in a state of great confusion during his dreadful fright. So that this spirit, or image, or spi- rit and image, both combined, whatever it was, kept its forin concealed from him, so that he could not tell just how it looked, or what it looked like, whether like Angel, mortal man, dragon, demon, or what not. Neither does he tell us what kind of voice it had, or how ic sounded. But he does tell us what it said ; and just here we are compelled to protest against its not having spoken truth, when it said, " God puts no trust in his servants," etc., and " his angels he charged with folly," for he does no such thing as not trust his servants, and charge his an- gels with folly. So, if this was a Spirit which Eliphaz saw (or thought he saw), we see it was careful not to display its form before him, so that he might " discern " what manner of crea- ture, or Spirit, it was ; whether of human form, demon, dragon, or Satan, and moreover was a lying Spirit, as we think we have clearly shown. Therefore we see, as in the foregoing chapter, concerning Saul and his Spirit intercourse, that if the above MODERN SPIRITUALISM^. LAID BARE. 8 1 proves any for Spiritualism, it also proves too much, again ; and as we cannot endorse its moral character, whatever kind of Spi- rit or demon it may have been, we are also willing that the Spi- ritualists should have the benefit of it, likewise, the same as the spirit of the Witch of En-dor. The next and only passage of Scripture we shall notice at this time, in the Old Testament par- ticularly, is the one in Numbers, 22 : 26-34, which reads as fol- lows : " And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the Princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went ; and the angel of the Lord stood in the way, for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his drawn sword in his hand, and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field ; and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her in the way. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side and on that side. And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself into the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall ; and he smote her again. And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn, either to the right hand or to the left. And when the ass saw the an- gel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam ; and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Ba- laam : ' What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times ? ' And Balaam said unto the ass : ' Be- cause thou hast mocked me. I would there were a sword in my hand, for now would I kill thee.' And the ass said unto Balaam, 'Am I not thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden 82 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. ever since I was thine unto this day ; was I ever wont to do so unto thee ? ' And he said, ' Nay.' Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand ; and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the Lord said unto him : ' Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times ? Behold, I went out to withstand thee, be- cause thy way is perverse before me; and the ass knew me, and turned from me these three times ; unless she had turned from me, surely now, also, I would have slain thee and saved her alive.' And Balaam said unto the angel, ' I have sinned,' " etc. We have been careful to give the narration of this wonderful incident, as we find it recorded, for the reason that it is the only one of the kind, in which the human voice was ever given to a dumb, brute beast ; except in the case of the seven-headed and ten-horned beast, spoken of in Daniel, and Revelations. In the above narration, we are told, that an angel appeared before man three distinct times, even with a drawn sword in his hand, yet invisible to his natural eyes ; whilst he was distinctly seen, and feared, and shunned, by the animal upon which Balaam rode, until at length it fell to the ground through actual fear, and then spoke with the voice of man, which had been given to it, reasoning, and pleading intelligently, in its own defense, when the eyes of the wicked prophet are suddenly opened, and he too sees the angel, and talks with him. It is interesting to the Bible student, on reading all that is said concerning this wicked prophet Balaam, who is also called a soothsayer, that whilst he had it in his heart to go to Balak, King of the Moabites, and curse the children of Israel, for the reward which he might receive at the hands of Balak, and had indeed start- MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 8$ ed on that very errand, regardless of the express command of God, that he should not go and curse them ; yet, afterwards he went, and whilst on the way, we have already shown from the record what happened to him ; and although he submits to the rebuke from the angel humbly, and no doubt, in fear and trembling, after his eyes had been opened, as well as being greatly humbled by the rebuke from the beast upon which he rode, which had spoken with the voice of man, yet the angel suffers him, now that he had started on his way, to go on with the Princes of Balak. But that " he would put words into his mouth," such as he, Balaam, should speak to Balak. And thus we see, that the very curses which Balaam had in his heart, against the people of Israel, were changed to blessings for them, by the interposition of the Lord. So that he could not have possibly uttered a single curse against them, even though it had been as he said, " Balak would give him a house full of silver and gold." For we see, that even after he went to Balak, he manifested every desire still to curse the Israelties, having chosen various positions from different summits, where he could look down on the vast fields of tents, as they spread out over the great plains in the valleys, for many miles around, and in the distance, with their two millions and a half, or three millions of occupants. He even had altars erected upon three different summits, seven altars at each place, with three bullocks and rams for a sacrifice, if peradventure, he might in- duce the Lord, to permit him to curse God's people. But every time he attempted to lift up his voice in curses, the words of great blessings and prophecies of wonderful things, for those he would have cursed, came into his mouth, in spite of himself, and all he could do to prevent them, while his curses 84 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. were against the Moabites of Balak's kingdom, every time he uttered his voice, until finally Balak became so disgusted and enraged, and " his anger was so kindled against Balaam,' that he smote his hands together, saying : '' I called thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them these three times. Therefore, now flee unto thy place \ I thought to pro- mote thee to great honor, but lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honor." And although he yet, even, endeavors to make peace with Balak, as he is about leaving him, yet he still could do no more than continue his prophecies and blessings, for the children of Israel, until he " rose up and went, and returned to his place, and Balak also, went his way." And now, will any Spiritualist attempt to explain, by what power Balaam was thus acted upon, and controlled, except by the miraculous power of the God of the Bible, who is a " God of miracles." The same observation will assuredly apply with equal force, as to genuine miraculous power, and manifestation, concerning the human voice in the mouth of the animal upon which Balaam rode, and the appearing of the angel with the drawn sword. Balaam, as we see, was not a prophet of God, nor was he indeed in favor with God, or in sympathy with God's people. Yet God made use of him, just the same, to serve his own holy and righteous purposes ; and when he had done that, when the final destruction of King Balak, and his mighty hosts came, Balaam was also destroyed with them. And thus we see the wonderful display of the Almighty power and wisdom and knowledge of God over the children of his creation ; and just so it was in the days of Pharoah, King of Egypt — God had raised him up for a purpose — and also Cy- rus, King of Persia, Alexander, Napoleon, and many others distinguished on earth. MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 85 And in this way his wonderful plans and ways and works in his unbounded wisdom are constantly being carried on, in all ages and from age to age. But when poor, short-sighted, fee- ble man, even though he be a " Modern Scientist," so-called, or infidel Spiritualist, and never so wise, claims to understand, and see, and know all, or even more than his Creator, God, to whom he owes allegiance and is debtor — for even every pulse that beats or breath that is drawn — we are compelled from the very nature of things to part company with such, and no long- er hold fellowship with him, until a change, at least, may take place in his moral views, and feelings, and teachings, if, indeed, we may ever hope for such. 86 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. CHAPTER XIV. Spiritualism a Demonstrated Fact. Its General Nature and Character as Taught, and Believed, and Practiced, Dissected and Laid Bare. As already intimated in preceding chapters, and plainly taught in a public lecture on the subject, we believe Spiritual- ism to be a demonstrated fact or reality. Of this, there seems to us, no reasonable doubt can exist in the mind of any one who has carefully studied the subject and investigated for him- self, so far, at least as relates to the phenomena of Spirit com- munications, per se, and in the abstract, being hidden, mysteri- ous, superhuman powers, which operate or act on the human media or mind, and perform marvellous deeds, and teach un- known facts — i. e., to us, at least — and tread the dark, intricate, serpentine meanderings of the past, even bringing to view events in our own history, such as may have been long forgotten by those who alone once knew of them. Of all this, I have said, there can be no reasonable doubt. Hence it is sheer folly, unjust and unwise, to cry out against it, calling it " nonsense," " deception," "jugglery," and a "stu- pendous fraud," as many do ; though we admit we have often seen considerable jugglery going on in seances and Spirit circles, which were not amusing, as well as being disgusting and ridicu- lous. And just here we are reminded to say, we at one time gave ourselves up quite, for some months, hunting after Spirit- ualism, investigating and trying to find out just what there was in it ; and we can hardly call it time thrown away either, though possibly it might have been devoted to a better purpose. We, however, learned some things we had not known before, MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 87 among which were, as already remarked, that all is not jug- glery, for there is, indeed, too much positive evidence, however much deception and fraud there may be, and doubtless is, mixed with it. And however mysterious and strange the facts, yet we do know that many of the signs and wonders claimed by Spir- itualists do indeed take place in hundreds of instances, and in hundreds of different places, and in the presence of hundreds and thousands of different persons, whose testimony must be accepted as valid, and who can have no other object in testi- fying to anything except the truth, that the manifestations which they see are real or do actually take place, or, at least, many of them do. But granting even this much to be true, it does not follow necessarily that those persons who thus behold " signs and won- ders " on such occasions, must either accept or endorse the claims of Spiritualists generally, concerning the character or prime origin of the powers which are thus operated and are seen to manifest themselves on such occasions. If because, forsooth, you see some juggler perform some slight-of-hand trick, or one of legerdemain, does it necessarily follow that you should be- lieve in the genuineness of it, or that it was indeed real, simply because you do not quite understand how it was done ? Surely not. Just so we find it in the matter of Spiritualism, which in the main and in a certain sense is the very head, front, and tail of all jugglery, sorcery, legerdemain and necromancy, and the quintessence itself of psychological and diabolical occult arts, which have been practiced in any age of the world's history, down to the present time. In our candid convictions, there can be no reasonable doubt of this \ and we have studied very 88 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. closely this whole question for at least a quarter of a century, and, perhaps, quite as much as most persons, not to have been finally led astray by its devilish cunning and subtlety. We might relate our own personal experiences and observa- tions, sufficient to make quite a volume alone, and which, to many w T ho may chance to read this, would no doubt be of in- terest, and perhaps no less strange than interesting. John, the 11 beloved " apostle, tells us to try the spirits, whether they be of God, and not to believe all of them. And he then gives us a certain test, whereby we may know the false from the true, or good from bad. (See I John, 4.) In Chapter IV of this book we have given you the general doctrines of Spiritualists, as taught from the polluted lips of many of their own leading lights, and, by referring again to this chapter, and then comparing the teachings of Christ and his Apostles, you will at once be able to draw the line clearly be- tween Christianity and Spiritualism, as taught and practiced. And " by their fruits ye shall know them." But if any one who may read this book has never investigated this dark and mysterious phenomena, in its many different phases, and there are certainly very many who never have — and far better, it may be, if they never will — but if they have any special desire to do so, and a fit opportunity presents itself, and you think you have sufficient mind and will power to resist its insidious, subtle machinations and fiendish influences, there might, perhaps, be no great harm to come from your so doing, and thus examine it for yourself, diabolical as it may be ; for, in point of fact, this would only be in compliance with the command of the Apostle, which we have already referred to. The Apostle Paul tells us, also, to prove all things, but " hold fast that which is good." MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 89 But when investigating, don't suffer yourself to be hood- winked, duped, and made a fool of, in believing all you either see or hear; or rather what you may even think you see and hear ; for if you do, you will very soon find yourself being "led by the devil, captive at his will." And then, the next thing you will know is that you have become/^/; lost to quite every- thing else that is pure and good, and have become totally blind- ed, both as to sight and reason, or in seeing, hearing and be- lieving anything else. Now we know what we have testified to as being true, and true altogether; and therefore warn you, " as though it were a voice coming, even as it were, from the world of Spirits," to take heed to what we have told you. The great question just here, however, to be considered, is, How shall we attempt to explain these psychologic and occult, or dark and mysterious, phenomena. We use the word dark, not inadvisedly, however impressive it may sound ; for all, or quite all, the performances of Spiritualists, as every one is aware, are done in the dark, for the very excellent reason, as we are to un- derstand, that their manifestations and developments will not bear the light. But why should this be so ? We infer simply from the fact, according to the prophet Isaiah, 8 : 20, as we have before quoted, " because there is no light in them." But the main question above, however, still remains unan- swered, viz, How are these things done ? Can it be by, or on the principle of, ''animal magnetism," clairvoyance or mesmer- ism, mind-reading, or any other such or similar influence exer- cised, or any other principle which may be brought to bear upon the human mind or will ? We think not ; for from obser- vation, and according to Spiritualists' own teachings, and as 90 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. their pretensions also plainly show, the medium is controlled by the Spirits, and not the Spirits by the medium, which, you will at once see, makes a very marked and material, not to say " Spiritual" difference. And at this point, it may be well to stop and reason a moment, for you see it is an interesting matter, and carries weight with it. All systems of faith and unbelief, as we have already remarked in a preceding chapter, should be met with rational and sensi- ble argument, and with fair and unbiassed criticism ; and not with ridicule, simply, nor with jibes, jeers and sneers ; neither with human fear of the dungeon, the rack, the faggot, or gibbet of the Inquisition, such as once existed ; the day for all these has passed, and as many believe and hope, never to return again. Then why not let us " speak out like men," not for the purpose of giving offense to our opponents, whoever they may be, but let our purpose be, rather, to convince them of error, if we indeed know them to be in error ; and on the subject which lies before us, we feel assured there can be no real or possible doubt, which we hope to be able to not only show, but clearly prove, before we are done with it. And our assumptions shall be corroborated, as we have already shown, by the infallible Word of God, and such Scripture evidences as cannot be gain- said or overthrown. And this we conceive to be only just and fair, in discussing the subject of Spiritualism, for, as all are aware, the Spiritualists themselves have already organized them- selves into a religious sect, and of course accept ( ? ) the teach- ings of the Bible ; just how much, and with what esteem, and veneration, and love, and reverence, for its Divine Author, we have already shown in Chapter "V, to which we would again re- fer the reader, as well as Chapter IV, on Marriage, Free Love, MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 9 1 Socialism, etc.; and Chapter III, also, on the " New Christian Science," etc. "Let us then," says Isaiah, "To the law, and to the testi- mony, and if they, (the Spirits) speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." And without reading or quoting, from texts and passages of Scripture in both Old and New Testament, of which there are perhaps more than a hundred, very many of which, Spiritualists themselves claim in proof of their doctrine, we will only cite the reader to a few ; and will here simply give references, to which the thoughtful reader can turn, under the head of Spirit intercourse exami?ied, beginning with Genesis 16: 7-18; 1: 2; 19: 1 \ Numoers 22:31; Judges 13 : 18 ; II Samuel 26 : 16 ; Daniel 3 : 28 ; 6 : 22 ; Zachariah 1:1954: 5; 6:4; Matthew 4:11; 28 : 5 ; Luke 1 : 11 ; 13 : 18 ; 19 : 28; 22 : 43 ; Acts 5 : 19; 8 : 26 ; 10:7; 12 : 7-9 ; 27 : 23 ; Rev. 1 : 1 ; and many others which might be given, all of which texts refer to Angels, or Spirits, which appeared to Abraham and his wife, to Lot, Jacob, Balaam, Manoah and his wife, to David, to the He- brew children, to Daniel, to Zachariah, to Zacharias, to Mary, to Christ, to women at the sepulchre, to Peter, Paul, Philip, Cornelius, and to John. The above are claimed, as we have said, as texts furnishing proof of Spirit Manifestations. And just here we would ask the reader, if it has ever occurred to him, that we are now liv- ing in the very days and age, as it were, of the Prophets and Apostles of past history ? So far, at least, as relates to Spirits and Spiritualism, in their manifestations, with perhaps, this simple difference, that in the present age, wicked Spirits only are seen and manifest themselves, and are to be seen everywhere, Q2 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. whilst the good Spirits are nowhere to be seen. And we can only attempt to explain this, or how it is, by alluding to the fact, for we believe it to be a fact, that the world is rapidly growing worse, becoming more ungodly, sinful, and wickeder, than perhaps, it has ever been before. We are aware that this is a very unpopular doctrine for us to claim or attempt to teach, for it is directly opposed, and in contradiction to the popular pulpit doctrine taught and preached, as well as to the spirit of the religious press generally. But we know whereof we testify, to this, a veritable truth, for we have for the past quarter of a century travelled over different continents, and the world gen- erally, and lived in different countries, making this subject, much of the time, our special study ; nor have our eyes and ears been closed from seeing and hearing the outgushings of vile corruption, and the most desperate wickedness, perpetrated continually, day by day, and night after night, every moment, every hour, throughout the length and breadth of Christendom, such as would seem could only originate, and. be concocted and enacted, by fiends from the bottomless pit ; even in this, our own fair land and country, and such scenes, too, as would even make the most benighted heathen, even cannibals and Hottentots, hide their faces, and blush for shame. If any one denies these things, we think it only necessary to refer him to a single city — and it matters but little which one — possibly the very town or city in which he lives may be taken to illustrate, as well as any other ; and if he will only search through its purlieus and vile dens of infamy, he will very prob- ably soon see sights enough and learn of deeds such as will make it " more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment " than for his own beautiful and flourishing city, MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 93 with elite society, and its millionaires of untold wealth, and with its fair name. But we need hardly take time here, nor is it just the place, in this short treatise, to prove further our declarations, however lamentable the facts may seem, and sad the contemplation, in this Christian land of ours. Some who read this, however, may feel a desire to press the subject a little further, and ask for even a single factor that is leading to the above results ; and we will give*one, and the very one> indeed, which we believe to be greatest of all, though it has its auxiliaries ; and that is, the ac- tual existence of the subject before us, with its baneful influences and results, viz : Modern Spiritualism and its concomitants, under the shape or form it has now assumed and is still daily developing into, the verity of which we may be better able to show as we pass on. But to return again to the passages of Scripture already re- ferred to, and which, as we have seen, are claimed by Spiritual- ists who do not entirely ignore the Bible and its teachings, as being in support of their doctrines. And just here we will ex- amine a little further and see whether or not, on applying the touchstone, their claims are indeed tangible and well established, and so made quite clear to our understanding. And we shall undertake to prove that they cannot be, because there is no proof from Scripture teaching, either in the Old or New Testa- ment, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revela- tions, of the doctrine which Spiritualists uphold, and upon which their whole " fabric of a baseless vision " is founded ; but bare assumption, unsupported by Scripture evidence, that any of these Angels or Spirits referred to were ever Spirits who once inhabited mortal bodies. It cannot be proven that they 94 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE, were ever in the flesh. And if Spiritualists want to undertake to prove by any other teachings than those of the Bible that they ever were, we will again cheerfully hand over the laboring oar and let them handle it to their full content. On the contrary, however, it can be proven that there is an order of higher intelligences — beings who were created and are constantly employed in the service of their, and our, Creator, God, and, in obedience to his holy commands, carrying mes- sages from heaven to earth, and performing acts at the behest of God for mortals here below, whilst tabernacling in the flesh. This, we have said, the Scriptures abundantly teach. MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 95 CHAPTER XV. Being a continuation of Chapter XIV. We have stated in the preceding chapter, that these higher intelligences, known as Angels, or Spirits from the heavenly world, appeared as men, unto men and women, and not only thus appeared in bodily form, but also ate and drank likewise. Modern Spiritualists, however, have not quite gone so far as this, we believe, yet ; though it will be perhaps about the next marvelous feat that they will accomplish at their materializing seances, for such things are said to have actually occurred in the days of the French Revolution, a century ago, for well au- thenticated history informs us, that Spirits in those days were not only produced, but " actually brought forward and seated at the table, and did eat with kings and emperors/' And as past history is only repeating itself from day to day, and will doubtless so continue till the end of the world, which we be- lieve is not far distant, why should not the same startling, and wonderful, and most extraordinary things, soon occur again even in this, our own land, such as occurred in those days of the French Revolution ? And just here, it may not, and doubtless will not, be unin- teresting to the reader, to briefly refer to some of the scenes, at least, enacted in those days. History informs us, that it was not enough for this regenerate, or degenerate nation, to have dethroned earthly kings, without also stretching out the arm of defiance towards those Powers, which superstition had represented as reigning over boundless g6 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. space. The constitutional Bishop of Paris was brought for- ward to play the principal part of the most impudent and scan- dalous farce ever enacted in the face of a National representa- tion, even to declare to the Convention a priestcraft, which had no foundation in either history or sacred truth. He disowned in solemn and explicit terms, the Existence of the Deity, to whose worship he had been consecrated, and therefore devoted himself, in future, to the homage of Liberty, Equality, Virtue, and Morality. He then laid on the table his Episcopal decorations, and received a most cordial embrace from the President of the Convention. Several other apostate priests followed the example of this prelate. And now, the world for the first time heard an assem- bly of men, born and educated in civilization, and assuming the right to govern one of the finest European nations, uplift their united voices to deny the most solemn truth which man's soul can receive ; and renounce unanimously the belief and worship of Deity. Intimately connected with this wonderful change in the religious as well as political aspect of the govern- ment, was that regarding the sacred compact of marriage. " And if fiends," the historian tells us, " had set themselves at work to discover a mode of destroying whatever is venerable, grace- ful, or good and permanent, in domestic life, and obtained at the same time an assurance that the mischief which it was their object to create should be from one generation to another, they could not have invented a more effectual plan than the degra- dation of marriage into a state of mere occasional cohabitation, or licensed concubinage. A celebrated actress, famous for her wit, facetiously described the republican marriage as " the sacrament of adultery." To MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 97 the above was added the following sentiments : " The fear of God is so far from being the beginning of wisdom that it is the beginning of folly. Modesty is only an invention of refined vo- luptuousness. The Supreme King, the God of the Jews and the Christians, is but a phantom. J^esus Christ is an impostor." Another writer says : " August 26, 1792, an open profession of Atheism was made by the National Convention and correspond- ing Societies, and Atheistical clubs were everywhere fearlessly held in the French nation. Then followed the Reign of Terror, and massacres the most horrid. The public declaration was that " God does not exist." The Bible was publicly burned ; the Sacramental vessels were paraded through the streets on an ass, in token of contempt. The Sabbath was abolished, and death was declared in conspicuous letters, posted over their burial places, to be an " eternal sleep." But the crowning blasphemy, if these orgies of hell permit of degrees, remained to be performed by a famous comedian, Mouvel, who as a priest of " illuminism," said : " God, if you exist, avenge your injured name : I bid you defiance ! You remain silent ; you dare not launch your thunders. Who, after this, will believe in your existence?" Some of the above wonderful sentiments have already been given in Chapter VI, as coming directly from the lips of leading Spiritualists, from which it seems that they have caught the greater part of their Spiritual inspiration from a care- ful study of French revolutionary History, and of Voltaire, its great progenitor, who first sowed the seeds which afterwards pro- duced their legitimate results. This bold blasphemer and avowed infidel, i» his most wanton self-conceit and egotism, had said: "I am weary of hearing peo- ple repeat that 'twelve men established the Christian religion.' 90 MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. I will prove that one man may suffice to overthrow it." And then, associating with himself such men as Rousseau, D'Alem- bert, Diderot, and others, he undertook it, with what success succeeding generations have already learned. They sowed to the wind, and the French nation afterwards reaped the whirlwind, which culminated in the French Revolu- tion of 1793, when the Bible was discarded, the Goddess of Reason enthroned in the form of a notorious dancing girl, having been brought before the Convention with a band of mu- sic in solemn procession, when her veil was withdrawn from over her entire person, leaving her in a perfect state of nudity, whilst she was embraced by the President of the Assembly, and then installed The Goddess of Reason, Liberty, Equality, Vir- tue and Morality, the very sentiments of which were trans- posed in such a manner as to mean the very opposite of their purport, as they were now inculcated and put into execution. Does it require any very vivid imagination to apply the forego- ing, as it relates to the French Revolution, in comparison with Modern Spiritualism and its kindred scions, viz : Anarchists, Communists, Socialists, Free Lovers, etc., and as taught and practiced by them ? But to return again more directly to the subject now before us. As we have already observed in a preceding chapter, many of these angels which were seen, and by some at times supposed to be Spirits, not only showed themselves in bodily form, such as men showing themselves to men, but also, in some instances, eating and talking as men. In Exodus 16 : 4, the Lord told Moses he would rain bread from heaven ; and David, in Psalm 78:25, tells us " it was Angels' food," so that we may infer they fed upon manna in MODERN SPIRITUALISM LAID BARE. 99 heaven. We read that two men appeared to Peter, James, and John at the transfiguration on the Mount, which were Moses and Elias, talking with Christ. Were these disembodied Spir- its ? Not a word is said ab^ut there being two Spirits appear- ing between or accompanied by two mediums. Will some Spiritualists explain how about this ? Spiritualists, who deny the resurrection of the body, and we know they do, can hardly be expected to believe that these two men, if they were indeed physically present, i. 4-) We regret we have no further time or space to pursue this profound and deeply interesting subject to greater length, but trust that enough has already been said in these and preceding pages to set some to thinking, at least, who have perhaps never before given this particular phase of the subject a careful and thorough investigation. And we now purpose closing these pages by adding a few more thoughts further, but very briefly, on The Final Destruction of the Wicked. Of Sin, Its Consequences, and Its Ultimate End. It is a fact so well known as hardly to need repetition, that nearly" or quite all " orthodox " teachings among the multiplied sects and denominations of different names have always main- tained, and still maintain and teach, the doctrine of eternal punishment for the wicked ; or, in other words, that they are to be cast into a lake of fire, to be burned, and there to burn and APPENDIX. 