THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY THE WILMER COLLECTION OF CIVIL WAR NOVELS PRESENTED BY RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. .WiUVith COLLECTION %J/t—C4 ^i^Clj/ *J/k~& ^v S t CTURES. 65 less sisters, whom he always called "big-sis" and "little-sis." "Big-sis" was so called from being the eldest, and had the care of cousin Cesar's childhood. Cousin Caesar manifested an imaginary turn of mind in early childhood. He was, one day, sitting on his little stool, by the side of the tub in which " big-sis " was washing, (for she was a washer-woman,) gazing intently upon the surface of the water. " What in the world are you looking at C-a-e-s-a-r ? " said the woman, straighten- ing up in astonishment. " Looking at them bubbles on the suds," said the boy, gravely. "And what of the bubbles?" continued the woman. "I expected to see one of them burst into a 1-o-a-f of b-r-e-a-d," said the child honestly. "Big-sis" took cousin Caesar to the fire, went to the cupboard and cut her last loaf of bread, and spread upon it the last mouthful of butter she had in the world, and gave it cousin Caesar. And thus he received his first lesson of reward for im- agination which, perhaps, had something to do with his after life. Cousin Caesar detested work, but had a disposition to see the bottom of everything. No turkey-hen or guinea fowl could make a nest that cousin Caesar could not find. He grew up mischievous, so much so that "big-sis" would occasionally thrash him. He would then run off and live with "little-sis" until "little-sis" would better the instruc- tion, for she would whip also. He would then run back to live with " big-sis." In this way cousin Caesar grew to thir- teen years of age— too big to whip. He then went to live with old Smith, who had a farm on the Tennessee river, con- taining a large tract of land, and who hired a large quantity of steam wood cut every season. Rob Roy was one of old Smith's wood cutters— a bachelor well advanced in years, he 66 PEN PICTURES. lived alone in a cabin made of poles, on old Smith's land. Hi? sleeping couch was made with three poles, running par- allel with the wall of the cabin, and filled with straw. He never wore any stockings and seldom wore a coat, winter or summer. The furniture in his cabin consisted of a three-leg- ged stool, and a pine goods box. His ax was a handsome tool, and the only thing he always kept brightly polished. He was a good workman at his profession of cutting wood. No one knew anything of his history. He was a man that seldom talked ; he was faithful to work througn the week, but spent the Sabbath day drinking whisky. He went to the village every Saturday evening and purchased one gallon of whisky, which he carried in a stone jug to his cabin, and drank it all himself by Monday morning, when he would be ready to go to work again. Old Rob Roy's habits haunted the mind of cousin Caesar, and he resolved to play a trick "upon the old wood cutter. Old Smith had some hard cider to which cousin Caesar had access. One lonesome Sunday cousin Caesar stole Roy's jug half full of whisky, poured the whisky out, re-filled the jug with cider, and cautiously slipped it back into Roy's cabin. On Monday morning Rob Roy refused to work, and was very mad. Old Smith demanded to know the cause of the trouble. "You can't fool a man with cider who loves good whisky,'" said Roy indignantly. Old Smith traced the trick up and discharged cousin Caesar. * At twenty years of age we find Cousin Caesar in Pa- ducah, Kentucky, calling himself Cole Conway, in company with one Steve Sharp — they were partners — in the game, as they called it. In the back room of a saloon, dimly lighted, one dark night, another party, more proficient in the sleight of hand, had won the last dime in their possession. The time had come to close up. The sun had crossed the merid- ian on the other side of the globe. Cole Conway and Steve Sharp crawled into an old straw shed, in the suburbs, PEN PICTURES. 67 of the village, and were soon soundly sleeping. The sun had silvered the old straw shed when Sharp awakened, and saw Conway sitting up, as white as death's old horse. "What on earth is the matter, Conway?" said Sharp, inquiringly. "I slumbered heavy in the latter end of night, and had a brilliant dream, and awoke from it, to realize this old straw shed doth effect me," said Conway gravely. "The dream ! the dream!" demanded Sharp. "I dreamed that we were playing cards, and I was dealing out the deck; the last card was mine, and it was very thick. Sharp, it looked like a box, and with thumb and finger I pulled it open. In it there were three fifty-dollar gold pieces, four four-dollar gold pieces, and ten one-dollar gold pieces. I put the money in my pocket, and was listening for you to claim half, as you pur- chased the cards. You said nothing more than that 'them cards had been put up for men who sell prize cards.' I took the money out again, when lo, and behold ! one of the fifty- dollar pieces had turned to a rule about eight inches long, hinged in the middle. Looking at it closely I saw small let- ters engraved upon it, which 1 was able to read — you know, Sharp, I learned to read by spelling the names on steam- boats — or that is the way I learned the letters of the alpha- bet. The inscription directed me to a certain place, and there I would find a steam carriage that could be run on any common road where carriages are drawn by horses. We went, and found the carriage. It was a beautiful carriage — with highly finished box — on four wheels, the box was large enough for six persons to sit on the inside. The pilot sat upon the top, steering with a wheel, the engineer, who was also fireman, and the engine, sat on the aft axle, behind the passenger box. The whole structure was very light, the boiler was of polished brass, and sat upon end. The heat was engendered by a chemical combination of phosphorus and tinder. The golden rule gave directions how to run the 68 PEN PICTURES. engine — by my directions, Sharp, you was pilot and I was en gineer, and we started south, toward my old home. People came running out from houses and fields to see us pass I saw something on the beautiful brass boiler that looked lik a slide door. I shoved it, and it slipped aside, revealing the dial of a clock which told the time of day, also by a separate hand and figures, told the speed at which the carriage was running. On the right hand side of the dial I saw the fig- ures 77. They were made of India rubber, and hung upon two brass pins. I drew the slide door over the dial except when I wished to look at the time of day, or the rate of speed at which we were running, and every time I opened the door, one of the figure 7's had fallen off the pin. I would replace it, and again find it fallen off. So I concluded it was only safe to run seven miles an hour, and I regulated to that speed. In a short time, I looked again, and we were running at the rate of fifteen miles an hour. I knew that I had not altered the gauge of steam. A hissing sound caused me to think the water was getting low in the boiler. On my left I saw a brass handle that resembled the handle of a pump. I seized it and commenced work. I could hear the bubbling of the water. I look down at the dry road, and said, mentally, -'no water can come from there.' Oh! how I trembled. It so frightened me that I found myself wide awake." "Dreams are but eddies in the current of the mind, which cut off from reflection's gentle stream, sometimes play strange> fantastic tricks. I have tumbled headlong down from high and rocky cliffs; cold-blooded snakes have crawled 'round my limbs; the worms that eat through dead men's flesh, have crawled upon my skin, and I have dreamed of trans- portation beyond the shores of time. My last night's dream hoisted me beyond my hopes, to let me fall and find myself i:i this d old straw shed." "The devil never dream?," PEN PICTURES. u * said Sharp, coolly, and then continued- "Holy men of old dreamed of the Lord, but never of the devrl, and to under- -and a dream, we must be just to all the world, and to our- selves before God." "I have a proposition to make to you, Conway? " WliatV said Conway, eagerly. "If you will tell me in confidence, your true name and history, I will give you mine," sard Sharp, emphatically. ■'treed," said Conway, and then continued, "as you made he proposition give us >J£^£ father wag called ou see, i am a come by-chance, and I have been going by chance all 7m life. Now, I have told you the God's truth, so far as I Jow it Now make a clean brerst of it, Conway, and let us hear your pedigree," said Bnndie, confidentially. .•I was bom in Tennessee. My father's name was Caesar Simon, and I bear his name. My mother's name was Nancy Wade. I do not remember either of them I was partly raised by my sisters, and the balance of the Ume I have tried to raise myself, but it seems it will take me a Ion, ZU^nake a raise-" at this point, Brindle inter tered m breathless suspense, with the inquiry, •■ Did you have an un- cle named S. S. Simon?" " I have heard my sister say as much," continued Simon. "Then your dream is interpreted," said Brindle, em- phatically. "Your Uncle, S. S. Simon, has left one of the largest estates in Arkansas, and now you are on the steam wagon again," said Brindle, slapping his companion on the shoulder. Brindle had been instructed by his mother, and made 70 PEN PICTURES. Cousin Caesar acquainted with the outline of all the history- detailed in this narrative, except the history of Roxie Day- mon alias Roxie Fairfield, in Chicago. The next day the two men were hired as hands to go down the river on a flat-bottom boat. Roxie Daymon, whose death has been recorded, left an only daughter, now grown to womanhood, and bearing her mother's name. Seated in the parlor of one of the descend- ants of Aunt Patsy Perkins, in Chicago, we see her sad, and alone; we hear the hall bell ring. A servant announces the name of Gov. Morock. "Show the Governor up," said Roxie, sadly. The ever open ear of the Angel of observa- tion has only furnished us with the following conversation : "Everything is positively lost, madam, not a cent in the world. Every case has gone against us, and no appeal, madam. You are left hopelessly destitute, and penniless. Daymon should have employed me ten years ago — but now, it is too late. Everything is gone, madam," and the Gov- ernor paused. "My mother was once a poor, penniless girl, and I can bear it too," said Roxie, calmly. " But you see," said the Governor, softening his voice; "you are a handsome young lady; your fortune is yet to be made. For fifty dollars, madam, I can fix you up a shadow, that will marry you off. You see the law has some loop holes and — and in your case, madam, it is no harm to take one; no harm, no harm, madam," and the Governor paused again. Roxie looked at the man sternly, and said: "I have no further use for a lawyer, Sir." "Any business hereafter, madam, that you may wish transacted, send your card to No. 77, Strait street," and the Governor made a side move toward the door, touched the rim of his hat and disappeared. It was in the golden month of October, and calm, smoky days of Indian summer, that a party of young people living in Chicago, made arrangements for a pleasure trip to PEN PICTURES. 71 New Orleans. There were four or five young ladies in the party, and Roxie Daymon was one. She was handsome and interesting — if her fortune was gone. The party consisted of the moneyed aristocracy of the city, with whom Roxie had been raised and educated. Every one of the party was willing to contribute and pay Roxie's expenses, for the sake of her company. A magnificent steamer, of the day, plying between St. Louis and New Orleans, was selected for the carrier, three hundred feet in length, and sixty feet wide. The passenger cabin was on the upper deck, nearly two hundred feet in length; a guard eight feet wide, for a foot- way, and promenade on the outside of the hall, extended on both sides, the full length of the cabin ; a plank partition di- vided the long hall— the aft room was the ladies', the front the gentlemen's cabin. The iron horse, or some of his suc- cessors, will banish these magnificent floating palaces, and I describe, for the benefit of coming generations. Nothing of interest occured to our party, until the boat landed at the Simon plantations. Young Simon and cousin Caesar boarded the boat, for passage to New Orleans, for they were on their way to the West Indies, to spend the winter. Young Simon was in the last stage of consumption and his physician had recommended the trip as the last remedy. Young Simon was walking on the outside guard, opposite the ladies' cabin, when a female voice with a shrill and piercing tone rang upon his ear— "Take Roxie Daymon away." The girls were romping. — " Take Roxie Daymon away," were the mysterious dying words of young Simon's father. Simon turned, and mentally bewildered, entered the gentlemen's cabin. A colored boy, some twelve years of age, in the ser- vice of the boat, was passing— Simon held a silver dollar in his hand as he said, "I will give you this, if you will ascer- tain and point out to me the lady in the cabin, that they call Roxie Daymon." The imp of Africa s^Vd th* ^oin, and "2 PEN PICTURES. passing on said in a voice too low for Simon's ear, "good bargain, boss." The Roman Eagle was running down stream through the dark and muddy waters of the Mississippi, at the rate of twenty miles an hour. In the dusk of the evening, Young Simon and Roxie Daymon were sitting side by side — alone, on the aft-guard of the boat. The ever open ear of the Angel of observation has furnished us with the following conversation. "Your mother's maiden name, is what I am anxious to learn," said Simon gravely. 11 Roxie Fairfield, an orphan girl, raised in Kentucky." said Roxie sadlv. J "Was she an only child, or did she have sisters?" said Simon inquiringly. " My mother died long years ago—when I was too young to remember, my father had no relations— that I ever heard of — Old aunt Patsey Perkins— a great friend of mother's in her life -time, told me after mother was dead, and 1 had grown large enough to think about kinsfolk, that mother had two sis- ters somewhere, named Rose and Suza, poor trash, as she called them ; and that is all I know of my relations : and to be frank with you, I am nothing but poor trash too, I have no family history to boast of," said Roxie honestly. "You will please excuse me Miss, for wishing to know something of your family history— there is a mystery connec- ted with it, that may prove to your advantage"— Simon was convinced. — He pronounced the word twenty — when the An- gel of caution placed his finger on his lip— hush! — and young Sunon turned the conversation, and as soon as he could po- litely do so, left the presence of the young lady, and sought cousin Caesar, who by the way, was well acquainted with the most of the circumstances we have recorded, but had wisely kept them to himself. Cousin Caesar now told young Simon the whole story. PEN PICTURES. 73 Twenty-thousand dollars, with twenty years interest, was against his estate. Roxie Daymon, the young lady en the boat, was an heir, others lived in Kentucky — all of which cousin Caesar learned from a descendant of Brindle Bill. The pleasure party with Simon and cousin Caesar, stopped at the same hotel in the Crescent City. At the end of three weeks the pleasure party returned to Chicago. Young Simon and cousin Caesar left for the West Indies. — Young Simon and Roxie Daymon were engaged to be married the following spring at Chicago. Simon saw many beautiful women in his travels — but the image of Roxie Daymon was ever before him. The good Angel of observation has failed to inform us, of Roxie Daymon's feelings and object in the match. A young and beautiful woman ; full of life and vigor consenting to wed a dying man, hushed the voice of the good Angel, and he has said nothing. Spring with its softening breezes returned — the ever to be remembered spring of 1861. The shrill note of the iron horse announced the anival of young Simon and cousin Caesar in Chicago, on the 7th day of April, 1 86 1. Simon had lived upon excitement, and reaching the des- tination of his hopes— the great source of his life failed — cou- sin Caesar carried him into the hotel — he never stood alone again — the marriage was put off— until Simon should be bet- ter. On the second day, cousin Caesar was preparing to leave the room, on business in a distant part of the city. Roxie had been several times alone with Simon, and was then \ res- ent. Roxie handed a sealed note to cousin Caesar, politely asking him to deliver it. The note was inscribed, Gov. Mo- rock, No. 77 Strait street. Cousin Caesar had been absent but a short time, when that limb of the law appeared and wrote a will dictated by young Simon ; bequeathing all of his possessions, without re-' 74: PEN PICTURES. serve to Roxie Daymon. u How much," said Roxie, as the Governor was about to leave. " Cnly ten dollars, madam," said the Governor, as he stuffed the bill carelessly in his vest pocket and departed. Through the long vigils of the night cousin Caesar sat by the side of the dying man ; before the sun had silvered the eastern horizon, the soul of young Simon was with his fathers. The day was consumed in making preparations for the last, honor due the dead. Cousin Caesar arranged with a party to take the remains to Arkansas, and place the son by the side of the father, on the home»plantation. The next morn- ing as cousin Caesar was scanning the morning papers, the fol- lowing brief notice attracted his attention: " Young Simon, the wealthy young cotton planter, who died in the city yester- day, left by his last will and testament his whole estate, worth more than a million of dollars, to Roxie Daymon, a young lady of this city. Cousin Caesar was bewildered and astonished. He was a stranger in the city ; he rubbed his hand across his forehead to collect his thoughts, and remembered No. 77 Strait street. "Yes I observed it — it is a law office," he said mentally, "there is something in that number seventy-seven, I have never understood it before, since my dream on the steam car- nage seventy-seven ," and cousin Caesar directed his steps to- ward St r ait street. " Important business, I suppose sir," said Governor Mo- rock, as he read cousin Caesar's anxious countenance. "Yes, somewhat so," said cousin Caesar, pointing to the notice in the paper, he continued: " I am a relative of Simon and have served him faithfully for two years, and they say he has willed his estate to a stranger." " Is it p-o-s-s-i-b-l-e-," said the Governor, affecting aston- ishment. PEN PICTURES. 75 " What would you advise me to do ? " said cousin Cae- sar imploringly. " Break the will — break the will, sir, r ' said the Governor emphatically. ' Ah! that will take money," said cousin Caesar sadly. " Yes, yes, but it will bring money," said the Governor, rubbing his hands together. "I s-u-p p-o-s-ewe would be required to prove incapac- ity on the part of Simon," said cousin Caesar slowly. "Money will prove anything," said the Governor decid- edly. The Governor struck the right key, for cousin Caesar was well schooled in treacherous humanity, and noted for seeing the bottom of things; but he did not see the bottom of the Governor's dark designs. " How much for this case ? "said cousin Caesar. "Oh! I am liberal — I am liberal," said the Governor rubbing his hands and continuing, " can't tell exactly, owing to the trouble and cost of the things, as we go along. A mil- lion is the stake — well, let me see, this is no child's play. A man that has studied for long years — you can't expect him to be cheap — but as I am in the habit of working for nothing — if you will pay me one thousand dollars in advance, I will undertake the case, and then a few more thousands will round it U p — can't say exactly, any more sir, than I am always lib- eral." Cousin Caesar had some pocket-money, furnished by young Simon, to pay expenses etc., amounting to a little more than one thousand dollars. His mind was bewildered with the number seventy-seven, and he paid over to the Governor one thousand dollars. After Governor Morock had the mon- ey safe in his pocket, he commenced a detail of the cost of ftie suit — among other items, was a large amount for witnesses. 76 PEN PICTURES. . The Governor had the case — it was a big case — and the Gov- ernor has determined to make it pay him. Cousin Cseser reflected, and saw that he must have help, and as he left the office of Governor Morock, said mentally : '•' One of them d — n figure sevens I saw in my dream, would fall off the pin, and I fear, I have struck the wrong lead." In the soft twilight of the evening, when the conductor cried, "all aboard," cousin Cassar was seated in the train, on his way to Kentucky, to solicit aid from Cliff Carlo, the oldest son and representative man, of the family descended from Don Carlo, the hero of Shirt-Tail Band, and Suza Fairfield, the belle of Port William. SCENE SEVENTH-WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. The late civil war between the States of the American Union was the inevitable result of two civilizations under one government, which no power on earth could have prevented We place the federal and confederate soldier m the same scale */*, and one will not weigh the other down an atom. So even will they poise that you may mark the small allow- ance of the weight of a hair. But place upon the beam the pea ot their actions while upon the stage, on either side, and the poise may be up or down. More than this, your orator has nothing to say of the war except its effect upon the characters we describe. ' The bright blossoms of a May morning were opening to meet the sunlight, while the surrounding foliage was waving in the soft breeze ol spring ; on the southern bank of the beautt- ,ul Ohio, where the momentous events of the future were con- cealed from the eyes of the preceding generation by the dark veil oi the coming revolutions of the globe. We see Cousin Caesar and Cliff Carlo in close counsel, upon the subject of meeting the expenses of the contest at law over the Simon estate, in the State of Arkansas Cliff Carlo was rather non-committal. Roxte Daymen was a near relative, and the unsolved problem in the case of compromise and law did not admit of haste on the part of the Carlo family. Compromise was not the forte of Cousin Cssar To use his own words, "I have made the cast, and wul stand the hazard of the die." 78 PEN PICTURES. But the enterprise, with surrounding circumstances, would have baffled a bolder man than Cajsar Simon. The first gun of the war had been fired at Fort Sumter, in South Carolina, on the 12th day of April, 1861. The President of the United States had called for seven- ty-five thousand war-like men to redezvous at Washington City, and form a Pmtorian guard, to strengthen the arm of the government. To arms, to arms! was the cry both North and South. The last lingering hope of peace between the States had faded from the minds of all men, and the bloody crest of war was painted on the horizon of the future. The border slave States, in the hope of peace, had remained inac- tive all winter. They now withdrew from the Union and joined their fortunes with the South, except Kentucky — the dark and bloody ground historic in the annals of war — showed the white feather, and announced to the world that her soil was the holy ground of peace. This proclamation was too thin for Caesar Simon. Some of the Carlo family had long since immigrated to Missouri. To consult with them on the will affair, and meet with an element more disposed to defend his prospect of property, Cousin Caesar left Kentucky for Mis- souri. On the fourth day of July, 1861, in obedience to the cali of the President, the Congress of the United States met at Washington City. This Congress called to the contest five hundred thousand men; "cried havoc and let slip the dogs of war," and Missouri was invaded by federal troops, who were subsequently put under the command of Gen. Lyon. About the middle of July we see Cousin Caesar marching in the army of Gen. Sterling Price — an army composed of all classes of humanity, who rushed to the conflict without promise of pay or assistance from the government of the Confederate States of America— an army without arms or equipment, except such as it gathered from the citizens, double-barreled shot-guns — an army of volunteers without the promise of pay PEN PICTURES. 79 •or hope of reward; composed of men from eighteen to seventy years of age, with a uniform of costume varying from the walnut colored roundabout to the pigeon-tailed broadcloth coat. The mechanic and the farmer, the professional and the non-professional, the merchant and the jobber, the specu lator and the butcher, the country schoolmaster and the printer's devil, the laboring man and the dead-beat, all rushed into Price's army, seemingly under the influence of the watch- word of the old Jews, "To your tents, O Israel!" and it is a fact worthy of record that this unarmed and untrained army never lost a battle on Missouri soil in the first year of the war.* Gov. Jackson had fled from Jefferson City on the approach of the federal army, and assembled the Legislature at Neosho, in the southwest corner of the State, who were una- ble to assist Price's army. The troops went into the field, thrashed the wheat and milled it for themselves; were often upon half rations, and frequently lived upon roasting ears. Except the Indian or border war in Kentucky, fought by a preceding generation, the first year of the war in Missouri is unparalleled in the history of war on this continent. Gen. Price managed to subsist an army without governmental resources. His men were never demoralized for the want of food, pay or clothing, and were always cheerful, and fre- quently danced 'round their camp-fires, bare-footed and rag- ged, with a spirit of merriment that would put the blush upon the cheek of a circus. Gen. Price wore nothing upon his shoulders but a brown linen duster, and, his white hair stream- ing in the breeze on the field of battle, was a picture resem- bling the war-god of the Romans in ancient fable. This army of ragged heroes marched over eight hundred miles on Missouri soil, and seldom passed a week without an engagement of some kind — it was confined to no particular *The so called battle of Boonville was a rash venture of citizens, not under the command cf Gen. Price at the time. • i 80 PEN PICTURES. line of operations, but fought the enemy wherever thev found him. It had started on the campaign without a dollar, with- out a wagon, without a cartridge, and without a bayonet- gun ; and when it was called east of the Missisippi river, it possessed about eight thousand bayonet-guns, fifty pieces of cannon, and four hundred tents, taken almost exclusively from the Federals, on the hard-fought fields of battle. When this army crossed the Mississippi river the star of its glory had set never to rise again. The invigorating name of state rights was merged in the Southern Confederacy. With this prelude to surrounding circumstances, we will now follow the fortunes of Cousin Caesar. Enured to hard- ships in early life, possessing a penetrating mind and a selfish disposition, Cousin Caesar was ever ready to float on the stream of prosperity, with triumphant banners, cr go down as drift wood. And whatever he may have lacked in manhood, he was as brave as a lion on the battle-field ; and the campaign of Gen. Price in Missouri suited no private soldier better than Caesar Simon. Like all soldiers in an active army, he thought only of battle and amusement. Consequently, the will, Gov. Morock and the Simon estate occupied but little of Cousin Caesar s reflections. One idea had taken possession of him, and that was southern victory. He enjoyed the tri- umphs of his fellow soldiers, and ate his roasting ears with the same invigorating spirit. A sober second thought and cool reflections only come with the struggle for his own life, and with it a self-reproach that always, sooner or later, Over- takes the faithless. The battle of Oak Hill, usually called the battle of Springfield, was one of the hardest battles fought west of the Mississippi river. The federal troops, under Gen. Lyon, amounted to nearly ten thousand men. The confederate PEN PICTURES. 