185 undergo the most dreadful tortures that can be conceived of, throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. And this doctrine we were taught to believe, and therefore did believe, from ear- ly infancy or childhood for forty years ; probably because we simply took it for granted, for the reason that very many oth- ers, and indeed quite all we knew, believed and taught the same. And this was, indeed, a very dreadful thing to thus think of and believe. But in later years, and after more careful thought and dili- gent research, and almost constant study of the inspired Word of God, and much earnest prayer for guidance and direction in the way of all truth, our mind has, indeed, been forced, as it were, not only to undergo a decided and marked change on this particular subject, but also on others of equal or, perhaps, even greater importance, concerning the actual and correct teachings of the sacred record. And now we most affectionate- ly invite the reader to let us carefully and impartially examine the subject for a few moments, with due regard to such texts of Scripture as we may find bearing upon it. And before pro- ceeding further, we will just here lay down the following prop- ositions, to be proven by plain Scripture teachings, as our premises : 1st. A day of judgment is to come at the end of the world, when the ungodly or wicked men and devils will be judged. 2d. Neither class are to be judged till then. 3d. It will take place on this earth ; and 4th. Then the wicked will be de- stroyed, and the earth restored as the abode of the righteous. All the above is not a new doctrine to us, but has been fully believed for many years, not only by us, but many others, while large multitudes of Christian men and women of today 1 86 APPENDIX. quite believe the same, but are somehow loath to acknowledge it, because it is not perhaps so popular as other doctrines taught on this subject. But let us at once to the proof. Acts 17 : 31 tells us that u God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world." And Jude 6 tells us " that fallen angels are reserved unto the judgment of the great day." In John 12 : 48, the Savior speaks of those who reject him, that shall be "judged in the last day." 2 Peter 3 : 7-10 and Rev. 20: n-16 also teach us plainly and show conclusively, that the judgment is at the end of the world, and in connection with the resurrec- tion, as well as the destruction of this world and of the wicked ; and such Scriptures can not be denied without denying the plain teachings of God's Word. And such are the teachings, and so plain that it would seem that even " the way-faring man though he be a fool, need not err therein," or in correctly un- derstanding, and yet, as we have already said, the doctrine has been and still continues to be taught, that wicked men go to hell at death, and Christians go to heaven. And, then, as we have already shown, we have the strange spectacle of the wicked afterwards coming up from hell, and the righteous from heaven, to be judged, and then sent back again to their pun- ishment or reward. Could there be anything more inconsist- ent than this ? Think of it ! Send a man to a place of pun- ishment for guilt, before he has had any trial or been sentenced. What would be thought of such a court or high tribunal even in our land ? Nor is one word of any such doctrine taught in the Bible. In 2 Peter 2:9, we are told that "the unjust are reserved unto the day of judgment to be punished." Rev. 11:15-18 tells us " after the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdom of Christ." the time then arrives or has ar- APPENDIX. 187 rived, when is " the time of the dead that they shall be judged." And Jude 6 reads : " And the angels which kept not their first estate, he hath reserved in chains of everlasting darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." The general doctrine also taught is, that the devils are now already undergoing their punishment together with other wicked spirits, somewhere in a place called hell. But if so, how comes it that many, as we have every reason to believe and know, are now getting in their devilish work throughout the length and breadth of the land, and just as Christ found when he came upon earth eighteen centuries ago, when they were heard to call out and say : " Art thou come to torment us before the time 2 v (Matt. 8 : 29.) Can the devils be in hell and be allowed to come out and traverse this earth, committing their hellish deeds, and then again return at will, or as they will ? See what inconsistency. By turning to Matt. 25, and reading from the 31st to 46th verse, we learn that even while many righteous are unexpect- edly to receive their heavenly reward, the wicked will quite as unexpectedly be sent to hell to receive their reward. Can we believe that they have been there all these 1800 years, and not have found out till Christ comes with his holy angels to judge the world, that they are lost 2 Surely, if they have been in such a place all these long centuries, they would have known ere this their eternal doom. Read the 20th chapter of Revelations, and we learn that "after the sea and the earth give up their dead to be judged," that then, or after that, " the wicked go into the lake of fire" But where is this lake of fire ? Proverbs, 11:31, teaches that "the righteous shall be recompensed in [on] this earth, much more 1 88 APPENDIX. the wicked&nd. the sinner? " Ah," says the Univetsalist, " that's my doctrine; that suits me." But is it? And does it? Let us see. First, you claim that all men of every class get their reward in this life as they go along, and deny future punishment The text does not say they shall be 7-ecompensed in this life, and in the next all get honie together. Not one word of this. But the time of recompense is in the life to come, and the wicked and the sinner "much more" (abundantly). And as we are taught and shown, as in Rev. 20, and Peter 3, hell is to be on (or in) this earth ; the wicked will no doubt find out all about it when the time comes. See II Peter 3, and in 13th verse look for " new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righ- teousness." "Behold, the day cometh which shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble, and the day cometh that shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch" (Mai. 4:1.) We need add no comment here ; all is plain and positive, without any spiritualizing. It is here plainly shown that the utter destruction of sin and sinners takes place in the last great conflagration, when the trail of the serpent has been destroyed, and the earth made a fit abode for the righteous. No figura- tive fire of a "guilty conscience" is here spoken of; not a word of it anywhere to be found in the Bible. The fire which con- sumes the wicked also "destroys the world and melts the ele- ments." Simply a guilty conscience can never purify this sin- cursed earth ; for " the wages of sin is death." As we have before shown, numberless texts speak of the wicked being "destroyed by fire." They shall perish." Does APPENDIX. 189 "perish " mean live forever in torment ? " They shall be as ashes? etc.: "shall be consumed? etc. But just here we are met by the objector, who tells us " they are to burn with un- quenchable fire." Does an unquenchable fire burn forever? Should your house or barn be set on fire, it would only continue to burn till it was consumed, unless you were to quench the fire by water or any other possible way. Therefore, such would be an unquenchable fire till it finished its work, " forever and ever." And so with the fire which shall consume the wicked, because no one can quench it. And so the wicked, says Obad. 16, "shall be as though they had not been." And so are the "fires of Tophet, which were ordained of old in the valley of Hin- nom," near Jerusalem, and which were kept " burning unquench- ably? till there was nothing more put into them to burn, or until they were changed into "the valley of slaughter? and so " became no more" See Jeremiah 7 : 31, 32. There seem to be only three texts in the Old Testament Scriptures that are so much as claimed to prove eternal punish- ment, by those who maintain and teach it. Let us briefly ex- amine these a little, and see just how far they may be thus con- strued. The first of these occurs in Psalm 9:17: " The wicked shall be turned into hell [and], all the nations that forget God " ("and " is omitted here in the original Hebrew). Here we have the plain, simple declaration, which we believe to be true. And as it is the first that occurs after the world's and man's history in the Bible for more than three thousand years, and more than half the Scriptures were written before the inspired prophet uttered these words, we find, if allowed to reason by analogy, and may so infer, that all who lived during this long period died 196 APPENDIX. without ever having been warned of their impending doom, which is not God's way of manifesting either his displeasure or his love towards the children of his creation. Besides, this text reads "shall be" as an act yet to be performed, and not yet hav- ing taken place. Nor does it mention a word about their eternal burning, even when this occurs. And this being the case, is it not only reasonable to suppose, if the length of time or its duration had been definitely fixed in the mind of the psalmist, he would have been very likely to have mentioned it ? But as he is silent on this point, so shall we be. But as we have already abundantly shown from other texts, 11 They shall be burned up" " Utterly perish" "Be consumed" &c. The second text in order is Isaiah 33 : 14 ; " Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire ? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burning ?" Verse 13 in the context might also be added. In this chapter we see that the inspired prophet is setting forth the threatenings of God's judgments against his enemies and 11 The sinners and hypocrites in legion " ; i. e., the ungodly and the hypocrites who are mixed in among the righteous in his Church; and should indeed be a very solemn warning to the multiplied tens, and hundreds of thousands in the Churches to- day, who have taken upon them the Name of Christ, and have never been converted, and are living on in ^mand the life of a hypo- crite, and well know it ; and yet are trying to hide those sins with the cloak of the Church, or a. form of godliness. But be sure your sin 7vill find you out, Num. 22 : 33. And the world, the non-professor, ?iot only will, but has already, "found you out" ; often indeed, perhaps before you even knew yourself. Ask the Sceptic, Atheist, or Infidel whatfirst led them APPENDIX. I9T into such beliefs, and they will frankly tell you, " Dealings and intercourse with, and a certain knowledge of, false professors among the Churches." But this fact, however well they know it, will not excuse them. Daniel 12 : 2 is the third and last of the Old Testament Scriptures we would call attention to. " And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlast- ing life, and some to everlasting contempt.'''' Here we are plainly taught that the dead are asleep, and that they awake when the time comes to receive their rewards, whenever that may be, or whatever may be their rewards. And this most indubitably will be at the resurrection. The righteous, we see, awake to everlasting life; the wicked to everlasting contempt*. But is it necessary they should live for- ever, and so receive punishment forever ; so as to be held in shame and everlasting contempt ? To illustrate, take the case of Aaron Burr or Benedict Arnold. More than a century has passed since their acts of infamy and shame, and the perpetual record of their deeds is as fresh today in the minds of the pres- ent generation of American people, as a month or year after the betrayal of their trust took place, and will so continue imper- ishable, and outlast the pages of modern history, and is therefore "everlasting." And so it is with the wicked, not by the righteous o?ily but God and angels too. And now, having as we trust, made this quite clear to all, we will briefly consider the remaining texts in the New Testament, of which there are only half a dozen, claim- ed to establish eternal duration of punishment to the wicked, whilst hundreds might be quoted to prove their annihilation or destruction forever. 192 APPENDIX. Matthew 3d reads : " He will burn up the chaff with un- quenchable fire " ; i. e., the chaff shall be burned with fire that shall not be quenched ox put out till the chaff "is all burned, and then, it is both natural and reasonable to suppose the fire will go out of itself, having nothing more to burn or keep it alive. That is what it does, or, at least, that is according to the usual course it takes. Who ever heard of a house or barn, or any combustible mat- ter, continuing to burn on and on, after everything was con- sumed into smoke and ashes ? Even the great fire in Chicago, some years ago, did not do this, but naturally died out, or was quenched after having conswned everything within its reach. Jerusalem, though destroyed according to the prophecies and threatenings of the Lord (see Jer. 17 : 27), some thirty differ- ent times, as history tells us, and seventeen times out of the number, the total destruction was by fire that should " not be quenched." And yet Jerusalem still stands today on its ancient site and debris of the old ruins and conflagrations, which so often swept it away ; and now scarcely a trace of such is to be seen. So, also in Mark 9 : 44, 46, 48 : " Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Popular pulpit and Sun- day school teachings make the "worm " here mentioned the "immortal soul" But is it ? Let us see how about this. And if, indeed, it does mean it, we would be glad to know the truth of it. First, is there supposed to be anything immortal or indestruc- tible about a worm ? Surely, no more so than we might expect to find " wisdom " in a serpent^ as we read in Matt. 10:16: "Be ye wise as serpents" etc., when it should and does so read in APPENDIX. I93 the original, u Be ye wise servants" etc., which you see makes a marked difference. Is there any wisdom in a serpent ? There is plenty of deadly poison, as well as devlish cunning, but cer- tainly very little wisdom. "Worm," therefore, is simply made use of as a figure to express — express what ? Certainly not either the human or immortal soul, no more than fire here men- tioned is to express the remorse and gnawings of the sinner's guilty conscience, however great that may be and often is. In verses 43, 45 and 47 of the same chapter, the hell here mentioned, instead of representing the same term " Sheol" in the Hebrew, or Hades in the Greek, in this instance, as well as in others also, is derived from the Greek word Gehenna, and directly refers to the same which we have before mentioned, called " Tophet" — the hell in the valley Hinnom, on the south of Jerusalem, ontside the walls ; which valley is clearly pointed and described to this day, as we were plainly shown when visit- ing the spot. "Gehenna" i.e., hell in " Hinnom." (Greek.) Let no one who reads this be longer led astray on this sub- ject. Here, this hell (fire) was kept up day and night, from gen- eration to generation, never being que?iched. And into it were cast the bodies of animals after death, and in every stage of decomposition, such as caused them to be infected with living " worms" which fed upon them. Does any one suppose they continued to live on in this fire, any more than the dead car- casses of animals remained unconsumed when the fire was suf- ficiently intense to burn them up ? No doubt they were often deposited there in great quantities, even when the fire w&slo7v, (or only smouldering, but not quenched), for be it remembered fuel was even then, and ever has been exceedingly scarce in that land, where they had to gather stubble and thornbrush and dry camel's dung, and place them in their earthen ovens, as they 194 APPENDIX. do to this day — as we often saw, when exploring that land — in order to heat them, that they might bake bread. No coal beds, gas, or petroleum there, as in some parts of Europe and all over our own country, and wood always scarce. And we pause here to remark, we have sometimes since wear- ied and grown tired, and even impatient, with such nonsense as the general interpretations put upon such texts of Scripture as the above and many similar, even by commentators, theolo- gians, and writers of great learning, profound scholarship, etc., and their knowledge would seem unbounded on almost every subject and in almost every way, except the one simple and single way only, viz, that of common sense, in trying to inter- pret and expound such passages of Scripture. And, although we have not tired of the great importance of the subject before us, viz, the eternal salvation of the right- eous, and the eternal damnation of the wicked, and believe and k?iow, i. e n if we know anything, that both are true and in strict accord with the teachings of God's inspired Word ; and al- though we have in this compendium to the foregoing treatise dwelt upon these matters of such deep concern to every one, and though we might continue to add and multiply text after text of Scripture, all of which would corroborate and more fully substantiate our Scripture views as to correct and true Bible teachings, yet we must here come to a close, after adding a few more very brief remarks further, concerning the general pulpit doctrines as taught for some generations past, and are still being taught. And without attempting to here point out many which we are taught from divine teaching to understand and believe to be gross errors, we will only refer to a few, and let this suffice for the present, at least. First, what we conceive to be one of the greatest errors to start with, viz : APPENDIX, I95 The True Character, and Attributes, and Essences of God, the Creator, as Taught in the "Westminster Confession," and so accepted and Taught by the "Orthodox Churches," so called generally, as fol- lows : "There is but only one living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure Spirit [true and right alto- gether thus far, but] invisible, without body, parts, or passions." * * * Can any, sane man, in his senses, reason out the ap- pearance and nature of any such creature in the whole universe of God, much less the Divine Author and Creator of all Things ? Only think of it ! He is first very truly and justly acknowledged to be a " most pure Spirit." And yet this Spirit is " without body [or form], without parts, and without pas- sions." Does the Bible teach it ? We challenge all the learned schools of theology and divinity to show us where ? Here we see at once God is robbed of at least three, not to say four, of his attributes, and thus made to appear as a nondescript, diverse from any creature ever known or heard of, and that cannot pos- sibly be described, only as an intangible, incorporeal entity, not to say non-entity. But, does the Bible so teach us ? When we are as plainly told, as words and language can express it, in Gen. 1 : 26, 27, (and in other places) : He " made man in His own image," " in the image of God created He him," etc. What can pos- sibly be plainer than this ? And who shall deny it, except it may be those who accept the Darwin theory ? And is it any wonder indeed that there are many such today who do, and that their numbers are multiplying by the millions, when theo- logians, themselves, preach and teach such things ? And the 196 APPENDIX. same, we may again add, of the immortality of the Sinner's Soul, and his eternal punishment, never to come to an end. Can it therefore be wondered at, that religion, as taught, is sadly declining, and churches becoming less attended, although professors may be constantly increasing? But, where is the Spirituality in the Churches of today, that burned and glowed in the hearts of its believing children, even in the days of Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Whitfield, Knox, Bunyan, Fletcher and others, not to go back to the early days of the Martyrs ? Truly indeed, may it be said, as has been, by some of the ministers of today, that religion or the conversion of souls has become a lost art. And who or what has made it so ? I here pause for an answer, and now close the book, first how- ever, by dropping a single suggestion, which my earnest prayer to Almighty God in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is, that it may find its way to the hearts of not only all professing Christians who may read this, but to ministers es- pecially, which may serve to assist in striking the keynote to this deeply mysterious and seemingly strange problem, and thus aid in its solution by simply adding, that when ministers ask : "How shall this alarming fact be met and remedied?" we answer : "By preaching the truth as it is taught in the Bible, and by Christ and his Apostles, even as they preached and taught ; and then you will have done, not what alas ! too many now do, but what Paul and other Apostles did, viz : — dared to declare the truth." And may God enable all his ministers so to do, is the earnest prayer of your devoted brother in Christ Jesus our Lord. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. CHAPTER I. His Early Days — Addressed to His Son. My dear Boy: As you have, I trust, arrived at an age, and have sufficient mind and education, to enable you to understand and appreciate the following pages, from which you will learn more of your Father than you have before known or been able to learn, it will now be my pleasurable task to proceed at once with the subject in hand ; and will begin by telling you that which you perhaps have been too often sadly aware of, as well as myself, viz, that through some unforeseen and continued overrulings of an ever merciful and uncontrollable Providence, our separation from each other has often been many thousands of miles, over land and seas, even for a number of consecutive years. And at the present time of this writing, quite three thousand miles lie between us, and more than two years have rolled their cycles back into eternity since our last meeting. And although in much of the past, which to me seems short enough, yet per- haps to you very long, I have often suffered great affliction, and may truthfully add, have passed but few well months ; and the same, indeed, might be said of my condition ever since your life began. As chronic sufferers, however, seldom elicit much sym- pathy from those who enjoy almost uninterrupted health, I have therefore learned, perhaps earlier in life than many do, I98 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. that it is better to refrain from complaining, or making my ac- tual condition generally known ; and, consequently, endure all as far as Divine strength has enabled me, with as little com- plaint as possible. And now, having said quite enough relat- ing to this matter, I will endeavor to recount certain incidents of my life, even from early childhood, all of which, however, shall be related very briefly. And, doubtless, before I shall have arrived, say at about your present age, in my history, you will have concluded, of a verity, as has been remarked to me often by others, that my life has indeed been a checkered and very eventful one, for very often, and perhaps more times than I even know or can now remember, I have had close calls to pass over "that bourne from whence no traveler returns," but a most merciful and ever kind Providence has continually watched over me from day to day, and every hour, all through life's journey and its checkered scenes, down to the present moment, often very wonderfully and even miraculously, just as He has done for you, my Son, even most marvelously, as I shall relate to you at the proper time in these, our personal memoirs. My birthplace, as you perhaps may have been already in- formed, was in Bourbon County, Kentucky, not far from the Town of Paris, (your grandfather and mother, my parents, be- ing Virginians). And though some unimportant incidents oc- curred even in infancy, in that State, yet were of a trivial nature, they would only serve to amuse, rather than otherwise impress you ; and my Parents, at my very early age, moved from that State to Indiana. We will pass over all till after arriving in that, then, a new country, in the autumn, and after passing a dreadfully cold win- AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. IQ9 ter, in the following early summer, during sheep-shearing time, and I being, as well as I now remember, only four years old, was sent with another child about the same age, by my father, with a coffee boiler to what was known as a gum spring, a few hundred yards distant, to bring a pot of fresh water. The spring boiled, up from the ground, and a section of a very hollow, large beech or gum tree, a few feet long, had been sunken down around it, hence the name " gum spring." The top of this extended perhaps a foot above ground, whilst the water in it rose up quite on a level with the ground, and being slippery on account of moisture around. On my reach- ing over to dip the pot of water, my feet slipped, when, to save myself from plunging head foremost, I let go the vessel, and at the same instant caught on the opposite edge of the gum, with both hands, but in some unaccountable way, turned with my back downward towards the water instead of face, and in this position hung by hands or fingers rather, to the edge, while my feet hung outside on the opposite side. During these moments of dreadful suspense, the little fellow with me in the greatest excitement began tugging at my feet, trying to pull me out, which, of course, he was unable to do, and only endangered me the more, when I began to beg piteously to him not to do so, as I began to feel my fingers already beginning to give way from the opposite side, as my body and neck began gradually sinking in the water ; and then told him to call loudly for his uncle — my father, which he certainly did, as lustily as I ever heard a young calf bellow from the most dreadful fear ; and the sound instantly catching my father's ear, few were the moments or even steps indeed, before he reached the spot ; but, before he had done so, my hold was then quite broken, only holding by the 200 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. tips of my little finger s, whilst my body and neck, and even chin, had sunken so low as to let the water begin to flow into my mouth and nostrils, requiring no small effort to breathe, and at the same time keep from strangling. Perhaps five or ten sec- onds more would have sufficed to have forced my finger-holds to have slipped away, when I would have gone down, and would have plunged in head foremost, just deep enough to have let my toes or feet stick up above the edge of the gum ; and whilst the situation as it was was not pleasant, the last mentioned would have been less so, although a very few moments, or in- deed seconds, as it was, would have ended all. This, I scarcely need add, was my first experience of perilous conditions, and though scarcely four years old, yet it, as you see, made a last- ing impression on my mind. My second rather critical, but somewhat miraculous escape, occurred a few years later, when I had become sufficiently large to ride horses. In those days, the modus operandi, for grain (wheat) threshing was the following : Those who were able to have barns, hauled their wheat from the field or stacks to the barn, and filled up in the center of the floor quite a heap of unbound sheaves, and then scattered some of the same around it, on the outer border. The horses were brought in and started around on it, often at a pretty lively gait, too. And of course, this was fun for the small boys, for the first few hours at any rate, to ride the horses, and lead another, side by side, two and two. But when that thing was kept up some- times, day after day, all day long, for a week or more perhaps, it not only became very monotonous, but tiresome too, and often even painfully so, making the small boys feel as if a soft cushion or even a pillow would be more comfortable to sit on, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 201 than the sharp vertebrae of some old Rosinante. On one of those occasions, I well remember, I was one of the riders, whilst my oldest brother was general floor manager, whose position was that of a central figure on the middle heap, or near its edge, always with a stout wooden fork in hand, for the purpose of doling out the sheaves to be trodden under the horses' feet ; and whilst thus actively engaged, a snake was seen to dart out from the heap, and attempt to make across the floor, just ahead of the horse I was riding and the one I was leading, and immediately behind the heels of two horses in front. This I saw, and seeing was to determine it should not escape, and so instantly sprang from my perch on the horse, without so much as halting the gait, and down into the straw I went, at a single bound, with the avowed purpose of seizing his snakeship in my hands incontinently ; but it so happened, however, without noticing, my big brother, your Uncle Banker, had also spied the snake at the very same moment I had, and he too was equally determined with myself that it should not escape. Only he went for it a little more secundum artem, i. e., according to the art, he, having a good stout fork in hand quite six feet long, two prongs, and about i^ or 2 inches in diame- ter, strong and well-seasoned, which he had raised to give a tremendous blow upon the snake's back or head ; nor did that blow fail to come down, nor did it fail in effect either, for just at that moment my cranium happened to be just where the snake's head should have been. The result of it all however was, a good pitchfork was spoiled, by being broken squarely in two, and a certain quick motioned, large headed, but small witted boy's head felt no better or easier, for a while at least, for that stroke from a pitchfork. In recounting that same circumstance, 202 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. to that same brother many years afterwards, it seemed to have quite passed out of his mind, and so I have ever been left un- able to decide which he regretted the most, the loss of that pitchfork or the escape of that snake ; but I have never, even yet, forgotten which / regretted most. At about this time and age I had become quite large enough to attend school, together with other brothers and sisters, some older and others younger. In those days a district school usually held about three months in the year, being a part of the winter season, and the district from a mile or more to the "temple of learning," which consisted of a square hewed log house, chinked and daubed with mortar between the cracks, to keep out cold ; a large, tall fireplace at one end, occupying the greater part of that side of the building, into which huge logs were carried or rolled and piled on, together with smaller wood, all cut in sections from the trunks and limbs of trees, consist- ing of the beech, the sugar tree, the hickory, etc., which gener- ally served to keep the " Te?7iple " comfortably warm even in a cold day, or at least, one's face when toward the fire, whilst the back usually had to suffer, not only from actual cold, but not infrequently from another cause, viz : the birch limb, which was often well laid on, depending, of course, somewhat upon the offense of the little reprobate, but generally more upon the fierceness of the ignorant and egotistical tyrant, whose pleasure it was to thus exercise his Neroean propensities and muscles, when not too lazy to do so, and which of course warmed up a little. And in thus bringing the tough, well-seasoned bir chrod with brute force down upon the usually not any too well protected little culprit's back, seldom failed to not only raise the dust, but even make well defined marks over his epidermis, and AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 203 would likewise have cut the fur too, had there been any there ; whilst we sat upon a high bench, cut and split from the half of a good sized tree, the split side of course upward, because it was flat — no back to lean against, whilst the little feet dangled round without touching the floor ; and in this position, from early morning till quite dusk in the evening, except an hour's recess at noon, and sometimes a few minutes between the fore- and after-noon, we were compelled to sit quite steadily. Of course, there were some large or well grown boys in at- tendance also, whose feet would reach the floor when sitting on the benches. But, of course, none of us ever failed to learn, some of our teachers sometimes being so far advanced as to be able to work sums, in the single and even double rule of 3, without be- ing compelled to " sometimes " — " most always" — look at the key they generally carried on the sly, in their coat pocket. And I have even known small boys, and girls, too, or not to exceed ten to fifteen years old, begin in their A B C's, and in the course of one full session, without, perhaps, missing a day during the whole winter (unless when the snow chanced to be higher than their heads, so they could not very well wade through it, whilst the mercury stood thirty below zero, and when they could not wade were often carried on their father's or big brother's shoul- ders or backs all the way to school), I would remark that I have known these same boys and girls, too, some of whom not so small, after thus beginning in A B C's, to advance so far, in one full term, as to be able to not only repeat the whole al- phabet of twenty six letters (I believe the English has, has it not ?) from actual memory, but also to join two syllables (and in a few instances, possibly, three short ones), such as ba-ker, sha-dy, ti-dy, etc., though the word tidy but very few seemed 204 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. to quite ever understand, or have the least appreciation of, judging from the often unwashed hands and faces, as well as matted hair, all plainly visible ; and then the " aroma " arising promiscuously from the whole school generally, especially when doors and windows were all closed on a "cold day," and the big beech log fire booming — I say the aroma thus inhaled could not be mistaken as to the cause ; but, of course, the closely shut-up schoolhouse, say twenty feet square, with from forty to fifty boys and girls, thus shut in all day long, without ventilation, it would hardly seem was just the thing, or in ac- cord with strict hygienic laws. As for coughs, severe colds, etc., there could be no mistake about that, as each one's nose abundantly testified, from the long appendages often seen pro- truding, something after the appearance of well grown, very whitish fish bait, such as is found under old logs, or even dug up from the earth, and have, indeed, been known to rain down from above, but which, however, generally found a lodgment upon the coat or jacket sleeve, which often became very smooth and well glazed from continual use, instead of a pocket-hand- kerchief, which very useful little appendage to the toilet was seldom seen, if indeed heard of, much less in use. The school house floor was broad-hewn puncheons, the ceil- ing and roof thin oaken clap boards. Of course, the little games of ball, "prisoners' base," snowballing, etc., were always enjoyed by every boy ; and even the school master sometimes condescended to take a hand, "just for exercise," during which he generally got well pelted by some of the larger boys, none too fond of him, perhaps, on account of the too frequent mark- ings of their epidermises, which seldom failed to leave a rather painful recollection, at least for a while. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 205 As I have already stated, none of us ever failed to " learn." How fast I have already told you, but just how " much" or just "what all " we did learn, I of course have not told you, my dear Boy ; nor, indeed, can I do so, now, or at any time, for my recollection on this point is perhaps less vivid and clear than it was, even in those halcyon days, which were quite a half a cen- tury ago ; and that, to you no doubt, both seems and sounds like quite a while ago. But with such illustrious and highly educated (?) Pedagogues as we had to discipline us, can it be wondered at that we did indeed learn fast ? 206 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. CHAPTER II. Memoirs of Early Days, Continued. My dear Boy, (or rather dear boys and girls, too, as these pages are addressed to every school-boy and girl into whose hands they may come, and who may take an interest in reading them), in my last letter to you I spoke of my very earliest ex- periences in the schoolroom. And, although some of you may have thought it a little "rough on the boys," yet I want you to believe me, when I tell you those were among the happiest days, both in school and out of it, I have ever experienced in a life of half a century ! True, I suffered often, in more ways than one ; most chil- dren, you know, do. Often phthisicy ; certain seasons of the year coughing perhaps quite the whole night ; often keeping my dear Mother and Father too awake most of the night wait- ing on me ; giving me a little lump of loaf sugar saturated with sweet oil, or possibly spirits of turpentine, to relieve the cough and wheezing, then rubbing my throat and chest with a little goose grease perhaps, and applying the same to the soles of my feet, and then toasting them near the fire, until sometimes quite blistered, would generally give temporary relief. At one time, I, as well as all my Brothers and Sisters, and just as most children have to do, at least once in life, had to pass through the contagion of measles. And I remember no fewer than nine of my father's family were all down at once, and abed with that very sickening and often dangerous disease ; and after long, tedious, close nursing by my mother and father, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 207 days and nights for a few weeks, we all began to convalesce. Although my father had the measles when a boy, he took them again a second time, and suffered with them the same as we had done. This was a very unusual and almost unheard of thing, as measles is a children's contagion only, seldom appear- ing upon persons advanced in age, and the rarest thing imag- inable that any one at any time in life should be attacked a second time. The next severe epidemic and contagion, as well as I re- member, was whooping cough ; and this to some of us was very severe, lasting for many months, causing us to cough our- selves well nigh to death. But this, too, like the measles, finally came to an end, after lasting, however, much longer. The next, as well as I can remember, in the way of an epi- demic was "itch," and although very disagreeable, to say noth- ing more, was also finally gotten rid of, though often torment- ing while it lasted. In those days we all lived on a farm, that being my father's vocation ; and as autumns and winters came and passed away, and spring and summer succeeded each other, my age as well as size and education gradually advanced (with but little thanks however to the merciless pedagogues who had me in training), until I could not only read some in the First Reader, but had even learned to read the New Testament ; and having also be- come large enough to weed out as well as hoe corn, and then to plow, at about the age of ten, I then thought I was getting on well enough. I also became very fond of reading, especially the New Testament, which I usually carried in my pocket to the field with me. And as a test of verbal memory perhaps, as much as any- 2o8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR, thing else, before starting in to plow across the field, would take out my little Testament, read over a verse, fix the same in mem- ory, and then start, repeating over and over in mind or words, till reaching the other end of the row, by which time it was fully committed to memory. Then fixing the next verse in my mind before starting back across the field, would commit to memory, and store it up likewise, in the same manner, so that by this means, and thus continuing all day, no time was lost but a very few moments at the end of each row, just long enough to let my horse which pulled the plow take a few breaths ; when night would come, I found I had many verses in my memory. And in this way, I remember after so continuing one whole week, on the following Sunday, in Sunday School, I stood up and re- cited quite one hundred verses from the gospel by Matthew, beginning with the 3d chapter, and so continuing on. And my dear Boys, the same verses I learned then, I still re- member to this day, and even repeat many of them, just as I did then ; so, that you will see, this time and effort was well spent, was it not ? Or do you not think so ? First for these reasons, if none other ; it not only assisted me in learning to read better, but also strengthened my mind and memory, the better enabling me to learn how to study and to think. But this was not all, for it taught me also very much about the Bi- ble I never could have learned in any other way; one of which things was, what I know no mortal on earth knew, and it is this : It told me who I was, and what I was. And it also told me that the reading of it, the Bible, would make me " wise un- to salvation," and this was indeed a very great thing to learn, if one will only believe it. And if they will not, why not ? Can you think of any good reason, why not ? AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 209 Those days, Boys, as I have already told you, were often very happy days : appetite good, and sleep sound and sweet. Nor did I have much care about what might lie before me on the morrow. But times have changed with me often since then. Sunshine was pleasant then, so were rainy days, for on those days, if we could not go out to work, we could go into the barn, and " play fox and geese," or wrestle and tumble in the hay mow, shuck corn, shell corn, or what not — all was fun anyway, and so we had a very good time generally ; unless we some- times abused our freedom and great privileges, at which times we generally had to undergo a little corporeal punishment, such as being brought under parental authority, by the use of a good, broad leather strap, which proceeding was sure to be premised by a very befitting moral lecture, which invariably hurt much worse than the strap, which was usually laid on in the lightest manner possible. I well remember undergoing no fewer than three of these inflictions one morning before breakfast, from my Father. It was on the occasion of a preacher, a very excellent man, having made us a family visit, and staid all night, and the next morning he took occasion to pay me perhaps a little more marked attention than I was capable of appreciating, from so august and dreadful a personage. And in my disposal of him, I, in some way seemed to have displeased my dear Father; but just how, I never did exactly know, and however it may have been or was, I am even sorry for it, which, alas, is too late now. Be it, however, as it was, I well remember first and last I received no fewer than three " strappings " that same morn- ing, before breakfast, and breakfast did not come late, either. And on receiving the last one of the three, I began to conclude if that sort of diversion or exercise had to be, or was going to 2IO AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. be, kept up all day just to please the preacher, I wished he would go home, which he did, after breakfast, with a well-filled "commissary department," such, as it seemed to me, but few men could conveniently stow away. I am sure the supply at that one meal would last me at least three days now, at my reg- ular rates of feeding. After this departure, however, things went on better with me at least, although his visit made me glad twice ; first, when he came, and second, when he went. It was perhaps a little wrong in me to have felt this way about it, but somehow, I could not quite help it. You know, Boys, no doubt from your own expe- rience, that we cannot quite control our feelings always, any more indeed than some boys seem not able to control their actions, or a quick or hot temper, which we ought to strive hard against, for, if we let either grow upon us, it is sure to get us into trouble sooner or later, and sometimes very serious trouble too, and not always easily gotten out of. It might be well for some of you Boys who read this, to think about it a little. I know just how it once was with me, and though I may not have considered the consequences then as I do now, yet I do know it often got me into deep trouble sometimes, which even gave me sorrow afterwards. Think about it, Boys. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 211 CHAPTER III. Another Talk with the Boys. Before passing over scenes of ray childhood, or boyhood's early days, I must relate a few more incidents, which though to some may seem trivial in themselves, yet to me made an im- pression which has never since been quite forgotten. On a certain occasion, my father gave me three little orphan pigs, which I went to work with as much industry and determination to have them grow into large porkers, and so make me rich, as ever Vanderbilt or Jay Gould went to work at their steamships and railroad speculations, when making their millions. To say I nursed those three pigs day and night, is scarcely the word for it, nor will I take time to tell how, or how fast they grew, what beauties they became, and what pets they were in a short time. In those days, the custom was, and still is in that part of the country, to make sugar in the Spring season, as winter begins to break and ground begins to thaw out, which starts the sap to circulating in the veins or along the pores, of the maple or sugar tree, as it comes up through the roots from the ground. And to extract this sweet sap or sugar water from the trees, it is necessary to "tap" the tree, as it is called, which is usually done by boring a couple of small holes an inch or two into the tree near the base, then drive in usually an alder spile, (which is a section 6 or 8 inches long, cut from the alder bush, the pith having been punched out and one end sharp- ened a little), and these conveyed the water into a trough or other vessel, which sits at the roots of the tree. From these 212 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. troughs or buckets, which are sometimes used, the water was collected into a large hogshead generally hauled round on a sled, and so taken to the sugar camp ; then boiled down into syrup, molasses, or stirred into sugar, having been put into large ket- tles all arranged in a row over a furnace. The process was always tedious, and of course took great industry, boiling of- ten, all day and night too, for several weeks, before the season would pass by for sugar making, and was usually a most enjoy- able one for the boys, watching and keeping up the boiling process, in our little camp of straw, as the bright light and heat from the mouth of the furnace shone in upon us, and at the same time, the boiling water popping and leaping in the kettles, whilst the hot steam arose and rolled away in clouds of mist. Who would not be a boy again, if he could, especially in sugar making ? And now, about the piggies, and what I was about to tell you. Well, they had become quite fond of me, and so followed me to the camp one morning, where there had been a large bed of hot coals recently raked out of the furnace, and they concluded they would try it a little, and so plunged into it, and I need hardly tell you, they became well roasted before coming out again. However they survived it, minus their tails and toes and hoofs, hair, skin, etc., after hovering between life and death for some weeks, in dreadful suffering, and finally re- covered, and so grew up to make fine porkers ; though never have I seen any live animal so badly roasted, ever recover. I have been thus minute, in describing as briefly as possible the modus operandi of sugar boiling and making from the sugar tree, as many who read this chapter may have never seen or learned anything about it before. And just in this AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 213 connection, another little incident occurs to me, which serves well to illustrate some things. One season, long after sugar making was over, and early autumn, fruit ripening and gathering time had come, and as we needed a "dry kiln," to dry fruit on, I concluded I would improvise one, by using the same furnace in which sugar water had been boiled, and so utilize it for another purpose, now that we needed it no longer that season. And after all the large kettles had been lifted out, I proceeded to cover the top of the long furnace, making a flat surface over it, or nearly flat, by tak- ing the staves of old flour barrels and first laying them bowed side up all over the surface closely : this you see made a very smooth, pretty surface to lay fruit on to dry. But, how about the wooden staves when a fire was kindled underneath, for warming purposes ? Why, of course, you will say they would take fire and burn out, and so they would as I well knew, and so they did, as you will presently see. However, I had made my calculations for all this, and as I had shrewdly supposed effectually guarded against any such catastrophe, by preparing a good stiff clay mortar, and thoroughly coating over the staves very smoothly and of good thickness ; but not having patience to wait a few days for the air and sun to dry and harden the mortar, I determined to hurry that process up and so make short work of it. During all this proceeding, a number of my brothers were standing round looking on, and with gibes and ridicule, instead of taking hold and helping me, declared my whole plan would "fall through," and be a failure. But, of course, I knew better (?) as you shall see at once, for, after piling into the furnace a good lot of dry wood, and firing up, the barrel staves were not many minutes in taking fire, and, 214 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. of course, soon burned through, when lo ! — what ? Why just what any silly pated boy might and ought to have known — that then the soft mortar on top would drop down into the furnace, would it not ? and so put out the fire, and then put an end to the whole remarkable performance One thing further, how- ever, I well remember, and that is, that I both grew a little older and perhaps wiser, too, before I heard the last of that "dry kiln" from those boys. And for long months, and even years, afterwards, whenever I was about to inqent some- thing wonderful^ or set some great scheme or project on foot that would surprise everybody, and myself, too, perhaps, as I often did, I was just then very sure to hear some one of the boys say, with a knowing look and wink at the rest, " I think that will come out about like the dry kiln did— fall through." But the whole story, Boys, serves, as you will at once see, to illustrate this one important fact, if no other, viz ; that no matter how much genius and talent ycu may have, and however well disposed in putting that genius and talent into the execution of some great enterprise, a certain amount of pa- tience is almost sure to be called into requisition sooner or later during the undertaking. And this you will do well to re- member ; for, you see, if I, after having planned and constructed the " dry kiln," had only exercised patience sufficiently to have waited a few days for the mortar to have dried and hardened, before firing up underneath (and even then gone slow, so as not to too suddenly bake and crack the mortar by great, sud- den heat), it is very probable the thing would have been a suc- :ess. What do you think about it ? AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 215 CHAPTER IV. Still More to Follow. Boys, I am hurrying all I can to get through with these rather unimportant reminiscences of early life, so as to tell you things of more importance ; and therefore shall endeavor to make these chapters short, skipping over much, of course, which might possibly interest some who knew me in boyhood and may chance to read these pages. But to tell you all would be quite impossible, even in one small book, or even a tenth part of all. I may, however, as well add here, as I go along, that, like most boys who have any life and vim m them at all, I was quite as full of mischief as most boys are, though never of a vicious nature, nor did I act, as I trust, with a vindictive, resentful, or malicious spirit ; but just only loved to have my fun and rather innocent amusements, just as all my brothers did, and most boys do. You will notice one thing in my writing as you read along ; I use some words occasionally which may sound a little strange- ly to you, and which you may not quite understand, and when you come to one of those, before passing it by, pause a mo- ment to consider, and think what it means, and then think whether or not you could not have substituted or placed some other word which would have taken its place, or even served a better purpose. Now, e. g., I have used the word "vim" a moment ago, and yet I am not sure it may be found in most dictionaries, if, indeed, in any, and as I have none at hand, I am sure I shall not go to the trouble to find one so as to see if 2IG AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. it is there ; but the word, you know, is expressive anyhow, and you also know, no doubt, just what I mean by it, and so on with many other words ; just so with the words "ba-ker," " tidy" etc. And just here I will tell you of a little foolish prank I played once when a boy, which just at this moment comes to mind, the subject of which was a young lady whose name we will call "L-uci-day," and an old, white, blind horse, which she always rode, called Jack. Miss Luci day was a frequent visitor at our house, as she lived not far away, and I was sometimes vain enough (and you know boys often are in their imaginations) to conclude Miss L. thought considerable of me, and I was sure I did of her, though she had a younger sister, a little fairer, whom I thought I liked the best. Old Jack was a wonderful horse, and though totally blind (the balls of both eyes being out en- tirely) yet he could always tell when coming near a fence, or gate, or any such thing, and it would have done you good to see how that old Rosinante could skip along over ground, with a sort of spring-knee'd, long-racking hop or pace, seldom, if ever, being known to scumble or miss his footing in any way, with Miss L. on his back. On a certain day, there being already a company of young people collected at our house, Miss L. rode up on the veritable old Jack, and I, with my usual courtesy and gallantry, walked out and assisted her to alight, when at the same moment, as I led Jack away to hitch him, a thought then occurred to me. I would do something very smart by playing a practical joke, more on the young lady, perhaps, than on the animal, although he was mainly the subject. And now, what do you think it was? I got an old, worn umbrella, and went to work taking the wire ribs out of it ; and in a short time made the framework AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 217 as of complete a set of spectacles, such as fitted old Jack, as you ever saw ; and instead of fitting glasses in them, I took some blue or green cloth, and cutting in proper shape to fit the eyes, sewed that in, and then fastened the spectacles on before Miss L. was ready to go ; and on coming out to start home, somewhat to her amazement she found old Jack fitted out completely with a brand new pair of goggles. And to my still greater delight, the young lady, instead of being offended, showed her good sense and very aimiable disposition by laugh- ing heartily, and enjoying the joke as well as myself and many others who were looking on. But everything that transpired in those days was not always fun with me, any more, indeed, than was " gum spring/' the pitchfork, or, indeed, the school birch rod, or even leather strap experiences ; as I shall now relate to you, very briefly, another singular instance, at least. One day, another brother (next in age, older, but little larger) and I were hauling sand and gravel from the creek bed to repair the walks about the house and yard. And although the team with which we did the hauling were gentle enough, ordinarily, yet one of them was a fine, large horse, recently broken in to work, named Hector ; and after having brought a load — or a number of them, indeed — and thrown them off, and started for another, I sitting near the horses, in front, doing the driving, whilst my brother sat nearer the back end of the wagon, and noticing one of the lines had become caught over the harness of Hector, after stopping, in- stead of asking my brother to go and undo it, or else hand him the lines to hold, while I got off, and went forward to do so myself, as any sensible boy should have done, and, it seems to me now, would have done, instead of doing this I deliberately 2l8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. and hastily wadded the lines up in my arms, at the same time stepping down upon the tongue of the wagon and starting to walk forward on it, between the two horses, to lift the line from the harness; and at the same moment laid my hand carelessly on the young horse's back, at which proceeding he suddenly took affright, and instantly doubling himself up, he began to pick him- self up and get away from there as fast as his feet would carry him, whilst his heels were flying in the air, and so was the wag- on, together with myself, brother, and everything else. We were now just outside of the yard of the house, in the wood pas- ture, adjoining ; and a few yards in front of the horses lay a large walnut tree, at least three feet in diameter. Over this the horses leaped with one bound, without touching ; not so with my feet and legs, however, which were now dangling on either side of the tongue, which I had incontinently sit down astride of, immediately between the horses. The wagon, of course, followed the horses over the log, and throwing it on one side, causing two wheels to spin round up in the air horizontally, whilst the other two, with their hubs, plowed the ground below ; in the meantime, my little brother (for we were both small) had slid off behind, before the wagon struck the log, or about that time (for all occurred in a few seconds) ; but, where was I ? Well, boys, I will tell you, but you see it takes much longer to do so than it did to take that ride, which came very near being my last one. The horses, of course, ran for dear life, kicking at every jump, for they were dreadfully frightened ; but I can not say I was, for I did not have much time to be, but seemed to retain my presence of mind ; and in those few short seconds, it seemed to me I thought of one thousand things ; nor did I have time to drop off the tongue down under the horses and AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 219 wagon, which would have probably been certain death if I had, so I. sat still. The horses, after bounding over the large, fallen tree, made a sort of circuit in the direction of the barn, some distance away ; and not far ahead of them, and in their way, stood a sugar tree, about eighteen inches in diameter, and lean- ing just a little towards them, tall, and having a few dead limbs on it, as well as green. Don't anticipate now, and think I am going to tell you those horses climbed that tree, for they did nothing of the sort ; nor shall I tell you so. But I will tell you what they did do, and what actually did occur. The near animal seemed to try to go on the left side, whilst the off horse, now a desperately wild animal, determined to go on the right ; and just at that moment the heavily ironed end of the tongue struck the tree exactly in the centre, and about three or four feet from the base, with such force as to cause dead limbs to fall from its top, and at the same instant causing the tongue to shatter into more pieces than I could count, at about the exact spot where I sat, and as the end still attached to the wagon dropped, it plowed in under the roots of the tree with a tremendous force, and so stuck fast, while the forewheels of the wagon came upon the heels of the horses, and with a breast yoke and double lines in front, and a wagon close upon them, they were bound fast ; whilst I qrietly stepped out in front of them to survey the wreck, and see if I could fully com- prehend the situation. Boys, I have told you about the " Gum Spring " and " pitch- fork " adventures when just a little younger, and spoke of them as being " close calls," but they were hardly a circumstance to this adventure which I have just related ; and even today, whilst narrating it, I can scarcely realize I escaped alive to tell you 220 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. about it, though more than two score years have passed since then; and many other experiences quite as great have happened to me, which I almost fear would weary you were I to tell you all. Truly, indeed, may it be said that "Truth is stranger than fiction." AUTOBIOGRAPHY OE THE AUTHOR. 221 CHAPTER V. Reminiscenses of Early Days, Continued. The preceding chapter, in describing my perilous ride, re- calls to mind another incident which occurred, perhaps, some two years later, which will also conclude the fate of the famous young horse, "Hector." My father had a tenant on the farm whose name was Craiger, and though seemingly clever enough, yet he lacked for pluck and push, as the phrases go, and, on a certain occasion, it fell to his and my lot to break a young horse named " Copper-bottom," a very fine ani- mal, but exceedingly wild, and rather vicious, too. We man- aged, however, to get a very long halter on his head, and a bri- dle, too, and then getting him into an open pasture, Craiger, being quite a stout man, held the end of the long halter, whilst I, with a whip, chased the horse in a circle around, till he got tired, and so did I, when I suggested to Craiger I would hold the halter while he mounted the animal to try to ride him. This, however, he was by no means anxious to do, but after some persuasion, he approached near enough to get hold of the bridle reins, and to lay his hands on the horse's back, and pretending to make a spring upon his back — which was only pretense — the horse instantly bounded away from him, when he, with a tremendous voice, said : " The horse could not be rode." But I assured him he could be rode, and if I once got as close to his back as he had been, I would get on it, and so handed him the long rope, when I began maneuvering to get up to the horse again, which I finally did, and after get- ting the reins in my hand, and the other upon his back, I made 222 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. a quick jump, springing upon him ; but I had scarcely become mounted when he determined I should not stay there, and so began rearing and pitching at a dreadful rate, bounding off at the same moment, when he jerked the reins out of my hand, at which moment I seized a handful of mane ; but the next moment he reared straight up and began falling back, throwing me with the handful of mane, which I puHed out, when I fell just back of him, at which moment he began kicking at me at a furious rate ; and having already fallen on the ground, and no time to get away, my presence of mind again served me to a purpose, for I instantly lay flat upon the ground, and let him stand and kick over me, just barely missing me every time, till he got tired of the sport — and so was I. In the meantime the brave Craiger stood off at a safe dis- tance, looking on to see how matters would end, and seemed much surprised, and delighted, too, when the horse left me, and it was discovered I had not been hurt. This same horse afterwards became broken to double harness and the plow, etc., and some time afterwards he and the famous "Hector" made a splendid team, and Craiger usually had the handling of them ; and one day, when hitched to a sled, and Craiger sitting on " Hector," sidewise, while they were stand- ing waiting for me to lay down a fence for them to pass through, the Copper-bottom horse on the off side took affright at a dog coming up behind him, causing the team to instantly start to run away. Then Mr. Craiger slid off and away they went, and coming to a tree in the way, and attempting to pass it, poor Hector struck it with such violence as to knock the bark off from it, and off him to, as well as to break his body and bones, causing al- most instant death, whilst the other horse escaped safely. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 223 And now, Boys, having told you quite enough of adventures perhaps, on the farm, we will leave it a while, and go away from home a little. And my first experience in this was one never to be forgotten. I was quite fourteen, and through the over-persuasion of my father by a good man, who had an over-zeal in the matter, I was sent away at a distance to college. And though I was too young to think so then, but since have thought that a mistake, all the circumstances considered. For in the first place, I was too young and illiterate to be sent to such an Institution to try to learn anything ; and second, some other school at a less ex- pense, and perhaps nearer home, would have served better. However, I went, and staid six months, or till the close of the session, when I not exactly graduated, but rather, found out I had learned very little, and that that college did not suit me. Many things occurred to me while there, and in a general way, which of course made a lasting impression on my mind, which, however, we will pass over ; except to relate one single instance concerning myself, and one concerning another. The college I attended is known as South Hanover, and is situated in a small town of the same name, about one and a half miles from the Ohio river, in Indiana. The students very of- ten went to the river to bathe and swim in it. And on one occasion, while doing so, I was influenced to go out over my depth, being pulled along by a fellow student, who was a splen- did swimmer, whilst I could not swim at all, or only about as a stone swims. And as soon as I realized my situation in the swift running water, and began to sink, I immediately sprang upon him to save me, and clung to him so tightly he could neither help himself or me either, and so we both went down 224 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. together, but soon arose again to the surface only to struggle and strangle for a few moments, and then sink again. And on coming up the second time, by which time we were both quite drowned, a fellow student standing on a raft of logs not very far from us, shoved out a long scantling, which my companion barely reached with the tips of his fingers, as we were both go- ing down for the third and last time, and this supported him sufficiently till a better hold was secured, and in this way we were rescued from a watery grave. But you will at once see from the narration, this was almost a miraculous escape from drowning ; and then it was again quite every scene of the past, as well as thoughts of loved ones at home and all dear to me in life, instantly rushed into memory, though struggling as I was to keep from drowning. Some time afterward myself and room-mate had gone to the river to bathe, but as neither of us could swim, were careful to keep near shore, in shallow, slow-running water. But just at that time another young man came down from the town, strip- ped off, and being a swimmer, went out into deep water, and began to swim ; but in a few moments seemed to be strug- gling, and threw up his hands, calling loudly for help, when he suddenly sank j then he arose again and struggled hard for life, but in a few moments went down again, when all was over with him, no one being present who could swim, and so try to save him, though my room-mate instantly mounted the horse the young man had rode down, and rushed in to reach him before going down the last time, but was too late. He then rode away as rapidly as he could to give the news at the college, whilst I remained alone on the banks of the river in the twi- light, which made it quite lonely enough. But soon a large AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 225 number of students, perhaps quite a hundred or more, came down, and many of them being splendid swimmers, searched for the body until midnight, and not finding it, began again the next morning and continued until one with a long-handled rake with sharp iron teeth, in dragging it as he swam along, hooked one of the teeth into one of the eyes of the unfortunate young man, and drew him up to the surface, when the body was se- cured for burial. But the mourning and lamentations of that family were something very sad indeed, he being the very last of a number of children, several of whom had also come to an untimely end in some way. 226 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. CHAPTER VI. Early College Days. Continued. The following autumn, after my return from South Hanover College, it was agreed I should attend Wabash College, only eleven miles from my own home, in Crawfordsville, Montgom- ery Co., Ind. And arrangements being made, I at once began another course of studies during that fall and winter, in that most excellent Institution. Here I got on better, and progress- ed more rapidly in my studies, so that by the time the session of six months closed, I thought myself quite advanced, suffi- ciently to teach a common district school at least. And as I now had quite a desire to try it, to see how well I might like it, I left off further collegiate education, went before the Board of School Examiners, of whom the Hon. Joe E. McDonal was President, and after what I thought a rather rigid examination from his Honor, (he being a lawyer, even then of considerable eminence). However, Mr. McDonal cheerfully gave me my certificate, complimenting me on a good examination for one so young. And the next thing was to get a school, in the Town of Crawfordsville, which I soon succeeded in doing, and taught it through with some pleasure, a great deal uf trouble, and very little profit in a pecuniary way. My next venture on school teaching was the following win- ter in the country, and in a neighborhood proverbial for its heathenism in a general way. I taught the term about half through and could stand it no longer, and so quit in disgust, determining I would try some other vocation for a livelihood, and the following spring and summer engaged in a small vil- AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 227 lage in a small store, to sell goods, and after frittering away the spring and summer in close confinement, doing nothing, and of course making nothing, I now determined on a more active employment, for both mind and muscle, and so went to work at the carpenter's trade. This seemed to suit me better, and therefore continued at it for a few years, until through some unaccountable and sudden " coup de main," I dropped the car- penter's tools and took up those of Dentistry, and set to work to learn that profession, at the earnest and repeated solicitation of a dentist, then located in Crawfordsville, my same old Town of former experiences and adventures. Of course it did not take long for me to learn, (as I thought), quite all there was in that small business to be learned. And although I have stud- ied it, taught it, graduated in it from a regular Dental College, and practiced it for a quarter of a century, I still find something to be learned in it or about it quite every day. But, of course it is no unusual thing to find new-fledged Knight of the Forceps, "rubber dam," mallet, burring engine, etc., with just a little fur upon the upper lip, and just out of their Preceptor's Office or a Dental College, who know much more than I have ever learned, or indeed may ever reasonably expect to learn. And indeed even meet with patients occasionally, who will in- struct me just what to do, and how to do, when they condes- cend to call my professional services into requisition. Such, however, are usually those who have never needed dental services before, much less a tooth brush, or perhaps even a tooth pick ; in fact, can't understand why people should have teeth, anyway. During my long and varied experiences in the profession of Dentistry, I in the mean time, and for some years, gave much of my time to the study of medicine as taught and 228 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. practiced in the different schools, carefully studying them all through, beginning with the "Thomsonian," the Hydropathic modes of treatment, the Eclectic, the Allopathic, and the Homoeopathic schools. And after many years' study in this way, and in the meantime having grown tired of dentistry, I de- termined to engage in medical practice for a while as a change, and to see how well I might like it as a profession ; and with a view to this end, I went to a leading State Medical College or University, viz, the Medical State University of Louisiana, tak- ing a regular course in that Institution. After which, however, before entering upon regular practice, I took up the study and science of Homoeopathy, not having studied and investigated it up to that time. And doing so " secundum artem" conducting and carrying on the provings of various medicines, together with the study, I became so engrossed in it, as to quite lose sight of the old school of Allopathy, or of " Contraria contraribus curanter" for the new school of " Similia similibus curanter" and therefore adopted the new ; believing if there was indeed any true science in medicine at all, it belonged to that school; and so entered upon the practice of it for a number of years, in the city of Louisville, Ky., where after a constant and laborious practice, day and night constantly, my health gave way, so as to compel me to abandon the regular routine of professional life, and go west into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, for recrea- tion and recovery. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 2 2y CHAPTER VII. Early Recollections of Professional Life. In the preceding chapter, I spoke of being in the Rocky Mountains, where I had been sojourning for some time on ac- count of my health ; but in order to make these memoirs more complete, it will be necessary to return to earlier recollections and experiences in my professional life, which I think will be of interest to you. I have already told you I was not long in learning quite all, as I supposed, in Dentistry, and after fitting myself out with a beautiful and attractive case of instruments, etc., I proceeded at once to practice. But after continuing for some time, I dis- covered I might yet learn more about my profession ; and though perhaps did as well as some others, at least, who- were engaged in practice, yet this did not satisfy me, nor did it in- deed satisfy my patients at all times. Occasionally, however, I performed operations in dentistry which were considered grand successes, and I even thought so myself, as well as others, and this, of course, not only gave me confidence, but reputation al- so for skill in the dental art. Continuing on in practice a few years, enabled me to acquire greater proficiency, by applying myself closely to study as well as practice, and therefore in time did learn something about dentistry. During this time and for a quarter of a century since, in all my studies while living the life of a student, I have been trying to learn something about human nature in a general way, and of myself in particular ; and if I were to tell you I have made some 230 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. wonderful discoveries in that direction, you would at once con- clude my saying so evinced some egotism on my part, coupled with vanity, and yet if you knewthe facts pertaining to the whole matter, you would hardly be likely to render such a verdict. All this, however/being rather a side issue, and foreign to the principal matter before us, we will pass it by, at least for the present. The first few years of my practice were spent in several of the Northern and Western States, after which I turned my course towards the Sunny South. Leaving the State of Iowa, where I had been engaged in practice for some time near the central part of the State; I started in winter about the 1st of December, making my way through the deep snow and chill- ing blasts, till I reached the Mississippi river, where I crossed over on the ice after night, taking the train on the opposite side for St. Louis, where I arrived safely. After remaining a few days in that city, and fitting myself out in a most complete man- ner for general practice, I then went aboard a first class steam- er bound for the port of New Orleans ; but owing to the river being frozen over above, and heavy ice now forming at St. Louis and floating down, and the weather being intensely cold, the river soon began to block up, which prevented our making rap- id headway, as we had to stop occasionally to clear the way for the boat to get along. And on this account, it took three weeks to make the transit from St. Louis to New Orleans. However, our vessel was like a floating palace, gorgeously furnished in all its appointments, and the table fit for kings to dine at, being loaded with every delicacy such as would tempt the most fastid- ious epicure or gourmand. There were a large number of pas- sengers aboard, some of whom were rather prominent person- AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 23 1 ages. The upper deck was piled with boxes of gold coin ship- ped by the government at Washington to New Orleans. An at- tempt was made on said coin by burglars, to extract a quantity of the precious metal by boring into the boxes through the deck from below with a large augur, supposing the coin would rattle down from above, which, however, it did not do "worth a cent." After arriving at New Orleans and taking a general survey of that rather quaint old city, especially the Creole part of it, I became tired in a few days seeing the sights, and so went on board a Red River packet bound for Shreveport, some seven or eight hundred miles from New Orleans, up that very crook- ed and narrow, but deep stream, so appropriately named, for it is not only red, but muddy. Without any great adventure worth mentioning, I arrived at the aforesaid town in a few days, and going ashore I found as comfortable quarters as the place would afford, and not feeling well I concluded to remain a while. I had not been in S. long, however, till I discovered it was a lively place, in more ways than one. But I will not stop to tell you just how lively, or in what particular way. Suffice it to say, in looking the place over a little, I found I had got quite far enough from home, and near enough to Texas, for the present at least, but thought if the people who lived there could stand the place all their lives, I would try it a while, just for variety ; and was not long in se- curing an office, elevating my shingle among the Gentiles as well as Jews, native Creoles, sons of Ham, etc. Very soon I began to make acquaintances, with some of whom I was well pleased, and soon learned to my great pleasure and satisfaction, that a more intelligent and even highly educated, hospitable, sociable and pleasant class of citizens on the whole, I had nev- 232 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. er met before, nor do I think I have since ; the only drawback being that some of them were a little bigoted and autocratic, due to the fact perhaps of their being the F. F. V's, or of some such noble ancestry. Nor did it take me long to become warmly attached to my far-away Southern home, as well as to those around me. But alas, a few short months convinced me that for health, or for my health at least, I had struck the wrong place, and was soon stricken down with a violent attack of ma- larial fever. This, however, was no new thing for me, for I had already when a boy been partly "raised on it," i. e n I had it so much in early life that I had become quite accustomed to it, and thought if I had only one regular shaking up every other day, till the hair would stand on my head and my teeth would chatter, that I was getting on well enough. Such terrible chills usually lasted several hours, and were then followed by raging and consuming fever, with insatiable thirst, and a dreadful headache, all of which usually lasted quite the whole day, which was followed by a most copious and drenching perspiration, as though I had been dipped in a water tank ; and if I could es- cape as I have already said, with the above every other day, I thought I was getting off lightly. And this sort of thing was often kept up quite the whole year round, from which there seemed to be no possible relief. But this Southern type of swamp malaria I soon found, was quite too much for me, and though frequently, after recovering from an attack which gener- ally lasted for some time, I would be able to get up and around again, I would find myself very much reduced, with a cadav- erous look, and bent over like an aged man, and in need of a cane to assist locomotion. As for my general appearance and complexion, as I have already said, that was simply cadaverous, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 233 so much so indeed, that in passing strangers on the street sometimes, they would stop and gaze after me, remarking one to another and loud enough to be heard, " See that poor mis- erable fellow, he has not long to stay here," and I felt it too, as well as looked it. As a sort of antidote to this dreadful corroding poison in the system, to say nothing of the ponderous doses of calomel, quinine, blue-mass, etc., heroically administered in those days, I sometimes found some relief by going into the pinewood country thirty or forty miles, and rusticating among the plant- ers a few weeks, during which visits I spent some of the most pleasant and happiest days of my life. I occasionally made a trip into Texas also, lasting two or three months. But even in that country, I did not always escape malarial fever ; and on one occasion, after lying in an old hotel, suffering dreadfully from that cause for a number of weeks, after which my physi- cians pronounced me convalescent, the following night I was suddenly seized about midnight with a dreadful congestive chill, which came very near ending my life before assistance came and relief was obtained, and even this was followed by a second one, quite as severe or even more so. It is well known that few persons recover from a second congestive chill, and never from a third one, and many die during the first And now, in concluding this letter, I will tell you a little inci- dent which occurred to me shortly after my partial recovery from the foregoing very dangerous illness. I say partial re- covery, for I was still very feeble when I determined to return home to Louisiana. Having my own conveyance and a pair of good horses, I started one morning alone, and after a hard day's journey, and 234 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. night overtaking me before I found a stopping place, I found myself just at dark, not only on a strange road, and the wrong one, too, but at the summit of a high mountain, to the base of which was, I think, about three miles, and started down this mountain without locking any of the light carriage wheels, hav- ing no way, indeed, of doing so ; but I soon discovered the mountain was steep from the effort required to hold the car- riage back as the horses trotted along, when, all of a sudden, the coupling which attached the neck yoke to the tongue gave way, which instantly let the tongue drop to the ground, and at the same moment the carnage ran on to the heels of the horses, which frightened them dreadfully and set them to kicking and running for dear life down the mountain. I, of course, realized the situation instantly, as well as the perilous condition in which I was placed, the carriage being tightly closed all around, except in the front, as the autumn season was then cool, the opening being immediately over the horses, and now almost over their backs. Feeble as I was, however, I continued to pull upon the lines with all my might, which I soon found did no good, but rather helped to draw the carriage that much closer upon the horses' heels. The road was narrow and crooked, and hemmed in on either side with forest trees and undergrowth, and a ravine of consid- erable depth seemed to have been washed out on either side. But to attempt to keep the road to the foot of the mountain, or even at all any distance, seemed like certain destruction ; and for me to bound out at the opening in front of the carriage, di- rectly over the horses, seemed to me more perilous still ; whilst to stay in, sit still, and take my chances, seemed to me but very little better. All these things flitted through my mind in a AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 235 moment, or in a thousandth part of the time it takes to relate it, when a very sudden thought occurred to me, which at the same instant I acted upon, viz : drop one line, throw my whole strength in pulling upon the other with both hands, and so turn the horses out of the road into the woods, and there take the chances of escape or speedy destruction, as might occur, and so end all suspense, and this I did ; compelled the horses to wheel suddenly across the road, leap the ditch, and carry all together with them into the woods, when suddenly running into the forks and branches of a large tree top (I don't mean a stand- ing tree, but one which had blown down with the top towards the road), hemming themselves completely in, so that they could get no further forward or sideways, nor could they back out on account of the carriage at their heels, and thus were they compelled to stand still, at which time I very quietly, and without the least reluctance, climbed out to look around a little. And what do you suppose was the condition in which I found things ? Simply the fastening of the neck yoke to the tongue broken — only this, and nothing more. As I have already said, I was just recovering from a severe spell of sickness, and was very feeble ; but I could not stay there in the cold, chilling mountain air all night without suffering greatly, and therefore concluded to unhitch and drive the horses down the mountain to some house where I could stay the rest of the night, and this I attempted to do ; but after getting them in the road and going for some distance, I then stopped and hallooed repeatedly ; but getting no response, ex- cept the lonely echoing of my own voice through the wild mountains, not even the baying of a dog in the distance, and not knowing how many miles I would have to travel in this 236 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. way before coming to a house, I changed my mind, turned back up the mountain again, went to my carriage, tied the neck yoke to the tongue as securely as I could, backed the carriage into the road, hitched up, got in. and away we went, tearing down that mountain as though nothing had happened. I don't know just how I had strength enough to go through with all this, but I did it. The first house we came to I stopped and hallooed again, when a man came to the door, and I told him what had happened to me on the mountain, apologizing for disturbing him, and asked if I could get to stay during the remainder of the night, and he said No, as he did not keep strangers ; but a mile or two further on they sometimes did. I then drove on till I came to another house, and called up the man and made known my request ; and he con- sented, on condition, however, that I would not disturb the family by having them get up to give me supper. I told him I had had neither supper nor dinner that day, but was too glad to get to stay without either. It was now about midnight. We put the horses in the stable and fed them, and I retired, completely worn out from the day's travel and night's adventure, as well as from hunger and exhaus- tion. However, I soon fell asleep, first to dream strange dreams, then to see visions, at the same time to be undergoing the most dreadful torture, and feeling as if I was being plucked and pulled in pieces and dissected alive ; when I suddenly awoke to realize — oh, horrors ! — the dreadful surroundings, and condition and situation I was in.' To say there were, numeri- cally, almost thousands of bed-bugs, many of them of immense size, and all ferocious and hungry, at work on me and on that bed, scarcely expresses it. It was all but covered I got up AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 237 at once, shook myself, dressed myself, and taking a quilt from the bed, shook it thoroughly, and, winding it around me, climbed into a large, high, old rocking chair in the middle of the room, tucking up my feet, and there remained till daylight, when I called the landlord, hitched up my horses — one of which I found sick — paid my reckoning (no extra charge for bugs, which he may have forgotten to include in the bill), in- quired the road I should take, and was informed that I was on the wrong- one, and had been for many long miles back, even before starting down the mountain. That day it not only rained, but poured down in torrents, and the harder it rained, the faster I travelled, making the journey of forty miles or more without stopping for shelter or food, and so reached the end of my journey by nightfall. And now, my dear Boys, I bid you good night tHl I write to you again, hoping that you will excuse this rather long letter, which I have endeavored, however, to make as short as possible, and yet so as to give facts in detail. And from this you may readily see that truth is, indeed, often stranger than fiction. 238 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. CHAPTER VIII. Southern Life and Scenes, Continued. More Experiences Given. My dear Boy, or I will say, Boys : for I shall include every one of you who read these pages, and want to tell you that I love all good boys, and may as well add just here, good girls too, and want to ask each one of you, and then wonrler to my- self if indeed anyone, old or young, or middle aged, ever saw a good boy. I can hardly believe that there are any ; I know I was not ; but think if I were permitted to try it over again that I might be better than I was. In my last letter, I told you of quite an adventure, another one of my narrow escapes with my life and limbs, and how almost supernatural strength came to my aid just at the time I most needed it, clearly showing how kind and merciful Providence is, in times of greatest need. And now I will tell you what occurred to me in the way of another narrow escape, after my return home, I think it was. I was boarding at a hotel, and one day at dinner, after sipping a dish of soup I began eating something, but in. a few minutes I felt very strangely, and presently turned dizzy and almost blind, and began to feel very sick indeed, and I then realized that I was poisoned, and getting up from the table, I staggered to the door and started for my office, only a little way off, but before reaching it, I began retching and vomiting. I however, got there at last but completely exhausted, and went to my room and dropped down on the bed, and groaned piteously and loudly too, for I was in dreadful suffering. . An old doc- tor in an adjoining room heard me, and came running in, and AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 239 assured me he thought I was dying, asking what was the mat- ter ? I told him I had got a dose of some dreadful poison, but did not know just what, and told him to get me an emetic of some kind as quick as possible, which he prepared in a very few minutes by taking a large cup of warm water which hap- pened to be near at hand, and stirring in a quantity of ground mustard, had me drink it at once, and then began to prepare another in the same way. In the meantime, my eyelids had swollen almost shut, and become very red, my face bloated, and all over my head and body large purple spots had appeared. The first cup of warm mustard water set me to vomiting again, and the perspiration soon broke out copiously, and together with it and the emetic, I soon became much relieved. I did not recover, however, from the poison for some time. It so happened that others also, who had partaken of the soup that day, were made very sick from it, but it seemed that I got the largest dose, and therefore suffered the most. It was after- wards ascertained the greasy vegetable soup had been standing for some time in a large copper vessel, and on being boiled or warmed over again had caused verdigris, which is a very deadly poison when left to work its results, to rise on the surface. This is about the only time I remember ever being badly pois- oned, except occasionally by heroic doses of poisonous drugs and medicines, administered secundum artem, but I had to quit the latter long ago, or I should not be alive today to tell you these things. I might relate many other little incidents which transpired during my residence in Louisiana, though some of which were not' such as to delight me at the time, but many, however, were very pleasing to me, and recalling them again to memory, as I 240 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. now write, carries me back in the fond recollection of happy days, many of which indeed, were among the happiest I have ever enjoyed since leaving my boyhood's home to try the stern realities of life, often far away from kindred ties and loved ones. After some years spent in Louisiana, I thought it better for my health to make a change. Before moving away from the State however, to remain, I took quite a long tour up North, visiting my old home and relations, and from thence went East as far as Boston, via Buffalo, Niagara Falls, -and New York. This was my first visit so far East, but have travelled over the same road often since. At the same time, I took a tour over the Canadas, going as far down as Quebec and Mont- morenci Falls. At Quebec, I visited the battlefield made fa- mous in history, where General Wolfe fell. At Montreal, I crossed over upon the great Queen Victoria tubular iron bridge which was then just newly finished. My ride down the great river St. Lawrence, and through those narrow, and exceeding dangerous rapids and straits, which course their ways, leaping, tumbling, jumping and seething, and at the tremendous rate of twenty miles an hour, whilst the beautiful screw steamers that ply those waters, when entering upon those rapids not only shut off all steam, but placed four pilots at each wheel, to guide the vessel safely through and over those exceeding narrow, dan- gerous, and perilous falls, walled in on either side perpendicu- larly and of great height, with solid rough jagged granite. It was interesting to notice the pale features of many of the passengers, while running those dangerous rapids at such a frightful rate of railroad speed, when to have missed the chan- nel at any moment for a few feet only, would have been certain destruction to all. I will not attempt to describe my feelings AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 24 1 on my first visit to Niagara Falls, or the impression they made, nor can I here take time to describe the Falls them- selves ; but well remember seeing Blondin perform his first wonderful and perilous feat, of walking across the river below the Falls on a tight rope, and at the same time wheeling a wheelbarrow, on his return to the American shore, while many thousands looked on in awe and admiration on either side. Not being a Bank Cashier or Treasurer, or President of some Railroad Company, I had no occasion to remain in Canada, and therefore returned to our own Country via New York, in which City I remained long enough to be robbed by a set of sharpers, who were just looking out for all such soft snaps as I was, who had money. I need not tell you just how this was done, for there are a thousand different ways, but soon after left the city ; not, how- ever, till after going around to the Peabody Institute, at the notable place known as the Five Points, and there selecting two orphan children — a male and female — out of some hundreds of miserable little waifs, to take with me on my return home South again. This I did at the special request of my father and mother, who wanted to take them to bring up. This seemed a little strange, too, after they had raised quite a dozen of as mischievous, not to say bad, children as ever did grow up to- gether, probably. The reader can more readily believe this from the author's confession of his own boyish exploits. And now to think our parents would even consent, much less de- sire, to take upon themselves similar burdens in their rapidly advancing old age ! However, they requested it, and it was my pleasure to obey. But it would, no doubt, have both amused and interested you, too, to have seen me " engineering " 242 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. those two little orphan " Five Pointers " out of New York, by way of Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Baltimore, and Washington, all of which places I visited on my return • and two wild colts, with only halters on them to be led with, could not have given; me more trouble. They were not only mischievous in a gen- eral way, but diabolical little vixens. However, I managed to» get through safely with them, and delivered up my charge to> my parents, little realizing then any more than they did what. an infliction I had brought upon them. Having made this, my second, visit home, I shortly after re- turned South again to Louisiana, taking a younger brother with me, and after a long, tedious journey by rail to St. Louis, and from thence by steamer to New Orleans, and then again up Red River, till we could go no further on account of low water, after hanging on bars in the river for days, and days and nights, in the broiling sun, amusing ourselves shooting the alligators, which often appeared in sight, and seeing them switch their tails and run away ; : we finally grew tired of such slow speed in getting on, so forsook the little craft and took to the woods, completing our journey overland for more than one hundred miles, anol so reached our journey's end at our home in Shreve- port. This was my younger brother — William's — first visit to, , and experience in, the South, and, of course, everything was: novel and strange enough to him. His first experience, by way of making a sort of lasting im- pression, perhaps, upon him, occurred at St. Louis when going aboard the steamer. After paying our fare and selecting our stateroom, we went into it at night ; he divested himself of his coat and vest, hanging the same upon a hook, together with his watch, and leaving the door unfastened, stepped out to re- AUTOBIOGRAPHV OF THE AUTHOR. 