81 t oops, under Generals McCulloch, Price, and Pearce, were about eleven thousand men. On the ninth of August the Confederates camped at Wilson's Creek, intending to advance upon the Federals at Springfield. The next morning General Lyon attacked them before sunrise The battle was fought with rash bravery on both sides. General Lyon, after having been twice wounded, was shot dead while leading a rash charge. Half the loss on the Confederate side was from Price's army — a sad memorial of the part they took in the contest. Soon after the fall of General Lyon the Federals retreated to Springfield, and left the Confederates master of the field. About the closing scene of the last struggle, Cousin Caesar received a musket ball in the right leg, and fell among the wounded and dying. The wound was not necessarily fatal; no bone was broken, but it was very painful and bleeding profusely. When Cousin Caesar, after lying a long time where he fell, realized the situation, he saw that without assistance he must bleed to death j and impatient to wait for some one to pick him up, he sought quarters by his own exertions. He had managed to crawl a quarter of a mile, and gave out at a point where no one would think of looking for the wounded. Weak from the loss of blood, he could crawl no farther. The light of day was only discernable in the dim distance of the West; the Angel of silence had spread her wing over the bloody battle field. In vain Cousin Caesar pressed his hand upon the wound ; the crimson life would ooze out between his fin- gers, and Cousin Caesar lay down to die. It was now dark; no light met his eye, and no sound came to his ear, save the song of two grasshoppers in a cluster of bushes — one sang " Katie-did! " and the other sang " Katie-didn't !" Cousin Caesar said, mentally, "It will soon be decided with me whether Katie did or whether she didn't ! Jn the last mo- ments of hope Cousin Caesar heard and recognized the sound 6 82 PEN PICTURES. of a human voice, and gathering all the strength of his lungs, pronounced the word — "S-t-e-v-e! " In a short time he saw two men approaching him. It was Steve Brindle and a Cher- okee Indian. As soon as they saw the situation, the Indian darted like a wild deer to where there had been a camp fire, and returned with his cap full of ashes which he applied to Cousin Caesar's wound. Steve Brindle bound it up and stopped the blood. The two men then carried the wounded man to camp — to recover and reflect upon the past. Steve Brindle was a private, in the army of General Pearce, from Arkansas, and the Cherokee Indian was a camp follower be- longing to the army of General McCulloch. They were look- ing over the battle field in search of their missing friends, when they accidentally discovered and saved Cousin Caesar, Early in the month of September, Generals McCulloch and Price having disagreed on the plan of campaign, General Price announced to his officers his intention of moving north, and required a report of effective men in his army. A lieu- tenant, after canvassing the company to which Cousin Caesar belonged, went to him as the last man. Cousin Caesar re- ported ready for duty. " All right, you- are the last man — » No. 77," said the lieutenant, hastily, leaving Cousin Caesar to his reflections. "There is that number again; what can it mean ? Marching north, perhaps to meet a large force, is our company to be reduced to seven ? One of them d d figure sevens would fall off and one would be left on the pin. How should it be counted — s-e-v-e-n or half? Set up two guns and take one away, half would be left ; enlist two men, and if one is killed, half would be left — yet, with these d d figures, when you take one you only have one eleventh part left. Cut by the turn of fortune; cut with short rations; cut with a musket ball ; cut by self-reproach — ah, thafs the deepest cut of all!" said Cousin Caesar, mentally, as he retired to the tent. PEN PICTURES. 83 Steve Brindle had saved Cousin Caesar's life, had been an old comrade in many a hard game, had divided his last cent with him in many hard places, had given him his family history and opened the door for him to step into the palace of wealth. Yet, when Cousin Caesar was surrounded with wealth and power, when honest employment would, in al 1 human possibility, have redeemed his old comrade, Cousin Caesar, willing to conceal his antecedents, did not know S-t-e-v-e Brindle. General Price reached the Missouri river, at Lexington, on the 1 2 th of September, and on the 20th captured a Fed- eral force intrenched there, under the command of Crlonel Mulligan, from whom he obtained five cannon, two mortars and over three thousand bayonet guns. In fear of large Federal forces north of the Missouri river, General Price retreated south. Cousin Caesar was again animated with the spirit of war and had dismissed the superstitious fear of 77 from his mind. He continued his amusements 'round the camp fires in Price's army, as he said, mentally, " Governor Morock will keep things straight, at his office on Strait street, in Chicago." Roxie Daymon had pleasantly passed the summer and fall on the reputation of being rich, and was always the toast in the fashionable parties of the upper-ten in Chicago. During the first year of the war it was emphatically announced by the government at Washington, that it would never inter- fere with the slaves of loyal men. Roxie Daymon was loyal and lived in a loyal city. It was war times, and Roxie had received no dividends from the Simon estate . In the month of January, 1862, the cold north wind from the lakes swept the dust from the streets in Chicago, and seemed to warn the secret, silent thoughts of humanity of the great necessity of m-o-n-e-y. The good Angel of observation saw Roxie Daymon, with 84: PEN PICTURES. a richly-trimmed fur cloak upon her shoulders and hands muffed, walking swiftly on Strait street, m Chicago, watching the numbers— at No.. 77 she disappeared. The good Angel opened his ear and has furnished us with the following conversation; 11 1 have heard incidentally that Caesar Simon is prepar fng to break ihe will of my esteemed friend, Young Simon, of Arkansas," said Roxie, sadly. '• Is itp-o-s s-i-b-i e?" said Governor Morock, affecting as- tonishment, and then continued, ' 'More work for the lawyers, you know I am always liberal, madam." <; But do you think it possible ? " said Roxie, inquiringly. ' i You have money enough to fight with, madam, money enough to fight," said the Governor, decidedly. "I suppose we will have to prove that Simon was in full possession of his mental faculties at the time.'"' said Roxie, with legal acumen. " Certainly, certainly madam, money will prove anything ; will prove anything, madam/ said the Governor, rubbing his hands. "1 believe you were the only person present at the time," said Roxie, honestly. "I am always liberal, madam, a few thousands will arrange the testimony, madam. Leave that to me, if you please,"' and in a softer tone of voice the Governor continued, "you ought to pick up the crumbs, madam, pick up the crumbs." "I would like to do so for I have never spent a cent in the prospect of the estate, though my credit is good for thousands in this city. . I want to see how a dead man's choes will fit before I wear them," said Roxie, sadly. "Good philosophy, madam, good philosophy," said the Governor, and continued to explain. "There is cotton on the bank of the river at the Simon plantations. Some arrangement ought to be made, and I think I could do it through some officer of the federal army, "said the Governor, PEN PICTURES. <$5 rubbing his hand across his forehead, and continued, " that's what I mean by picking up the crumbs, madam." "How much ? " said Roxie, preparing to leave the office. "I am always liberal, madam, always liberal. Let mc see ; it is attended with some difficulty; can't leave the city; too much business pressing (rubbing his hands) ; well — well — I will pick up the crumbs for half. Think I can secure two or three hundred bales of cotton, madam," said the Governor, confidentially. "How much is a bale of cotton worth?" said Roxie, affecting ignorance. "Only four hundred dollars, madam; nothing but a crumb — nothing but a crumb, madam," said the Governor, in a tone of flattery. "Do the best you can," said Roxie, in a confidential tone, as she left the office. Governor Morock was enjoying the reputation of the fashionable lawyer among the upper-ten in Chicago. Roxie Daymon's good sense condemned him, but she did not feel at liberty to break the line of association. Cliff Carlo did nothing but write a letter of inquiry to Governor Morock, who informed him that the Simon estate was worth more than a million and a quarter, and that m-o-n-e-y would break the will. The second year of the war burst the bubble of peace in Kentucky. The State was invaded on both sides. The clang of arms on the soil where the heroes of a preceding generation slept, called the martial spirits in the shades of Kentucky to rise and shake off the delusion that peace and pienty breed cowards. Cliff Carlo, and many others of the brave sons of Kentucky, united with the southern armies, and fully redeemed their war like character, as worthy de- scendents of the heroes of the dark and bloody ground. Cliff Carlo passed through the struggles of the war with- 36 PEN PICTURES. out a sick day or the pain of a wound. We must, therefore, follow the fate of the less fortunate Caesar Simon. During the winter of the first year of the war, Price's army camped en the southern border of Missouri. On the third day of March, 1862, Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn, of the Confederate government, assumed the command of the troops under Price and McCulloch, and on the seventh day of March attacked the Federal forces under Curtis and Sturgis, twenty-five thousand strong, at Elkhorn, Van Dorn commanding about twenty thousand men. Price's army constituted the left and center, with Mc- Culloch on the right. The fight was long and uncertain. About two o'clock McCulloch fell, and his forces failed to press the contest. The Federals retreated in good order, leaving the Con- federates master of the situation. For some unaccountable decision on the part of Gen. Van Dorn, a retreat of the southern army was ordered, and instead of pursuing the Federals, the wheels of the Southern army were seen rolling south. Gen. Van Dorn had ordered the sick and disabled many miles in advance of the army. Cousin Caesar had passed through the conflict safe and sound ; it was a camp rumor ihat Steve Brindle was mortally wounded and sent forward with the sick. The mantle of night hung over Price's army, and the camp fires glimmered in the soft breeze of the even- ing. Silently and alone Cousin Caesar stole away from the scene on a mission of love and duty. Poor Steve Brindle had ever been faithful to him, and Cousin Caesar had suffered self-reproach for his unaccountable neglect of a faithful friend. An opportunity now presented itself for Cousin Caesar to relieve his conscience and possibly smooth the dying pillow of his faithful friend, Steve Brindle. Bravely and fearlessly on he sped and arrived at the PEN PICTURES. 3^ camp of the sick. Worn down with the march, Cousin Caesar never rested until he had looked upon the face of the last sick man. Steve was not there. Slowly and sadly Cousin Caesar returned to the army, making inquiry of every one he met for Steve Brindle. After a long and fruitless inquiry, an Arkansas soldier handed Cousin Ciesar a card, saying, " I was requested by a soldier in our command to hand this card to the man whose name it bears, in Price's army." Cousin Caesar took the card and read, "Csaear Simon — No. 77 deserted." Cousin Caesar threw the card down as though it was nothings as he said mentally, "What can it mean. There are those d — d figures again. Steve knew nothing of No. 77 in Chicago. How am I to understand this ? Steve understood my ideas of the mysterious No. 77 on the steam carriage. Steve has deserted and takes this plan to inform me. Ah! that is it! Steve has couched the information in language that no one can under- stand but myself. Two of us were on the carriage and two figure sevens ; one would fall off the pin. Steve has fallen off. He knew I would understand his card when no one else could. But did Steve only wish me to understand that he had left, or did he wish me to follow ? " was a problem Cousin Caesar was unable to decide. It was known to Cousin Caesar that the Cherokee Indian who, in company with Steve, saved his life at Springfield, had, in company with some of his race, been brought upon the stage of war by Albert Pike. Deserted ! And Cousin Caesar was left alone, with no bosom friend save the friendship of one southern soldier for another, And the idea of desertion entered the brain of Caesar Simon for the first time. Caesar Simon was a born soldier, animated by the clang of arms and roar of battle, and although educated in the school of treacherous humanity, he was one of the few who resolved to die in the last ditch, and he concluded his reflec- 88 PEN PICTURES. tions with the sarcastic remark, "Steve Brindle is a coward." Before Gen. Van Dorn faced the enemy again, he was called east of the Mississippi river. Price's army embarked at Des Arc, on White river, and when the last man was on board the boats, there were none more cheerful than Cousin Caesar. He was going to fight on the soil of his native State, for it was generally understood the march by water was to Memphis, Tennessee. It is said that a portion of Price's army showed the white feather at Iuka. Cousin Caesar was not in that division of the army. After that event he was a camp lecturer, and to him the heroism of the army owes a tribute in memory for the brave hand to hand fight in the streets of Corinth, where, from house to house and within a stone's throw of Rosecrans-' headquarters, Price's men made the Federals fly. But the Federals were reinforced from their outposts, and Gen. Van Dorn was in command, and the record says he made a rash attack and a hasty retreat. Maj. Gen. T. C. Hindman was the southern commander of what was called the district of Arkansas west of the Mis- sissippi river. He was a petty despot as well as an unsuc- cessful commander of an army. The country suffered un- paralleled abuses; crops were ravaged, cotton burned, and the magnificent palaces of the southern planter licked up by flames. The torch was applied frequently by an unknown hand. The Southern commander burned cotton to prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy. Straggling soldiers belonging to distant commands traversed the country, robbing the people and burning. How much of this useless destruc- tion is chargable to Confederate or Federal commanders, it is impossible to determine. Much of the waste inflicted upon the country was by the hand of lawless guerrillas. Four hun- dred bales of cotton were burned on the Simon plantation, and the residence on the home plantation, that cost S. S. PEN PICTURES. 89 Simon over sixty-five thousand dollars, was nothing but a heap of ashes. Governor Morock's agents never got any crumbs, al- though the Governor had used nearly all of the thousand dollars obtained from Cousin Caesar to pick up the crumbs on the Simon plantations, he never got a crumb. General Hindman was relieved of his command west of the Mississippi, by President Davis. Generals Kirby, Smith, Holmes and Price subsequently commanded the Southern trocps west of the great river. The federals had fortified Helena, a point three hundred miles above Vicks burg on the west bank of the river. They had three forts with a gun-boat lying in the river, and were about four thousand strong. They were attacked by General Holmes, on the 4th day of July, 1863. General Holmes had under his command General Price's division of infantry, about fourteen hundred men; Fagans brigade of Arkansas, infantry, numbering' fifteen hundred men, and Marmaduke's division of Arkansas, and Missouri cavalry, about two thousand, making a total of four thousand and nine hundred men. Marmaduke was ordered to attack the northern fort ; Fagan was to attack the southern fort, and General Price the center fort. The onset to be simultaneously and at day- light. General Price carried his position. Marmaduke and Fagan failed. The gun-boat in the river shelled the captured fort. Price's men sheltered themselves as best they could awaiting further orders. The scene was alarming above description to Price's men. It was the holiday of American Independence. The failure of their comrades in arms would compel them to retreat under a deadly fire from the enemy. While thus waiting, the turn of battle crouched beneath an old stump. Cousin Caesar saw in the distance and recog- nized Steve Brindle, he was a soldier in the federal army. 90 PEN PICTURES. " Oh treacherous humanity ! must I live to learn thee still Steve Brindle fights for m-o-n-e-y ?" said Caesar Simon, mentally. The good Angel of observation whispered in his ear: " Caesar Simon fights for land stripped of its ornaments. Cousin Caesar scanned the situation and continued to say, mentally: " Life is a sentence of punishment passed by the court of existence on every private soldier" The battle field is the place of execution, and rash commanders are often the executioners. After repeated efforts General Holmes failed to carry the other positions. The retreat of Price's men was ordered ; it was accomplished with heavy loss. Caesar Simon fell, and with him perished the last link in the chain of the Simon family in the male line. We must now let the curtain fall upon the sad events of the war until the globe makes nearly two more revolutions 'round the sun in its orbit, and then we see the Southern soldiers weary and war-worn — sadly deficient in numbers — lay down their arms — the war is ended. The Angel of peace has spread her golden wing from Maine to Florida, and from Virginia to California. The proclamation of free- dom, by President Lincoln, knocked the dollars and cents out of the flesh and blood of every slave on the Simon plan- tations. Civil courts are in session. The last foot of the Simon land has been sold at sheriff's sale to pay judgments, just and unjust. The goose that laid the golden egg Has paddled across the river. Governor Morock has retired from the profession, or the profession has retired from him. He is living on the cheap sale of a bad reputation — that is— all who wish dirty work performed at a low price employ Governor Morock. Roxie Daymon has married a young mechanic, and is happy in a cottage home. She blots the memory of the PEN PICTURES. 91 past by reading the poem entitled, "The Workman's Satur- day Night." Cliff Carlo is a prosperous farmer in Kentucky and subscriber for The Rough Diamond. "3?— ♦ History, Science, Philosophy and Art, BLENDED IN ORIGINAL LECTURES. LECTURE I.— LIBERTY AND LAW. The soul of no sane man was ever so dead, that it could not be aroused from lethargy by the invigorating name of liberty. Human speech has never couched in shape and form any word more sacred to mortal ear than liberty. Dearer than life to the patriotic heart, as expressed by the great American orator when he said, " Give me liberty or give me death. " Strange, but still 'tis true, no philosopher has ever told us what liberty is. Looking back o'er the dark centuries of the past we ob- serve representative men among all nations arousing the people with the old watch word, liberty. Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, and all great leaders of revolutions, raised the universal cry of oppression and fought under the banner of liberty. All nations have not lived under the same government, 94 PEN PICTURES. hence it is evident that liberty itself must change with the times and circumstances. When liberty is spoken of every one has an idea of what is meant, for every one has known what it is to live in free- dom, and also what it is to live and act under restraint. But then it is obvious, that different persons enjoy liberty according to circumstances. Things that infringe upon the liberty of some, have no such effect upon the liberty of others. So, in a situation where one would feel at liberty, another would feel himself in bofidage. Hence it is evident, though all have a general idea of what liberty is, that all have not the same idea of it. For, as different persons would not all feel free under the same circumstances, it follows that liberty itself is not the same thing at all. A man educated in the law feels free in his library, force him to the handles of the plow and he would feel himself in bondage. Ah ! Liberty — what is Liberty ? The Goddess adored by primitive man, In olden times, when justice first began, With weights and balances in her hand, Reigned triumphant o'er the Grecian land. Some ancient sage, the brilliant Goddess saw, At first sight lov'd, and changed her name to law, And then the duties of domestic life Incumbent to her, as to every wife. Wooed by millions since that wedding day, All of her suitors are compelled to say, Individuals must their freedom draw, From the union of liberty and law. But says one, is the universal cry of liberty nothing but a name ? is there no such thing as national liberty ? There is — all nations have the inherent right to make their own laws PEN PICTURES; 95 or in other words to lay the foundation of their own liberties. But as to individual liberty, outside of law, there is no such thing. Law is a universal rule by which the conduct of all is measured, the regulator of society, adopted anciently by kings and rulers, modernly by the people who are the sov- ereigns of this land. The first definition of the word law is, power or force ; the laws of nature are the result of the power of the unseen hand — the hand of the ruler of the Universe. The laws of society originate with wise and just men, and ripen into the laws of the land ; the power of the ruler is the first principle of all law. The first definition of the word liberty is freedom from restraint, in the union of liberty and law ; one is free from restraint as measured by the rule of the law. To be entirely free from restraint would be enjoyed by few men, and it has been wisely said, "Where there is no law there is no freedom." Place a man upon an island, solitary and alone — "And from the center, all round to the sea, He would be monarch of all he surveyed." But the moment another man landed upon the island, to have association together, each man would be under restraint. The force of necessity would compel them to form the blossom of society, and from the customs of society and fruits of association we lay the foundation of the laws of the land. In all modern nations the people are indirectly the law making power. Public opinion is the blossom of law, for vhen it is raised sufficiently high its power is irresistible. Charles the First, of England, and Louis the Sixteenth, of France, could not resist public opinion. 96 PEN PICTURES. Justice is the object in view when we appeal to the law, and the proper administration of the law is justice according to law. While justice is the object of law in the first place, and the proper administration of law in the second place, one may receive justice according to law, but it will be justice only in proportion to the justness of the jaw. Many things considered just by primitive society fall far short of justice in more advanced civilization. All nations shape most of their laws according to circum- stances, and as time changes or ameliorates circumstances, we say the times have changed and so have the laws. But says one, if liberty is regulated by law, uniform law should produce uniform restraint; or, in other words, under the same laws all should enjoy the same liberties. Why is it the beggar is drummed out of town for stealing a loaf of bread while the millionaire steals thousands with impunity ? Human laws, unlike divine laws, do not operate of themselves ; they are put in force by human hands. Officers of the law like other men are more or less governed by cir- cumstances. Self and self-preservation is the first law of human nature and few men can stand above the influence of circumstances, and thus money has ever ameliorated crime. When a man who has plenty of money breaks the law there are a thousand eyes turned in every direction to find some excuse — every nook and corner is canvassed to pick up something to palliate the crime. But reverse the rule and apply it to the moneyless man — no eye is opened by self-interest, or turned round by the greedy love of gold. PEN PICTURES. 97 Justice and judges, as cold as the Jews, Will meet in the court and give him his dues ; No plea has been found, since justice began, To lie in court for a moneyless man. While many of our laws are permanent, the administra- tion of them is frequently influenced by the surrounding cir- cumstances. The laws of human nature and the laws of society fre- quently come in conflict. Our ideas and natural inclinations are not all free — like individual persons, they are free only according to the laws of the mind. The laws of the mind govern, to some extent, the actions of men. For we cannot assume that all men are held under restraint only by the laws of society, or the laws of the land. The laws of organism govern all regulated minds — hence when reason fails to assert authority over the mind, the pas- sions are not under control — they are left free and will grasp satisfaction. An eminent mental philosopher said, ' ' Man is happy in proportion to the satisfaction of his mental faculties." I should rather say — Man is happy in proportion to the capa- bility of his mind to govern itself. The laws of organism govern all well regulated minds. The eye is a mental organ of the mind — in fact, it is but the end of a mental nerve, and, if correctly organized, the light is made manifest to the brain— and thus we see. All of our mental organs are like the eye, they receive their influence externally. We are creatures operated upon by circum- stances. The savage man belongs to savage circumstances — and the civilized man to civilized circumstances. The laws of savage life, or human nature, incline all men to dishonesty— it is natural for a man to take advantage of others, to gratify his passions; the laws of civilization is the only restraint. 