243 main awhile, as the heat was very oppressive on the boat be- fore starting. On returning to retire for the night, and looking to see the time, he found his coat and vest still there, but in some very mysterious and unaccountable way the watch had disappeared. During the following winter, my health having become bad, I determined on making a long tour through Texas by private conveyance, leaving my brother to look after matters at home during my absence. The season, however, was a bad one for travel; cold weather, snow and rain quite constantly, with deep mud, attended my journey through, till, after becoming tired of such " health restoratives " as Texas afforded in the way of general living, with a superabundance of "climate," I finally struck a straight course for Houston, near the Gulf Coast, at which place I sold, or partly gave away, my carriage and horses, to get rid of them. I may as well here add, for others' amusement, and to complete the whole picture of my folly on this Texas trip, I let an old doctor accompany me to " take care of me," just how well I will here briefly state. Be- fore starting, however, my "doctor" informed me that his wardrobe was a " little seedy," and that, owing to certain drafts and land warrants having failed to reach him, he " would be glad if I would give him a little order upon my merchant, so that he could replenish himself," and this I did thoughtlessly, without limit as to amount ; but when the bills were brought in, I was a little astonished, but he assured me his " drafts " would be forthcoming in a few days, or shortly afterwards, and "all would be made right"; but these aforesaid "drafts" I hardly think have reached him yet, unless in " another coun- try," to which I heard he afterwards went. On our journeyings 244 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. I soon discovered that my genial friend and newly made com- panion de voyage was not only a great tobacco worm, both in chewing and smoking, too, the expense of which, of course, had to come out of my pocket, but also that the " drafts " upon me for tobacco money came, as I thought, rather often, and soon learned, with regret, that " mein frendt " was indulging in "drafts" of a fluidic nature at every opportunity, till he would often become, not only " funny," but even hilarious, so as to compel me to cut off his " tobacco " supply, at least in part. But he " dressed well " all th£ same, you know — in fact, I dis- covered he could outdress me without the least effort, being the finest looking man of the two, for he was rosy complexioned and jolly. After disposing of my carriage and horses at Houston, and parting with my friend, " the doctor," I went from there to Galveston, and from thence by way of Mobile by steamer across the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans, and from thence up the Red River again to S . That spring I very reluctantly part- ed with my brother, he taking a circuitous route up Red River some distance further, and then disembarked, making his way through the wilds of Africa — or rather I should have said Ar- kansas — by way of Tex-arkana, Hot Springs, Little Rock, and Memphis, Tenn., and from thence back to our old home in In- diana. I remained in Louisiana till that summer, when I wound up my affairs there and moved to Memphis, Tenn., to live. My career in Memphis commenced in the summer of 186-, when I opened an office and began to practice my profession. The outlook for success was neither inviting nor very promising, as the profession was already then a " little crowded," though not AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 245 of the higher order generally, and prices only about half of what I had been accustomed to further south, or in Louisiana and Texas. But I soon began to make acquaintances, get practice, and gain reputation. In the meantime, that autumn however, I was suddenly tak- en violently ill with a new type of malarial fever, known as " Danguea," or break-bone fever. This name I thought very appropriate, for while I lay for nearly two weeks with this dreadful fever, taking scarcely any nourishment at all, or sleep- ing either all that time, I felt as if I had been thumped and pounded, and all my bones broken on the rack ; nor could I scarcely turn in bed, bat had to lie flat upon my back ; and therefore concluded that this type of fever was not so very "gay "after all! This type of fever seemed to be but little understood in the South just then, and especially by the physician who was attend- ing me, and seemed by no means inclined to yield to his treat- ment. And being puzzled over my case, and rather uneasy lest he might lose his patient, on my questioning him a little close- ly, he frankly acknowledged that he did not understand my case, and suggested consultation, which I had called in at once. By this time, however, the disease had come to a crisis, any- how, and if one suffering with it does not happen just then to drop off, the prognosis becomes favorable for his recovery. And as these two lineal descendants of Esculapius happened not to give me anything to prevent my recovery, I soon found a change had occurred for the better, and in a few weeks was quite convalescent. The nature of this terrible fever, when it seizes its victim, is to generally hold on, regardless of treatment, till it runs its course, causing the most dreadful and indescribable aches and 246 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. pains every moment, day and night, never "letting up" on the poor sufferer for a moment, and usually lasting for two weeks or longer before running its course. This fever I learned was very prevalent in the South that fall, and in the town of Hous- ton, Texas, alone there were no less than 500 cases reported at once ; and the same paper commenting upon it, said that al- though break-bone fever, or " Danguea," seemed to be fashion- able enough, yet it was not so entirely satisfactory as one might suppose, for in point of fact, the suffering was something dreadful. Still the victim generally need not feel much alarm, as it was not usually fatal in its termination, and those who were thus suffering with sore and aching bones, joints and muscles, and a scorching fever bordering on delirium, but not having the fear of Tartarus held up before them, did nothing but lie in bed, and grunt and groan and cuss. On my partial recovery, I found my whole system much depleted and very feeble, and enervated as well as tremulous, so that for some time after- wards I could scarcely stand upon my feet or move round, and when attempting to operate at the chair, had to lean against it to keep from falling over. I eventually recovered, however, and soon began to succeed well in my profession, so that by the following summer my practice became large and even la- borious. In the meantime, my brother who had studied with me in the South, had attended lectures in the Dental College at Cincinnati, and had graduated with the highest honors, getting his diploma, and then returned to engage in practice with me greatly to my delight, and at the same time added still greater strength and eclat to the firm name, it now being J. B. W. and Bro. instead of J, B. W. alone, and our practice con- tinuing to increase, we soon had all we could both do, to fill engagements. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 247 CHAPTER IX. The War comes on, and the Southern Rebellion breaks loose. As it will be remembered by many who are still living, there had been a perturbed state of affairs already going on in the political horizon for some years, so far as related to the great question of slavery and emancipation. And as the strife had gradually increased until the subject could no longer be agitated either in Congress or out of it without the most bitter asperity and rancor being hurled from each political party at the other. The great Crittenden compromise measure had been rejected, ;as well as Henry Clay's conciliatory -measure, which had also been repudiated. And nothing seemed necessary, except to touch fire to the fuse which had already been laid for the pur- pose of springing the mine now prepared, and awaiting the proper moment. The South had already declared that if Abra- ham Lincoln was elected President of the U. S., war. would in- evitably follow. This was just what the North wanted and had been waiting for. And right glad were they to bring about such an issue by the election of their candidate. This the South understood as sounding the tocsin of war, and so went to work with a hearty good will to prepare for the conflict now speedily to come. And although the South was in no way prepared to enter upon such a struggle, nor indeed did it seem could possibly be without a few years' preparation, yet with in- credible and almost unprecedented celerity, they had made arrangements to resist the very first seeming cause or provo- cation for warfare, either defensive or offensive as the case might be. And even before very many, either North or South 248 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. had contemplated or looked for such a coup d'etat, the Rebel guns were fired upon Fort Sumter. This was indeed the toc- sin which sounded in earnest, and plainly told no more child's play lay in the immediate future. Soon the whole North as well as South was in a blaze of the most intense excitement simultaneously, and the cry of War, war, was heralded through- out the entire length and breadth of our once quiet, peaceful and beautiful land. And in less time, it would seem, almost, than for the historian to write it, the whole entire North, as well as South, seemed con- verted from the peaceful pursuits of husbandry, etc., into one vast drill camp. Every conceivable preparation was speedily made, and factories sprung up everywhere as if by magic for the manufacture of all manner of fire arms, sabres, swords, and all other munitions of war. Camp fires were kindled every- where, whilst even all the towns and cities throughout both now the North and South (but I speak of the latter especially, as I was eye-witness to these things there), bonfires were kindled, torches lighted, etc., and bands of music paraded the streets, trailing the dear United States stars and stripes in the dust, with general shouting and rejoicing — at what? Simply at the inevitable doom which awaited not only our whole fair land, once peace and prosperity, both North and South, but the South especially. Inflammatory speeches were made, vigilance committees were established, martial law proclaimed, and the whole country, towns and cities, declared in a state of siege. But, as I do not purpose writing a history of that war, I will pass on, stating, however, I remained a sort of "looker on in Venice," and instead of joining in with a hearty good will, I stood aloof, shedding tears over the desecration and demolition AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 249 of the dear old flag of our fathers, and prophesying that the first gun fired upon Fort Sumter was not only the tocsin sound- ed for the most cruel, internal, intestinal, fratricidal, bloody war that has ever marked the pages of history, but that it was also the death knell to the peculiar and accursed institution of slavery, as it now existed ; and that the end of both would come by and by, but that all of us would not live to see that end. And for this outburst of sentimental prophecy I was simply jeered and laughed at, especially by some good Northern friends, such as merchants and others, then making their homes in the South, and showing their greed and devotion to the Southern cause by leading in processions, trailing the flag, etc. Well, to make this story short, I need hardly add that no sane Northern man, then a resident in the South, seemed to treat the whole matter otherwise than as a sort of huge joke, not believing, or seemingly unable to realize, that all these things did mean war, dreadful war and bloodshed, even be- tween brothers, fathers and sons, and forgetting that the exem- plification of the fable that although " sport to the boys [now], but death to the frogs/' was sure to follow. And just here it may not seem malapropos to quote a single line which I bor- row from Pope : " Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." But this indeed is no unusual thing, for we see it often exem- plified in many ways and instances daily through life. But to return again to our subject more directly. Not being naturally of very rebellious or pugnacious character, but rather more of a quiet and peaceful disposition than otherwise, when I was invited to join in, first on the rebel side, I declined, on the grounds that the fight was not of my getting up, and inas- 250 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. much as I had had no agency in the matter, I proposed to those who had brought it about to now go in and fight it out. The time, however, soon came that a simple disclaimer like this, or even a desire to take neutral grounds, was not just the thing ; and soon followed general orders either to go in, or go across over on the other side of the lines. But even this did not suit me, so I did neither, and very soon the Conscript Act took effect. But as this was not just what I wanted either, I soon found a Northern man whom I hired as a substitute, and who went in with alacrity ; and the next thing I heard was that he had "jumped the bounty " and got back up north again, ready to try it on the other side. But I knew from the very look of the man before I put him in, there could be no harm in him ; for if he could have free access to the Commissary Department, and an " eye-opener " occasion- ally, that he would be perfectly satisfied. However, I found it necessary to repeat the substitute ar- rangement before the " Yankee army," as it was called, came and took possession of our city, when I then found it just as necessary to substitute on the other side. And finding myself placed between two fires during the whole war, and thus oscil- lating, as it were, between contending armies, it had well nigh proved too much for me, and also came near wearing me out, to say nothing more. However, my brother Will and I both joined a sort of " stay at home guards " company, and did our usual share of drilling just for exercise, " you know," and occasionally went on guard about town, but continued to practice our profession just the same — patching up some dreadfully shattered and broken reb- el jaws, and occasionally a Yankee's, too, as it would happen. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 25 1 And on one occasion in my absence, my brother had the honor of inserting some artificial grinders for the late General U. S. Grant himself, who was well pleased at the result, though he had not then attained to the degree of eminence which he af- terwards did, both in the army and as Chief Executive of the United States. When the Federal fleet and the United States army ap- proached Memphis, I stood on the bluff of the river, and wit- nessed that memorable naval engagement, and saw the rebel fleet melt away before its strong adversary and formidable foe, like wax melts before the flame. The terrible fight did not last long, but it was sanguinary and dreadful indeed, whilst it did last, and many a poor fellow found a watery grave, though the number, perhaps, was never fully known. We have no time or space here to describe the scene. Immediately after, however, Memphis capitulated to her re- lentless foe, and soon Federal army law prevailed. All rebel officers and soldiers there at the time beat a hasty retreat, and the corps of "Home Guards," to which I had belonged, was disbanded, as their services were no longer needed to protect the city, and a general stampede now took place with many private citizens, as well as rebel soldiers and officers. " All to go below into Dixie's Land And there to live or die ; All to take their stand, And there to stay, or look away And live or die in Dixie." I, however, continued to stay where I was, having, to use an old familiar Texan phrase, " came there first." In the meantime I had extended my^ business considerably by buying 252 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. out a large drug establishment, and was conducting that line of business also, when the Federals took possession of the city. But this proved a very unfortunate affair for me afterwards, as I will now proceed to relate, in the following manner. The Federal army regulations were exceedingly stringent, so far as related to contraband supplies of every description being car- ried across the rebel lines, and guards were stationed on every road, byway and path, and, in fact, everywhere along the en- tire line, to prevent smuggling goods through the lines south. But with all their precaution and strict measures, supplies of every description, and in every conceivable manner, found their way south, women generally being the most successful smug- glers. I never smuggled anything through the lines, nor did I, indeed, ever attempt it. All kinds of drugs and medicines were strictly contraband, especially such articles as quinine, morphia, opium, etc. And as I was engaged in the drug bus- iness, of course I and my establishment were watched very closely, especially when drugs were continually going through the lines ; but it was not known by whom sent, or from what house. A most rascally and villainous practice of levying blackmail upon any and every one, regardless of whom they were, was carried on by the Federal officers in authority, who often employed thieves and pickpockets to do their dirty work. And in this way, many an innocent and unsuspecting party fell a victim to their unscrupulous designs and perfidious cunning. The consequence was that no man, no matter who or how hon- est, er even loyal to the North, could do business with any safety to property or person. If he had anything, those nefar- ious detectives and unprincipled, drunken officers wanted it ; and at one time, no fewer than about two hundred of the best AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 253 law-abiding citizens and merchants were arrested and put in confinement, and their places of business locked up, for various offenses, crimes, etc., as aWeged by detectives, who often per- jured themselves under oath ; and I found myself one among the number who had to thus suffer ; and having a good stock of such articles in store as were wanted, it was determined to confiscate all I had, not for the Government, but for private consumption ; and the commander of the post at that time, be- ing a great drunkard and gambler, could no doubt find use for all the money he could raise by any possible means. And I, knowing this, soon discovered my quickest and easiest way to get out of the whole difficulty was to buy out ; and this I did, on the very best terms I could, though even then it cost me dear enough to get out of their clutches, and get my place of business back again and open for business; for they, having the keys of my place during the time I was under arrest, of course had every chance to get away with all they wanted. And on taking possession again, I found "shrinkage," in the way of stealing, no small matter. My health before this occurred being already bad, the ail- ment I had been laboring under had already assumed a chron- ic form ; and my system had become so emaciated and run down that I much feared I had now become a confirmed in- valid, and possibly beyond all possible recovery. And in this condition I plainly saw that my only hope lay in freeing my- self, not only from the poisoned malarial atmosphere surround- ing me, but in getting away from all business troubles of every kind ; and in order to do this I must not only leave that place and country, but even the United States, if possible. And af- ter having so decided, and feeling there was no time to lose, I 254 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. made my arrangements at once, and bidding my brother and clerks, for anything I knew, a final adieu, leaving my brother in charge of everything, I took my departure for Europe, going via Indiana, once more to visit my parents and family, and then part with them also. Going on from there directly to Washing- ton, D. C, and procuring a passport, I went from thence to New York. .AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 255 CHAPTER X. My First Voyage across the Atlantic. Storm at Sea. My Dear Young Friends : (I thus address you, feeling as if it is likely that you will take more interest in this chapter than your elders). In my last letter I told you that I had arrived at New York overland by rail, for the purpose of making a voyage across the ocean, but did not tell you how feeble I was on the road, being scarcely able much of the time to stand on my feet, or to walk with the assistance of a cane. I was of course compelled to travel slowly, resting in differ- ent cities on the way, and avoiding night travel ; and on leav- ing the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, very early in the morning, I was robbed, I think as I was going aboard the ferry, by having my purse of gold extracted from my pocket during the rush and jam by some pickpocket. I missed the purse soon afterwards, and felt the loss more, not that I had much of the precious metal with me, but what I had was val- uable — a dollar in gold being worth then two and a half in greenbacks. ' After crossing the ferry and getting seated in the car and on my way to New York, I bought a morning's paper, and on open- ing it to read, found myself so blind that I could scarcely make out the name of the paper in the large letters of the heading, much less read ordinary print. This of course, was a very un- expected and sad thing for me, just starting as I was on a long journey to foreign lands, and alone. I continued on till I reached New York, spending only a few days there making some purchases of drugs, medicines, etc., to ship back to Mem- phis. 256 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. Finding a steamship lying out at anchor in the bay and quite ready to sail for Liverpool, I paid my passage, went aboard, climbing up the staging step by step aided by my cane, descend- ed into my little room, and lay down in my berth, or rather small trough in the side of the ship, to rest a little. Soon the pilot, the U. S. mail, and all else were brought on board pre- paratory to starting, the vessel raised steam, weighed anchor, hoisted her sails, drew in the staging, and was soon gliding out of the splendid bay of the great city of New York on her east- ward course. I arose from my bed, went up on deck, and took one long, lingering, farewell look at the great city now lying behind us, and rapidly fading from my gaze, as well as the beautiful land of my native home, all of which soon appeared as a small speck in the dim distance on the horizon ; and in a little while the dearly loved continent of America had entirely faded from sight, when naught remained but the little craft on which I rode, the deep blue waters beneath and around, and the blue vaulted sky above, in the twilight of a summer's even- ing. Being very feeble, and in great need of rest and quiet, I again descended to my little narrow room below, and undressing, re- tired for the night. Not, however, to enjoy rest and sweet sleep so much needed by tired nature, but rather to be tossed hither and hither upon the rolling waves. At last, however, sleep, balmy sleep came with its thousand thoughts and visions ; and in my feverish restlessness, I dreamed — dreamed even of companions of my youth and joyous days of boyhood ; dreamed of all dear to me whom I had left far away in my Southern home, so suddenly and unexpectedly to them ; dreamed of my dear aged parents, sisters and brothers, and of the tears shed AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 257 at our sad parting, hardly expecting ever to meet again on this side of that bourne from which no traveller returns, the testi- mony of lying spirits to the contrary, notwithstanding. And after spending the night in this way, I again awoke from my dreams and visions, arose, made my toilet, and again ascended to the upper deck to behold the beautiful bright sun, that luminous world a million and a half times larger than our globe, rising up in its dazzling splendor far away out of the liquid waves of old ocean, ready prepared as a strong man to run the race of another day. And I then felt and could even exclaim with the wise preacher : " Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." (Ecc. 11: 7.) But, my young friends, did you ever stand and contemplate that bright orb of day, as it rises before your eyes in the morn- ing, looking no larger than a good sized hoop in circumference but is really 885,680 miles in diameter, while our globe is only 8,000 miles in diameter? And in the matter of the sun's sub- stance, it would balance 352,000 worlds like ours. Consider what immensity is this. And yet, as you well know, our little globe is no small speck. But it is well known that this bright sun which we behold, and which gives us light and heat, is far from being the largest and brightest of the orbs which drive their shining chariots in myriads more than can be counted through the heavens. And although the sun is no less than ninety-five millions of miles from us, yet far away in the depths of space, so far indeed as to appear only like mere specks or points of light, we see other blazing orbs of light, far greater in glory and dazzling splendor, and vaster in magnitude, viz : The first fixed star, called Alpha- Centanor, in the southern hemi- 258 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. sphere, is discovered to be, by actual measurement, nineteen thousand billion miles away, but the pole-star system or planet is even yet a five times greater distance from us, or two hun- dred and eighty-five thousand billions of miles, and shines with a lustre equal to that of eighty-six of our suns, whilst others are still larger and more lustrous still : Vega, for instance, which emits light equal to three hundred and forty-four of our suns ; Capella four hundred and thirty ; Arcturus five hundred and sixteen. And thus we might continue to enumerate and dwell upon this most sublime and interesting subject of Astronomy, but must return again to our voyage, and will say that we had a calm sea and pleasant weather enough for some three days and nights, when in the afternoon of the fourth day, thick, dark and threatening clouds arose in the heavens, and soon nothing but heavy clouds above and a troubled sea beneath and above was to be seen. Very soon muttering thunder was heard, with the gleaming flashes of lightning. And these were the signals to the Captain and other officers to furl sails and prepare for what might come very soon, warned by the rapid falling of the barometer, that never failing monitor of approach- ing danger at sea. As night came on, the bellowing thunder grew louder, the forked lightnings played round the mastheads of the ship and flashed with angry gleamings over the decks ; when suddenly a dreadful storm burst upon our little frail ship in all its fury, and as she still continued on her eastward course plowing the angry sea, the waves, which had at first begun to lift their crested heads of white foam, now became frightful, yet still sublime in their awful grandeur, rolling up like mountains all around and on every side ; while our ship reeled and stag- gered like a drunken man, now rising up, and mounting the AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 259 huge billows, and then after poising a moment on their sum- mits, suddenly plunging deep down into the angry ocean, as if sinking to her watery grave • sometimes almost on her beam- ends, then for a little while would seem caught in a narrow trough of the sea between two waves, where it seemed as if she must be crushed like an egg-shell between the heavy seas, while every plank, and rib, and stick of timber in the hull seemed strained to its utmost tension, when suddenly a heavy sea would wash over the entire deck, crushing heavy rods and bars of brass, and the thick glass over the skylights, letting a flood of water pass through into the dining saloon and cabins below. During all this time, such things as large hampers of dishes and heavy trunks were pitched and thrown in every direction below, making a general wreck and smashing of earthen and china ware. In the meantime, among some three hundred or more living souls on board, among whom were many women and children, the screaming and wailing in their terror-stricken condition was quite enough to move the more calm and reflec- tive mind to pity, at least. But when some men " of the baset sort " were seen carousing, drinking liquor, cursing and swear- ing, and very hilarious while this dreadful storm was raging day and night (for it lasted two nights and a day), it was quite enough to make one think that surely Dante could not have had a more striking scene to draw his region " Inferno " from than this. It did, indeed, appear, whilst all were shut up under tightly closed hatches below deck for all this long period (ex- cept the officers and sailors at work, striving with all the mind and powers given them from above to save the vessel from going to the bottom), that Satan himself, " the Prince of the power of the air," had indeed taken possession of many of these 260 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. men's hearts ; and he, together with them, was holding high carnival and rejoicing in the general terror and dreadful suffer- ing of terribly frightened women and children, many of whom, as well as some invalids, were deathly sick all the time this was going on. But as there must come an end to all things, so there did to this dreadful storm, which in my poor way I have endeavored briefly to describe. I felt then, and still feel, most thankful to our Heavenly Father for permitting me to live through it, and still survive to tell you the story. And in the manifestation of God's goodness and mercies in thus pre- serving my life, even amid these great dangers at sea, as well as in the numerous instances already referred to, amid great perils and dangers, I trust that many of my readers, both old and young, may be led to see that I have been wonderfully blessed in thus being shielded from so many dangers plainly visible, to say nothing of those unseen perils to which everyone is continually exposed. And just here is vividly brought to mind a beautiful little song which some of you may perhaps have already learned and sung ; as it is short, I will repeat it. " All the way my Savior leads me, What have I to ask beside ? Can I doubt his tender mercies Who through life has been my guide ? Heavenly rest, divinest comfort, Here by faith in him to dwell ; For, I know, whate'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well. " All the way my Savior leads me, Cheers each winding path I tread, Gives me grace for every trial, Feeds me with the living bread ; AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 26 1 Though my weary steps may falter, And my soul athirst may be, Gushing from the rock before me, Lo ! a spring of joy I see. " All the way my Savior leads me, O, the fullness of his love ! Heavenly rest to me is promised In my Father's house above. When my spirit, clothed immortal, Wings its flight to realms of day, This my song through endless ages : Jesus led me all the way." 262 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR- CHAPTER XI. End of Voyage. Tour over Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. After the terrible storm which I have described in the pre- ceding letter had subsided, which it did after lasting about thirty-six hours, we had no longer as rough a sea for the remain- der of the voyage ; but our vessel being a slow one, it took eleven days to cross from New York to Queenstown, on the coast of Ireland, where I landed, together with a few other passengers. To say that I had been sick the whole voyage through, hard- ly expresses it, for being very feeble and emaciated before starting, and having no appetite, together with the terribly rough sea part of the time, and seasickness all the time, on my arriv- al at Queenstown I found myself in rather sad plight. I man- aged, however, to get on a small steamer which was lying wait- ing for us, and soon found ourselves steaming up that charm- ing river Lee, immortalized by the poet who sings of " The Bells of Shandon, which sound so grand on The pleasant waters of the river Lee ! " which presents one continuous panoramic view of the grandest scenery on either bank along its serpentine course for the dis- tance of fifteen miles, before reaching the renowned old city of Cork, where we disembarked ; and putting up at Queen's Hotel, I decided to rest a few days before making a general tour over the island. While there, however, I visited the famous historic old Blar- ney Castle, also St. Ann's Turkish bathing place, some five or AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 263 six miles from Cork, and there remained a few days to try the efficacy of the baths. From thence I went to those charming hills and lakes of Killarney, about one hundred miles distant, and which have been so often described, both in verse and prose. No description, however, can do justice to their loveli- ness. After spending a few days there very delightfully, I again returned, and went up to the Giant's Causeway, and from there to Dublin, where I visited the great Medical Colleges, also oth- er places of interest in that famous old city and its environs ; proceeding next to Belfast, in the north of Ireland, where the fine, beautiful Irish linen which we get in this country is man- ufactured. Here I found the Irish not only intelligent, and many of them well educated, but also Protestant, and very so- ciable in their nature, and speaking quite as clear English as myself or anyone else — very widely in contrast, however, wit.h the people in the south of Ireland, at Cork, Limerick, and oth- er places, where they speak a sort of " patois " or gibberish but little understood except among themselves ; also their poverty, squalor and wretchedness I found ten times greater than in the north of Ireland, or even in the central region around Dublin. My stay in Ireland, though not a long one, I enjoyed quite ■ as much as that in any country I visited in Europe or on the Continent. Nor did I find one which presents more of real in- terest and attraction to a traveler seeking knowledge and infor- mation. Its name, " The Emerald Isle," is also significant, for without doubt, it is the greenest spot 1 have seen on earth. Everything is fresh and green, except the smooth macadamized roads, level as a floor and hard as adamant, which have been travelled over for long, long centuries ; everything green except the numerous old ruins, monuments of early greatness, crumb- 264 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. ling into decay. I will also except the numerous wide stone walls to be seen everywhere, dividing each little domain from its neighbor. These varied in size from tracts of one-fourth of an acre, to those containing many acres ; and on ascending to the summit of old Blarney Castle, and looking over the Island as far around as my eye could reach, I could only compare these stone walls to the foundations and first story of great houses which had been built just so high, but had never pro- gressed any further towards completion, and having been aban- doned, were now crumbling to decay and ruin. On enquiring the reason for so many stone walls and of such great thickness, I was informed that at an early day the whole island, or a great part of it, was thickly covered with stones, and in order to get them out of the way and to make room for raising potatoes, grain, grass, etc., they built them into immense and innumer- able stone walls, as they could neither burn them up nor bury them, and so in this way utilized them for a purpose. Some parts of the Island abound in peat, which is cut out in square chunks or blocks, and let dry in the sun, to be used for fuel ; most of the Irish huts or shanties are also built from this material, and often sodded over or covered with the same. These wretched huts make miserable dwellings, always small, no windows, fireplace or chimney ; and often the pigs, cows, children and parents occupy them together indiscriminately. Crossing what is known as the Irish Channel, in the North, I at once found myself among the Highlands of Scotland : and my visits to the great cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, etc., also Melrose Abbey, Abbotsford (the home of the immor- tal bard — Sir Walter Scott), etc., and many other places of great interest to every Scotchman, as well as to the traveler, I AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 265 have only time to mention here very briefly. I found Edin- burgh one of the most unique, quaint, and most remarkable of ancient cities I have ever visited in my life ; and every day and hour that I spent there afforded new scenes of marked inter- est, many of which are historic, and date back for centuries. I visited the exquisitely beautiful, tall monument, towering up to a great height, and which can be ascended by its hun- reds of stone steps, and from the summit of which the whole city and the most charming landscape, with the bay in the dis- tance, can be seen, giving an immense view even to the naked eye, and still more extended when aided by a glass ; and for beauty and grandeur, being such as the eyes are seldom per- mitted to feast on. The old palace and castle of Queen Mary, the old church and house of John Knox, dating back some three and a half centuries, and the same old pulpit from which he thundered forth his anathemas denunciatory of Roman Ca- tholicism, and which not only transformed, but reformed, all Scotland to the orthodox Calvinistic Protestant religion, but at the same time shook up all Europe as it was never shaken be- fore. The great medical universities, the old cemeteries, etc., and other places of special interest, such as I cannot here take time to mention, much less to describe minutely, afforded me both present and lasting interest, which I found had not even abated on my second visit, ten years afterwards. And although more than a score of years have passed since my first visit to those charming, historic old islands of Great Britain and Ire- land, and although every word I now write is from memory, not having even the trace of a memorandum to aid me, yet the scenes then visited and the impressions made were so indelibly stamped upon my memory, that they will doubtless remain till 266 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. memory and mind will be forever obliterated in this life. Go- ing on from Scotland by rail, I went through the Dominion or rather Princedom of Wales, on my way to London. Passing through Wales, I visited places of greater or less interest, such as mining regions, manufacturing towns and cities, as well as others in England, such as Sheffield, so famous for its superior cutlery, Birmingham, the world's great emporium for arms and all manner of iron articles, etc. Speaking of Sheffield cutlery, I may remark that too often it is imitated here by worthless and trashy articles. The hills and lakes of Wales and England, as well as of Ire- land and Scotland, and the landscape views constantly chang- ing, like those of a kaleidoscope, were all indescribably charm- ing and beautiful. This was the month of July, and just at the right season to see everything in its most lovely aspect. I also visited the great Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. After arriving in London, I spent a week or more viewing that eighth, ninth or tenth wonder of the world, with its teeming millions (now about five millions) of human souls, its more than one thousand streets, lanes, etc., its countless squares and pub- lic parks, its great zoological gardens, in which are to be seen every kind and description of living animal known, or to be found upon the habitable globe, or in the sea, and every fowl that floats upon the water or wings the air ; every reptile, from the fatal little cocatrice or adder of the Orient, the centipede, and tarantula, to the formidable boa constrictor of South Amer- ica ; and in the feathered world, from the tiniest little humming bird (of which there are over six hundred species) to the great ostrich of the desert plains of Africa, upon which I have seen the black Nubian seated in a perfect state of nudity, riding at AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 267 breakneck speed. In the body of this bird, on dissection, have been found as many as forty eggs at one time, varying in size from the small embryo up to one of enormous size, the shell of which would require the use of a sledge hammer to break it, and measuring nine inches in length and six in diameter. Among quadrupeds we find specimens from the tiny, little red-eyed white mouse to the huge jumbo elephant of the In- dies, and from the innocent little pink-eyed rabbit to the most ferocious leopard, or lion, king of beasts from the jungles of Africa. Going from these gardens to the great House of Com- mons of Great Britian, and to the Queen's gorgeous Palaces sit- uated in beautiful grounds, we simply behold wonders. From thence we visit the ancient, historic old Tower of London, and the British Museum. Six months, a year, or even five years, might be spent pleasantly and very profitably, seeing, studying, and learning even only a part of what is to be seen and learnt there. It would be useless for me to attempt here to describe a tenth, or even a hundredth or thousandth part of what I saw during the different visits I made, and the time I spent in this " Cosmos " within itself, or great world of wonders. Enclosed within a high, thick stone wall, with its iron gates and ponderous bolts and bars, through which we enter with our guide, we first behold on every side of the Tower, the Arsenal grounds and the Arsenal, with a display of every firearm or mu- nition of war that probably has ever been invented or conceived of, both ancient and modern, and we might also add ever used in any country, civilized or barbarian. Looking further, we see the ever memorable and cruel "guillotine" with its block, and gleaming, sharp, heavy blade, which dropped with a thud upon the neck of the defenseless victim, when the body and head dropped separately on either side of the fatal block. 268 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. In another large room we see the figures of ancient kings, earls, princes, and knights of valor and renown, all bedecked with heavy steel coats of mail, and helmets of the most artistic and cunning workmanship. Their lances, their shields, their spears and swords, etc., made a sublimely grand, not to say aw- ful, display. As Scott has written of the Knights of the Border, ever ready to respond at a moment to War's alarm : •'They carved at the meal with gloves of steel, And drank the red wine through the helmet barred.*' Passing on further into the interior, we came to the chamber of the crown jewels of Emperors, Kings and Queens. Crowns and diadems bestudded with jewels of every kind, the most cost- ly, and " of purest ray serene," were displayed in dazzling pro- fusion. Then again we enter the long, almost interminable cor- ridors and halls, with every wall lined with hundreds of glass cases, filled with thousands of rich specimens of ore, metals, and minerals ; also the great cabinets of various coins, gold, silver, brass and copper, of every imaginable description, superscrip- tion, size and date, from those of most ancient antiquity down to the present time, and of every land "and nation under the sun. But we are compelled to stop just here, without taking time or space to more than mention the great library of ancient books, Mss., etc. ; the immense gallery of Art, filled with rare paintings, statuary, and a thousand other things of equally great interest. Leaving this great Cosmos or world within itself, we pass out into the open air, perhaps to descend by a winding shaft, quite one hundred feet down, which leads to the entrance of the great tunnel extending under that notable river, the Thames ; and emerging from this on the opposite side of the AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 269 river, we again ascend, then recross the river upon one of those staunch stone and iron bridges of solid structure, such as, for in- stance, the far-famed London Bridge, where 1 have stood and viewed a stream of carriages of every kind and make, extending for miles on either side and either way ; crossing over, when in a moment every vehicle and every horse was brought to a stand- still, caused simply by the locking of the hubs of the wheels of two carriages passing in too close proximity to each other, or from some other equally trivial cause. But a few moments on- ly were sufficient to disengage them, when the crack of a whip or two, prefaced and emphasized with a few oaths from the Jehus driving them, and all that long stream, thus suddenly brought to a standstill, was again* a moving, living mass in rapid motion, to make up for the moments lost. People in London, when on the pavements, or crossing streets, do not walk — they simply run — and woe to the poor un- fortunate victim who may chance to miss a step, slip, and fall, for the chances are at least ten to one that he or she will never rise again alive, or at least without being bruised, crushed, and mangled by the rushing mass of human beings who are com- pelled from actual pressure to pass over the fallen victim, or from the iron shod hoofs of heavy horses, and the wheels of vehicles as they rush heedlessly on. Statistics show that an average of one human life for every day in the year is sacrificed in this way, on the streets and crossings of London. But to hurry on, and complete our sight-seeing, etc., in this great me- tropolis of the world, as speedily as possible, and pass to other scenes. We will descend at one of the many stations, and take an Underground Railway train, and travel awhile without the opportunity of seeing much for the present, and in this way 270 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. may spend a whole day travelling under the great Metropolis, shut out from daylight, and yet with abundant light to see all that is to be seen. And one need only learn the distance to realize with what speed and exactness these trains run, even to the very second, and constantly from one station to another. And if the reader can imagine being shot out of the mouth of an immense cannon while in a railroad car, and making speed accordingly, he can form some idea as to how an Underground Railway ride goes ; and it may be continued if he wishes, even for hundreds of miles, before coming up to the surface of the streets and open day. But we must leave London, after a visit first to the great Sydenham Crystal Palace, known as the World's Fair, there to spend a most enjoyable day in seeing more sights than can possibly be described, as there is here, indeed, another world of wonders. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 27 1 CHAPTER XII. Paris-and its Environs Briefly Described. On to Rome, via Switzerland, Germany, etc. Taking leave of London, the trip to Paris is made in less than a day, by rail and steamer, crossing the British Channel between Dover and Calais. These narrow Straits of Dover, as they are called, only require about three hours to cross on a steamer, (in fact, the shores of France can be seen from Eng- land on a clear day) but it is so exceedingly rough, both winter and summer, that the traveller may congratulate himself if he escapes a severe spell of seasickness while crossing. I speak from personal experience, having crossed six times to find my- self deathly sick every time, and I was by no means the excep- tion. Having once arrived in Paris and selected your hotel, the next thing is to proceed at once to see whatever there is of interest, and there is certainly plenty. But how shall we describe it ? Beautiful Paris, where only man (and woman too) is vile ! I have visited Paris more than half a dozen times, and even made it my residence for a while, and yet I must tell you, I know no great deal of Paris yet. To say that it is without doubt the most charmingly beautiful city I have ever been in, expresses it, so far as that goes. But the stranger to it is ready to ask how, or in what way ? x\nd I can only answer : one must see it for himself, and see it well, to be able to either realize what it is, or to enjoy it, or even appreciate it. The English language, from the most eloquent tongue, or descrip- tive pen moved by one possessing the most vivid imagination, is inadequate to the undertaking. 272 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. And as it is not our object in this brief autobiographical his- tory to describe any city or country minutely, we are compelled to pass this one by also, with simply a passing notice. We will first merely mention its miles on miles of broad boulevards, paved with concrete or asphaltum, as smooth and level as a floor, and kept swept generally quite as clean, lined continu- ously on either side with beautiful shade trees — horse chestnut mostly. The pavements are formed of broad and smooth slabs of white marble. Stores, shops, and bazaars, the most exqui- site and costly, with their great windows filled with everything to tempt the eye of the passer by ; costly residences and gor- geous palaces of immense size and height, built from the most delicate and beautiful cream-colored marble, which is quarried out from beneath the city, and carved in the most exquisite style of decorative and ornamental workmanship before being placed upon the walls of the building ; the almost countless number of hotels, some of which are among the grandest and most costly in the world, between forty and fifty large hospitals with their multiplied thousands of human sufferers being con- stantly cared for ; the most magnificent and costly churches, theaters, and opera houses, large, exceedingly high, and with exquisitely carved pillars ; the Tuilleries Palace and gardens ; the museum, art galleries and public libraries ; the grand tri- umphal arch, or Arc de Triomphe (destroyed during the siege by the Prussians and since restored), and a thousand other things of more or less attraction and interest, such as the cele- brated French restaurants, cafes, theatrical, dancing, and sing- ing pavilions, the brilliantly lighted gardens, such as the Champs Elysees ; not to speak of the tramways leading from the city, and starting every few minutes to convey passengers to St. Cloud, Versailles, and other places, and the many hundreds of AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 273 double-deck omnibuses, carrying twenty four persons at a load, and always full day and night, running in every direction through the city, and out to and around its environs for almost any dis- tance, even beyond the gates and walls. But we have spent more time than we intended in thus mentioning these things, and must therefore drop such pleasing reminiscences of Paris life, and take a hasty departure from this delightful city, with its many fascinating charms, for other more remote scenes on the continent and elsewhere. From Paris we take the train for the City of Lyons, so fa- mous for its silks and other manufactures, and from thence to Geneva in Switzerland. Here we stop long enough to rest a little, view the lakes and charming mountain scenery, and many other things of more or less interest ; also step into some of the jewelry shops and manufactories of those beautiful and excellent little time-keepers known as Geneva watches. The degree of perfection to which the fine art of watch-making has been brought is a thing almost incredible and to be wondered at. Such is the delicate and fine workmanship of some of these watches, that a good time-keeper has been manufactured not larger than the thumb-nail. Their little music boxes also excel in sweetness of tone and variety of music. From here we direct our course into Germany, visit the fa- mous watering places and boiling springs of Baden-Baden and Weisbaden, the renowned old city of Heidelberg, traverse Prussia, visit old Cologne, famous for its single, double, and triple extracts of perfumery, or Eau de Cologne, and, oddly enough, is also famous for its dirt, as having, according to Coleridge, " Seventy separate and well defined stinks," making the following lines apposite enough : 274 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. " The river Rhine, it well is known, Doth wash the city of Cologne ; But tell me, Nymphs, what power divine Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine ? " I cannot say that I detected so many, however, for the place smelled much the same all over it, I thought, and that was bad enough, for it was notoriously dirty, and stinking, too. But a sight of the grand old cathedral partly compensated for the filth in the streets. This imposing and stately pile is now said to be completed, after more than six hundred years in building. We also made a hurried visit through Bohemia, Hungary, Holland, Belgium and Austria. And now over to Italy, and its provinces — Piedmont, Venetia, Lombardy, Tuscany, Naples and Rome. Nor would we forget to mention our visit to that charming city, Marseilles, in the south of France, on the Med- iterranean coast, with one of the finest harbors in the world; also Leghorn and Genoa, the latter so suggestive of beautiful coral jewelry, as well as Mosaic and Byzantine work, and the real cameo ; and to carefully note the exceedingly delicate, skill- ful, and tedious manner of carving, shaping, grinding and setting of these different works of art is a matter of special interest to any one of an inquiring mind. Nor would we lose sight of that renowned old city of Strasburg, and that most wonderful of all clocks that has ever been constructed in any age, which we cannot describe minutely, but note that after long years of most patient and enduring labor and skill, on its completion the poor unfortunate artisan was rewarded by having both eyes put out by the rapacious, selfish, and cruel wretches who em- ployed him, so as to disable him from ever making another like AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 275 it. Nor should we forget to notice the world-renowned lean- ing tower of Pisa, and the historic pendulum still put in motion there, which was invented by Galileo, aud by means of which he discovered and demonstrated the fact that this globe is round instead of flat, and that " it does move." Also the fine and rich art galleries at Forence, filled with works both in painting and sculpture by the master artists of both ancient and modern times, and showing the highest degree of skill and workmanship. We would also mention in our ramblings the old city of Bologna, noted also for its leaning towers, of which there are two ; but perhaps more noted for its appetizing and choice Bologna sausage — and the great scarcity of its ca- nine inhabitants, as I saw but two in the whole city, one of which was very small, the other of good size; and also saw sausages as large round as a large breakfast plate, but do not know how long, as they had been cut transversely across, showing but half at a time. (The reader can determine for himself the possible con- nection between the above facts !) Beautiful Venice ! " The City of Waters," also comes in for a passing notice, before returning to Rome to stay awhile. We regret the lack of space to describe fully this most remark- able, and on many accounts most interesting, city in the world, which was built up out of the Adriatic Sea, and has stood for so many centuries with its great marble palaces, churches, and other buildings, out in the ocean. The streets, if such they may be called, are simply canals or channels of salt water, just as they were left when the foundations of the squares and build- ings were laid, first by driving down countless thousands — per- haps millions — of piles, made from the full length of the trunks of trees. These were driven down close together by powerful 276 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. machinery, such as heavy trip hammers, stroke after stroke, till sunken their full length into the lagoons and marshy earth and sand, so as to form a solid and level foundation for the great stones and marble to be piled upon them in erecting those tall and massive buildings, five and six stories high. Upon these piles the structure or base of those buildings was laid at the bottom of the ocean, at whatever depth it may have been, and thus they were reared upon such solid foundations as not only to have withstood the tooth of time wearing upon them, but also todefy the shock of earthquakes or other convulsions of nature. The streets, as we have said, are water, and constant- ly plied both day and night by the little, narrow gondolas, into which you can step from the threshold of the door of your res- idence, and when alighting from them, step directly in. These little, narrow, black racers (for they are all painted black by regulation of law), move swiftly and noiselessly, and furnish a by no means unpleasant way of getting from place to place, though of course more expensive than walking; but in Venice " walking is not good," generally. The palace of the immortal bard (Byron) which he occupied when at Venice, is still point- ed out to the stranger, as he glides along the broad thorough- fare in his gondola, the gondolier of course taking great pleas- ure in pointing out every thing of interest in passing. The memorable " Bridge of Sighs " also stands just as it did many hundreds of years ago, recalling Byron's well-known lines : " I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs, A palace and a prison on each hand." We also mark the ever memorable courts, halls, prisons, dungeons, and places of inquisition, and all the dreadful imple- ments of torture which were applied by the most cruel and AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 277 relentless hands to the unfortunate victims. Thus doomed to suffer, however innocently, often even unto death, at the sen- tence of those fiendish old Doges who held despotic rule, until some eighty of their number had come into power successively one after another, and so passed away during a period of long centuries. Venice is the most quiet, the " stillest " or most silent city I have ever been in « undisturbed silence may be said eternally to reign there. Not a horse, a cow, or indeed any other animal not even a dog, unless a little house pet, is ever to be seen ; not a vehicle of any kind on the streets, except the little noiseless gondola, stealthily gliding through the still waters ; and again may we quote : " Through the dark city the gondolas crawl, Sable, and doleful, and coffin-like all." Seldom indeed, is a voice heard, even from youths, above a low or modulated tone, never a loud laugh. Every living being, indeed, seems pervaded by the spirit of quiet reigning around. And yet the people seem happy, and contented to dwell on thus from generation to generation. But we must now leave Ven- ice and return to old Rome again. And we will endeavor to describe as briefly as possible, some things of interest, at least to the general reader, who has never been there to see and learn for himself. This however, we can only do in part at this time, and in the next chapter, but will endeavor to do so more fully in a succeeding chapter before closing these reminiscences of travel, personal experiences, etc.; and our reason for reserving this for the closing chapter perhaps, is, that in later years we re- visited the Eternal City and made it our home permanently for a while, how pleasantly or unpleasantly, remains yet to be told in detail. 278 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. CHAPTER XIII. Scenes in Rome. My first visit to " The Eternal City," as it is often called, will be forever remembered, as well as my last visit and de- parture from it. On my first arrival, as you have already learned, I had just completed a long, tiresome, and tedious journey, during all which time, and long before, my health had been miserable ; and yet I had continued to travel over much of Europe and the Continent, often laboriously endeavoring to see and learn in this way, and by travel to gather such infor- mation from my own personal observation, as could not be gained otherwise. And as even travellers in good health often find such journeys and tours tiresome, and indeed exceedingly fatiguing, I of course found it much more so in my then state of health ; but so great was my fondness for travel, and the ex- citement and diversion of mind necessarily incident to such a tour for the first time, that I often lost sight of self and suffer- ing for the time being, becoming so completely absorbed in the work before me as to forget everything else, and so would often continue till I would find myself completely prostrate and ex- hausted from actual fatigue ; and such indeed was now my condition on arriving at Rome. It was also in the hottest and most sickly season of the year, and I found the City apparently in full accord with my own condition, viz, very sickly looking, dilapidated and dirty. A long, dry, hot, dull, dusty summer was now just closing, and to make matters yet more disagree- able, heavy, warm rains began to fall just after my arrival, which made the poisonous atmosphere rank with unhealthy vapor. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 279 However, I was in Rome; I had gone there of my own choice, not having been invited to do so by any one, and it now remained for me to " do just as Rome did," and that seemed to be to make the best of the situation I possibly could ; and when I wished to stay no longer, then do a little differently from what Rome does, i. e., get away from the place. And having ?o determined, the next thing was to secure rooms at the best hotel I could find, rest a while, then hire a dragoman (guide), a cab with its driver, and then start out to see what I could. And I might add here, that about the same thing has been done in this or a similar way for thousands of years be- fore, and up to the time I did this, and has even so continued to be done by the multiplied hundreds of thousands, and even millions, who have visited Rome since the days when a flock of wild geese flew over the place in a certain direction, which decided the question at once that Rome should be Rome. My first days, efforts at sight-seeing were crowned with great success, and, returning to my hotel in the evening pretty well tired out, I thought I had never seen or learned so much in a single day in all my travels. The second day passed in a sim- ilar manner, and I returned at night again in the same condi- tion and with the same impressions ; also with the third, and so on, till I became surfeited with feasting on wonders, many of which, indeed, will not be here described, I am very sure, for it h my wish to save the readers, and myself, also, all the needless infliction I possibly can under existing circumstances. However, this autobiographical history of reminiscences, etc., would not be quite complete were I to omit everything, and so will endeavor to mention at least a few of the thousands of things to be seen and learned in Rome. To attempt a history 280 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. of this, the Queen of the Universe, in however succinct or con- densed a form it might be written, would require a whole vol- ume of more than a thousand pages. The reader, therefore, must be content with the brief sketch we shall thus give in this, which is almost the closing chapter of this volume. Rome, the metropolis of the Catholic religion, is situated on both banks of the Tiber, 20 miles from its mouth, where it empties into the Mediterranean Sea, surrounded mostly by a level, fertile plain, known as the Campagna, which was once undrained lagoons and marshes, generating the most deadly miasma from decomposed, rank vegetation, which produced what is to this day known as "Febris perniciana Roi?iana" (pernicious fever of Rome). The city is situated in latitude 41 deg., 53 min., 4 sec. North, and 10 deg., 32 min. longitude East, and may be justly ranked as the most illustrious city in the world — the historical and political capital of Italy. Its ori- gin dates back more than 2000 years. And if its complete history, from its foundation to the present day, had been fully written, the volumes would be alone sufficient to compose a large library. Perhaps about the first thing that will attract the tourist on starting out to view the city, is the generally very narrow, dirty streets, crooked, and with suddenly abrupt angles, and usually paved with round, rough boulders. On either side loom up unsightly piles of ancient masonry, composed of very thick walls of large, thin bricks and Roman cement, devoid of all archi- tectural design, beauty, or comfort ; and there are no sidewalks. Second, the almost innumerable public squares or plazas, as they are called, which are simply level, open courts, in which is usually to be seen an obelisk, or large, tall pillars of stone, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 261 with hieroglyphics inscribed upon them, more or less statuary, of various designs and representing different persons and differ- ent ages, a fountain or two, supplied by aqueducts which con- vey fresh water from the Alpine hills or other places, in some instances as far as forty miles. There were at one time about forty of these living fountains supplying Rome copiously with fresh, cool water ; but there are not so many now. In these public courts, also, as well as at almost every street corner, and on the roadsides leading to and from the city, are to be seen images of idolatrous worship, such as the Virgin Mary with the infant Savior, the Christ upon the cross, etc. The next thing, perhaps, of special interest to be noticed, are the different triumphal arches, erected to commemorate the atrocious wars and bloody deeds of conquest often waged against unoffending nations, even to their utter destruction and devas- tation by fire, sword, and rapine, and captives were brought to Rome in chains for the purpose of being cast into the amphi- theatres to be devoured by ferocious, hungry, wild beasts, or, perhaps, many of them, females especially, reserved for even worse purposes. Notably among these still stands the arch of Constantine, the Christian emperor, so called ; and though it has stood for many centuries and even ages past, it is still in a good state of preservation. We also note the arches of Dolabella and Sila- nus, arch of Drusis, arch of Marcus Aurelius, etc. Having made archaeology a study part of my time in later years while living in Rome, the history of these various arches, as well as their designs and numerous and varied descriptions, also the ancient Amphitheatre or Coliseum of Rome, as well as the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, near the base of Mount 262 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. Vesuvius, afford me great interest and pleasure s and regret a lack of space here to describe any of them fully. The Amphi- theatre of Flavius, commonly called the Coliseum, is a monu- ment also of the greatness of Rome in her palmier days of sin and desperate wickedness ; but as it now stands in its majestic ruins, still throws a lustre on the modern city, forcibly remind- ing the beholder of Rome's former greatness and glory. That the reader may form some idea of the immensity of these gi- gantic ruins, we quote the record, which states that it " was capable of seating some eighty thousand persons in its galle- ries, be ginning at a height of some fifteen feet, perhaps, from the ground, and ascending upward in circular rows to the great height of perhaps a hundred feet. The churches and cathedrals shall next receive our brief no- tice, and among them St. Peter's stands preeminent, in the northwest corner of Rome, on a slight acclivity, with a large, beautifully paved piazza fronting, bestudded and decorated with huge columns on every side, as well as historic marble statuary, and large pillars and obelisks of great size, height and beauty. The Temple is built in the form of a cross, the nave being over 600 feet in length, and the transept near 450 feet. The east front extends for quite 400 feet, and is 160 feet in height ; whilst the numerous pillars supporting it are 88 feet high, and S}4 feet in diameter ; height of dome, 450 feet. It contains 46 altars and 400 statues, with twelve large pillars brought from the ruins of King Solomon's temple. This church required some 350 years to complete it, at a cost of $50,000,000. It covers an area of eight acres of ground. St. Peter's statue in bronze is the prominent figure of worship, and center of attrac- tion in this temple of idolatrous worship, though the bronze AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 283 statue representing St. Peter is said to be in fact that of the