98 PEN PICTURES. Universal marriage as soon as maturity arrives, is the natural impulse of youth. To take possession of anything as soon as it .s deserted, or laid aside by another, is the natural impulse of the savage. Honesty, virtue, and manhood all arise from our laws and civilization. Hence, we see primitive men all rogues. And I am sorry to say some cling with unabating tenacity to a long line of ancestors. My countrymen pay much attention to the improvement of their stock, read long pedigrees and pay high prices for a cow. The cow is valued not for what she possesses, but for her blood. When they come to select a wife, the first in- quiry is what does she possess ? what is she worth ? They seldom inquire whether her physical and mental abilities are suitable to them as individuals, whether the family will be on the up or the down grade. Until the union of men and women is effected with more judgment, progress in the human race must depend entirely upon education. That our civilization can make no farther advances, is one of the great errors of the age. Some of our customs and laws that have oeen in vogue since the dawn of history, can and will be set aside. All men venerate antiquity, and to part with an old idea, or change our view of ancient justice, and venerated customs, handed down from one generation to another, through the long centuries of the past, is like burying an old friend — he is gone, but we cannot forget him. And thus we hold on with unabating tenacity to the customs of our fathers. A man may boast of a long line of learned ancestors, and flatter himself with the idea that he was bred in a high state of civilization, while in truth he is at best only a half breed. • As long as money elevates family, few can claim to be more than half bloods. The laws of hereditary descent in connection with educa- PEN PICTURES, 99 :ion, are the two great powers that must eventually carry the human race to the millennium. The Jews are the most distinguished of the nations of antiquity, who established divine laws. The civil law origi- nated with the Greeks and Romans, the gods they worshipped were a superstitious representation of the human passions, and their laws originated from the customs of the people, and were at first denominated civil laws, to distinguish them from the laws of other nations. Later — the term civil law was used to distinguish the customs and laws of the State, from the canon laws or laws of the church. The laws called the laws of Solon and of Lycurgus, and other ancient statesmen, did not originate with these men; they only organized a code of laws founded upon the customs of the people, and suitable to the times in which they lived. During the rise of the Roman Empire, subjugated pro- vinces, while they were compelled to pay tribute to Rome, were still permitted to live according to their own customs, and be judged by their own laws. After the fall of the Roman Empire, new German States were founded in the west, in which the immigrated Germans and conquered Romans lived together under the same govern- ment. The Germans had separate laws and customs of their own preserved in their new settlements, while the subdued Romans, living among them, continued to use their own laws and customs, and were judged according to them. Hence we see the manners and customs of the people that are to be governed, lay the foundation of their laws. We should therefore adopt new manners and customs with great caution, while upon the other hand, old manners and customs that are deleterious to the well being of society, should be set aside with firmness, for as certain as the man- ners and customs of the dead generations have ripened into the laws of the living, the manners and Customs of the living 100 PEN PICTURES. will ripen into the laws or the coming generations of men. The common law, as recognized to-day, orignated from the manners and customs of the English people, and was at first designated the unwritten law, but we must not under- stand from this that the statute, or written law, did not origi- nate in the same way, for we know that the unwritten law has ever laid the foundation of statute law in all countries. Our laws, like our language, are gradually changing. So many new words have been engrafted on the English lan- guage, that an Englishman resurrected from the grave, where he has slept for eight hundred years, would not understand our language, or live happily under our laws. Our language is progressive, and so are our laws. Social and political cus- toms are the blossoms of the coming law. Societies are set- ting aside customs which are still legal, but with the increase of numbers in society, those customs will be set aside . The germ of a law, like a mustard seed starts from a point, and our laws to-day are half a century behind the limes. Resurrect George Washington from the grave and let him witness the flight across the continent upon the/; -on horse; let him near the announcement of the election in New Or- leans made in Washington City in twenty minutes after it is speken by the judges, and he would think he had slept a thousand years ; let him go to Mount Vernon and bring suit for possession. Adverse claims and the iaw delays, Would sound to him like former days. 1 have said that the origin of the law is the customs of the people, and great statesmen only organize the will of the people they represent. By this declaration it is not my design to tarnish a feather fco the cap of any great man, for it is genius of the highest PEN PICTURES. 101 order that can fathom the bosoms of the people, that can feel with the wronged and observe the motives of the wrong- doer and apply the proper remedy. While the lamps of all past ages cast a flood of light upon the present they must re- veal wrong as well as right. To say that our laws have approached perfection, would affirm the arrival of the millennium. The struggle of a principle in law, like the struggle of a word in a language, must depend upon its own strength. The liberty of a people to make their laws is bounded by the line of the state; the term United States conveys the idea that a number of differentiates have united for a certain pur- pose. To suppose they had united for all purposes of gov- ernment and law would abolish the state lines and leave but one state. One state and a centralized government would be the inevitable fate of our country. The government has of late been to some extent revolutionized on this subject, but there are yet many questions that lie along the border line between state and federal authorities that have yet to be discussed and settled Any law, local in its effects and republican in its form, and not in conflict with the Constitution of the United States, is a part and parcel of the liberties of the state. You may rob me of my goods; you may rob me of my party name; but oh! God, save me from the dark dema- gogue who would unjustly rob me of my liberty. The future greatness of our country depends upon the ability with which we defend the rights transmitted to us by our fathers. When the waves of empire shall beat upon the rock of state rights, may some gallant son of a noble sire arise and proclaim thus far you may go but no farther. In the states, like the provinces of the Great Empire 102 PEN PICTURES. let us live under our own laws while we pay tribute to Rome. The freedom of the Union depends upon the freedom of the states ; like the character of a family depends upon the character of its individual members. The future of our country is astounding. Revolving time will give us two hundred millions of people. The great problem of self-government has yet to be put to the test. With the accumulation of strength we accumulate the difficulties of the problem of government. Education, virtue and manhood must be increased with increasing power. Mental improvement can and ought to be offered to all class- es of our people. Honest political economy in place of political deception should be ever held up to the view of the rising generation. With a soil unsurpassed on the globe ; throughout a broad and beautiful land ; with a genius unparalleled in the history of nations ; with a people brave, active and generous the fu- ture can only grow dark under the mantle of an unwise gov- ernment. The public mind, like the mind of an individual, is subject to violent commotions, but in the moments of calm reflection it is more apt to appeal to reason and establish law and justice. The Romans divided the law into what they called public and private law ; the latter applied to individu- als, the former to the state. The law between man and man or what is properly individual, is more lasting and permanent and is seldom overthrown by revolutions in the government. William, the conqueror, overran and revolutionized the government of England, but the Saxon inhabitants clung to their birth-right memories and the laws of Alfred the Great, and although an effort was made to change the language as well as the laws, it could not be effected, and while the blending of the Norman and Saxon tongues gave up the Eng- lish language, fair-minded men to-day love the plain Saxon words. PEN PICTURES. 103 Public law, or the administration of the government, is the great end and aim of all revolutions, and no revolution of a government in any age or country was ever accomplished without a political parly. Revolutions are necessary ; they must and will come in the order of progress; they mark, and will continue to mark, the onward march of our civilization. But when I speak of the baneful influences of political parties, my tongue grows silently short. It would take a master of the fine arts, and require the genius of all the leading languages to guide the pen of an author, or the elo- quence of an orator to draw even a faint outline of the unpar- alleled history of party crime. No government can exist without a party, and while I recognize party and principle as the two great elements in political economy, I hope, and honestly trust, never to for- sake principle for the sake of party. Since the days of Grecian fables great ideas have been communicated by homely illustrations. The fable of the "Fawn and Leopard" may not be out of place here. Near by the handsome hills of a western State, with towering tree-tops and foliage green, in wild seclusion from the haunts of men there lived a seal fat fawn. By morning's dream aroused from sleep and hungry for the new-grown grass, with nimble foot and fairy tread started out to nip the buds and breathe the morning air. Behind she left her doating dam. and wandered far away across the pleasing plain spread with carpet green and fringed with wild and wasting bloom. She brushed the dew from the growing grass and nipped the tender buds. Amid the stillness of the scene no sound was heard and she saw no fraid. Hard by the hazel brush a leopard sat, with eager eyes and ivory teeth, half concealed, with hunger in his breast and murder in his eye ; still as inaudible time to watch the coming fawn. 104 PEN PICTURES. The scent of blood on the morning air rushed through his head and formed his feet to spring, his leap fell short, and then the frightened fawn flew with her life across the open field. At first she ran too fast for him, 'twas down a long descent ; but rising up the sloping hill, her wind grew short and faint, for want of breath, her speed lost half its force. With iron heel and eager eyes the bloody beast approach- ed. Thus, far away from hope or help, the fleet-footed fawn found her fate. The fawn fitly represents principle, pure as the dew from heaven; whiie the leopard represents party always fond of blood. As we enjoy our individual freedom by the union of liberty and law, we also enjoy our public freedom by the union of principle and party. No government can exist without a party, but it must be properly blended with principle. Politicians say we must stand by our party, and they should add, we must also stand by our principles. The United States government will eventually stereotype the ancient government of Imperial or Papal Rome. Im- perial Rome, or the government of Rome under the Emper- ors, when they conquered a neighboring nation, perm.tted them to live according to their own customs, and to be judged by their own laws; while they were required to pay tribute to Rome for protection, and the Roman legions were ever ready to defend the provinces of the Empire. Assembled under the banner of the Royal Purple, the Roman eagle was the mistress of the world. Papal Rome, or the government of Rome under the Popes, reversed the rule when a province or State entered upon the warpath. Rome was for sale. The State willing to surrender most of her local liberties could purchase Rome. PEN PICTURES. xu " The fountain of power to increase the strength of party and subdue principle. Pot-house politicians are the men who would imitate Papal Rome, men who work for their party regardless of principle, men who seek the government money without rendering some service to the government, act upon the same theory of the gambler and the rogue, and ought to be classed with pot-house politicians. In this connection I remember the words of John C. Calhoun, the great political scholar of his day. Speaking of party, he said : " It is held together by the cohesive power of the public plunder." \nd the words of the more witty John Randolph, of Ro- anoke, upon the same subject: - It has seven principles, five loaves and two fishes." In conclusion I speak to young men who have yet to come upon the stage of statesmanship ; who have yet to learn the great principles of liberty and law ; who have yet to stand in the council-house of this great nation ; who have yet to defend the liberties of a great people ; who have yet to mold the destiny of a great government. May you prove worthy of the task. LECTURE II— TIME AND MOTION. The back woodsman enters the forest with his ax upon his shoulder, gives the first impression made with human foot to the virgin soil ; builds a log cabin ; discovers the course that the waters run ; gives fright to the wolf and the wild-cat, and proclaims the dominion of man. He then sinks into his grave, with no greater honor inscribed upon his banner than that of the brave pioneer. Those who come after him erect the church and the school-house ; open the roads ; cultivate the ground ; build towns and cities, and throw their banner to the breeze in- scribed with ''The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave." Like the back-woodsman, with nature's ax on my should- er,, I venture upon untrodden ground, on the broad domain of mental philosophy ; here I build my cabin ; here I point out the course the waters of nature run ; alarm the wolves and the wild-cats of the social circle, and open a new field in mental philosophy to those who come after me. All that I ask or expect is the honor due to a brave pioneer. Time, thou venerable Sire and mysterious harvest hand, v/ho gave you that old scythe that never needs the whetting stone, yet will not cut the thread of fate, or wound the gods. Is that thine only tool? thou builder of towns and cities, founder of governments and nations, and father of the arts and sciences. No mortal eye hath seen thy cradle ; none shall see thy grave. PEN PICTURES 107 Solomon said: "There is a time to be merry and a time to be sad; a time to weep and a time to be glad." Another wise man said: "Time makes all things even;" but no philosopher has ever told us what ti?ne is. What is time? Time is not a thing. This book is a thing; but time is not a thing, or, in other words, time is not a cause. Time is effect, or, rather, the result of motion. We assume the position that time is not eternity, or any part of it, a propo- sition that is not disputed, so far as I know, by any one. We have been taught that time is a part of duration. This is a mistake. Duration is a period of time that belongs to the past, and not to the future. It applies to past ages of the world, and cannot properly be applied to ages to come ; but let us establish the proposition that time is the result of mo- tion. The earth has two motions denominated — the annual and diurnal. The earth revolves around the sun in its orbit once in three hundred and sixty-five days, and upon its axis, once in twenty-four hours. Daylight and darkness were the first divisions of time known to primitive man. There is as much night as there is day, eternally, on the earth ; but, to any stationary point on the surface of the earth, day and night approaches with the rising and setting of the sun, or, in other words, day and night are the result of the motion of the earth in its diurnal revolutions, and for many ages was the only division of time known to antiquity. The first effort made by man to extend the division of time was the invention of an instrument called the sun-dial. The first mention in the Scriptures of any instrument for keeping time is in the second book of Kings, Chap. 20, verse 11, and alludes to the dial of Ahaz, who lived and reigned at Jerusalem about 300 years after Solomon completed the tem- ple, and about 900 years after Joshua led the Israelites over the river Jordan, about 3,400 years after Adam, the first man, according to Jewish antiquity. 108 PEN PICTURES. Thus we see, the human race had approached the middle of the historic period before any instrument was invented for keeping time, or rather we should say, for measuring motion. The first mention in the Scriptures made of the hour is by the prophet, Daniel, in; 6, Daniel, when a boy, was carried off from his native land in the Babylonian cap- tivity. His book was written in Babylon, and relates to circumstances that occurred in that country. Hence we infer that the Jews obtained much of their knowledge of the sun-dial, from the Babylonians, for we are informed by Greek historians that they were the first who divided the day into twelve equal parts. The face of the sun-dial does not differ materially from the face of the clock of the present day. While the hand of the clock is but an artificial shadow to point out the time or rather to indicate the progress of the Earth in its revolution upon its axis, the motion of the clock must correspond pre- cisely with the motion of the Earth or the clock will not keep correct time. Clocks to run with cog-wheels were first invented in France in the year 996. Clocks to run with a pendulum were not invented until 1630; and there is not a dictionary or lexicon that has ever been published in the world that gives a true definition of the word time. Stand with your face toward the east at twilight and observe the heavenly harnessed team of day peep over the eastern hills at you, then start like a sky-rocket through the atmosphere west, at the rate of one thousand miles an hour, and you will see the glorious god of day peeping over the eastern hills at you forever. Now suppose, for the sake of the argument, that you have a good watch in your pocket, a true time-piece, as we say, and that you could elevate yourself just above the high- PEN PICTURES. 109 •est peak of the mountain top and remain still — the sun is still and you are s'ill—your watch is right and the sun is right. The surface of the earth would pass you at the rate of •one thousand miles an hour. If you were elevated at-sunrise the sun would be rising all the time ; if at noon it would be noon all the time : if at sunset it would be sunset all the tim- — so far as your observation would be concerned. Now let us suppose that you left a white flag on the Earth where you were elevated., and that you were elevated at 6 o'clock, when the flag comes around again you look at your watch and it indicates six o'clock. The flag would be your only evidence that your watch was right, and was measuring motion. We call the result of that measure time. To realize day and night we must be confined to a local spot on the surface of the Earth. The light of day bursts upon the people of New York before it arouses the sleepers of California, and the shades of night gather 'round the people of New York before the sun sinks in the Pacific to the eyes of California. But why should I continue on this part of the subject? Learned and wise men everywhere agree that motion meas- ures time, for there is no evading the atdenee; it is a propo- sition that proves itself. But they say that motion does not produce time. I confess that motion does not produce eternity .but contend that it does produce time. Here then is the tug of war. We find ourselves a lonely traveler in a strange land, weary, tired and hungry. Yonder is a cottage, let us apply for food and rest. We stand before the gate and inform the monarch of the premises that we are tired and hungry. He orders a sheep driven out of his lot, and pointing at it with his index finger says, if you don't eat that sheep, head and horns, you are not hungry. More than forty years ago, after having been raised in a 110 PEN PICTURES. corn field, I came upon the stage of action, with a diploma Irom a log school house in the backwoods of Kentucky, hungry and thirsty for information, and with the elastic palate of a hopeful student swallowed everything — head and horns. To get rid of the horns, I emancipated myself from the tyranny of the schools, and appealed to the original copy — which is nature. Now it is a self-evident proposition that motion cannot accomplish anything without the direction of intellect. Then motion does not measure time but intellect measures motion, and we call the result of that measure time. Measuring time reminds me of the report made by a man who attempted to ?neasure the imagination. He said: "It is as large as the globe and smaller than a mustard seed — it fills the whole universe and you can get it in a thimble — it exists throughout all space and has no existence — it will make you as rich as a bond-holder — with it you can fill all your fields with cattle, and make a two-year old colt in a minute." Measure time; a moment, half a moment, here, fleeting, gone forever. What is time before it is measured ? or what is time measured out of? You can measure a piece of cloth because that is a thing; you can measure a large pile of wheat with a small cup, but you will measure the wheat all up. So likewise, if time was measured out of duration, dura, tion would all be measured up; and if out of eternity, eternity would all be measured up. To say time is measured out of time is absurd and ridiculous nonsense. Motion no more measures time than the waves on the sea measure the water ; the wave is the result of the wind, when the wind lulls and becomes still the ocean becomes calm — the wave has sunk. Time is the result of the motion of the earth; when the earth becomes still (if it ever does) the wave of our time will be lost and sink in the ocean of eternity. Hence we "PEN PICTURES. Ill see the force that was in the language of the English poet when he said — The bless'd to-day, is as completely so, As who began a thousand years ago." A year of time is determined by the motion of a planet around the sun in its orbit, consequently every planet has a different year of //me, and just in proportion as they differ in their speed of motion and distance from the sun. The exact time of the earth's motion around the sun in its orbit was not ascertained for many ages. In the morning of the historic period, when every man was his own astronomer, the rising and setting of the dog star, as it was called, was observed with no ordinary interest. The ancient Thebans, who first cultivated astronomy in Egypt, determined the length of the year by the number of its risings. The Egyptians watched it with mingled apprehensions of hope and fear; it foretold the rising of the river Nile and admonished them to sow their fields. Julius Caesar came very near regulating the calendar, but the astronomers in his day, in their observations of the earth in its orbit, made an error of eight minutes and forty- eight seconds, and it was found in 1582 that in the run of 1648 years the true time was ten days ahead of the recorded time, and in order to reach the true time without disturbing the records of all Christendom, the Pope of Rome issued a proclamation, or bull, calling the 5th day of October the 15th. And this is the origin of old and new style of time. You have all heard of old Christmas, when the cows kneel at mid- night, the chickens crow, and the dogs bark. The new style of time was not adopted in England until 1752 — one hundred and seventy years after the correction — in the reign of George II. The revolution of the earth around the sun in its orbit determines a year of time and always did, though it required 112 PEN PICTURES many ages to ascertain that fact. While the earth passes around the sun in its orbit once, it revolves upon its axis 366 times and only produces 365 days. And this brings us to consider solar and siderial time or solar and siderial motion. We can best represent it by the hands of a clock. You must remember that the motion of the earth in its orbit and upon its axis are both in the same direction. The earth rises up from the west, so to speak, and turns to the east in its diurnal revolutions, causing the approach of day and night to every local spot upon its surface. The motion of the earth in its orbit is also from west to east, rising up, so to speak, ninety-five millions of miles above the sun, and sinking the same distance below the sun. The orbit of the earth is perpendicular, and not horizon- tal, as up and down, appear to our senses. Now let us call the motion or speed of the hour hand the earth's orbit, and the motion of the minute hand the earth's axis. We now place both hands at twelve o'clock, and say that it is noon or the sun is on the meridian. When the minute hand passes round and comes again to the figure 12, the earth has accomplished one revolution upon its axis; but the earth has also moved one degree in the same direction, as represented by the hour hand, consequently the earth must move one degree further to overtake the hour hand and bring the sun on the meridian again. This distance is divided into 365 degrees. One is lost every day, consequently in 366 revolu- tions of the earth upon its axis we realize only 365 days, and this is solar and siderial time, or solar and siderial motion. There is another illustration of this problem. Let three men agree that one shall start around the earth, traveling east, and that one shall make the same journey, traveling west, and the third shall remain at the place of starting. Each man shall keep a correct tally of every day that transpires in a year, by cutting a notch on a stick. At the end of the PEN PICTURES. H3 year the two travelers return, having traversed the globe, and compare notes. The one who remained stationary will have 365 notches ; the one who traveled east will have 364 notches; the one who traveled west will have 366 notches. Now, if these men were measuring or keeping time, they would agree. The fact is, they have measured motion and have not measured time. One traveled with the motion of the earth, and maintained solar time ; the other traveied against the motion of the earth, and gained one day. A month or a week is an artificial division of time, adopted for convenience. Seven days have been called a week from the remotest antiquity of the Jews. Prior to the reign of Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, the year was divided into ten months, or thirteen moons. The motion of the earth produces the time of the earth, or what we recognize as our time ; for every planet has its own motion,- and consequently its own time. When the earth ceases to move (if it ever does), our time will also cease; but the time on the other planets will not cease, if they continue in their motion. We can compare. their motions with the motions of the eaith, and note the difference in their time and our time. If the earth was bursted to make moons for some other planet, we have no evidence that the motion of the other planets would be changed or altered, and as long as they maintain their motion they will maintain their time. The planet Venus revolves upon her axis once in 23 hours, 21 minutes, and 7 seconds, consequently her day is about twenty-five minutes shorter than ours. She passes around the sun in her orbit in seven and a half months of our time. While the earth measures two years, Venus deals out three years and forty-five days to her inhabitants. The planet Mars is the bright star that we saw in the east in September and October, a little after sunset. He 8 114 PEN PICTURES. revolves upon his axis in 24 hours, 37 minutes, and 23 sec- onds, consequently his day is about forty-two minutes longer than ours. He passes around the sun in his orbit in twenty- two and a half months of our time, consequently it takes nearly two of our years to make one for the planet Mars. Those two planets are next to the earth — Venus on the inside and Mars on the outside track. But let us go 'way yonder near the edge of the solar sys- tem, and observe the planet Jupiter He revolves upon his axis in 9 hours, 55 minutes, and 50 seconds, consequently he crowds two of his days into one of ours, and has about four hours left. He stands boldly out from the sun a distance of 495 millions of miles — 400 millions of miles further from the sun than the earth is — and he moves around the sun in his orbit in a little less than twelve of our years, consequently while a boy of his inhabitance is arriving at twelve years of age, one of our boys would become a venerable sire of one hundred and forty-four years. Now let us visit all of the planets we have named, and take the watch with us. When we arrive on the velvet shores of Venus we will move the regulator of the watch — the spring that regulates the motion of the watch — so it will run twenty- five minutes fast in a day, and when we meet the Monarch of that planet we can tell him the time of day — because our watch is brought precisely to the motion of his planet, or world. "When we arrive on the bloody shores of the planet Mars we will deaden the main spring of the watch, so it will run forty-two minutes slow in a day, and we will have the time or measure of the motion of that planet. But when we arrive on the distant shores of Jupiter what can we do with the watch ? We will have to double the power of the main spring of our watch to keep the time or measure the motion of that planet — because he revolves on PEN PICTURES. 115 his axis twice while the earth revolves once, and has about four hours left. Does not fhese illustrations make it clear that clocks and watches measure motion ? What, then, is time ? The result of motion; or, in other words, motion produces time, but does not produce eternity. What then is duration ? As I said before, duration is a period of time that belongs to the past. Mark what I say— for all of the wise men of the past, from Numa Pompilius to the Pope of Rome — all learned authorities, both sacred and profane — have said that time is a part of duration. They put the cart before the horse — duration is a part of time, and belongs to the past. It is a law of nature that effect cannot precede cause ; no man can build a house before he prepares the materials. Duration is the sum of motion, and cannot exist before that motion is performed. Rome was founded 750 years before the Christian era; that is, the earth accom- plished 750 revolutions around the sun in its orbit from the founding of Rome until the inauguration of Christianity. That 750 years is a period of time, or a part of time, that we call duration, and belongs to the past. 1100 years transpired — that is, the earth made 11 00 revolutions around the sun in its orbit from the time Solomon built the temple at Jerusalem until the birth of Christ. And, according to the most ap- proved system of archaeology, 5440 years transpired — that is, the earth made 5440 revolutions around the sun, from the creation by Moses until the meek and lowly Jesus preached His Gospel on the mount in Palestine All of those are periods of duration recorded on the page of history. But if you wish a more extended idea of dura- tion, go back with me behind the historic period — go back a hundred thousand years — go back a hundred thousand cen- turies — go back a hundred million of centuries— go back un- til the mind turns upon itself, and there is an idea not yet 116 PEN PICTURES. expressed — eternity. Turn the imagination loose, and go for- ward, but remember, duration does not express the idea, an- ticipation is before, duration is behind — time has disappeared. Observe the intellect, solitary and alone, in the broad field of space. Space, Dy affinity, is eternity — an open field without end — a fit home, for eternity can not dwell in a local spot. Time and motion belong to the planets. The planets belong to space. The forecast of intellect, may re- alize eternity — and here we pause, on the distant border of human thought, for we come not here again until the close of our last lecture. Getting down upon the ground-work of nature and her laws, I come to speak of Motion. Motion, is a principle. I hold my hand here, and move it there. My hand is a thing, but the change of its position is a principle — motion — and it is the first principle of nature. The whole universe is in motion. The sun is still to his planets, but the sun, together with his planets, are moving through the broad field of space around an unknown center. The flowers ot the field, the majestic oak, the vegetable, and all of the animal kingdom, could not be developed without the principle of motion. Our broad and beautiful fields that wave with golden heads on the days of harvest — our towns, villages and cities, and the iron horse that consolidates them into one^city — together with all the works of nature and of art. The broad and placid river, that bears the products of our labor on its bosom, as it rolls on in its majesty to the ocean, and the river itself, is the result of the principle of motion. Water^ in small and minute particles, traverses the at- mosphere, condensing, it falls to the ground in drops of rain, and fills up the rivulets, that wind their wandering way across the valleys, and fill up the rivers, and the rivers traversing a continent, return to the ocean. Not only on this conti- nent, but aiso the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia — PEN PICTURES. 117 not only on the continents of earth, but on all the planets that belong to the solar system, and all of these streams of water are produced by the heat of the sun, but the heat of sun does not produce the water So, likewise, the fleeting moments of time, fill up the minutes, the minutes fill up the hours, the hours fill up the days, the days fill up the years, the years fill up the centuries, and the centuries roil on in their majesty, to the ages, not only upon earth, but on all the planets that belong to the solar system. And all of these streams of time are produced by motion. But motion does not produce the universe. By the term universe, we do not allude alone to the solar system, but to the broad expanse of the unfolded heavens. The ancients had a very obscure idea of the heavens. The telescope was invented in 1588, and improved by Galileo, who was compelled by a supersti- tious court, on the 28th day of June, 1633, at the peril of his life, to deny with his lips the great facts that science and nature had unfolded to his truthful heart. Go with me to the telescope, on a clear night, when the pulse of all pre-conceived ideas is still; observe the one hun- dred million of fixed stars— they are called fixed because they are so remote from the earth, that the orbit of the earth, one hundred and ninety millions of miles, produces no percepti- ble change in their locality. They are supposed to be suns as large as ours, with planets revolving 'round them. And on those planets are rivers as long as the Missouri, and broad as the Amazon, and mountains and valleys, filled with life and motion. Go on in the imagination beyond the utmost limits of telescopic vision, and wje are lost in wonder. Every spark of light is a world. God is everywhere. When this glorious revelation is unfolded to our view, we are less concerned with the philosophy of creation, than we are in asking ourselves the question : Will man sieep in the grave for ever? This question will be more fully answered at the 118 PEN PICTURES. close of our lectures, but for the satisfaction of the impa- tient, we answer, no. It is contrary to all nature, and to everything that we see made manifest around us, to suppose that the mind perishes like the body. Nature is always true to herself. An organ of the human brain, has painted a great castle, in which there is every delight to entertain, amuse and instruct the intellect, where there is no pain, no sorrow and no weeping ; where the aisles and the walks stretch a-w-a-y y-o-nd-e-r beyond the remotest conception of the human brain; where pleasure flows in upon the travelers from innumerable avenues on every foot of the way ; where departed friends who have been made dear to the heart by the warmest ties of affection, are met again. But the castle is elevated, and we have no ladder to reach it. Oh ! wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this dead body? We shall, in the course of these lectures, endeavor to unfold the beautiful principles of nature. But for the pres- ent we must return to the philosophy of motion. We have spoken of the motion of the universe, we must now speak of motion with regard to man. The field is broad and full of beautiful illustrations. We only call your attention to one. It is one that reflects many others. I take hold of anything with my right hand and throw it 'round with more ease than I do with my left hand, and why? Because the principle of motion has been more thoroughly applied to my right, than it has to my left hand. And this principle holds good throughout all nature. Take two little boys, of equal endowment and physical strength. (Your arms are equal in infancy.) Educate one of them, as you educate the right hand, and educate the other, as you educate the left hand. When they arrive to manhood there will be the same difference between them, that there is between the right and the left hand, and fiom PEN PICTURES 119 the same cause, and this principle holds good mentally as weli as physically. The first and great principle of nature, is motion, action, industry. There is no greatness attainable in any calling without it, either physically or mentally. Great men in all ages, and among all nations, have worked their way up from the bottom. Like a seed cast upon the earth, to rise up and unfold the branches, the blossoms, and the fruit, whose ten- der buds are first directed by the delicate hand of a faithful mother. Henry Clay, the great American statesman, was once a mill boy, and rode an old blind horse through the swamps of his native State, on a bag of meal. The gentle breeze that rustled through the infant locks, clustering beneath a home- made cap, may have whispered in a still small voice the liv- ing principle of motion. Without fame and without fortune, but with industry and integrity, he winged a golden way from the swamps of his native State, to the mountain-top of fame in the United States. If there be in this assembly, any little boy upon whom fortune has frowned, I mean as to money; to him I say, go to work mentally, preserve the body and the brain from all de- moralizing influences, ponder over the experience of past ages by the midnight lamp, and as certain as the sun rises in the future you will meet your reward. If you have no mother, and those to whom you are amenable are neglecting your character, go to work, and build up your own character, lay the foundation stones deep in the ground, run the walls up plumb and true, let every part of the edifice meet the eye of the beholder in harmony, and you will become a great man. Julius Caesar has been dead 1922 years, imperishable fame is stamped on his name, with no counseler but ambition, and no friend but his sword, he crossed the Rubicon and laid 120 PEN PICTURES. the foundation of the Roman Empire If you have no de- sire to become Caesar, and wish to make a dog of yourself, go sleep in the barn, lay 'round the premises, and scratch fleas, feed on the crumbs thrown out at the door, and the first thing you know, you will begin to bark. One more word to doubtful men, and I conclude. If there be in this assembly any one who feels aggrieved at this discourse, because it contains more philosophy than it does religion, to them I say, the bones of my ancestors for six generations, sleep beneath the green sod in the church-yards of my native land. They filled their cups from the measure of faith offered up in their day. It would not become a brave manhood, to throw a spot of tarnish on their memory, or leave their tombs for the home of the bat and the owl. ror all that I am, and all that 1 hope to be, in this life, or in the life to come, is justly due to early impressions, made upon a youthful brain by a christian mother. LECTURE III.— MIND AND ORGANISM. Nothing that is not solid, true and refined— dare ask public audience of mankind. Mental philosophy has engaged the attention of the wise men of the world, in all ages, and among all nations. Zoroas- ter among the Persians, Plato among the Greeks, and St. Paul among the jews, left impressions behind them on the subject of merited philosophy, that will last as long as the brain will think, or stamp a thought in marble transmitted to poster- ity. When we look back upon primitive man, we see him destitute of the arts and sciences, rude, and barbarous to his own species. And when we observe the centuries rolling on, turning up at each revolution some new discovery and unfold- ing principles that contribute to the comfort of man, physi- cally and mentally, the question naturally presents itself to us, Why do men become wiser ? What is it, that illuminates the path-way of every art and of every science ? What is the motive power impelling the onward march of our civilization ? Who has ever unfolded the dominion of mind over matter? That mind or intellect is in the universe, no one will dis- pute. But how produced, and how sustained, is the question. We proceed upon the theory, that the brain is the &eat, of head-quarters of the mind. Does the mind originate in the brain, or is it external ? I shall offer you some startling evidences that mind is ex- ternal, a principle or element prevading the universe, and 122 PEN PICTURES. this is a new departure from the great cardinal principles laid down by the old philosophers. We live in a progressive age, while every art and every science has advanced with wonderful rapidity, mental philos- ophy has been left to slumber in the tomb of the dark ages. But let us proceed with the evidence, sustaining the prop osition, that mind is external. The variegated colors of the rainbow, the view of the hea- vens and of the earth, together with all the visible beauties of nature, are introduced to the brain by external means, for the eye is but the window of the brain ; and as the rays of the light of the sun, reveal and display all of the visible beauties of the universe, so also, the rays of the great star of intellect, reveal and display all of the beauties of wisdom. When we are in a dark room, we see dimly ; when we come out to the light, we see plainly. . In our native igno. ranee, we are mentally blind, whether it be the childhood of a nation, or an individual ; when we are brought out to the lio-ht of experience by the institutions of our predecessors, we sec plainly many things that we did not see in our native ig- norance. If you say that equal instruction should equally enlighten all men, I answer, it would, if all men were en- dowed with the same mental glass, but this is not the case, for while some are endowed with a mental glass thin and transparent, others are thick, cast in the dark, so dead and opaque in themselves, that the concentrated rays of the great star of intellect would not penetrate them in forty years.>Ttie eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue and the nerves of. the body, are all external and visible organs of the brain,' 1 by' which information is received. No man can see with his ears or hear with his eyes, can" love whom he hates or hate whom he loves, and when he is mentally deaf to the notes of music, it is no evidence that he is mentally deaf to the voice of love ; and every organ of PEN PICTURES. 123 ti i !>rain performs its office precisely in proportion to its capacity. A man with good eyes sees well, with geod ears hears well, and this brings us to consider upon the internal and invisible organs of the brain. The organ of music is more plainly and better developed in somje races of men than it is in others, and in some indi- viduals of the same race than in others. The organs of self- esteem, combativeness, hope, the love of home, and many others, are more fully developed in some individuals than in others. All men do not see alike, pride alike, love alike, or stay at home alike. In accordance with the organism of the brain do they act. We conclude, therefore, that the brain is a set of organs animated by a principle or element pervad- ing the universe. Let us make an effort to identify the internal with the external organs of the brain. We will de so by asking a sup- posed individual a few plain questions. Why did you not see the procession that came to town this morning ? Because my eyes have been put out. Why did you not hear the roll- ing of the wheels and the tramp of the horses ? Because my ears have failed; I am deaf. Why did you not smell that remarkable odor that accompanied the train ? Because my nose is stopped up; I have a dreadful cold. Let us restore the external mental organs and continue the questions. Why did you not imitate the beautiful music that was in the procession? Because I cannot sing; I have no ear for music. Why did you not draw a pencil picture of the train? Because I have no mechanism, no talent for drawing. Why did you not stand erect and show yourself to the best advantage while the train was passing ? Because I have no self-esteem. But, an objector says, that is phre- nology, and no proof that mind is external. I answer — It identifies mental organism. We will now proceed with another class of evidences 124 PEN PICTURES. that makes it clear that mind is a living principle pervading the universe. Observe that industrious mechanic. He is up early and bright in the morning, full of hope and action, de- termined to earn an honest living for himself and family. His eyes behold all the beauties of nature, his ears note every sound of his hammer, his genius or mechanism trace every line of his pencil. His days work is over; he faithfully returns to his domicile ; the last scene of the day closes upon our observation. His garments arc laid aside; stretched upon his couch he closes his eyes, shutting out the light of the world; the busy bustle of the day is over and the pulse of the town is still, all the nerves of his body have ceased to vibrate ; the organs of his brain are all closed ; he is held in the sweet embrace of nature's soft nurse ; the man is asleep; his mind is gone ; intellect does not sleep ; it is organism ; every organ in the brain closes up like the eye, and this is the lethargy we call sleep — death's half brother. When there is no concert of action or harmony with the brain organs in closing up, when they are all closed, except the organs of memory and fancy or imagination, we realize what we call restless sleep, disturbed sleep, the sleep of mesmerism, somnambulism, and all other kinds of sleep that produce wonderful dreams to delight and afflict humanity. Do not understand us to say that our brain organs are all in action when we are awake, for this would be an error. Few persons can laugh and cry at the same time. No man can be in a good humor and angry at the same time. Asleep or awake we do one thing at a time. Persons sometimes walk ana handle things in theii sleep, but when the organ of time is brought into action we are awake. Now let us put the proposition that the mind is external to another test. Let us take a man that you have all known for many years to be an honest man and a good citizen. He ha> met with a sad misfortune; lost his pocket-book; close PEN PICTURES. 125 the door and let us detect the thief. Hold! I made a mis- take in regard to the article. He has lost his mind. Where shall we go to look for it and how can we describe it ? Let us take him to the lunatic asylum; the doctors will apply soothing remedies to his brain, and if they succeed in restor- ing a healthy action to his mental organs they will find his mind. But where will they find it ? They will find it ready to enter his brain as soon as good health to organism is restored. They will find it where the sleeping man finds it when he awakes; they will find that it is an element pervad- ing the universe. Our mental organs are subject to disease; we go blind, deaf, or crazy. Sometimes the eye is affected, and we see two objects where there is but one. When the eye is restored we see nature as it is. Every organ in the brain may thus be disturbed, until a man will not see nature in a natural way. To him friends are enemies, love is hatred, reason is fiction, and affection worthless ; he is crazy. Sometimes one of the internal and invisible organs of the brain is afflicted and dis- eased, while the others are not. We have a monomaniac. There is a case recorded in history of a wealthy man who was said to be crazy, The accusation was brought by his brother, and it was supposed that the brother wished to get possession of his property. The case was taken into court; the learned attorneys questioned him for more than an hour without getting the slightest evidence of insanity. The judge and a crowded court room were almost ready to declare the man sane, when some one whispered in the ear of the plaintiff, "Ask him about religion." The moment the question was put he rose to his feet and exclaimed, "/ am the Christ!" He was insane on the subject of religion; upon all other subjects perfectly rational. A man may be blind, but while he is blind it is no evi- dence that he is deaf. The open and visible organs of the 126 PEN PICTURES. brain are manifest to all men. The invisible mental organs are only revealed by the deepest research. The case of the monomaniac stands before you as one of my witnesses. Cross-examine him, dissect his mind, otherwise, if you can. Careful reflection upon the subject of mental philosophy opens every mans eyes. The light of the sun will not illu. minate the brain if you shut your eyes. And the light of the great star of intellect will not illuminate the brain if you shut the eyes of your mental organs, permit them to remain clos- ed, or become diseased. When the eyes grow dim we put on glasses, when self esteem is low we put on a new coat and feel prouder, when we disagree in philosophy we should put on the mantle of charity. We will now call your attention to the last case in this class of evidences. The mind can be expelled from the brain by a chemical operation, and therefore must be external. Let us take anoth- er sensible man, whom we all know to be a sensible man in every sense of the word manhood, give him a gill of whisky and a chemical operation commences in his stomach, repeat the dose and the chemicals begin to simmer, repeat again, and again and they begin to boil; the man is drunk; not only drunk, he is also a fool. His mind has been expelled from his brain — steam occupies its place. Cool down the steam with ice water and .buttermilk, get the man sober, and his mind returns. Oh! God, is not that a noble principle hover- ing 'round a wretched man ; while his body is wallowing in the mud ; as soon as he can raise his head and wipe the mud from his brow, deserted reason, insulted and abused, without warrant or authority, kindly re-enters the brain. If there be in this assembly any who feel aggrieved at this description of a drunken man, totr-em I say, it is with no feelings of animosity against the man, for the man has 127 PEN PICTURES. been driven out of the body, and it is the body that is drunk 3nd Snfytrs ago, before the days of the red ribbon, I Uved in a southern village. In the dusk of the evening I saw a man or rather the body of a man, fall upon the sidewalk. wTth two other friends we approached that body ; we met he steam of whisky; not dead but drunk We and £« bodv into a back-room and laid it on a bed. The face inch cated the Caucasian race, the costume respectability, nothing "ore did that body reveal. There was - -*£££ man there ; to us that body was a stranger. We all turned in and slept through the night. Who do you suppose came early next morning and claimed that body. Bill Jones, a man who Hved" a distance, and whom we all knew b, 'reputation for Bill was a public man. We preserved the body, God pre- served the mind, and when the mind came back Bill Jones Mme We not leave Bill Jones and return to the subject of all subjects. The foundation stone and bed roek of all philosophy " '"fdo not claim the ability to unfold all the beauties of in- tellect I feel like a stranger in a woodland country, only Sing a pathway that may be worked out into a highway by some more learned and illustrious mind, who may this night, couched in infant garb, be slumbering in some log cabin, oTewhere in the broad domain of our beautiful land, or way forward in th. future womb of time, to come upon the stage of action when I have mingled with the worthless trash of time, to forget and be forgotten. , We live in a great country, our people are awakening from a long night of ignorance. The modus operand, of mental improvement is just beginning to emerge above the SL horizon of our civilization. We who live to-day are on y standing in the twilight of the great star of intellect, 128 PEN PICTURES that will illuminate like a noon-day sun all coming genera- tions of men. Sleep on, sweet babe — the gentle influences of mind will gradually arouse thy torpid brain. The infant brain is like a casket with blank pages, which is to be closely printed, and positively stereotyped by eternal circumstances. Let us go to that fond American mother and take her little son, nine months old. We will not take the child ruthlessly from the mother's arms, but let us take him for the sake of the argument. Transport him across the water, place him in a French family ; the French woman will be as kind to him as his own mother; raise him up in all the beauties of manhood. But he will speak the French language and not understand a word of the language of his mother tongue. So, likewise if you take the infant of a French lady and give it to an Amer- ican woman, it will speak the English language. And if you would take the infant of a Christian mother and give it to the better-half of a cut-throat, far removed from good society, in some dark retreat, struggling for existence by robbery and theft, I care not how kind the adopted parents of that child may be (in their way) when he grows up to manhood, he will be a cut-throat and a robber. And if a Christian woman go like guardian angel into this dark retreat, and tnke an infant born to those people, transport it across the gulf, that will separate it from its nativity, surround it with good society, and raise it up in a Christian family, that boy will become a good citizen and an honest man. These are general rules, from which there is no appeal except to the laws of hereditary descent, of which we intend to speak. Would to God, that I could indelibly impress these facts upon the brain of every mother in America. Teach your children the bright lessons of temperance, virtue, truth and honesty; stamp them on the infant brain, and you will elevate the manhood of your country. Xo PEN PICTURES. 