bloody tyrant Nero. How true this may be I know not, and only give it as "'twas told to me" rather confidentially by some of the shrewd Romans, who ought to know. This I do know, howev- er, that I have taken a stand at the foot of one of the huge pillars that adorn that temple, and with watch in hand counted till just one hundred devotees came along in single file, stooped, with bended knees, and devoutly kissed St. Peter's great toe, when just five minutes had passed, making an average of twen- ty to the minute. Nor was the Temple much thronged that day, nor did it seem to be an unusual day for toe-kissing, either. I need hardly add, that great bronze toe had been so nearly kissed away in ages past that but little of it yet remained. I was also told that it had to be remoulded on and remodelled occasion- ally, on account of the multiplied millions of times it has been kissed and thus worn away. San Giovanni Laterano, the old- est church in Rome, is the Pope's Metropolitan Church, he be- ing its only official minister ■ and in this temple the Popes are crowned and thus made infallible (?). But by far the grand- est and most imposing of all, according to my ideas and taste, especially as regards the interior, is St. Paul's Temple, outside the walls of the city. The Vatican, or seat of the Pope, dates from the eighth century. It stands over the Vatican hill, ad- joining. It covers an area of 1150 feet by 770, and contains only 4,442 gorgeously gilded chambers, furnished in the most costly manner, many of the walls being lined with the finest oil paintings, frescoing, etc., by master artists, eight grand stair- ways, two hundred not so grand, but fine enough, and twenty large courts or audience chambers, together with grand muse- ums and libraries, all filled with the rarest and most costly col- 284 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. lections the world has ever afforded. And with all these things combined, and the acres of beautiful garden, with everything in animate that Nature can provide to decorate, and adorn, and make charming, it would seem that such a place ought to be large enough for one single man, at least, and not such an un- comfortable or poor sort of prison, after all. The Catacombs, with their immense subterannean passages, and multiplied hundreds of thousands of charnel houses beneath the ground, extending for miles and miles in their serpentine course, we lack time to further describe; nor can we more than simply refer to the many beautiful parks and gardens both out- side the walls of the City as well as inside; notably among which is the Pincian Garden, on the Pincian Hill, which abounds with beautiful drives, pavilions, shade trees, rare shrubbery, and choice flowers of every variety, hundreds of marble statues chis- eled by renowned sculptors, pools and fountains, etc. Here is to be seen a Clepsydra or water clock, perpetually in motion without the aid of weights or requiring to be wound up. There are 370 churches in Rome, many of which have a chime of bells, and on stated occasions it is no unusual thing to hear every bell ringing at the same moment, and making sweet har- monious music, such as the Roman church bells alone can pro- duce. The feast days, or days of festivals, of which there are nearly fifty every year held in observance of some noted event, sacred or profane, legendary or historic, among which the ever memorable " Mardi-gras," or high carnival, as it is called in Rome ; are not days and scenes to be forgotten by those who have passed through them even once, not to speak of every year during a life-time. The last mentioned usually lasts about two weeks during which all general business is suspended throughout AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 285 the city, by courts, officials, &c, of every kind; merchants, trades- men and nearly all classes giving themselves up to social enjoy- ment, and conviviality in a general way. During these social holidays the city is densely thronged by strangers and visitors from abroad. I have seen, I think I might safely say, more than 200,000 people at once, who had taken positions on the main thoroughfares of the city, to not only look on, but join with the greatest delight in the festivities, as well as witness the most grotesque and ludicrous masque- rade performances that could possibly be conceived of, and the imagination could devise for their own and others' amusement, during all of which time every one seemed to be in the very best humor possible, taking everything in good part, no matter how roughly handled sometimes, or how much their fine clothes might have to suffer from a preparation of lime made into small pellets about the size of a large pea, and hurled at them, and into their faces, in endless quantities. Nor would there in all probability be seen a drunken man on the streets during the whole time these festivals last. There is much in Rome to attract as well as repel. Society is almost anything but what it should be, and generally low, de- grading, and demoralizing in its tendencies. The young people are mostly ignorant,, illiterate, stupia, and depraved in morals. Mothers usually keep a close watch over their daughters, always accompanying them wherever they go, feeling a necessity for ■ this ; while the young men are generally suffered to act accord- ing to the bent of their own minds, and indulge in all man- ner of vice and shame. And so far from respecting, or prac- ticing the Catholic religion of their priest-ridden parents, they scoff at it, and are. strongly inclined to infidelity and agnosti- 286 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. cism. But I can here no longer dwell upon Rome, or its scenes or doings, as the space I have allotted to this cursory notice has become exhausted; though a thousand things rush to my mind while penning these brief lines, which would no doubt be of more or less interest to the general reader, if time and space would allow. And now having completed my first visit to Rome, as well as first tour of Europe and the Continent generally, I bid old Rome and the sunny clime of Italy adieu, little thinking or even dreaming, that at some future day I would return there again to make old Rome my residence, the particulars of which I will soon relate in these closing chapters. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 287 CHAPTER XIV. Homeward Bound, after visiting Naples, Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum, and Pompeii. From Rome I made a visit to Naples by rail, and after care- fully inspecting this, which is in some. respects one of the most remarkable, unique, quaint old cities, and can scarcely be com- pared with any other ; and visiting places of great interest, both in the city and its environs, among which was King Victor Em- anuel's palace and grounds, the great museum, which of it- self would well repay a journey of a thousand miles to see it alone, with all its wonders of antiquity which have been col- lecting and accumulating for long ages in the past, and among which are to be seen the thousand of different things still in al- most, or in some instances quite, a perfect state of preservation, having been taken from the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum after having lain buried beneath those piles deep down in their ruins for quite 2000 years ; the great cathedrals, opera-houses, theaters the most grand and costly, the art galleries of paint- ing, sculpture, etc., which I have not time here to describe. The streets of Naples are exceedingly narrow and roughly paved, filled with lazzaroni (beggars) in all their filth, naked, or half clad in rags and wretchedness, and covered with vermin. The streets are also constantly reeking with decomposed ani- mal and vegetable matter, exhaling as indescribable a compound of villainous odors as ever saluted the nostrils of man. The houses are noted for their exceeding great height, built of stone, brick, concrete, etc., and invariably flat roofed, upon which 2 88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. roofs the better class of inhabitants spend most of their time and invariably live during the long, hot summer months. From Naples I took a drive over to Mount Vesuvius, whose base is some fifteen miles distant from the city. Then I mount- ed a horse, and after riding some seven miles up the side of the mountain through and over deep beds of scoria and solid lava, which once flowed from its crater in bright rivers of molten or liquid fire, until, as history and tradition inform us at the time, Herculaneum and many other cities and towns were buried be- neath this mass of molten matter. It flowed in great rivers or streams for a distance of twenty miles into the Mediterranean, filling it for a distance of many miles and causing it to boil like a seething caldron. After going as far as it was possible to ride on horseback, I dismounted, and on account of being too feeble to climb, was carried up by about six of the natives in a huge old rickety arm chair provided for that purpose, two of those stout, brawny, brigandish looking fellows on either side, with the chair (and myself in it) upon their broad shoulders, and two more at the back to push and help on ; and in this way we ascended the steep cone a distance of some two miles, seemingly almost perpendicular, before reaching the summit, which was at last done after much toil and sweat, as the day was scorching hot ; and as these poor fellows sunk into the sco- ria, almost hot ; often up to the knees, the task was not a light one; tnough I had the easiest part of it, except in the matter of lightening my pocket some, and the almost constant dread of being hurled from my high perch heels over head backward to the base of the cone, all the way along as we went. Albeit, I felt well repaid after reaching the summit, however dangerous the ascent might seem to be — and then to gaze into AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 289 that deep, dark, yawning abyss below, filled with fire, sulphur- ous vapor and molten seething matter ! The scene was indeed awe inspiring, and not soon to be forgotten. I had, of course, no way of measuring the depth of the crater, or its magnitude in area ; and although I could not see to the bottom, the outer border looked as though it might be quite a mile in circumfer- ence. With my cane I raked out from near the surface a few chunks of lava, some of which appeared almost like pure brim- stone ; and while waiting for them to cool sufficiently to carry them away, I stood and enjoyed the charming landscape in all its grand scenic beauty in the distance around as far as the eye could reach, aided by a field-glass. On the one hand, and im- mediately over and beyond the ruins of Pompeii, lay the beau- tiful blue waters of the grand old Mediterranean, known in Bi- ble history as " the great sea." Turning a little to the right, we see the great City of Naples, with its population of over half a million, and its magnificent bay ; whilst between this charming view and Mount Vesuvius lies deep down beneath the beds of solid lava the ancient city of Herculaneum, a silent city of the dead, and record of the awful doom which fell upon it so many centuries ago. Over the Mediterranean waters in the distance, we see beautiful little islands, among them the island of Caprera, then the home of that grand old hero Garibaldi, and others we might mention, with their charming grottoes and shades of pleasant retreat. We also look in the direction of old Rome, which lies however beyond our view from this summit. The scenery all round pre- sents indescribable charms, such as Nature alone can yield ; whilst at the base of the mountain lie buried some thirty towns and villages, all once inhabited by living man, but now silent cities of the dead, without even a monument to mark the spot 29O AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. where many of them once stood. Truly indeed, "truth is stranger than fiction." But we must at once descend from this lofty summit, and gathering up our now cooled lava lumps, rolling them in a piece of paper have them carried down, whilst I choose to walk, or, rather drop down, in the following man- ner : Discharging all my escorts except two, I take a position between them, place an arm on one of their shoulders as they stand on either side, and in this way partly bear up my weight upon them, whilst we speed down that mountain cone at a breakneck pace such as would defy a wild mountain goat to compete with, sinking into the scoria quite knee deep at every jump. This did not take long, but was "fun for the Boys," while it lasted. From there I rode to Herculaneum, and after descending a deep shaft that had been excavated through the solid lava as hard as iron and flint combined, to a great depth, we at last reach subterranean passages also excavated, and which were once streets of the doomed city. Deep down among these ruins are many things of great interest to be seen, but which we have no time here to describe, and so returning again, retrace our steps to the old City of Naples, take a quiet night's rest, or as much so as the excessive heat and the incor- rigible fleas would suffer us to do, and next day finding tired nature a little restored after much fatigue, we take an early breakfast and we set out to reach Pompeii — renowned Pompeii, Some twenty miles away There to spend another day, among those marvelous ruins, also of That famed old city of which Pliny wrote, Which the fierce volleys of Vesuvius smote, With ashy showers and liquid lava streams Doomed Pompeii fell amid her people's screams. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 29 1 But to give anything like a minute or even general descrip- tion of these grand ruins as they now present themselves after many years of excavations that have been carried on, and the thousands of different relics, and specimens of almost every thing the human mind can possibly conceive of, which have been exhumed and placed in the Pompeiian Museum in Naples, would alone require a volume to describe. We are therefore compelled to pass all over together, and after another laborious day and also a very hot one, among the ruins, evening finds us returning again to Naples, from which point we start on the following day back again to Rome, and after another short rest and making purchases of various little souvenirs, we take our departure once more by rail for Paris via Lake Como and a few other points of interest. 1 292 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. CHAPTER XV. Voyage from Paris, via London and Liverpool, to America. After again reaching Paris and collecting my purchases made at different points, and completing the same in Paris, I had all shipped together from that place as well as London. And so, bidding adieu to the fair city with all its charms, I went direct to London, recrossing that baneful, turbulent channel. From London, after a short stay, I went direct to Liverpool, and there taking steamer, I sailed for New York, without meet- ing with any greater adventures, or perhaps any rougher sea, than is usually encountered on that almost perpetually rough ocean, the Atlantic, especially as the season was now far ad- vancing into the Autumn, or about the time of the equinoctial storms. After my arrival in New York, I remained long enough to purchase more fresh stock for my drug establishment, and, shipping the same, I returned to my old home in Memphis by rail, passing through the State of Indiana, where I again stopped long enough to visit my parents and other relations, and rest awhile, as I had done some months before, just before starting on my long tour of so much uncertainty as to long contiuuation of my life, or my ability to make the tour or live to return again. But my own life had not only been graciously spared, but also the lives of all my near and dear relations during my absence ; but among old friends at Memphis a few deaths had occurred, which caused me sadness on missing, after my return, their fa- miliar faces and companionship, which I had enjoyed so much AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 293 in days and years past. I was gratified in knowing also that my own health had much improved during my stay and travels abroad, however great the fatigue and many hardships I had endured almost constantly, and such, indeed, as are quite al- ways incident to an industrious traveler in foreign countries. It also afforded me pleasure to know that under the faithful care and judicious management of my brother William and excellent clerks, my business had not only been successfully conducted with credit to the house, but had also been made profitable. After again entering upon the routine of a laborious profes- sional and business life, though my health was much improved at the time, yet I soon found it began to give way again, and at the end of a few months I found myself prostrate and con- fined to a bed of long and severe illness, which at one time came very near proving my last, through a lack of knowledge or skill on the part of my physicians, and my own ignorance and recklessness in suffering myself to be well nigh dosed to death by heroic medication from poisonous drugs prescribed at their hands " secundum artem" before discovering they would finally finish me if I suffered them to continue on, or did not put a stop to their empirical experiments and foolishness, which, however, I did incontinently, throwing aside all physic, giving Nature once more a chance, and so got well again, or at least able to get up and go around a little. In the meantime, the war was simply raging with unabated fury, destruction, and devastation. And about this time Sherman was making his grand march, cutting a broad belt all the way through the South, from its border States to the Atlantic seaboard, spread- ing the wildest and most dreadful consternation and extermin- 294 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF* THE AUTHOR. ation to everything in his way, with fire, shot shell, and sword, regardless of age, sex, or previous condition. All had to share alike the fortunes, or rather destruction, of war, before this modern Alexander, Napoleon, or Nero. And whilst fertile fields, dwellings, barns, cities, towns, villages, and plantations, with their inhabitants, their plentiful supplies of grain and other food, their cattle, mules, horses, sheep, hogs, poultry, etc., were in the front ; in the rear was only to be seen devastation and smouldering ruins, and one vast desert plain, swept over, and no longer inhabited by man, beast, or " contraband." And this, indeed, did "break the backbone " of the rebellion. During the winter of 1864-5 anc ^ before the close of the re- bellion, having lived the rather lonely life of a bachelor till I had grown tired, I determined to make a change in my domes- tic relations, which I did by marrying a young lady, Miss Julia C. Farnsworth, who had been educated and raised in Mem- phis. My health, however, still continuing poor, we spent a part of our time abroad from home, in the Central and Eastern States, at different health resorts, such as are to be found in Cleveland, Ohio, and Round Hill, Northampton, Massachu- setts, New York, and other places, but afterwards returned to Memphis, to remain permanently. Some four years and a half after our marriage, our babe, (a little son) was born, but in half an hour after, his mother's mor- tal life on earth ended, leaving a helpless little motherless babe to my charge, and to the care of other near and dear friends and loved ones. Over this saddest part of the history of my life I would gladly have drawn the veil of obscurity, but for the necessity of making these personal memoirs more complete, but in which it is hardly presumed that the entire stranger will AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 295 feel any special interest. And in order not to seem prolix or tedious in giving a minute account of this, or any matter indeed pertaining to it, I will pass on to notice very briefly other trials and scenes that I was called to pass through in rapid succession. Among these was the complete prostration of my health; and now having lost ail-that then seemed dear to me in this life, I very foolishly gave myself up to utter despair and the most poignant grief, losing all interest not only in matters of business, but even in the protection of my property, w T hich I had toiled and labor- ed so assiduously to accumulate. And a number of rapacious and ever vigilant Shylocks, such as are ever watching out for and seeking every opportunity to rob the unwary, were not long in lighting upon me, with a view to making me their victim, to help gratify that insatiable greed of gain. And in this way, I soon discovered my property gradually and quietly melting away from me, piece by piece, in the way of real estate, while the merchandise was going also in the same way ; I in the mean- time looked on calmly, as if taking some comfort at least, in see- ing it thus disappear, and feeling a sort of consolation that after all was gone, I would no longer be troubled with it any more forever, nor would I have any trouble either, in closing out, or sweeping up, any rubbish that might remain from the wreck and ruin. To cut this part of my life's history short, and so close this chapter, I need only add that it took quite five years to ac- complish the above, so as to make a clean sweep as it might be called, leaving me nothing to look after, or indeed care for in the meantime, except my little motherless infant, who by this time, had grown into a beautiful, bright little fellow of five sum- mers. Excepting a few visits I had made up to the Central States, 296 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. and back East, and one winter I spent down South in New Or- leans, I had remained most of these five years in Memphis, having given myself up wholly to study, to which I had not on- ly applied myself quite closely for many years prior to that time, but even constantly since, and so continued to do, finding more real pleasure and happiness in this than in anything else this deceitful world can afford ; all charms of general association or " society " as it is called, having long since vanished into thin air, or as the soap bubble a child may amuse himself with as he blows it from his clay pipe, and then watches till it bursts and vanishes forever. And that, in fact, is about as much as I was able to see or find in "society," so called in earlier days, and have not as yet learned of any great improvements in it since then. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 297 CHAPTER XV. Second Tour over Europe. Travels, Scenes and Life in the Orient, etc. In the last chapter of these brief memoirs, the reader will re- member I referred to a second tour over Europe, and also in it and in other chapters mentioned having traveled and spent time in the East, or Orient, viz, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Africa, Asia Minor, or Turkey. This journey I started upon June, 187 , from Memphis, Tenn., where I had spent the last thirteen years of my life. But now feeling the great need and even necessity of a change, I closed up my matters there, with a view of not only returning to Europe again, but to take up my permanent residence in some part of the old world, most probably in Paris, taking my little son with me as far as Kentucky, leaving him there with near relations, for the time being, at least, and then pursuing my journey. Nothing of special interest occurred before reaching Europe, though an exceedingly disagreeable sea voyage, rough sailing, and a miserable craft of the Anchor line of steamers, such as was not fit to take passage in, but the best we could get at that time. Landing in Glasgow, Scotland, and after spending some time looking over Scotland a second time with some friends who were traveling companions on the voyage over, we went from there direct to London ; and after a short stay there and in the country, pursued our journey to Paris, where I remained till early Autumn, when I joined a party of excursionists under the supervision and management of Cook's Tourist Agency, 29S AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. bound for the " Holy Land/' so called. On leaving Paris, we stopped at various points of interest, on our way through France, Switzerland and Italy, before reaching Rome ; and from there going on to Naples, from which point our whole company were to set sail at a given date, having become a lit- tle separated before reaching that place. And having now all become collected together, and the time arrived to start on our voyage over the Mediterranean, we set sail on one of the steam- ers of the Rubitina line direct for Alexandria, Egypt. There were some eighteen or twenty in our company, besides other passengers. The vessel, though not one of the largest, was comfortable enough. As the sea was not rough at that season, the voyage was rather a pleasant one, on some accounts, at least. The time required from Naples to Alexandria was six days, and our course took us in full view of Mount Etna ; also near the Stromboli, then in a state of eruption. We also passed near some of the islands of Greece and Sicily, landing at some of the same, also passing through the perilous straits of Cha- rybdis and Scylla. The sunset views on this voyage afforded me special interest, being among the most charming I have ever beheld. As soon as we entered the harbor at Alexandria, we were placed under the quarantine law, it being declared we had sailed from a cholera port — Naples, at the time of our departure, being infected with that epidemic. Before leaving the vessel, we were all exposed to a disinfecting process of fu- migation, which lasted quite an hour, and was something inde- scribably dreadful to endure, and for which there was not the slightest occasion or even pretext, inasmuch as there had not been a single case of cholera aboard the ship during the whole voy- age, or even the semblance of a case. The fiat of quarantine AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 299 law, however, was inexorable, and the determination of its of- ficers to enforce it was irresistible ; and it was therefore quar- antine or perhaps death. After submitting to this dreadful in- fliction in a tight inclosure, for, as I have said, about one hour we were put into a sort of stock pen on wheels, and taken sev- eral miles, when we were placed in a large enclosure with high walls, and bolts and locks turned upon us. The Quarantine law holds regularly for forty days, and our understanding was, this was to be the duration of our confine- ment in this miserable old lazaretto. The weather was oppres- sively hot, water bad, and the place filthy, and abounded with flies and fleas. Our fare however, was barely tolerable, for which we were required to pay $2.00 per day. The time of course dragged slowly with us in this condition. But greatly to our relief, and rather unexpectedly to us too, after remain- ing five days instead of forty, we regained our liberty; and having but little to keep us longer in Alexandria, except to drive round, and over the old city, and view a few things of interest — such, for instance as the great obelisks, Cleopatra's Needle, Pompey's Pillar, the old Pasha's Palace, Harem, and Gardens 3 note the densely crowded, dirty, dusty streets, with naked jet black sleek Nubians, dogs, camels, and donkeys, in- discriminately mixed up together ; and having soon tired of this, and wanting to leave the place as soon as possible, we went to the American Consul's office, had our passports exam- ined, and vised, procured tickets, and bidding the classic old city of the Greek and Egyptian Philosophers, the Stoics and Spartans of early ages adieu, we took our departure by rail for Cairo up the Nile. Had our reception and impressions been a little more' favor- 300 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. able and pleasant on our first arrival at Alexandria, we might have been better disposed towards the place, and therefore inclined to remain longer sight-seeing and viewing more close- ly ; not that we would have taken the trouble, perhaps, to do what that grand old cynic philosopher Diogenes could not do in Athens, viz, after traversing the streets diligently and carefully searching the many lanes, by-ways, crooks and turns, with lighted lamp in hand in broad day-light, was asked what he was looking for ? brusquely answered : " I am searching to see if I can possibly find one honest man in the City of Athens." The scenery through Egypt, and along the Nile as far as Cairo, afforded but little to interest or attract in any way, the ground being mostly very low, flat and marshy, with sloughs or quagmires, fit places for the hairless cattle with humps on their backs like the buffalo, to wallow in, which they seemed very fond of, just as the American hog does in hot weather also. And the raciest team I saw in Egypt, was one of those buffaloes and a camel yoked together, drawing the same old Egyptian plow made from the forks of a tree, which formed the single handle, the long beam and short plow part ; just such as were used doubtless 4,000 years ago, or such as plowed and tilled the soil which produced the corn that Joseph garnered up for the five years' famine which came upon that land. Stopping at the best hostelry in Cairo, on the following day, we took carriages, and crossing the Nile on a very substantial drawbridge, we drove a distance of ten miles to the ancient and historic Pyramids, and after ascending to the summit of the largest one, Cheops, with no small effort, and all the assistance we could get besides, we were well repaid by the grand scenes which lay beneath and in the distance, as far as the eye could AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 301 reach in every direction aided by the field glass. But we have no space to describe minutely, either the scenery or the pyra- mids, nor, indeed, the City of Cairo, or to even describe Egyptian life and scenes, as they now present themselves to the traveler; On leaving Cairo, our company divided, some going up by way of the Red Sea, whilst others by rail went directly on through the Land of Goshen to Ismalia, on the great Suez Canal, at which point we all met together again, and taking a small steamer went direct on the Canal, to its terminus at Port Said, and at its outlet to the Mediterranean. The Suez Canal is one hundred miles long, two hundred and fifty feet wide, and fifty feet deep. The largest sized steamers ply its waters. Mr. DeLesseps, who is now engaged on the Panama Canal, was its originator and builder. At Port Said we engaged passage on a Russian steamer of the Peninsular and Oriental Mail line, which sailed for Constan- tinople via Joppa and other points on the Mediterranean coast. Arriving at Joppa, our vessel made a landing there, which is generally attended with great difficulty, often with much danger, and sometimes impossible on account of rough sea and very dangerous harbor. We were met some distance out in the bay by small vessels manned by the stout, rough native Arabs, who handled both our baggage and ourselves roughly. Albeit, we succeeded in getting ashore safely, or without accident or loss of baggage, which is not always the case. According to Pliny and other historians, Joppa is one of the oldest, if not indeed the oldest, inhabited city in the world, of which we have any authenticated account, and Damascus is the other. And it is believed that these two cities were coeval with the days of Noah before the flood. Joppa has a population of 302 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. some 15,000. The house of Simon the tanner is still pointed out to the traveler. We remained here long enough to arrange a general equipage of tents and a complete camping outfit for our whole party, including cooking stove, utensils, tables and table ware, bedding, provisions, etc., cooks, dragoman and horses, for our journeys by land over Palestine. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 303 CHAPTER XVI. Travels, Life and Scenes in the Holy Land, Continued. Leaving Joppa about noon, we took the only road now trav- eled, or indeed, that has ever been for many thousands of years, which leads to Jerusalem, passing through the plains of Sharon, the town of Lydia, and along through the valley of Gibeon, and over the mountains of Gibeon. We arrived in this valley, and on the ancient site and battle field of Gibeon about sunset ; at which time I found myself with a chill, which was soon fol- lowed by a burning fever, causing me a very restless night, and by no means in a fit condition to pursue my journey the next day. But, having only about eighteen miles further to go be- fore reaching Jerusalem — being then about half way between the two places — the whole distance between Joppa and Jerusa- lem being thirty-six miles, and exchanging a very mean riding horse for a better one belonging to our dragoman, and mount- ing this, a splendid riding Arab steed, I was enabled to com- plete the journey with the rest of our party early in the after- noon the same day ; stopping at the best hotel in the city, which, though not first class in all its appointments, yet was better than we could have hoped for, all things considered. During our stay in Palestine, which lasted some time, every day was devoted to visiting places and scenes the most ancient and sacred to every Christian, or reader of the Bible. But for us to refer to all, and mention everything seen during our trav- els and sojourn of some months in Palestine and Syria, would require the writing of a volume even larger than this whole 304 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. book. The reader, therefore, must be content with only a few brief and passing notices which we shall here give, as relates to the Land of Sacred Story. In exploring the land of Palestine, nothing interests the Christian traveler so much as to observe at almost every step the unbounded light the "Land of the Book " sheds so constant- ly upon the sacred volume. Viewed from this standpoint, Pal- estine appears as a great chamber of the most sublime and beau^ tiful imagery, in which every object may be used to interpret sacred history. Every tree that grows in that land, and every flower that blooms on the hills or in the vales, every bird that warbles its little songs of praise, and every fountain that sends forth its cooling stream to slake the thirst of the weary traveler, and every star that shines from heaven to impress us with the glory that lies beyond, all, all have a voice to unfold the sa- cred book of God, and reveal the hidden treasures that lie con- cealed within. Such a revelation as this makes dark things light to our eyes, and crooked things straight before us. There- fore of a verity, may the traveler who is a student of the Bible exclaim, the God of the Land is indeed the God of the Book. As we have said, every bird of the Holy Land is a tuneful witness of the sacred record. " The stork (still) knoweth the appointed time of her coming." The eagle is seen mounting up towards heaven, and "gath- ering whithersoever the carcass is." The little sparrows still chatter upon the house-tops, and are sold "two for a farthing," or " five for two farthings." The young ravens (are still heard to) cry to God for food, and he still continues to feed them ; also " the fowls of the air, that sow not, neither do they gather into barns," but are still fed by our Heavenly Father. The AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 305 clothing of the people is still the same in style and fashion worn long centuries ago, even before Jesus of Nazareth dwelt upon earth, or perhaps thousands of years before. Customs or habits of dress, so whimsical, and eccentric, and capricious in our land, are as settled there as the eternal hills around Je- rusalem ; they never change ; hence we see at all times in the streets of Jerusalem, Joppa, Samaria, and Damascus, the girdle of Judah or of Paul, the sandals of the Gibeonites, the mantle of Elijah and of Samuel, the turban of good old Daniel, and the seamless robe of our Savior, " for which the soldiers cast lots." The climate of the land still confirms the record of the holy writ. "When the south wind blows, there is heat," and " when a cloud rises in the west there is rain." The seasons are still marked by " the early and latter rains," and should either fail, as happened in the days of Elijah, and still does sometimes, famine, in all its desolations, disease, and death is sure to follow. I traveled over that land after a drouth of five months, when every spear of grass, or vestige of every kind of vegetation was dried and parched ; likewise the whole earth dried and baked, till it was cracked over in great and deep fissures, making it dangerous to ride over it, whilst the heat rose up as from a furnace, and nearly all fountains, pools, or streams of water were also dried up. The diseases of that country are still the same type as when the Great Physician went abroad healing all manner of diseases, as well as his disciples, also. Around the little Sea of Galilee fevers still abound, such as prostrated the little daughter of Jairus and the mother-in-law of Peter. Also at Bethany, sud- den and fatal diseases occur, such as overcame Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. Sunstroke is still common on the 306 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. plains, as when the son of the Shunamite woman fell under its effects. (II Kings, 4.) Leprosy, in its loathsome and hideous deformity, still prevails, as it did in the days of the great law- giver, Moses, and as in the days of the Savior. It is, indeed, a sad, a melancholy sight, to look upon the victims of this most loathsome and dreadful disease. These miserable creatures are to be seen in different parts of the country, often huddled together outside the gates of Jerusalem and other cities, quite naked, or only half clad, without shelter or food, begging what- ever they may get from the stranger as he passes by at a dis. tance from them. In Damascus are two hospitals for lepers, the climate being considered very favorable for the disease, owing to great mild- ness of temperature. One of these hospitals is owned and controlled by the Turks, and a miserable collection of mud- huts it is, such as would scarcely be fit for hyenas and jackals to stay in ; the other, owned by Christians of various sects, is surrounded with a wall, and is a better grade of pest-house. The condition of these poor creatures is, indeed, sad enough, as there seems to be no provision made either by the govern- ment or any society, or even private individuals, for their sup- port or maintenance in any way, and are therefore compelled to beg what little they get to sustain life. I went among these miserable creatures, heard their sad stories, and saw their dis- ease in its every stage, and its most horrible developments. Leprosy seldom appears upon its victim earlier in life than the fifth year; therefore, infants seldom, if ever, suffer from it. The general average with those afflicted is about five males to one female. There are but two well defined types of the dis- ease, known as "tuberculous" and "anesthetic." The first AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 307 symptoms are usually numbness, pricking, or a dead feeling in the extremities ; the skin becomes thickened and changed into a red, dusky hue ; tubercles appear on the face and extremities, after which suppuration, which is next followed "by sloughing and loss of fingers and toes, sometimes feet and hands also ; often the nose becomes destroyed, together with the tongue and palate, with all powers of speech destroyed likewise ; the eye- lashes and brows, with the hair of the head and face, all drop, and the poor sufferer is left in this condition, a most miserable and pitiful object, till death comes kindly to his relief, although the disease may, and often does, last ten, fifteen, and even twenty years, and sometimes longer. Blindness is another dreadfully prevalent affliction in Pales- tine and other Eastern countries, and the blind still " sit by the wayside " begging, as did Bartimeus. It is no unusual thing to see " the blind lead the blind " ; nor need this be wondered at when perhaps quite a fourth of the whole population of some of the towns are blind of one or both eyes. The great prevalence of this sad affliction is generally caused from an impalpably fine powdered sand, with which the whole atmosphere becomes filled, from the siroccos that blow there sometimes continuously for a month or longer, and which not only penetrate even the very pores of the skin, and enter the lungs through the nasal passages and throat, but also fill the eyes, producing inflamma- tion, causing a disease known as opthalmia, which becomes so severe as to cause the eyeballs to swell up and burst open, in- stantly producing blindness as well as the most dreadful suffer- ing, during the progress of the disease ; and all ages have to suffer alike, children as well as adults. The domestic habits of life continue the same, just as they 308 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. have for four thousand years, as plainly taught in the Bible. In the sultry hours of noon, they "sit under their own vine and fig tree," and sleep at night under booths upon the flat house- tops. The bread is that " daily bread " the Savior taught his disciples and us to pray for — thin, small loaves or cakes, five making an ordinary meal, and baked in earthern ovens, and eaten fresh every day, whilst reclining at the table, as at the " Last Supper " of Jesus and his disciples. The sound of the mill grinding is still heard through the silent hours of the night, as well as all day ; two women sit facing each other on the ground on either side the coarse mill stones, which lie one upon the other, forming the " upper and nether mill stones " ; through a round hole in the center of the upper one, the grain is poured in slowly by the hand ; then taking hold of a pin of wood, fastened into the stone near the rim, it is drawn half way around by the hand of one, when the other seizes it and completes the circuit, then back again, and so on, continuing the process almost constantly day and night, to grind a little coarse meal sufficiently to supply the absolute wants of life or hunger. The dead are still carried on open biers, without cof- fins, and the death songs of the minstrels still accompany the dead body, with lamentations of mourning women. I attended one of these funeral services, as above mentioned, at the town of Bethlehem, one Sunday morning, the body being carried to an open sepulchre or grave, hewn out of rock, and interred with only a winding sheet and no coffin; nor could they get wood in that country to make a coffin out of, if they wanted it. The virgins at the wedding still "go forth to meet the bride- groom." I attended one of those Oriental marriage ceremo- nies, which took place at the hour of midnight, the bride, and AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 309 her maids of honor, with their lamps, and band of music, going forth to the bridegroom's house, when all went in, and the mar- riage took place ; but the ceremony was too tedious to here de- scribe. The same implements of husbandry, the same plowing, sow- ing of seeds, and reaping the grain, threshing and winnowing the chaff from the wheat, continue just the same, and in exact- ly the same way as practiced thousands of years ago. The geography of the country remains the same ; all the sa- cred scenes are to be found in their ancient places, just as the intelligent traveler who is a Bible reader would expect to find them, and no better guide book can be had to point out and locate them with complete accuracy, than the Bible. There, we still see " Bethlehem of Judea," the birth place of Jesus • Hebron, Jerusalem, high upon her three hills of Zion, Moriah and Acre ; Bethany on Mount Olivet, where Mary, Martha and Lazarus, " the friends of Jesus," lived ; Bethpage, Bethel, where Jacob slept with a stone for his pillow, and saw that sublime and heavenly vision of the angels ascending and descending. We pitched our tents on this same spot for a night ; but in- stead of such a glorious vision, when awaking in the morning, and looking out at my tent door, towards the only pool of water, from which we had drank the night before, I saw a number of naked Arabs of both sexes bathing in it ! The water was so bad it had already made us almost sick, and now this was too much for us, and although feverish and thirsty, yet we drank not that morning. Joppa, Jericho, Shiloh, Shechem, Samaria, Nain, Cana, Lydia, Nazareth the home of Jesus, a beautiful country town, with be- tween two and three thousand inhabitants, Tiberius, Caperna- 310 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. urn, Acre, Cesarea, Gaza, Tyre and Sidon, Chorazin and Bethsaida, Dan and Beersheba. But we cannot take time or space to describe either minutely or generally any of these nu- merous places, however desirable it might be to do so. Near Jerusalem, across the brook Kedron, and near the foot of Mount Olivet, we see the beautiful and ever memorable little garden of Gethsemane. This quiet, sacred little spot is enclos- ed by a wall, and adorned with beautiful flowers, and the rev- ered olive trees which, for aught we know, were standing there in the days of our Savior ; for it is a known fact, the olive tree of that country seldom if ever dies — the old trunk may some- times decay and even fall away, but the roots continue to live on, and again sprout up, forming a new tree, and so continue perpetually. Aceldama, the potters' field, [which was bought with the " thirty pieces of silver "], the pools of Siloam, Bethesda, and Gihon, the fountains all still remain, which used to slake the thirst of Prophets, Priests, and Kings ; that of Elijah near Jer- icho, made sweet by the prophet casting a cruise of salt into it; David's fountain near Hebron ; Jacob's well, [75 feet deep, and 9 feet in diameter] ; Joseph's Tomb, near by. Returning again to Jerusalem, we see King David's strong, high tower still standing on Mount Zion ; and near by his tomb outside the walls of the city, where he and many other kings lie buried. On Mount Scopus on the north are the ancient tombs of the prophets, also the tombs of Zacharias, St. James, and the lamented and wayward Absalom. The mountains round Jeru- salem and in that land still stand, stern and awful in their sub- lime grandeur, sacred, silent monuments of God's Eternal Word. Nebo, from the towering summit of which Moses was permitted AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 311 to view the " promised land," before he went up to the heaven- ly hill beyond Herman, from which the Jordan takes its source, stands glittering in its diadem of sun-melting snows. Carmel, with its bald promontory, jutting into the Mediterranean, and looking westward over its deep blue waters, once dotted over with the white sails and ships of King Solomon, heavily laden with the vast riches of that great Monarch, as they returned from foreign lands. Tabor, ever sacred as the supposed spot upon the sum- mit of which the Transfiguration occured. Ebal and Gerizim, ever memorable as the Mounts of " blessings and cursings," and upon the latter, where stood the beautiful temple in which "Our Fathers worshipped." The mountain Gilboa, upon which we are told neither dews nor rains have fallen since the sad fate of Jonathan, when King David in his bitter lamentations over them, exclaimed " Ye Mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain," etc., [see II Kings, i : 13-27]. Also the mountains around and nearer Jerusalem, glorious summits, solemn and sacred in memory, which afford God's holy Proph- ets their best imagery of sublime grandeur and majesty ; all — all, still stand as living sentinels, faithful to their trust, speaking witnesses of Bible truths ; and having thus stood for thousands of years, so they doubtless will continue to stand, even till time itself shall be no more. The heavens of the holy land still " declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work," just as in days of old when they inspired the sweet singer of Israel. In the blue ethereal sky the seven stars and Orion still wheel and glitter, as in the days of Amoz; " Arcturus and the chambers of the South " as in the days of Job ; and the " countless seed to Abraham " is recalled to memory when looking up into the Oriental sky, so thickly bestudded and dotted and powdered with stars. 312 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. Never in any country in which I have ever lived or travelled, have I contemplated with such infinite pleasure the starry firma- ment as in Palestine, while sitting upon the house top in Jerusalem, or at my tent door at night, whilst the blue vaulted heavens seemed nearer than before, and the bright stars and blazing planets seemed almost within hailing distance. The houses are also the same as they were in the days of the proph- ets and of our Savior, and bear their testimony for the Book of Books, the "foundation and rock," the movable roof, as in the case of the paralytic man whom the Savior healed. The " guest chamber on the wall," the " lattice," " the needle's eye," through which the burdened camel could not pass. Nature, too, with open volume, stands ready to testify with her unvarying laws, " the lilies of the field which toil not," etc., are still arrayed in splendor outrivaling Solomon in all his glory. The serpent, that emblem of cunning, (not of wisdom), the little ant, emblem of industry, and the dove of innocence. The little grain of mustard seed still becomes so great a tree, that the fowls of the air lodge in the branches thereof. The "husks which the swine did eat " still hang profusely from the carob tree. Earthquakes still trouble the land as in the days of Uriah, and of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Savior. The " great Sea," the little Sea of Galilee or Tyberias. The " Dead Sea," lies deep down in its dark basin and solemn stillness, testifying to the dreadful doom of the cities of the plain. Sud- den storms- still arise on the little lake of Gennesareth or Sea of Galilee just as in the days of our Savior, when " he lay asleep on a pillow in the hinder part of the vessel," and on the Medi- terranean as in the days of Jonah, off the Coast of Joppa, and of Paul near the Island of Miletus. The swift Jordan continues AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 313 to flow on, emptying its volumes of muddy waters into the Dead Sea, just as it has for thousands of years, and at certain seasons, or during " the early and latter rains," overflowing its banks often for many miles. Also the rivers of Damascus "Abanaand Pharphar." The Shepherds continue to watch their flocks by night, as in the days of the youthful David, and as they did on the night when the " bright Star in the East appeared and stood over where the infant Jesus lay,'' and when they heard that heavenly choir of Angels, proclaiming "joy to the world, peace, good will," etc., on the plains of Bethlehem. The laborer is still seen standing in the market place, waiting to be hired and receive his (penny) wages at the close of each day. Merchants and tradesmen still use the " balances of deceit," wicked balances, a " bag of deceitful weights and scanty meas- ures." The penny still " bears the image and superscription of Caesar," and the little " mites " two of which make a farthing, are still to be seen, such as " the poor widow cast into the treasury." Also the "pieces of money," or "pieces of silver," such as were used to " pay tribute," and such as Judas received for the betrayal. And lastly, the trees of the " Holy Land — Cedars of Lebanon " — still stand, such as Solomon used in the temple building. The graceful palm tree, straight as an arrow, emblem of the " upright man," and laden with its golden fruits and waving its long branches. The olive trees, over the slopes and upon the summit of Mount Olivet, and all over the land, still draw their fatness from the flinty rock. And far and near, from Dan to Beersheba, the " fig tree while its branches are yet tender putteth forth its leaves," etc., and its luscious fruit also in its season, just as it did when the divine finger pointed 3T4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. it out as an inimitable moral eighteen centuries ago. And so, we might continue to enumerate and mention one thing and another, ad infinitum, and until our readers would grow weary, and yet the subject would still remain inexhaustible. But we here close our brief sketch of Travels and Life in the Orient. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 315 CHAPTER XVII. Life, Scenes and Experiences during the Author's Residence in Rome. After returning from my sojourn in Palestine and Syria, and on reaching Rome, I decided to locate there, and so make that place my future home. Leasing a whole flat of rooms on the corner of the Via Condotti and Bocca de Leon, I took up my residence accordingly, and although my health was poor, yet by taking the best of care of myself, I found I could make Ro- man life barely tolerable. And having adopted the custom of giving social entertainments regularly one evening in each week, inviting all visitors, and strangers in Rome generally, I was not long in making acquaintances, but found life also less lone- ly and wearisome. One, to make and have friends in Rome, only needs to show himself friendly. This I did, and soon therefore had a host of friends, especially during the season for strangers in Rome. After quite a year's residence as I have just mentioned, I decided to change my quarters and move to the Piazza d'Es- pagnia, there taking another flat of some seven or eight rooms ; and in the meantime corresponded with my brother and his wife, with whom my little son was living, in Kentucky, influencing them to make a visit to Rome, or to Europe at least, and bring little Julian with them. And this they did in the summer of 18 — , I meeting them at Liverpool, and accompanying them over different parts of Europe, until we all reached Rome to- gether. My brother and wife visited Europe intending to remain at least two years, but not being as well pleased with the coun- 316 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. try and the usual customs and habits of living, and especially with life in Rome, they soon became tired of it, and homesick too, and so determined to return again to America, which they did later in the season, leaving Julian with me. Their doing so was of course an unlooked for disappointment all round, and to me especially, but there seemed no help for it, and so it had to be that way. Their departure again was attended with quite as much sadness as their arrival had been with joy. Autumn came and passed away, succeeded with a long, dreary winter of clouds and rain, and then the spring season followed, then summer came. In the meantime Rome's live- liest season of late fall, winter and spring had been attended with the usual large influx of strangers from almost every part of the world, and the usual festivities, gayeties, etc. But now summer having again returned, and the hot, dull sickly season of Rome rapidly approaching, strangers began to leave quite as fast as they had come ; and although my little boy and myself had spent rather a pleasant season together under the circumstances, yet we too now began to feel like getting away from Rome, fearing the approaching season, and had indeed begun making arrangements accordingly, when suddenly, and certainly no less unexpectedly, a circumstance of the most dreadful and painful- ly sad nature occurred, which prevented our doing so, not only for some time, but came well nigh doing so forever ; the par- ticulars of which I will now briefly relate in the closing chap- ter of this book. One morning, in the month of May, as I was sitting at my desk, my little son — a bright-eyed little fellow of only six sum- mers — came to me in what he called "soldier's clothes," armed with a cane for his gun, and leading his little white poodle dog AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 31 7 with a string ; he asked me to let him go with some of his play- mates to the Pincian Garden, but a little way off, to play. This garden was situated on a hill, surrounded by a high stone wall on the outside, but on the side next to the garden was only a few feet high. A smooth, wide road led from the Piazza d' Espagnia, where our house stood, up to this beautiful garden, which ran along by the hillside, as it had been excavated down and walled up on the right ; whilst on the left was another per- pendicular stone wall, beginning on a level with the piazza or paved square, but gradually ascended, as an inclined plane, with the road, till the summit of the hill was reached, at which point it was some seventy feet high, though only about two feet high all the way along next to the road leading up to the gar- den. When my little Julian came to me and made the above request, I stopped writing and looked at the dear little fellow for a moment, and with his eyes and face lit up with perfect happiness, I thought I had never seen a more perfect picture of childish innocence before. I gave my consent to his re- quest, and, with a kiss and the usual caution to be careful and not stay long, I again turned to the task before me, little think- ing of the dreadfully sad fate that awaited my little Julian. In less than half an hour from the time he left my presence a ser- vant came running in with the poodle dog in her arms, and in great excitement told me, in her native Italian language, that u my little Garcon Juliana had fallen over the Pincian wall and crushed out his brains; but she had saved his little dog." This news came to me with a dreadful shock, and hurrying out on the Piazza d'Espagnia, I learned from a bank clerk, who met me, to my great horror and dismay, that the news brought by the servant girl was indeed, alas, true. The young 318 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. man informed me the child had fallen head foremost from the high wall upon which he had climbed, and had crushed his skull on the hard, stone pavement below, and had been picked up in a lifeless condition, and carried to a Jesuit hospital in the Via Corso, nearly half a mile away. I went to the spot where he had fallen, which was but a short distance away, and there saw a pool of blood and what appeared to be a portion of the brain. The height of the fall showed, by actual measurement afterwards, to be thirty feet. I jumped into a cab, and was driven rapidly to the hospital, but was refused admission for want of a.J>ass, and while waiting for one to be procured, I be- came impatient and rushed past the guards, who stood with muskets and bayonets in hand, and, at the risk of my life, as- cended a long flight of steps, passed through almost interminable halls, guided by an irresistible impulse, till I entered a door, there to behold, stretched upon a couch, the pale, bleeding, and apparently lifeless form of my little son. His eyes were closed, and his head crushed out of shape. Lying in this same great room were some one hundred and fifty other pitiable, suffering human creatures. The sight before me was a sicken- ing one. After having thus hastily glanced around me, and recognizing the body of my darling boy, lying upon a high couch on the opposite side of the room, I immediately went to him. I placed my hand upon the body, to find it had not yet grown cold. I then called for a certain medicine, but was told it was not in the dispensary, and if it was, it would do no good, as the child was already dead. I was also informed that the surgeons and physicians — of whom there were sixteen in at- tendance in the institution — had examined the child, and pro- nounced him dead ; and that the Holy Fathers had performed AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 319 their ceremony over him, anointing with oil, and laid him out for burial. All of this, however, was unsatisfactory to me. True, the heart's action had ceased, the pulses were gone, and life had indeed fled ; but the body, as I have already remarked, had not yet grown cold, and I, as an instrument in the hands of the great Giver of life, determined not to be thus thwarted in my endeavors to restore the child to life 'again. I therefore sent immediately to the nearest pharmacy, and procured the medicine I wanted, and began to administer it at once, inter- nally and externally, to the crushed and broken skull and bleed- ing wounds. I also assured those in charge the child was mine, and that I claimed the body, dead or alive ; that it had been brought there without my knowledge or consent, and that I was going to remove it to my own home. But I met with great op- position to this, as there is an ordinance in Rome to the .effect that any corporation or chartered institution, finding a dead body unprotected in the streets or elsewhere, and taking it in charge, have a right to dispose of it in any manner they choose. And the hospital authorities claimed the body of my child had come into their possession under the above condi- tions. This claim, thus persistently urged, now seemed to change the wholeaspect of the case, and completely bar even the possibility of my getting the body out of their possession. Evening was rapidly approaching ; some hours had already been consumed in my contending with them for the body of my child ; and I well knew if night came on before I did gain pos- session of and move the body, that, according to their fixed regulations, every one who did not belong in the hospital had to be shut out ; and that if this did occur with me, that my lit- 320 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. tie Julian's body would be very sure to be conveyed beyond my reach before morning, most likely to the dissecting room, or where I would never see it again. And knowing all this, I de- termined not only to stay by and cling to the body, but to use the most earnest protestations, arguments and remonstrances that it was possible to do against their course, in endeavoring to get possession of the body against all law of States, nations and countries ; and also made threats of bringing the power of international law to bear upon the matter ; and in this way, I, at last, through intimidation, and partly by force, took possession of the body, and moved it to my rooms before night came on. Although the pulses of my child, as I have already said, had long since ceased to beat, and there was no sign of the heart's action, the body still remained warm. On a careful examination, I found the skull to be not only broken to pieces, but so much shattered and crushed that the upper portion seemed to have become detached from the lower base; and I found it not only necessary to replace it in its proper position, but to reshape and remodel it again, as if it were a ball of clay or piece of putty. On the left side, near the top of the head, was an opening broken through the skull sufficiently large to admit the finger, from which the blood and brain was oozing. I will not prolong the history of this terrible calamity which had thus fallen upon me and my dear boy, by giving in minute detail the methods of treatment, but will only add that he lay in a motionless and apparently lifeless condition seven or eight days and nights. During a part of this time the limbs were cold and dead, many of the joints seemed dislocated, and decompo- sition seemed to be, and was so believed by many to have tak- en place to such a degree that I was repeatedly urged to con- AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 32 1 sent to the " burial of the body, as it was dead and decompos- ing." And the matter indeed became so notorious that I was keeping the dead body of my child in my room, instead of let- ting it be buried, that threats were made that if I did not con- sent, the authorities would take the case in hand and take pos- session of it, and bury it at any hour. This to me was indeed a dreadful thought, for I felt a con- fidence from the first, which never for a moment became shak- en, that the life of my child would be again restored to me, if I could only keep possession of the body long enough. When consciousness, or more correctly speaking, life had been restored, it appeared as though one had indeed been raised from the sleep of death. And although the season of the year was un- favorable, the weather having become very hot, the recovery was rapid, until quite convalescent. The excitement occasioned in Rome by this calamity was from the first of no ordinary character ; and it became greater and greater from day to day, as the report became widely circulated that "the American doctor was keeping the decomposing body of his dead child at his Del Caso, in the Piazza d'Espagnia, instead of having it buried ; and that he was laboring under the strange hallucina- tion that the dead child would come to life again." As my sanity had by this time been strongly suspected by many, on account of this seemingly strange conduct to them, the reader can imagine the general commotion likely to occur in the " Eternal City," when it became known the " child had indeed come to life again." So great, indeed, was the general excitement that it did "make Rome howl." One must live in old Rome for some time to realize the unbounded superstition of her people. 32 2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. In concluding this chapter, I will state that a prominent United States official, then residing in Rome, telegraphed to the U. S. Secretary at Washington that " the little son of Dr. Wasson, an American citizen, but resident of Rome, had fallen from a high wall and was picked up dead, and that the terrible calamity had produced such a shock upon the mind of the father, as to dethrone his reason, and that he was removed to a hospital or asylum." I also learned afterwards, that it had been officially telegraphed to Washington, that I had died in Rome. I have already stated in a preceding chapter that I had passed through a very protracted and severe illness in that place, which occurred immediately after the partial recovery of my little son, during a part of which time my life was despaired of, and for some time also I was unconscious of life, in the mortal body. At least six weeks elapsed from the time I was first taken with fever, known as the pernicious fever of Rome, before I was able to leave the hospital ; and finding it impossible to re- gain my health and strength at that season there, taking my little son with me, we started to travel and spend the season in that way ; but as strength seemed to return very slowly, I thought a sea voyage might be beneficial to us both, and so returned to America again, and having done so afterwards determined to remain in the United States. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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