129 ^reat man ever had a common mother. God's blessing is upon the mother of every bright little boy if she will heed the voice of nature. Do not talk to your 2ttle son like he was a puppy ; talk to him like you would to a man, and you will cultivate his manhood to rise up ia a tower of strength, and vindicate the memory of his mother. And let me say to every mother in this assembly, if you are oppressed by hard-favored-fortune, and see others around you enjoying things you can not have, be not discouraged. Remember that your intellect is the storehouse of your children. There must they go for the precious jewels of dis- tinction that will shine upon the garments of their character, in the crowded highways of the world. There must they go for the oil to illuminate their pathway through the darkest deserts of the land. Turn them not away with empty hands, and when the last scene has closed upon their eyes, and the last word is spoken by the lips, that word will be God and my mother. The infant loves the brightest light, with what unabating tenacity it will gaze at the burning lamp. The eye is a mental organ, and all of our mental organs love the brightest lights. When the light of evil is held up in brilliant colors the young mind is attracted in that direction. Oh ! how many mothers we see who are so engaged with household work that the little child is given up to the care of a wicked and ignorant nurse. The force of education is acknowledged by all parties yet but few seem to observe the early period of its com- mencement. When we have no eyes, we do not recognize the light of the sun, though the whole universe is filled with light. And if we fail to be just, virtuous, and happy, it is not be- cause there is no justice, virtue, and happiness, it is because we have no mental organs to receive the impressions; it is because we have not cultiva-ted these organs, 130 PEN PICTURES. Some say that this philosophy destroys moral accounta- bility. To them I answer : If every father in the land would refuse to lend the aid of his strong arms, to anything that produces evil, and every mother in the land would stamp upon the infant brain of her children, the bright lessons of virtue, truth and honesty, for three generations, the Devil would have to camp out, for he would not find enter- tainment in the humblest cottage in the land. One generation works for the benefit of the next. How many fathers toil through sunshine and storm, for half a cen- tury, to lay up a store of gold for their children, and send them out into the broad world with full pockets and empty heads. How many mothers labor from the dawn of day until the dusk of evening, brushing the dust from her chambers and darkening up her rooms, that no bright ray of light may approach her infant, in its cradle. Oh! mistaken ?nolher, hear a lesson from the Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, in that cave tl ere is a river, in that river there is fish, and those fish have no eyes. No bright ray of light ever goes to that river and the eye of the fish not being illuminated, disappears. Oh ! how cruel! to shut up a little prattling babe in a dark place. Throw it around loose, if you wish the windows of its brain, and looking-glass of its soul, to beam with beauty. One generation lives for another mentally as well as phys- ically. We should all remember that for all that we are, as good men and women, we are indebted to our parents, and the society in which we were reared. Now let us suppose, for the sake of the argument, that we perform all kinds of misdeeds, and practice all kinds of evil, for any considerable length of time. With this example before our children the race would go back to barbarism. Old men are passing away. This great country with its lakes ancHits rivers, towns and cities, government and destiny, PEN PICTURES. 131 will soon be transmitted to the hands of our children : many of whom are now in the blossom of infancy, and arms of their mothers There is no patriotism in all the wide world, that equals true love of children. He who has no sympathy for the children, and will do nothing for the benefit of posterity, is no friend of his country. He is wandering in doubt and darkness, no bright ray of light from the great star of intel- lect has ever penetrated the dark recesses of his brain. Whenever I see (if I shall live to see), the great minds of the country, taking hold. of evil by the horns, and remov- ing the bulls of error out of the pale of society, and leading our children to the fountains of nature, baptizing them in the water of progress, I will feel like St. John when he said : "I saw an angel come down from heaven ; having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the dragon— that old serpent— which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.' It is an easy going hobby-horse to charge the short-com- ings of humanity to the Devil. Society molds the character of her children. When a good mold is cast— the Devil- is cast out. Society molds the minds of our youth, this fact all parents feel — they may deny it with the lips. But let the villainous face of vice approach the sacred nursery of their children, and they will confess it with the truthful heart. If you want morality, you must cultivate it in the infant brain, not in a few isolated cases but throughout the broad neighborhood. You had as well plant corn without turning the hogs out of the field, as raise your children surrounded with the sinks of corruption. How many, in our towns and cities, have parlors shut up with thousands for the moth to eat. Go to them with the common school tax, and they think the Devil is after 'em with a sharp stick. 132 PEN PICTURES. When a new idea comes upon the stage, it comes as a stranger. And if its mission be to a crowd the old idea off the stage, there is a herculean task before it. The old idea, though it may be false philosophy, has its old friends and associates. Everybody knows it and everybody is ready to assist it. The new idea must fight single-handed and alone, Thus we see in all ages of the world, new ideas have appear- ed and sunk again, to remain in the dark for ages. When Galileo told the people that the earth moved, the old idea that the earth was the center of the universe, backed by a host of friends, crowded the new idea off the stage, to slumber in darkness until it was. resurrected by Sir Isaac Newton. I come now to speak of mind more in detail, and of its power on the mental organs. Thought is the result of action, the action of anything is the result of power. The running boy, or the walking man, whose steps are directed by the mind, is slow to realize that fact, because some of the opera- tions of the mind are so refined, that they are almost imper- ceptible. When asleep or dead we do not walk or run. There is a living power and a mental power, mysterious- ly bl-nded in the elements of nature, No silent brain ever thinks, while in that condition. Hence the sleeping man does not think, yet he does live. And upon -this mysterious separation of the mental and the living power, we conclude that life developes organism, and the mental element operat- ing upon the brain organs produces sensation, which is the dividing link between the vegetable and animal kingdom, and the ground-work of the mental light of the world. That life developes organism without producing sensation, thought or mind, is a fact known to all physicians, and to every student of nature. Life and mind are two parallel powers, running in the same direction, and apparently working with the same tools. PEN PICTURES. 133 Life builds the house, mind occupies it, that is its. residence is in the mental organs. The body may become diseased, broken down, the tenement so shattered, that life is almost extinct; while the mind remains romantic and bright, as the morning star. On the other hand the body may remain firm and bucksome, as a blue-head buffalo, and the mind dwindle into a narrow channel, as dark as the valley of death, and gloomy as the image of night. The character of all our sensations is produced by the mental organ, brought into action. The sound of a bell pro- duces a sensation on the brain, through a mental organ — the ear. Form, shape and beauty produce a sensation on the brain, through a mental organ, the eye. The mental element passing through the organ of.com- bativeness produces a sensation on the brain, but it is not a sensation of love, and when the mental element passes through the organ of love it will not produce a sensation of hatred. The crowded streets of a commercial city produce a sen- sation on the brain, but it is not a sensation of solitude. Go with me to the deep confines of a distant valley, where no trace of human foot is found. The wild flowers unfold their beauty by the side of the brook. The vine clings to the branch of the majestic oak with unabating te- nacity. The blue arch of heaven terminates the vision and a sensation is produced on the brain. It is solitude, admira- tion and awe. All of our sensations are received through the mental organs, and where there is no brain organ for any. given sen- sation, passion or feeling, that feeling cannot be produced. But the old philosophers say mind is internal, produced by the brain, and power of life, and here we lork horns. We have stripped this old philosophy of its overcoat. Now 134 PEN PICTURES. let us take its undergarments, not with a graceless grasp, but with the tender fingers of nature's soft hand. The old philosophers say life produces brain and brain produces mind inseparably and indistinct. Ocular demons- tration compels them to admit that mind is sometimes absent from the brain while life is not. In this case life ceases to produce mind. How is this ? What checks the thought of a sleeping man? Let every one in this assembly stop think- ing. Stop. Don't think about anything. Itis impossible, yet when you sleep your thought stops. The old philosophers say when you sleep the engineer shuts off .steam. This engineer incognito in the waking state has had different names in different ages of the world. He is now usually called free will. He is a good engineer, but not always on duty. He sometimes permits the fireman to usurp his office. This fireman has also had different names in different ages of the world. He is now called Old Nick.* He is a good fireman but a bad engineer. His object is to run off the track. He would have been discharged long ago, but he keeps up the sham. Free will is constantly admonished to watch Old Nick, for they say that when the grave station is passed, if Old Nick is not subdued, he'll kick free will overboard and run the thing off the track. Personifying the passions or mental organs is one of the relics of the dark ages. The Greeks and Romans were the first phrenologists in the world. They predicated upon the organ of combativeness the existence of God Mars, who delighted in the blood and carnage of the battle field. They placed a bandage over the eyes of Cupid to estab- lish the axiom that love hides a multitude of faults. No won- der the Hebrew prophet exclaimed, man is strange and wonderfully made. =-• The Devil. PEN PICTURES. 135 As I said before when a man sleeps his brain organs all close up like the eye. When he awakes the light illuminates his brain through the eye and the mental element illuminates his brain through the brain organs, and he is immediately under the influence of his will? Not so, but of experience and desire. Experience is the light of the past, desire the gratification of the passions. Do not understand me to say a man has no will, for that would be an error. I say his will is formed or brought into being by predominating passions. It may be half white, but it is not free born. Experience teaches us that honey is sweet and the bee will sting. If the sensation of appetite is stronger than the sensation of fear we will take the honey. We see the way before us. The sensations of vice invite us on, while the sensations of virtue hold us back. A struggle of sensations here ensues that is forcibly de- scribed by St. Paul : " The good that I would I do not, but the evil that I would not that I do." We find ourselves under the influence of mental feelings. Our best and only true guide is experience. Holy men of old said, the way of the transgressor is hard. Disease, dis- grace, darkness and death lie before him. Experience in- vites him to return to the path of virtue and peace. Expe- rience is the rule by which we try everything. Many new things appear upon which we look with favor, but when ex- perience lays them aside they are dead and beyond resurrec- tion. All schools of philosophy on doubtful points are afraid of experience. From those points they try to frighten you like they would a child who cannot swim, by saying don't go there its deep water. Reflection is a repetition of thought. If you pass a house, a. grove of trees and an open field their image is imperfect in- the memory. Pass them the second, the third and the fourth 136 PEN PICTURES. time and their image is perfected. Every board on the house, every leaning tree, the shades and shadows of the open field are treasured in the memory. This is reflection applied to the mental organ, the eye. When we are presented with a problem we pass it through the mind until all of its parts be- come familiar, and this is reflection upon any given problem by the mind. Reason is comparison. Take two sticks, place them some distance apart and you are unable to determine which is the longest, because the distance between them disturbs in some degree the sense of vision. Place them together and you see at once which is the longest. This decides the sense of vision, and we decide all of our difficulties upon the same principle. Our problems must all be brought together and meas- ured. You may call it comparison, experience or reason. To the frequent application of the terms reflection and reason we apply the term wisdom, which is the experience of the age, and of all the past ages of the world. The Greeks and Romans personified wisdom by the Goddess Minerva, according to their faith. The Goddess Minerva ruled over the mental world, distributing to or with- holding wisdom from mortal man. Solomon, the celebrated King of the Jews, personified wisdom in his book of proverbs in the 8th chapter. He rep- resents wisdom in council with the Creator. And Aristotle, who lived three hundred years before the Christian era, asserted that human reason did not originate with the body, and that it was bestowed upon it from the out- side. You may trace the mind from the first indication, sensa- tion and on to thought. Reflection, reason and wisdom, and whatever link you strike, 10 or 10,000, break the chain alike. PEN PICTURES. *3« All of the different names that we have given to the manifestations of mind are produced by the same intellect, and that intellect is not produced by the digestion of food. It is an eternal principle pervading the universe. It is th* domin- ion of mind over matter. It is not my province or intention to dispute any man's religious faith. No man can work without faith. No man caniive without faith. His family, his countrymen, the hu- man race, are entitled to his love and esteem, but his faith is his own. I would not raise a vandal hand against the invigorating name of liberty. It is every man's right to enjoy his own faith, because faith is the ferryman who sets us all across the dark river. The great interest of humanity-— here— lies in con- duct—and the great teacher said, men do not gather in grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles. One more picture and the curtain falls. Talk about the Free Thinkers, the Christians and the Infidels ; through the long ages of the historic period, they have waged a war of words that you might haul by the cart- load and fill a common barn— a pile of rubbish that would discourage and dismay the boldest student in the world. A man had as well undertake to circumnavigate the globe with a wheel-barrow as to read and understand all of the books that have been written and published on mental philosophy. It would be sacrilege to throw another grain of sand on this mountain of opinions, were it not a worthy heroism to teach man the value of his own mental freedom. Ow philosophy flows as freely as a river of water; we enter no man's brain for the purpose of taking a prisoner; we have no mysterious judgments— passed by a court of doubtful authority — to execute. Every man's brain is an Empire, duly commissioned and appointed to fight its own battles and work out its own destiny, whether lie be a Baptist, Methodist 138 PEN PICTURES. or Presbyterian — whether his coat be taken from a Catholic or Protestant box, so it covers a true and faithful heart. Our words are taken from Nature ; our book is written by Nature's soft hand, and needs no interpreter. We speak the same language to every man, whether he be at the north pole or under the equator ; whether his lot be cast upon a lone island in the sea, or among the crowded crowned heads of Europe; whether he be king, or subject, or a favored son of "the land of the free and home of the brave." LECTURE IV.— MAN AND ANIMALS. What little time' we have, even in the longest life, for observation, and when we are confined to one spot on the earth, we only see the things that surround us and are pecu- liar to the place upon which we live. It is by the light of history that we see the actions of other men in other places and other ages of the world, and if we undertake to pass judgment upon the human race without the light of history, how limited our knowledge, how unjust our judgment. When we look back through the glass of history, though it may be dark in some places, and observe the actions of the distin- guished men — among all nations and in all ages of the world, from the remotest historic period of antiquity to the present time — how much better prepared are we to pass judgment upon the character of man. History stamps virtuous and noble actions with the seal of applause ; vicious and evil deeds with the indelible ink of infamy. Brave and noble deeds, performed by heroes of a by- gone age, stand as boldly forth as does a lighthouse on the shore of destiny ; dark and unrelenting evils, performed by cowardly actors, is a warning to us and to all succeeding generations of men. While life and time shall pass away, The deeds of men are sure to stay ; Impressions made on the sands of tim In every age and in every clime, Are covered not by time nor space But lasting as the human race. 140 PEN PICTURES, Seven hundred and seventy-six years before the Christian era, Greek historians recorded the name of the victor in the Olympic games, and this is the first reliable date of ancient :ime. The Chaldean, the Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Assyrian and the Persian empires had their rise and fall, and left their remains for the future antiquarian to search in vain for the date of their rise or time of their glory. The Jews crystalized on the western borders of Asia. Their laws forbade them to intermingle with other people, and they made no advance in civilization from the time Joshua led the Israelites over the river Jordan until Titus destroyed Jerusalem and Jewish nationality. The philosophy of the priests and rulers was carefully recorded and preserved in the archives of their temples. They paid little or no atten- tion to time or dates. A careful comparison of their records and traditions places the antiquity of man at about 7,320 years. Modern antiquarians think this time entirely too short — indeed, some- have ventured to place the antiquity of man as far back as 24,000 years. How long man lived a purely animal life we have no means of knowing. Scientific men speak of three ages, which they denominate the "Stone," the "Bronze" and the "Iron" ages. In the infant age of the human race they made no tools of anything but stone — all of their imple- ments were made of stone. At a more advanced period bronze appears, decorating their implements and ornaments. With the "Iron Age" commences heroic civilization and the light of written history. This light first illuminated the hills of Greece. All Asia had been an immense battle-field. The Grecian States, on the edge of the greit waves of con- flict, emerged from the night of darkness. In this rude and barbarous age a knowledge of letters animated the men of Greece with the spirit of liberty. The Egyptian, Chinese and Hindoo people sought repose in non-intercourse, contented PEN PICTURES. I^ 1 to remain in their own native darkness, reached a certain point of regulated order and stopped. The Chaldean, As- syrian and Persian races kept in the stream of progress. The moving to and fro of great bodies of men, the wars of conquest and subjugation, gave rise to commerce. The intermingling of nations advanced civilization, while the deso- lating hand of war destroyed the identity of existing people. The intermingling of races gave rise to a nobler blood; and, with the letters of Greece and rise of Rome, we see the Caucasian race come upon the stage of action, unfolding the great work of genius and progress. How far they will ulti- mately go, lies way forward in the future womb of time. Diverse from the course of the sun, human genius rises up in the West and flows toward the East. Alexander the Great rose up in the West and conquered the nations of the East • Constantine the Great rose up in the West and made himself master of the Roman Empire; Charlemagne restored the West long after the Eastern division of the Roman Empire perished. In all of the great battles of earth, the eagle of victory has hovered 'round western arms. In our late war, the flag of victory followed western men. The heart ana soul of°this country, is in the Mississippi Valley. I demonstrated in my lecture on time and motion, that the human race approached the middle of the historic period, before any instrument was invented for keeping time. The ancients paid no attention to chronology. The Chaldean was the first empire. Abram, the father of the Jewish na- tion, went out from Ur, of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. He pre-empted the land of Canaan from the river Euphrates to the borders of Egypt. Subsequently we have the history of the patriarchs, preserved by tradition. Cities were built and walled in; temples and pyramids flour- ished and decayed, having stood as monuments of the power of kings, and slavery of the people. 142 PEN PICTURES, After perusing the pages of book history, we turn to tra- dition — conflicting and contradicting accounts — turn us tc cave history. We dig up the bones of our progenitors, marked only with long periods of time. The cradle of hu- manity is lost in the night of ages. The antiquarian is like a stranger in a strange land, who, after losing every trace of his way, wanders in the shades of night. I come now to speak of the Romans, and of the Cau- casian race. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and George Washington, were all descendants of the Caucasian race. Galileo, Sir Isaac Newton, Professor Morse and Benjamin Franklin, descended from the Cauca- sian race. All, or nearly all, of the men of progress, are de- scendants of the Caucasian race. There are a few among the Mongolians, less among the Malays, and none among the negro races of men. Rome was built on the bank of the river Tiber in Italy; there is nothing peculiar about its local- ity. It was the character of the people that made Rome the mistress of the world. You may trace that character from the Tiber, in Italy, to the Thames in England, and to the Potomac and Mississippi in America. Talk about a war of races. The barbarism of physical war is passing away. A war of intellect is coming upon the stage. This war will blend ali nations in one language and one religion. Who shall the victor be ? Let the Caucasian answer. Julius Caesar, although brave and generous, laid the foundation upon which was subsequently erected the great power of the Roman monarchs, the history of whom, fur- nish us with the outlines of vice and virture. Some of them have a high claim to virtue; none were ever false to their power, or unmindful of it. No man, either of high or low estate, could escape the frown of the Emperor. There was no country upon the habitable earth, to which he could fly, as the land of the free, and home of the brave. Go where he PEN PICTURES 143 would, the frown of the Emperor followed him as dark as the valley of Hinnom and certain as the grasp of death — there was no escape from it, but in the Spirit Land, where human- ity is laid even, and the servant is free from his master. The proud Roman, when defeated, never asked for or expected his life. To him defeat and death were the same thing. In the result of this philosophy, we see one hundred and fifty thousand Romans engaged in a single battle, not against a foreign ene- my; it was Roman against Roman, steel against steel, Cauca- sian against Caucasian. The power of the Emperor was every- thing. Hence we see Brutus and Cassius in the Senate house with drawn daggers, not to spill the blood of Caesar, but to waste the power of the Emperor. The history of the Roman Republic was fresh in the mind of Brutus, and he thought but one man (Julius Caesar) stood in the way, and this has given rise to the classic words: "Not that I love Caesar less; but I love Rome more." When, afterward, Brutus was over- come by the united arms of Antony and Octavius, he conse- crated the declaration by throwing his body upon his sword, exclaiming: "O! virtue, thou art but a name!" History has embellished the name of Brutus as the noblest Roman of them all. With the fall of the Roman empire, we date the rise of modern nations. We have different countries, and different races of men — thousands of years have transpired in giving character to the different races. Our country stands pre-eminently in the front rank of all nations which are in the stream of progress. In most other countries men are born princes, they are born aristocrats and they are born workmen. In our country, a man is not born anything — he is born to fill the measure marked out by his capacity. We have done more, and we are doing more, than any other country, to develop the intellect of the individual man. All the lessons of history teach us that man is a progres- sive being, and that in its infancy the human race, like the 144 PEN PICTURES. birth of the individual man, was born naked, with no insti- tutions, destitute of all arts and sciences, and as some emi- nently learned men believe, speechless, from which condi- tion he has ever been struggling up from the dark valley of antiquity to a high and holy hill of light. In childhood we believe the strange stories of our nurse ; in manhood we dis- card the stories and retain our love for the nurse. "We love the old men who nursed the infancy of humanity, but we are discarding their strange stories. The early traditions of all nations, surround the accounts of their origin with supernat- ural persons and events, which the judgment of more en- lightened times, condemn as fabulous and impossible. The primitive condition of the human race is represented by very opposite opinions. One claims a golden age of inno- cence and bliss, the other a wild and savage state of barbar- ism. There must have been a first man, and it matters but little to us, whether we adopt the dirt philosophy, that he was made of clay, or the evolution theory, that he devel- oped from the lower animals, When he became man, he was not an animal nor an angel. Standing on a middle ground between the animal and angelic state, no wonder he ate forbidden fruit. No wonder his appetite continues for so many generations. The greater wonder is, that he is emerging from the slavery of his appetite, and traveling on toward the temple of knowledge. Standing way back in the twilight of the infancy of the race, he may have resembled a speechless brute of the forest, making his desires known to those at hand in a barbarous dialect, and eking out a life-time in the neighborhood of his native cave. Now he speaks to his fel- low-man across the ocean, traverses a continent in a few days, and circumnavigates, the globe in a few months. All history teaches that man is progressive, and points out the difficulties that have been overcome — those that yet stand in PEN PICTURES. 145 the way— and that these achievements are being accom- plished by universal education. We come now to speak more definitively of man and an- imals, as seen 0:1 the broad .field of nature with the naked eye. Let us take mm down to a level with the animals. Not that we wish to degrade humanity, but for the sake of the argument let us take man down to a level with the animals. They see by the same light, hear by the same means, feel by the same process, feed upon the same food, drink the same water, breathe the same air, and are animated by the same mental elements. Where, then, is the great mental differ- ence between men and between animals and man? Is it not in their physical and mental organism ? Take a transparent bottle, fill it with beautiful trinkets, and you see all of their variegated colors. Then take an opaque or blue bottle, fill it with the same trinkets, and you will hardly distinguish one trinket from another — yet all that you see in the blue bottle, you see by the same light that you see them in the transparent bottle. Then, is not the difference in the organism of the two bottles containing the trinkets? And I affirm that the mental difference between men and between animals and man, is in the casket containing the mental trinkets— the size, nature and quality of the brain. The man who undertakes to overthrow this philosophy will, have a blue-bottle head; for he will begin by telling you about a spirit, or some dark, incomprehensible thing. The dog is more intelligent than the cat. Is there a dog spirit and a cat spirit? or is the difference in the mental organism of the two animals? A dog acts upon the basis of his mental organism, and so does a man. A dog barks and hunts, like his ancestors did 2,000 years ago, because he has no mental organ of progress. Animal instinct is the great hobby-horse of old philosophers. What is instinct? Arose will smell as sweet by any other name. They say instinct, 14(3 PEN PICTURES. and there they stop. What they call instinct is nothing but a mental organ transmitted from one generation to another. We find it in all animals, and also in man, wise by inherit- ance. The bee builds a honey cell to-day, like its ancestors did 2000 years ago. This knowledge in the bee is a mental organ, transmitted by inheritance. Go with me to a beaver's dam, and you will observe the beaver has not only selected a good locality on the creek — he has also taken every advan- tage of the ground— he has executed his work like his ances- tors did ages ago. And the old philosophers call it instinct. They have drawn a line between what they have been pleased to call instinct and reason. It is like the axle we put through the earth, upon which we say the earth revolves — it has no existence, in reality. A man who is born blind, is mentally inferior to one born with e y e5 — that is, he has one brain organ less. And we must draw the line between man and animals upon the basis of mental organism. But you must remember that neither man nor animal can learn or realize anything that does not come within the scope of some of his mental organs. Show a beau- tiful picture to a blind man, or whisper the soft voice of love in the ear of a deaf woman, and what do you accomplish ? Men learn to the extent of their mental organism, and so do animals, and both receive knowledge by inheritance. In all ages of the world there have been men, wise by inheritance. They manifest their wisdom by a fixed organ in the brain. Their ideas of the way things ought to be per- formed, their philosophy of time and space of men and things of humanity, and human destiny, with them is all settled — was known to their fathers and transmitted to them by inher- itance. These men never give anything to art, science, or philosophy. They are like the bee and the beaver— willing to work like their ancestors did ages ago. Man has a mental organ of progress, of which we will PEN PICTURES. speak in our next lecture more at length. It is a law of na- ture, that like produces like, and by the force of this law ail of our mental organs receive an impulse in the blossom. Primitive man commenced by cutting things with a sharp stone. As genius and discoveries advanced, tools were im-" proved, and necessity demanded workmen in wood, stone and metal. Continual work, and consequently continued thought on the best way to work, strengthened the mental organ of mechanism ; and that organ in an active state — has been transmitted from one generation to another, until now we have children born mechanics. We may say the same of music — we have children born musicians, and we have chil- dren born honest, and born rogues, and where will we stop ? This we call the laws of hereditary descent — they defy and resist education for a long time. Take a child that is a born rogue — one in whom the organ or passion to steal has been strongly fixed by inheritance, and it meets with no strenuous opposition as the boy grows up — he will steal whether he be needy or not. Confine him in prison for theft, and when you let him out he will steal again. You might put him in a wake, to sit up with the dead, and he would steal the orna- ments from his grandmother's coffin. An honest man cannot steal — he don't know how — be- cause he has not received the passion by inheritance or instruction. All of our knowledge is directed by mental organ- ism; for knowledge is the same thing throughout the broad expanse of the mental world — an animal knows what it does know as well as a man. The brain of an animal is less extensive than the brain of a man, and does not realize as many facts. Attack a man and his dog. The dog will realize the fact that you are an enemy, as quick as the man. though he may not know all of the facts in the case The humblest individual in this house knows that the door opens 148 PEN PICTURES. on the east side of the building just as well as the wisest- philosopher in this assembly knows that fact. His opportu- nities may have been limited, but so far as his understanding has realized facts, he knows the truth of those facts just as well as the most accomplished and learned man in the world. Our difference in knowledge is m quantity, and not in quality. Some men have a more extensive mental organism than others, arising from inheritance, instruction and oppor- tunity, and may acquire more knowledge — that*- is more in quantity, but of no better quality. The mental organism of some races of men is more ex- tensive than other races. The teachers of the negro race in this country will bear testimony that that race cannot be educated, up to the Caucasian standard of education. Their limited mental organism cannot penetrate the wonderful avenues that have been traced by Caucasian brain. Seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and feeling, are the five senses of the old philosophers. They are common to animals and man. They are all external and visible organs of the brain. Sensation or feeling, in some of our mental organs, is the object and aim of all humanity. Too many delight in the sensation of appetite, they explore the kitchen from the pantry to the slop-bucket to find something that will stimulate the appetite. Others more intent after some- thin^ to stimulate other feelings, can live a week on a sea- biscuit and a woodpecker. The internal as well as the external organs of the brain, are seen in animals, as in man, but are more extensive in man. The passions always manifest themselves with the character of the mental organ through which they pass. Anger frowns and stamps, grief wrings its hands, joy dances and leaps. Self-esteem throws the body in an erect, proud attitude ; combativeness throws the body of a man or animal in the attitude of attack. The dog opens his mouth aiul PEN PICTURES. 140 shows his teeth, man doubles up and shows his fist to his adversary. The sens.ation of fear or cowardice throws the body in a stooping, watchful position. The dog sneaks off with his tail down, and to use a slang phrase, man skedadles. All of our feelings assume the character of the brain or- gan, through which they pass, and manifest themselves ac- cording to the strength of that organ. Our mental organs become feeble when left out of use, and strong when culti- vated. Boys who grow up in the streets, without the watch- ful care of a faithful mother, learn the lessons of idleness, and receive impressions on the infant brain, eminently calculated to produce in age, a regular soup-house-rat. Boys who grow up at home and in the schools, get the foundation of a better education ; kind parents and a pleasant home, sow the seed of patriotism and love of country. When the precious jewels of the infant brain are unfolded by the delicate touch" of a faithful mother, the noble woman has not only served her child, she has served her country, God, and the human race. When you hear a man say he is not in favor of the com- mon schools, that he is a bachelor, and don't take the county paper, you may set him down in the dead-book; too penurious to educate the orphan ; too mean to have a son of his own ; too careless to read the events transpiring 'round him; will give nothing for the fate of his country, or life of his nation ; unwilling to contribute one drop of oil to the light of the age in which he lives — he is a dead beat. The wheel of progress moves toe slow, yet it ro'ls steadily on. The work is assigned to a few individuals, who are in the main public men, giving precept and example. In all ages and countries they make mistakes. No stream was ever known to rise above its fountain. When the ruling or lead- ing men of society, or of a. nation, indulge in vice, the public mind is poisoned at the fountain and all the streams become 150 PEN PICTURES, impure. The numan brain is stamped with the love of imi- tation. Our wise men look back for a precedent. We measure our actions by the laws of the society in which we live. Individual effort to rise above the laws of society is dimly discernable. No wonder virtuous humanity has strug- gled so long and so hard. Some scientific men have endeavored to identify man and animals, by appealing to the body. They have dissect ed the brain, counted the teeth and measured the bones of all the monkeys, under the false impression that brain produces mind. The Darwinian theory of improvement by natural selection as applied to the animal kingdom, is founded upon laborious study and profound philosophy, but it applies to the body and not to the mind. We have improved our do- mestic animals to a wonderful extent, but that improvement applies to the body and not to the mind. If you want a wise hog you must go back to the old wood-rooter. Cultivating the body does not always cultivate the mind. If it did, the man who could make the grandest bodily show, would be the wisest man in the w r orld. In the third century of the Christian era there lived a Roman Emperor — Maximin — of Gothic origin, who was said to be eight feet high, could drink seven gallons of wine and eat forty pounds of meat in a day. He could grind up peb- bles in the palm of his hands and tear up a small tree by the roots. Yet his mind was not sufficiently developed to com- mand the Roman legions, for he was murdered in his tent by some of his own soldiers. The Greeks and Romans educated their youth in physical strength, that they might become good soldiers. Mental education was little thought of among the ancients, especially the education of the masses. We have fine institutions of learning, but we have too many book-men, and too few original men. Too many navel in the oeaten path of their predecessors PEN PICTURES 151 and never stop to think of original things. You must think. The tide of thought flows as freely as the atmosphere, but you don't use it. You had as well try to realize physical strength without action, as to try to realize mental strength \\ ithout thinking. But remember you had as well try to trace a bee course in the backwoods without eyes, or fly from the Black Hills to the Dead Sea without wings, as try to learn or realize anything, for which you have no mental capacity. Go on with the natural bent of the mind. Press forward in the direction that the light appears, and on, and on, you will go, for the poet said : " Man's greatest knowledge is himself to know." All men soon become acquainted with their bodies But as I have already demonstrated, the body is not the man, the mind is the mat I once knew an old man by the name of Vincen who was in the habit of getting drunk, as we say, &nd as you all know, this operation is performed by driving the mind out of the brain and leaving the body to take care of itself, without the mind to direct it. The poor body is found wanting. Can't walk straight. Don't know up from down. It is all the time going down, and all the time going up; but goes down, more than it does up. We call it drunk. It is the body that is drunk, not the mind. The mind has left the body limber and we call it drunk. Old man Vincen lived in the country, and he went to town where he met with his brother, who gave him a new coat. After this event he met some drinking friends and got drunk. In this condition his body started home in the dusk of the evening. On the w r ay, when the last lingering spark of mind had departed, the question presented itself to that body: Had Vincen started home, or was he yet in town? The eyes surveyed the body: the new coat looked 152 FEN PICTURES. strange , the lips muttered, this is not Vincen, Vincen is in town. Who can this be ? God ! this is Shaw. Shaw was a proud, dressy man. The legs of that body raised the feet high to walk like Shaw, and it tumbled into a mud hole, where it lay until the next morning, when old man Vincen came and dragged it out. Oh ! how many drive the mind away from them by intoxication. Oh ! how many, by mental laziness, fail to prepare the mental house, prepare the store-houses of the brain, and the mind or the man will come and dwell in it. And let me say to all young men, do not sit down and brood over the opinion that you are no great man, for if such be the case, you have made no preparation for a great mind to come and dwell in your bram. Go to work, clear away the rub- bish, forsake all of your bad habits. We do not see great men seek the company of rowdies, then drive the rowdies, the bad habits out of your brain, and a great mind will come and dwell there. When the mental element enters, brain organism, it pro- duces sensation or feeling. All live animals have feeling, but of very different character. The horse has a sensation ot hunger, but he has no sensation of honor or honesty; he will eat another horse's corn as quick as his own. Then I ask, what mysterious power produces all of the various sensations, passions and feelings, that we observe in the animal kingdom, where can you place it but with brain organism ? An animal, through his brain organs, realizes the sensa- tions of hunger, thirst, rest, association, love, hatred, ambi- tion and fear, in common with man. Man, through a superior brain organism, realizes the additional sensations cf honor, honesty, happiness, holiness, integrity, industry and immortality. The old philosophy of instinct and reason that man PEN PICTURES. 1^3 learns, and that animals do not, is a mistake that must be apparent to all men of experience with animals, who think at all. An animal can be taught to the extent of its mental organism. In teaching an animal we always appeal to sen- sation or feeling. We must appoal to a mental organ of which he is in possession, sight, smell, hearing, love, fear, appetite or any other mental organ common to his species, in some of which he is superior to man. Your dog can tell you the course the rabbit runs, when you can not tell by the use of the same means; because nature has given him a more refined sensation in one of his mental organs— the nose. Man has circumnavigated the globe, measured the earth and fathomed the sea; has raised his arm to the clouds and brought down the lightning to his use; can speak to his fel- low man across the ocean and detail the momentous events of the day. And yet he is compelled to sit down in the glory of all his wisdom, and acknowledge that his dog knows some things that he does not know. The most accomplished statesman that ever erected a legal standard on the face of God's green earth, or presided over the highest and best appointed institution of learning ever organinized among mankind may learn some things from a poor, forlorn, ragged and wretched beggar. Teachirg is unfolding the great casket of nature. No mortal man has ever seen the last picture. We clean the dust out of our eves with a towel and water; teaching is cleaning the dust out of our mental organs with the water of experience; but you had as well try to unfold the brilliancy of the sun to a blind man, as try to teach a man or an animal anything that is outside of his mental organs. You had as well try to frighten the man in the moon from crossing the ocean with- out a canoe, as try to teach a man or an animal anything for which he has no mental capacity. You may soon teach a dog to sit by the fire, because his feelings soon realize the 154 PEN PICTURES. advantage of heat, but you cannot teach him to mend up the fire, because his limited mental organism docs not permit him to see cause while it does not realize effect: Man soon learns to build up the fire, but if you ask him what fire is — he like the d)g — he can't teli you. Pliny. Mola and Plutarch speak of ancient tribes in Egypt, Greece and Persia, who were unacquainted with the use of fire. Chinese historians acknowledge the same of their progenitors, the inhabitants of the Marian islands dis- covered in J551, who made no use of fire, and the friction match was no!: discovered until 1829. by John Walker. The old people used to keep the seed of fire, as they called it, covered up in the ashes, and when the seed was lost, hunt up a flint and strike like Pittsburg, not for more wages, but more fire. Now you can buy a bo:: of matches with a cent, and set the city on fire, like the strikers at Pittsburg ; L urn the iron horse; but if we ask you what fire is, you are like the dog, you can't tell. Fire is an old friend as well as an enemy. We have known it always, but we only know its name. We know that is a principle or element pervading the universe. More than this we do not know, because our limited mental organism does not permit us to penetrate the secret chambers of the universe of God. One more lecture and we part. Friends are parting throughout our beautiful land. Friends live forever, and love forever, but they do not part forever. They part like a city and the sun, to meet again in a little while. You and I part at death, and what is our life? One line in the great book of history; one grain in the sands of time; one drop in the ocean of humanity, and adieu to the scene we cali life. We part in trouble; we meet in peace, we part in a world of sin and sorrow; we meet in a world of purity and peace; we part in tenements of clay; we meet in tenements immortalized. This closes our lecture on man and animals. Our PEN PICTURES. 155 next ecture is on spirit and soul, in which we will speak of the mental organ we term the organ of progress. More intricate than the broad expanse of the universe, The hidden friend and wonderful counselor of all nations of men That has ever been as true to the barbarous as to civilized man ; That has stood over the dusky woman of ancient times, and hovers 'round the accomplished mother of our civiliza- tion, when she lays the darling of her bosom beneath the dark, green sod, and will ever stand over the last lingering spark of humanity, until the sun of hope darkens and dis- appears from the heaven of anticipations. LECTURE V.— SPIRIT AND SOUL. Brutus will start a. spirit as soon as Caesar.— Shakspeare. In our previous lectures we endeavored to look at nature in a natural way. The present subject seems to demand that we should depart, at least in some degree, from the great cardinal principles laid down by the laws of nature, yet we do not propose to travel on the out-side track. True to our nature and to the laws that govern the universe, we will travel upon that road as long as there is a foot of ground beneath our feet, and when the last grain of sand has sunk from our pathway, make one long leap for the eternal shore. In the language of St. Paul — "If we have hope only in this life, we are of all men most miserable." The errors of our fathers are left behind in the back- woods. We have thrown the old stage coach away, and pass from city to city on a palace car ; but we have not thrown away the principle. We have improved the roads, magnified the motive power, and enlarged the coach, but we still travel upon wheels. Many great minds of the age have thrown away the phi- losophy of primitive Judaism, but there is a principle m human nature that they cannot throw away without throwing themselves away, for it was planted by that great eternal hand who laid the foundations of the universe, and appointee a place for the earth. PEN PICTURES. ID, In the early dawn of the historic period Jacob journeyed toward Haran, and slept under a tree, with the grass for a bed and a stone for a pillow. He dreamed that he saw a ladder reaching from Earth to Heaven, This is the second dream.recorded in Jewish history. No one will contend that Jacob saw a material ladder. Thatiladder was seen by the mind's eye, or by the great^ power 01 the imagination; and, although it was not a true ladder, it did represent a true principle. The imagination is a principle in mental organism com- mon to all men. It is no true philosophy to claim it for any profession or class or men to the exclusion of all others. It is the foundation upon which all of the castles of supersti- tion known to the human race have been erected. No man builds a house without a foundation, and any philosophy not founded upon some of the cardinal principles of nature, is nothing but a castle in the air. If any man will show me how the human understanding can be approached, out-side of the natural senses common to all men, by any other avenue than that of imagination, I will never open my mouth again on the subject of mental philosophy. When a man has long dissipated he sometimes sees snakes in his boots. Now we all know that the snakes are false, but the principle is not false. The sight of the snakes is a picture, representing the road of ruin and dissipa- tion upon which the mind is traveling. The power of the mind called imagination underlies all human progress. It represents genius and forecast as well as spirit and soul. A steam engine would have run as well two thousand years ago as it does to-day, and the magnetic telegraph would have conveyed language across the ocean on the day that Colum- bus discovered America, just as well and upon the same principles that it does to-day. But those pinciples in nature slumbered beneath a dark cloud of ignorance for acres. 158 PEN PICTURES. The question naturally presents itself to us: by what means do we penetrate the dark recesses of the universe and unfold the secret nerves of nature so useful to man? Let the man of genius answer, and he will tell ycu before he made any new thing, he saw its picture with the mind's eye, or by the great power of imagination. And thus through the long ages of the historic period that great power of the mind, the imagination, has been unfolding the beauties of nature, and man can say that we have approached the end of the chapter, or even the middle of the casket. Could the wisest philosopher of the age sleep a thousand years and reappear upon the stage of action, he would be lost in wonder, and look upon the age in which we live as an age of semi-barbarism. On the sixth day of October, 1829, George Stephenson, a coal miner of Northumberland, England, having construct- ed the Rocket, the first locomotive engine ever seen in the world, run it from Manchester to Liverpool at the rate of thirty males an hour. All practical mechanics in the country, while Stephenson was at work, condemned the experime:; and pronounced it a failure. George Stephenson saw the picture of the Rocket by the power of his imagination before he made the engine, for no man can work in the dark. At this period the great Henry Clay was wasting his eloqence in Congress, in favor of the Cumberland turnpike road. Mr. 'Clay was a great orator, but he was no mechanic. Hence we see the dusty coal miner coming forward with an argu- ment more potent than all the oratory in the world. I do not ccntend that every \ picture presented to the imagination can be worked out. There must necessarily be failures among all men and among all classes. All Pible readers are familar with the book of Daniel. Daniel saw four beasts rise up out of the sea, and the fourth beast was diverse from the rest He had great iron teeth and PEN PICTURES. ten horn?, and soon there came up among them another little horn that had eyes. No one will contend that Daniel saw any beast m reality; he saw a picture by the great power oi imagination, which he said was a picture of a revolution in governments. Daniel was a prisoner in Babylon, and his mind glowed with unabating tenacity for a return to his native land. Learned clergymen have been trying to work out Daniel's pictures for more than two thousand years. The angel Gabriel, so often mentioned by subsequent writers, whom they have commissioned to sound the last horn, is one of DanieFs pictures. Daniel is the first writer who mentions the name of the angel Gabriel, which you may see by con- sulting the book of Daniel, viii. 15. It is said that Daniel's book was shown to Alexander the Great, and^.he supposed that he saw his own image in one of Daniel's pictures, and for this cause treated the Jews with great lenity. The old Jews taught their descendants that some animals were unclean, and their laws forbade the use of them. All historians know with what great "respect the Jews regarded their laws. We read in the Christian Scriptures that Peter, when he dwelt at Joppa, with Simon, a tanner, by the sea side, saw a great sheet, held at four corners, and let down from heaven : this sheet was full of all manner of beasts, and he heard a voice saying, "Arise, Peter, kill and eat." No one believes that Peter saw a real sheet full of real animals. Peter saw a picture, by the great power of imagination, from which he concluded that the God of the Jews was also the God of the Romans, for he soon after baptized Cornelius, who was a Roman. We know that the question prevailed at that time among some of the early Christians, whether or not their faith extended outside of the Jewish nation. St. John said: "I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns.'* No one believes that any such beast ever had an ICO PEN PICTURES. existence in the universe. St. John saw a picture by the great power of his imagination. Many have wondered at the similaritv between the visions of Daniel and St. John. Daniel lived 700 years before St. John, and Alexander the Great, who lived 300 years before St. John, supposed that he saw himself in one of Daniel's pictures. Some of the clergymen of our day are engaged in working out those pictures. They are like the boy who went out to learn French when he did not understand his mother tongue. Mind operates upon or through brain organism, and all of these old men, who have long since passed away and gone to their reward, were mentally organized precisely like men are to-day. When thought has long impressed any of the mental organs the imagination extends in the direction of that organ. Mahomet went into a cave and secluded himself, while his imagination traversed the regions of heaven, astraddle of a white mule. A mechanic may train his thoughts upon the subject of invention until they travel, seemingly, out side of h : s brain, and he beholds wonderful associations of machin- ery — he is in the broad field of imagination where every shape and form appears. This great power of the human brain is common to all men. One class of men reveal the beauties of heaven, another class reveal the beauties of earth. We call them the men cf pr:grcss. A word is the sign or garment of an idea. Living languages are progressive. No language has ever lived a thousand years. Could the subjects of Alfred the Great re- appear in England they would not understand the English language as it is spoken to-day. Much difficulty sometimes arises from the want of a proper understanding of the words we speak. I hold my hand here, and move it there. My hand is a thing and will perish, the change of its position is a principle and will not parish; thus you will understand what PEN PICTURES. lfil I mean by the words things of nature ana principles of nature. I come now to speak of the word spirit, and will en- deavor and do so in a spirit of meekness. The word spirit occurs in the Scriptures about 324 times, and is generally used to designate a principle, and not a thing. The word angel is often used in the Scriptures, and designates a body or thing. The word soul occurs in the Scriptures about 220 times. It is often used to designate a number or individual — eight souls, or eight persons, crossed over the flood in Noah's ark. We conclude, therefore, that the word spirit, as we should understand it, designates a principle or a picture, and not a body or thing. When a whole nation are of one opinion with regard to anything, we call that principle the spirit of the age, or of the nation. We say, the common schools are upheld by the spirit of the age. I know that a great many persons individualize spirits, and think they have seen them. It is said Martin Luther once threw his ink-stand at the devil, and the ink-stand went through the devil, and hit the wall of his room. He threw his ink -stand at a picture; that picture was false, but it did represent a principle. The old man was worried with his enemies and saw their picture, to which his imagination gave the shape of the devil. There are many persons who believe in what they call "the operation of the Spirit." This philosophy in one sense is true. When a number of individuals^ all meet together, having concentrated their thoughts -upon devotion by a law of nature, impressions long continued UDon a mental organ will carry the mind in th#t direction, and "sometimes' it will pass out into the broad field of imagination. The operation of the Spirit must be upon or through mental organism. If the impressions are made upon the good organs of the brain the spirit will be good. And if the impressions are made 11 162 PEN PICTURES. upon the bad organs of the brain the manifestations will be that of a bad spirit. The Pharisees, a religious sect among the Jews, who flourished immediately before the Christian era, taught the philosophy of the existence of a spirit, or soul, in man, dis- connected and separate from the Lody or mind, and of course must be deaf and dumb, incognito and foolish, this is the darkest picture of all of the dark ages. The word spirit should always be applied to the mind, and never to, the body. Wherever we find mind we find spirit. We never say the spirit of a tree, but we do say, a dull and high-spirited horse, and a dull and high-spirited man. ' When one is dead we say his spirit is gone, or has left the body v It is a clumsy philoso- phy to apply a material body to the 'existence of spirit. What can the Christian say who believes in the resurrection of the body? Will he not, when the spirit body and the human body meet, cry out: "O, wretched spirit that I am, who shall deliver me from these material bodies ?" When the mind is gone the spirit goes with it, and when the mind returns the spirit returns with it. A' spirit separated from the mind is the ghost of superstition ; was born in a dark corner of the field of fear, with reversed eyes — can see in the night, but sleeps in the day ; fed on credulity, lived through the dark ages, and may yet be seen in dark places through the dark glasses of modern spiritualism. When the last dark corner of the hu- man brain becomes illuminated it will bid adieu to the earth forever. The meek and lowly Jesus," the great moral Teacher whose standard of morality is truly the best the world ever saw, He who spake as never man spake, used the word spirit only eleven times. Those who wrote his history used it a great many more times. Jesus used it eleven times, that is record- ed in the Scriptures. He used it always in the same, or near- ly the same sense. The first time he used it was in the ser- PEN PICTURES. 163 mon on the mount. He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The last time he used it was on the cross, when the last mortal wound had. been inflicted. He said, " Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." No. I am mistaken. He used it once after this. You will find it in the last chapter of Luke, commencing at the 36th verse. His scholars, the apostles, were all together in a certain place, soon after the crucifixion, holding a council on the perils of the times. The Master had been executed, no one could tell the fate of his followers; they were all afraid of the multitude and of public authority. The spirit of persecution was abroad in the land. The germ of Christianity was in that little council, and of this meeting the text reads : "And as they spake Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith 'unto them, ' Peace be unto you ,' but they were terri- fied and affrighted, and supposed they had seen a spirit, and he said unto them, 'Why are ye troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts ? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have,' and for further proof he did eat before them." The idea of a material spirit originated with the Phari- sees. The early Christian writers founded their philosophy on the resurrection of the human body, and this is not in con- flict with the true philosophy of spirit. There is nothing in the wide world, so dear to a Christian, as a Christian's hope. The man who would wantonly disfigure a Christian's hope, would steal the family casket of his grandmother, and dis- figure the fair faces of those who gave him being. The sum of that hope is in the resurrection of the human body; the in- fant form, the darling body, that has been laid beneath the 164 .PEN PICTURES. green carpet to sleep, shall be restored again, to the bosom of its mother, in the resurrection of the dead. St. Paul said, when speaking* of the Christian's hope, in the eighth chapter of Romans : (i 'We groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit : the resurrection of our body.' Josephus, the learned historian of the Jews, in ex- pounding the laws of Moses, uses this language : " Gcd hath made this grant, to those who observe these laws, even though they be obliged to die for them, that they shall come into be- ing again, and at a certain revolution of things receive a bet- ter life, than they had enjoyed before. Infidelity, the love of the marvelous, and the hope of gain, are the nest eggs of modern disembodied spirits. The broad and open field of imagination is where the nest was found. Andrew Jackson Davis sat on the eggs. This great apostle of clairvoyance, Som-nam-bu-lisrii, som-nil-o-quence, and all other sleeping beauties of the brain, says on the twenty-first page of his work, entitled, The Principles of Na- ture'. " Seven times I have been requested to explain the na ture and composition of spirit." Then after making some re- marks on the different characters of men, he continues; " Fol- low me through thistinvestigation, and then decide according to the evidence you receive, for, or against the conclusions arrived at." This modest request of Mr. Davis©vas to fol- low him through 782 pages. I followed him, and can best give you my experience by relating an anecdote. " During the early settlement of Kentucky, in the infant age of the dark and bloody ground, when our great-grandfa- thers and great-grandmothers were rocked in a sugar trough and the children played around the log-cabin, whicn was adorn- ed with turkey-wings and buck horns, an early settler cleared off five acres of ground, around which he made a new rail fence, so close that a rabbit could not crawl through it. He planted it in corn, and in the early fall while walking 'round PEN PICTURES. 165 his field, discovered that hogs had been destroying the crop. He examined every panel of the fence, to find where the brute had entered the field. There was a ravine or natural ditch through the field, and when building the fence across this ravine, a hollow linn log was thrown in, to partly fill up the d'tch, and the fence was placed upon it. Our farmer had a neighbor, who owned a spotted shoat, and if there is a wise hog in the world, you will always find him in the shape of a spotted shoat. This fellow had crawled through the linn log and torn down four times as much corn as twenty hogs could eat, and contrary to hog nature, had crawled out through the same hole that he crawled in. When our farmer discovered the trick, he pulled the fence down off the log and endeavored to remove it, it was a crooked log — like my elbow — and the man succeeded in getting both ends of the log on the outside of the field and replaced the fence upon it. He then left the field, directing his attention to the spotted shoat. When the ani- mal supposed the coast was clear, he cautiously approached the right end of the log and crawled through, coming out on the same side of the fence, when he raised his bristles and trotted off. Hemever went back to that field. With the diligence of a hopeful student I waded through 782 pages of Mr. Davis' work, and like the spotted shoat, came out on the same side of the fence. I spoke in my lecture on Time and Motion, of a great castle, in which allusion was made to the future state of man. This picture has existed among all nations of men. " The soul uneasy and confined from home — Rests, and expatiates in a life to come." Mr. Davis proclaimed, that this castle was accessible, and beckoned his hearers to follow him. I followed him seven- hundred and eighty-two miles through the brush, it is true there was an occasional wild flower along the path-way. The 166 PEN PICTURES. journey was tedious and wearisome, at last the wall of the castle appeared in the distance, I struggled up to the door, Mr. Davis opened it, and I passed through, only to find my- self in the woods on the other side. And Davis at last is compelled to come to the cold naked truth, and acknowledge that the interior of the castle is invisible until you go to sleep. He ought to be called, the sleeping beauty of the nineteenth century. The definition of the word medium, is to stand in or about the middle. If an orator offering to address you, stand- ing at so great a distance you could not hear him, and I stood in the middle — between you — repeating what he said, I would be a medium. Thus the spiritual medium, standing on the brink of the dark river, scanning the distant shores, sees, or thinks he sees, the golden edge of the new-born day, and with a cheek that knows no shame, reveals to credulous ears the mysteries of the spirit land. There have been me- diums in all ages of the world. The late revival of spiritual mediums in this country, is eminently calculated to start civil- ization on the back track. What is a medium ? Let us dissect him. He is nothing but a bundle of poor humanity, feeds on the same food, breathes the same air and is animated by the same elements that animate all men. Has he not arms, and legs, a face, and a brain? In what is he different from other men? In nothing, but wearing a cheek that knows no shame. Let us teach man the power of his own mental faculties, let him hear the voice of freedom it will elevate him above the power of principalities — and devils. The beauties of na- ture, the flowers of reason, the roses of happiness lie in reck- less profusion along his path-way, he must gather them with his own hands. " Let me pluck them for you," is the voice of slavery. When you meet sin and sorrow make no appeal to community, community is as destitute of mercy, as the PEN PICTURES. 167 waves of the sea to a sinking ship. If you would ride boldly over the waves of tiouble, you must paddle your own canoe. Every man thinks, or should think for himself. The tide of thought flows as freely as a river of water, it is the water of life, springing up to every man's brain. Oh ! how bitter it is sometimes made from another's cup. The life of tke body is a forced state, a state of worry, of care and oft of sorrow and of weeping. The life of the spirit comes a volunteer. We have al- ready demonstrated life to be a development that belongs to the vegetable as well as the animal kingdom. The life of the spirit is a mental power eternal in itself pervading the universe. The principles of nature are eternal. The power ot the steam engine is a principle — the steam is a thing, the power a principle. Honor arises from action, yet honor is a principle. One may have the external appearance of a gentleman, but if we find that he lacks the principle of honor we discard him. The things of nature perish or change form, the principles of failure are eternal. The rocks we dig out of the mountain bear indisputable evidence that they once existed in another form. The animals exist in the vegetable kingdom, and are de- veloped into bodies of flesh and blood, and perish or change form. " Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return," alludes alone to the body. The spirit never was and never can be dust. Smoke rises up because it is lighter than the air; it acted the same way when the first fire was kindled upon the earth, I speak to you to-day. My body will perish and return to dust after it has moldered beneath the sod for 2,000 ages. The same ideas may be advanced by another man, without any knowledge of me or of my record. The bodies 168 PEN PICTURES. of men and their language perish ; but ideas do not perish, because mind is an eternal principle pervading the universe. Spirit is the flower of the mind. Who would have a foolish spirit? We come now to speak of the presence of the spirit in the mind for no philosopher can find spirit in anything else. You see with both eyes alike because you use both alike. Put a bandage over one for a week and you will not be able to see with it at all for a time. What is true of the eye is also true of the other mental organs. Put a bandage over your evil organs and the devil will not enter. Close the door against him and he will go away. But, says one, I would do good but evil is present with me. It is hard to rid the mind of that old serpent — the Tempter. This reminds me of the Arkansas doubter. There lived a man in the State of Arkansas whom all his neighbors called the doubter. He doubted everything, doubted the existence of the man in the moon. Some said that he doubted public opinion. A traveler met the doubter in the road, and addressing him said : " Sir, can you tell me where John Smith lives ?" The doubter, looked serious, replied " Do you see this bayou?" "Yes." " Well, this bayou runs west about three miles and then turns and runs south; right at the turn of the bayou there is a bridge ; cross that bridge and you strike a high plain sloping gradually to the west; the road runs across that plain in a west direction ; there are houses on each side cf the road; John Smith may live ino ne of these houses, but I doubt it ' " I was not asking for your doubts, I want information." "Well cross this plain in a west direction and you come to a large canebrake; pa?s through this e-nebrake and you PEN PICTURES. 169 strike a group of low flat hills, thickly settled ; John Smith * may live there, but I doubt it. They say that John Smith lives in all neighborhoods ; strike any settlement, and by dili- gent* inquiry you can find John Smith, -but I doubt it " "Go to the devil with your doubts," said the man, and . started on. "Hold on, stranger, I can tell you where John Smith does live. He lives in his own house, and if you can find that house, you will find where John Smith lives." I am like the Arkansas doubter. You may go to church in search of a good spirit and you may find it there, but I doubt it. You may unfold the pages of ancient history in search of a good spirit, and you may find it there, but I doubt it. Hold, reader, I can tell you where you can find it — in its own house. Clear the rubbish out of your own brain ; quit- all of your bad conduct; prepare the residence for a good spirit, and it will come and dwell with you. But, says one, morality is dead without religion. With profound regard for the religious schools of the day, I criti- cise this declaration. Morality comes strictly within the pale of mental philosophy, because it is the result of mental or- ganism. The ancient definition of the word religion was to bind together. Our country and all other countries are full of churches and clergymen. They all teach religion. They all bind their own people together and leave humanity as wide apart as the poles. Morality is as broad as the earth, and beautiful as the unfolded heavens. The majestic idea of the word can march through the church and the state house ; can enter the dark prison and comfort the lowly and down-trod- den ; can travel without a passport among all nations, and through all countries ; can be spoken in every language and treasured in every heart. I would like to see all men every- where religious \ but religion without morality is like a bird sitting on marbles — marbles never hatch. Associations cf 170 PEN PICTURES rner- who have bound themselves together and claim exclu- # sive jurisdiction uver the great spirit should not crjdfy mo- rality It comes like ihe amid teacher who appeared in Pales- tine io strengthen the weak and bind up the broken-hearted. When 1 hear a man say that morality is dead without re- ligion 1 think of that mild passage in the history of Jesus when his apostles came to him and said, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name who did not follow us and we forbade him." I think of the old Jews who supposed themselves in pos- session of all the genuine religion that was in the world, when justice would nave released Jesus. They cried aloud to Pon- tius Pilate, "crucify him ! crucify him ! let his blood be upon us and upon our children." Individuality crucified morality. Individuality is the rock upon which all theologians split. It has scattered the Christian church into more than 6co de- nominations, and throughout the globe the future state has been fitted to the human passions. Who can individualize the mind? a bundle of passions, desires, hopes and fears. Who can individualize spirit ? We hope to meet our friends in the spirit land, but we do not hope to meet all of their individual passions. When we see outside of individuality we will be no longer individuals. « While man lives upon the earth he has a local habitation and a name. When he crosses the dark river he is borne away on the wide wings of hope through the stars and space. Deo favente ad infinitum. Individuality is human and peculiar to humanity, in proof of which I appeal to the history of the old Jewish prophets. All will agree that they were animated by the same spirit, yet we find as much difference between them as we find in any other class of men. Some of them dwelt upon the sublime and beautiful others spoke continually of weeping and sorrow. PEN PICTURES. 171 And the clergymen of our day speak according to their mental organism. Some of them are a hard-hearted race of men, for they speak continually of future torments. Others, more congenial, speak of the beauties of the universe and incomprehensible works of God. Some lead their congrega- tions with a golden cord of love, others drive them with whips of scorpions. They all see by the same light and are animated by the same spirit. Where, then, is the great spiritual difference ? Is it not in their mental organism ? We see the same difference in their congregations. They are all taught by the same clergyman, attend the same church and claim the same reward. Try them on a case of charity; some of them would not give the sunny side of a stump to a frozen beggar, others give even to the undeserving. All of them do act according to their mental organism. Talk about the spirit ! The character of the spirit is always determined by the material with which it comes in contact, A man is a good or a bad man upon the basis of his mental organism. Behold the ancient pyramids of distant days ; contem- plate the magnificent temples of succeeding ages, and all the buildings erected for devotion. They stand as silent as the dead material of which they are composed. The human brain is the great spiritual temple of humanity. It is holy ground, consecrated by the unseen hand, upon which every mother in the world can rear the spiritual edifice of her children, though it be upon a puncheon floor inclosed with the rude logs of her native land. Daniel said to Belshazzar, when he read the hand-writing on the wall : "Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting; thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." No one believes that the king's body had been weighed in a pair of scales and found wanting in avoir- 172 PEN PICTURES. dupois weight. The most refined results of the human mind have received a name, and that name is ho?wr. The king's honor had been weighed and found wanting. Belshazzar was not a Jew, nor did he observe the Jewish ritual. Now, I appeal to this assembly ; you all have friends and associates, some of them you would trust with your money — you would trust them with your lives — others you would not trust with a pair of skates, because you have weighed their honor in your balances and found it wanting. The language of men, in their associations, rites, ceremonies and professions, in all ages or countries, perish or change form. But if they possess the principle of honor, it is imperishable. You may steal my money, burn my house and tarnish my goods; but, Oh God, save me from the dark assassin who would unjustly tarnish my honor ! Go wkh me to an ancient castle Its glory lies moldering in the dust — upon its features the hand of fate has dealt relentless ruin. The stream of time has left it away back in the dusky age. Slightly beneath the crumbling rubbish we find a coat; take it up, examine it, it may have been worn by the founder of the Chaldean empire or him who laid the foundation stone of a pyramid in Egypt. Stamped with the shape of humanity, we know it once covered a man ; nothing more does it reveal— poor, poor, dumb garment. Look ! here is the man himself— or rather the body — wonderfully preserved from the fate of decay. The lips are beautiful as ever. — Speak ! tell thy ancient rights and fervent prayers— they are as silent as the senseless rubbish clustered 'round their moldering form ; whatever sounds they may have once uttered, whatever words they may have once spoken, like the coat the body was nothing but the garment that covered the true seed of honor. One more picture and the curtain falls. The pictures of the men of progress, put in a frame PEN PICTURES 17 i together, are being hung up in our parlors. "But," says one, " that is Infidelity— better preserve the pictures of the holy men of old." That is the individuality of poor human nature, that said morality is dead without religion— it is the same man who said there is a conflict between science and revelation. There is no conflict between true science and true revela- tion. Any problem that does not prove itself is no science. Twice two are four — figures are a science because they prove themselves. Astronomy demonstrates the course of the planets, and their contact in eclipse one with another before it takes place; and geology, and all other sciences worthy of the name, prove themselves. And what is revelation ? There is no power in the universe that can reveal ignorance. To reveal is to uncover, to make known, to give the light of knowledge; and anything that is not made known is not revealed. Standing under the mantle of charity, we witness a great conflict of human faith— and no wonder, faith is not a science or revelation. Faith is a feature of education, and applies only to conditions— for all nations agree to the great problem of a future life. The spirit of liberty guarantees to every man his own faith. It is a pure philanthrophy and a noble philosophy that consecrates every man's faith upon the altar of Charity, a beautiful and blindfolded goddess, who is bear- ing millions of our race, of all nations and countries, on the wide wings of hope, to eternity in a local spot : a heaven adorned with precious stones and paved with gold ; a baby- house of the soul of ignorance and picture of the dark ages. I endeavored, in my lecture on Time and Motion, to unfold the infinity of the universe, space without limit, worlds without end. Time and motion belong to the planets, the planets belong to space. God and eternity are everywhere. The spirit of intellect pervades the universe, and animates 174 PEN PICTURES. the soul of man here, hereafter and forever. It does not en- ter the tomb — the grave, and all the powers of darkness, do not bind it. The armies of death perish at its feet. It sur- vives the revolution of planets and the wreck of worlds ; per- vades the incomprehensible circle of space intwined in the arms of destiny. GENIUS AND POETRY. GENIUS. [In ancient fable an old man of venerable aspect and silver beard, unlike other heathen gods, he ruled no particular passion or element, but loaned a helping hand to all, the Poet, Author, Architect, Teach- er, Navigator, Statesman, Orator, Theologian, General in the field and all others, even in the simplest avocations of life may consult him to advantage.] He lives not in a sealed house, He dwells in the open air, He is not found in robes of wealth, Neither bound up in classic schools. He lives in the wind, and rides on the breeze Dwells in the forest and tenants the trees. O ! tell me where and when True Genius comes to men ? In easy seat or cushion chair, He never comes to hear your prayer. In ease of body or of mind, No mortal can true Genius find. Faithful to all — and ever true — Work, work! and he will work with you; Work at what you can truly do, And he will come and work with you. His art is work, his heart is brave, He loves the free, and hates the slave, He lives with all who soar above — Pure as light, and gentle as love. 176 PEN PICTURES. MY NATIVE LAND. ADDRESSED TO VOUXG AMERICA. In ages past — almost obscure, We trace the germs of liberty, For ancient Greece in days of yore, Emerging from obscurity, Gave birth to men who lived to love, And all their love was liberty. Crushed to earth by tyrant heel, Long ages slept in lethargy, Aroused to meet the foeman's steel. And in the name of liberty, Fought fresh battles on the field Of young and brave America. Our fathers fought and bravely died, When death would pay off tyranny ; They met the foemen side by side, And fought to win our liberty. The grateful heart adores the name They won for their posterity; On land, on sea 'tis all the same, The watchword is "Our Liberty.'' For teeming lands and homes made dear, By all the ties of purity, They held the claim without a fear, And still they fought for liberty. With their brave blood, as pure as light, And free from the germs of tyranny, The last brave call heard in the fight, Was, leave to us " Our Liberty." A playful boy accosted me, With words of wisdom — I may say. PEN PICTURES. !T7 For lads that climb an apple tree, His name was Young America. With golden locks and ruddy cheeks, He spoke in plaintive tones, so mild, The loving heart must ever seek, The memory of the growing child. In every State, so broad and fair, The little boys triumphant stand, And I must tell you, that they are The glory of my native land. He spoke of Congress, and the men Who represent the present age, The heroes of the sword and pen, The soldier, and the stately sage. He spoke of time, long in the past, When clubs and sticks were used by men, But now we travel on so fast, We only need to use the pen. He spoke of Justice, with her scales Suspended from her legal hand, Stamped on my heart, with plaintive tales, The glory of my native land. He spoke of all our history past, And then he wav'd his little hand; I saw in him — from first to last, The glory of my native lam?. His name is one — to all the same, He stood where all the boys must stand, And to the busy world proclaim The glory of their native land. To him I spoke, in kind and loving words, Roam through the woods and hear the singing birds , Be just to all, and ever justice love. 12 178 PEN PICTURES. Steal not the sweet little eggs of a dove* Be just to birds, for justice first began In the wild woods, with primitive man ; Be bold in thought, be bold in action too, Be bold in justice, and in virtue true. Be true to thyself, be just when you pray, As just in the week as on the Lord's day; Of all the problems ponder d o'er so long, It is the living test of right and wrong. Boys who never steal an egg, or drink a dram, Make men who never swindle Uncle Sam. A flower planted in the youthful mind, Full-blown manhood never fails to find. The stings of wrong, that with the boy began, Will follow up his growth and sting the man. Then with a gentle pressure of the hand, Casting o'er the broad and beautiful land. ■* The old, the honest are passing swiftly away, The men of the future are the boys of to-day. The learn'd, and the wise, the good and the brave. Are passing away and filling the grave. If examples were blank, no mortal could see, What the rising generation would be. Men make boys, and boys make men, good or bad, The mold is cast — and finished with the lad. This great country — hills and plains, lakes and boys, Iron arms, long rivers, its hopes and joys ; From sea to sea, beneath a genial sun, Great in extent, in union, one. For you the struggling past has lived to save, The land of the free, and home of the brave. To you transmitted with a generous hand, Treasures of a broad and beautiful land, And you with a fond helpmate by your side, PEN PICTURES. 179 May blend sweet home with a national pride. The rivers, and lakes, the towns, and the lands, Will soon be transmitted to your hands ; The sacred records, and government too, Will also be transmitted to you. Old fate is coming with her magic wand, Peering all through this beautiful land, And whether in search of the sword or the pen, Will seldom mistake representative men. Be just, and true, and never be too late, Having no fears of fortune, or of fate ; Work for the right and never be afraid, The right is at par, and is always paid. Work with the brain, and work with the hand, Work for the right, work for your native land. Live with the just, and die with the brave, And flowers of fame will bloom o'er your grave. Think for yourself— mold your thought refined, Treasure in the brain jewels of the mind; For men have thought before, and thought sublime, Through all the busy world before your time ; Unfolded worlds from Diamonds in the sky, Scan'd endless space with artificial eye. Gave life to words, and talk'd across the sea, Released the slave, the human mind is free, Free to think in every shape, and form, To raise the wind and to calm the storm. 180 PEN PICTURES. RISE AND FALL OF OLD NICK. ADDRESSED TO THE DEVIL. Come Beelzebub, thou sneaking ape of time, Conceived in sin, and born in open crime; Transgressing the law — long years ago, The charges are made, stern justice must know, What pleadings are brought to lie in the court, Guilty, or not guilty you must report. The judges are waiting, anxious to know, What you will plead, with whom you will go. Come honestly up and answer the suit, Charged with tasting forbidden fruit ; You fled from the garden — in shape a snake, Determined to capture all you could take. Afraid of the light, slip'd through the dark, Crossed over the flood, outside of the ark; Afflicted old Job, and strip' d of his wealth, Entered his flesh and poisoned his health. From the land of Uz you followed the Jews, From tribe to tribe you carried the news, Stood at the altar, and wrote with the Scribes, To the king of Persia you gave ten tribes. Grew handsomely large, and strong by degrees, Your form was changed by the Pharisees. In Babylonian captivity — Your serpent form lack'd activity, The Pharisees first gave you legs and feet, With dragon head they made your form complete. To travel ' round the world, o'er hill and bog, Followed by the three-headed Grecian dog. Then with Jew and Greek, sneaking through the land, To show the wicked world how Devils stand, PEN PICTURES. 181 Deceiving them all with wonderful ease By scouting the faith of the Sadducees, Then tempting the Good, for forty long days, Threw up the sponge, and spoke in his praise. Rebuked by the Good, you enter'd the swine, Persuading some men to root in that line. Last seen by Michael, as he supposes, Claiming the bones and body of Moses. Next seen by St. John, revealing your reign, Lamenting your fate, and bound with a cha'n, Accused by the just, and judged by your peers, Was banished from the Jews a thousand years. Forsaking these men, and leaving their home, Prospected with Greeks — and settled at Rome, Spread with the faithful all over the grove, Stripping all men as you stripped old Job. The charges in short, summed up in brief, All men call you a liar and a thief. With charges so grave, and granted -fair play, In defense of your.self, what can you say ? The Devil rose up, and shaking his mane, Opened his mouth in eloquent strain, With sparks in Mis eyes, and tongue rolling 'round, With feet wide apart, and tail on the ground, Rattled his hoofs, no longer a snake, Hell-d up his head, and boldly he spake — 66 As thin as the air, and still as the grave, I live with the bad, and work with the knave, Molding the mean, and greeting the grand, I'm passing through each house in the land, Forsaking the wise, I stay with the fool, No charges are made, I keep a free school, Eat without bread, and fatten on a fuss, Abandon the dead, as useless to us — 182 PEN PICTURES. The living are mine, and all I can get, Are handsomely taken in their own net. My traps are set, both early and late, Credulous game is caught without bait. The field is broad, and wide as the earth — To credulous game, all classes give birth. I'm sure to be sought, by the mean and low, The rich and the proud will come to the show. In castle and cot, the great and the small, Aside from»the light, will give me a call. Bad men follow me, wherever I go — Begging me out of all that I know, My thoughts are quick, and given at a stroke, Are easy to learn when under the yoke, Coasting the sea, and all over the land, I meet with men to take by the hand, Restless and rude, for I never was kind, Though lost to the good, I'm not hard to find. I pass by the good, the just I abhor, Have constantly kept all nations at war. Have wrote with the learn'd, embellished the pages By stratagems sought — have darken'd all ages, Have bound to the stake, and hung with the rope, Slept with the queen, and dined with the Pope, Familiar with abuse and lost to all shame, Hopeless of life, I am nothing but a ?iame. A wonderful name, all over the earth, The passions of men, have given me birth, The passions are good, when properly used, The Devil comes in to see them abused. When passions are found, the force of the mind, The Devil himself, you never will find. Remember these words, a wise man said. PEN PICTURES. 183 'The Devil is not in a good man's head,' I'm vanishing now, out of your sight, Gentlemen all, I bid you good night. " THE CONFEDERATE FLAG. [The following poetic address was preserved by u rebei woman, and is inserted for the benefit ot those who did not witness the wai spirit in Missouri in 1861. The rebel ladies of Hattsburg manuiao tured a very fine confederate flag, intended for the company of Cap* tain Crumlow, who were upon the eve of starting to join the amy of General Sterling Price. A formal presentation was arranged— the company and a large number of citizens assembled at the Plattsburg College. A person whose name and address was not preserved, pre- sented the flag in the name of the ladies. Captain Crumlow requested your orator to receive the flag in behalf of the company with a suit- able response. Your orator received the flag, and holding it in' his right hand, partly unfurled, returned the following response :j- LADIES. Should blood and carnage fill the land a And cities and towns no longer stand; Should conquer'd courage gasp for breath; And your defenders, lie coid in death — Butcher'd and mangled on the field, No arm be left, this banner to shielc 1 ; Take up its folds, with tender hands, And on the ground where virtue stands, Trust in God, and consecrate This banner to their mortal fate. But, no such scene will ever stain The coral of the human brain. Mars may forge infernal rods, 184 PEN PICTURES. And Northmen dream of coal black gods ; These lords will fail to come to time, For Northmen in a southern clime. Our country lies, both far and wide, And in it dwells a native pride No hand can conquer or subdue, While held by such a brace as you. In Crumlow's men you place your trust — They'll bear this flag above the dust. As»the flag was handed to the standard-bearer of the company, Gen. D. R. Atchison, Ex-Senator of the United States, appeared on the stage to congratulate the speaker. Citizens threw up their hats r and ladies waved their 'kerchiefs in applause, while the company marched off with the banner thrown to the breeze, followed by run- ning boys and idle negroes. A picture fitly representing the brave heroism with which Price's army went through the first year of the war. FAMILY AND FATE. ADDRESS TO A FEMALE RELATION. You must nOt think the cares of life with me Are smooth, and placid as a summer sea. The joyous days, one by one revealed, Turn fresh trouble long, long concealed ■ Gray locks of time adorn the aching brow Unfinished work drags heavy now. While on we march, in one continuous flood, I'm but a drop of the commingled blood ; Homogeneous with the family name. PEN PICTURES. 185 Preserving kindred ties and family fame; So long, slowly wise and darkly great, No stores of wit or large estate To deck their graves or write their fate. Meekly have I lived, and with the poor must die, No stone to mark the ground where I must lie ; Sunk with the motley herd of human kind, No trace that once I lived to leave behind ; A mound of earth alone remains with me — -Tis all I ask, and all the proud can be. When time shall cool my blood and steal my breath, When life shall reach the silent shade of death, When the cold, damp clods cluster 'round my head. Earth to earth, sweet sister, will I be dead ? In this dark dream of death's long silent sleep, I pray my niece these hopeful lines to keep c Poor tired soul, humble and forgiving, Without future hope, life ain't worth living. Death is but a name magnified by fear, The living elements that disappear With nature's soft hand, are forever here. In these elements the hope of heaven, A living hope by kind nature given. Come, genius, come, tune thy living song To 'muse the merry world while I sleep so long ; Sleep not with me — act with the living throng ; Cheer up sad times with merry heart and head — Lie not entombed, but resurrect the dead. Dark mantled fear, with his bow and quiver, Stands on the brink of death's dark river; The shield of antiquity covers his head — He shoots at the living, not at the dead : 186 PEN PICTURES. Through trembling faith his fleeting arrows run, Inflicting a thousand deaths instead of one. When in future bliss, or in hopeful prayer. No mortal ken can see just what we are. God gives the mind to us as free as air : Life lies in action and is everywhere ; Above, below, around, through endless space, Life, mind and light fill every friendly place. Darkness and death, obscure to human sight, Can only remain where there is no light. Life, mind and light, eternai in the skies, Solace of the weak and soui of the wise — Light never was dark, and life never dies, Through endless space the thoughtful man can pierce, L T ntarnished mind pervades the universe. Shall the dark, silent tomb, with bolts and bars, Imprison mind that travels through the stars ? Shall ponderous matter, nature's body, find Dominion over active, thinking mind? Men do not perish with their flesh and bones, Or cease to be, when they have ceased their groans. For flesh and bones are not the man defined — Strange elements of a different kind, Reveal the man as they reveal the mind. The brain is not the mind, as some suppose; We see it there, but know not where it goes. Spirit, soul, apparition, thought refined, High, deep, quick, endless — Oh God ! what is mind ? It moves my hand, molds my measured verse, Moves everything, pervades the universe. PEN PICTURES. 187 TWILIGHT. INTERMEDIATE BODY AND SOUL. The rainbow hooped the eastern sky, The melting clouds passed softly by, The sun had sunk behind the trees — Twilight hung on the western breeze. The earth rolled on with day and night; But who shall claim the soft twilight ? Retreating light, cast on the ground, Made cottage-homes a scene profound. The plowman left his furrowed field, The light of day just half concealed. The house-wife spread her generous board, Received her mate and blessed the Lord. The rivers waved in calm delight Beneath the silent shades of night; Spirits, concealed by grave-yard stones, Silently sleep with dead men's bones; The moving earth dark robes unfurled, And sleep subdued just half the world; The iron tongue of time had told That dreary night was growing old; Aurora ope'd her wakeful eye, Twilight dawned in the eastern sky 5 The day of life must also close, The night of death no mortal knows; Let all men view in calm delight The evening shade of life's twilight, When full of years and honors too, The evening brings solace to you; Departing day will bid farewell, When twilight comes no tongue can tell — ■ 188 PEN PICTURES. So, calm and thoughtful, let us see What twilight brings to you and me ; A scene behind and one before — Between two worlds, Oh ! mind explore Boundless realms and endless space, See time and fate stand face to face. The night of death, so cold and dark, The faith we have is but a spark Of living light in every breast, The rich and poor will all be blest. The busy day of human life, When time is full of peace and strife, With scenes behind and hope before, The rich forget the needy poor. Beyond the earth no poor are found, If there we tread on holy ground, The poor are rich, the good are great, In coming to the future state. When twilight comes the sun has set, The earth recedes, and we have met Where light and shade obscure the sight, 'Twixt life and death we see twilight. THE DEVIL AND TOM WALKER. Kentucky, the home of Clay, Crittenden, Marshall, Prentice, and other men of distinction, was also the home of one Thomas Wal- ker, who, by circumstances and the trials of the times, gave his name to history. Living near Frankford, it was in that city, that he ap- peared as a hero, playing the fiddle and drinking whisky. Tom was well advanced in years, when the Rev. William Miller, from a close scrutiny of the prophecies of the Old Testament, predic- PEN PICTURES ISO ted the end of the world in 1843. Whatever may have been Tom's good or bad qualities, he was a confirmed Millerite. One day in Frankford, as the dissolution drew near, Tom to drown fear, indulged immoderately in intoxicating drinks, and while he was in a stupefied and senseless condition, a party of Frankford boys, from eight to twelve years of age, just emerging into the bright paths of youth, and of course, heedless of the approaching dissolution of the globe ; had by some means obtained possession of a large raw hide. Upon this they carefully placed Tom's body and carried it to the suburbs of the city, and there stretching Tom upon the ground, carefully covered him with the raw hide, and then placing upon him a large pile of straw set it on fire. In the meantime, Tom had dreamt the world was ended, and himself arrived in the infernal regions. The heat of the fire had aroused Tom from his lethargy, imagination completed the picture, and Tom rushing out from the flames, with burning straw streaming from his person, cried at the top of his voice: " The Devil and Tom Walker." From this circumstance " The Devil and Tom Walker," became a by-word or slang phrase in Kentucky. Tom afterward joined a temperance society and became a sober man. In the following poem he is chosen to personate temperance and virtue, while the Devil personates vice and crime. The Devil and Tom Walker one afternoon, A solemn subject profoundly- discussed; The Devil was anxious to keep a saloon, If to him, his grace could honestly trust. Tom Walker affirmed, " the business was bad." The Devil stood up and curtly replied : "Idle men everywhere, would surely be glad, If the business could be honestly tried." Tom Walker said : " The history of the past, Recorded saloons, as they have bursted, A notable thing from first to last — Honesty, has always been worsted." "A necessary evil," said the Devil, "In every age, and in every clime; 190 PEN PICTURES. Therefore bad men can surely be civil, When dissembling will cover a crime." Tom Walker said: " Vice is not necessary, Though Spirits and Demons may pretend*— To mix them up from June to January, Their vice and virtue never will blind. That evils are necessary, some have told, Inducing the thoughtless to believe ; Because the problem is ancient, and old, And well calculated to deceive." The Devil conceded the point to Tom, But said to himself: " The will is the way, The club-house will gather some custom, And in it, I can gather some pay. Idle men drink, and idle men fight, Idle men fuss, and idle men tight — Sleep through the day, and fuss all night. Virtue may fade, but the dollar is bright, Eyes go blind, when the dollar's in sight. Vice lives in the dark, and flees from the light, Gives virtue the dodge, and justice the blight ; If Tom is wrong, the Devil is right." Changing his tone, the Devil contended; 11 Bad men love justice as well as the good, And justice will swear they have defended, The cause of the bad as well as the good." ' ' You argue your case exceedingly well, Guarding the points, to meet Tom Walker • Carry some justice to the gates of hell, To hear the sound of a smooth talker." 1 ' Older than the State, stronger than the wise, You live at the root of the government ; True men everywhere must open their eyes, Or quietly suffer the punishment." PEN PICTURES. '" Ashamed of your trade, you live in the dark, Borrow the cloak of some other game ; Put on the dog make other trades bark, Sounding your business in some other name.'' " The patriarch Noah planted the vine, His household joined to gather the grape ; He also drank his fill of the wine, If the Devil caught Noah, who can escape ? " Tom Walker may plead, and Tom may talk, The Devil takes notes to feather his nest, Can silently go, where Tom can't walk, Give two in the game and play for the rest. The Devil has played for long ages past, A winning game on all classes of men ; Detected by Tom, checkmated at last, By subscribing his game with ink and pen. Who, like the Devil would ruin the right, By blighting the young with still-worm food ? Live in the dark, and darken the light, Drink lager beer and call the stuff good. How darker than dreary night it is, To all who drink destructive wine ; The Devil is sure to claim for his, The sunny side of virtue's line. Tom Walker lived to see the vision end, Through burning straw an awful sight - f The Devil to him a faithless friend, And all who live to learn him right. Shades of the dead and the Devil's dark light, Tom Walker no more, nor Devil in sight ; Cut loose from the wine, and never get tight. Ladies and Gentlemen good night — good night ! 191 1^'- PEN PICTURES. THE BEAUTIFUL SNOW. AN EMBLEM OF VIRTUE. Rainbow of thought, in the poet's soft eye, Encircle the mind with beautiful sky; To speak of the pure virtues of earth, The beautiful thoughts, emblems give birth, Nothing on earth that's treasur'd below Is half so pure as beautiful snow. God clothed the earth with air and water, Eve, the first fair and beautiful daughter, Transmitted to her descending race Angelic form, and beautiful face ; And purity too, each gallant should know, As pure and stainless as beautiful snow. Let me say to each descending daughter, Cling to the emblem of air and water ; God save the daughter, pure and fair, Beauty, blended with water and air, The treasures of earth honored below Girls are as pure as beautiful snow. Let nature's demands defiantly hold Sinful indulgence, and offers of gold. Sensitive as the blushing young daughter Are flowers of spring sighing for water ; Sin's dark hand slightly touch'd will show, Corruption's mark in beautiful snow. The power of state or pride of sage In all of the past, or a future age, Will never surpass the emblem so fair. Made by the blending. of water and air; PEN PICTURES. No treasure on earth that woman can show Will capture the heart like beautiful snow. The love of display and treasures of gold In markets of shame, where virtue is sold. Worthless emblem, Oh ! beautiful daughter, Cling to the emblem of air and water Cast in your bosom, in order to show, Your purity, like the beautiful snow. Wisdom's bright eye may delinquently trace The lines of the form, and beauties of face ; Perfection may claim, that nature has made A blushing young rose in beautiful shade ; As worthless as chaft the daughter may go, Whose virtue's not like beautiful snow. Cast in the dark by a fatal mistake, From beautiful snow no mortal can take, The stain of the crime, and leave you as fair As the emblem made of water and air. Beautiful daughter, as onward you go, Always remember the beautiful snow. 193 BEAUTIFUL SNOW. The following, beautiful poem, was written by a woman in St. Louis many years ago, and was published in the newspapers at the time. From it your orator received the idea of writing w The Beauti- ful Snow." Thinking the old poem worthy of preservation, it is here printed in its original form. Oh, the snow, the beautiful snow, Filling the sky and the earth below ; 194 PEN PICTURES. Over the house-top, over the street, Over the heads of the people you meet, Dancing, Flirting, Skimming along,. Beautiful snow, it can do nothing wrong ; Flying to kiss a fair lady's cheek, Clinging to lips in a frolicsome freak ; Beautiful snow from the heaven above, Pure as an angel, gentle as love. Oh, the snow, the beautiful snow, How the flakes gather and laugh as they go Whirling about in their maddening fun — It plays in its glee with every one — Chasing, Laughing, Hurrying by, It lights on the face, and it sparkles the eye, And the dogs, with a bark and a bound, Snap at the crystals that eddy around — The town is alive and its heart is aglow, To welcome the coming of beautiful snow. How widely the crowd goes swaying along, Hailing each other with humor and song; How the gay sledges like meteors flash by, Bright for a moment, then lost to the eye ; Ringing, Swinging, Dashing they go, Over the crust ot the beautiful snow — Snow so pure when it falls from the sky, As to make one regret to see it lie PEN PICTURES. 195 To be trampled and tracked by thousands of feet, Till it blends with the filth in the horrible street. Once I was as pure as the snow, but I fell — Fell like the snowrlakes from heaven to hell; Fell to be trampled as filth in the street ; Fell to be scoffed, to be spit on and beat ; Pleading, Cursing, Dreading to die, Selling my soul to whosoever would buy ; Dealing in shame for a morsel of bread; Hating the living, fearing the dead. Merciful God! Have I fallen so low? And yet I was once like the beautiful snow ! Once I was fair as the beautiful snow, With an eye like a crystal, a heart like its glow; Once I was loved for my innocent grace- Flattered and sought for the charms of my face. Father, Mother, Sister, all, God and myself I have lost by my fall ; The veriest wretch that goes shivering by, Will make a wide swoop lest I wander too nigh; For all that is on or above me, I know There's nothing that's pure as the beautiful snow. How strange it should be that this beautiful snow Should fall on a sinner with nowhere to go ! How strange should it be when night comes again . If the snow and the ice struck my desperate brain ! Fainting, Freezing, Dying alone, ! 196 PEN PICTURES. Too wicked for prayer, too weak for a moan To be heard in the streets of the crazy town, Gone mad in the joy of the snow coming down; To be and to die in my terrible woe, With a bed and a shroud of the beautiful snow. Helpless and foul as the trampled snow, Sinner, despair not, Christ stoopeth low To rescue the soul that is lost in its sin, And raise it to life and enjoyment again. Groaning. Bleeding. Dying for thee, The Crucified hung on the accursed tree; His accents of mercy fell soft on thine ear — Is there mercy for me ? Will he hear my prayer? Oh ! God ! in the stream that for sinners did flow, Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. THE WORKMAN'S SATURDAY NIGHT. A TRIBUTE TO HONEST LABOR. Through the wide world 'tis cheerful delight, To speak of life scenes on Saturday night, When merry workmen and their wages meet, And leave the cold shop for the homeward street, To see the dark mantle cover the sky — The light in the cottage meeting his eye ; The patient inmates expecting him back To replenish the house with all they lack. The busy housewife preparing his food, And scraping the scraps to make the grub good. PEN PICTURES. 197 A prattling boy, some four years old or more, With arms extended meets him at the door ; The little eyes turn'd up so clear and fair, Says, "Papa, baby climbed up by the chair." His hopes tell his fears like the Jewish Dan, That his baby boy will soon be a man. His wife scans the scene, delighted to know That all through the house, the baby's the show That mothers must think their babies a show, And workmen thus feel — pray, how do you know? God trusted me with a bright baby boy, Who taught me to feel his babyhood joy. If God gave you the same little treasure ; He also gave the same baby-measure. No measure so pure to measure delight. As baby pleasures on Saturday night. His mission on earth and love of his life. Is blended at home with children and wife,, His purse in her pocket — rich as a Jew, Replenish the house, I trust it to you; The ends made to meet in a workman's life, By none so even as a truthful wife. Let the public halls go on in grand display, And workmen go home where they love to stay. Let the tempter come, with allurements bold, That Madam Rumor's tongue has softly told, Enticing stories of high standing fame, That price the state below the promised nr.me. Let all the scenes darting through the mind, Leave labor's love and workingmen behind. Flora's fair fields, adorned with bright flowers, Can ne'er win the heart from his cottage hours. Home and his children, the hope of his life 5 No vision so clear as love for his wife. 198 PEN PICTURES. The fame of the great ne'er made a measure Large enough to hold cottage -bound pleasure He works with his hands and then takes his rest In the bosom of love — God of the blest. Come, fashion and frolic, blooming and bright, But leave to brave workmen Saturday night. INSIDE VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES MAIL REVEALED BY THE ANGEL OF OBSERVATION. Letter No. i. Going West will give each man a farm, And living West will do the East no harm, As people spread along the Western shore, The Eastern man will find an open door. The blue bird laid in the di-dapper's nest, And the golden eggs are found in the West. — Land Agent. Letter No. 2. Katy's sick and Jennie's gone to school, The storm is over and the weather's cool, Brother Tom's married and his wife is gay She's too fast for him, so the people say Some awful things, I never ought to speak. Remember this, I'm coming home next week. — Confidential Sister. Letter No. 3. The note was protested, won't go in bank, And you are requested to sign this blank. PEN PICTURES. 109 The current house has failed — aint worth a cent, Long trust ran off and didn't pay his rent. Horn'd by the bulls and squeezed by the bears, The golden-wing gods demand our prayers. — Failing Merchant. Letter No. 4. The little kitten's dead, I'm so distressed, To keep my spirits up I do my best. Come home right son, I'm so very sad, When I see Tom, O, I-l-e be so glad ! — Affectionate Little Sister. Letter No. 5. I thought so Betsey, when you married Jim, The devil a bit would I take from him. To live in a fuss folks never oughter, But prove yourself to be mother s daughter. To fight and scratch is surely a sin, But when he starts the fuss al'ys go in. — Mother-in-Law. Letter No. 6. I-v-e bought some land, paid half the money down, Inclosed y-o-u-'l-l find a note on Billy Brown. Collect it right away. Tell him I-l-e sue. Pay Joe the coin, I-l-e pay the church for you. — Church Member. Letter No. 7. Come over here, Rip, the best place I-v-e seen, Lots of boys in town, and half of 'em green. I played last night till four. Won all the stakes. Bacchus among us with boots full o' snakes. 200 PEN PICTURES. Morpheus embraced me till the clock struck ten, Ate a late breakfast, looked 'round me, and then Acted agent through the day, softly and wise, Till watchmen on duty all shut their eyes. And t-h-e-n the foolish boys go in, y-o-u b-e-t. Come over here, Rip, and help spread the net. — Fast Young Man. Letter No. S. The case is lost. The witness on the stand Did not remember the lines of the land. His mind was short, I told you it would be, The cost is on y-o-u, the work was on me. — Attorney at Law. Letter No.