Part 20

During the last decade, and especially since the great Centennial, expositions have been numerous, and, in many cases, attended with most gratifying results. When the associations providing them are controlled by men of culture, they are generously sustained. The articles they have to exhibit are not only numerous, but in kind and quality, worthy of our advanced civilization. These American expositions are becoming notably rich in manufactured articles, and in the extent and variety of useful machinery. For inventive genius the Yankee nation is unrivaled, while in the mechanical execution of the designs our skilled artisans have few, if any, superiors. In the principal western cities the holding of at least annual expositions is no longer a tentative measure. The institutions are established, and their continuance, in most cases, pretty well assured. An example of these is the “Detroit Art and Loan Exposition” of recent origin. Already it has fair proportions, being from the commencement, in most respects, equal to the best. Evidently the project for having there a creditable, first-class exposition was clearly conceived, generously sustained, and most successfully executed.

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Before Congress opens General W. T. Sherman will close up the affairs of his office, and General Sheridan will succeed him as commander of the United States Army. General Sherman has made a good officer, but his reputation in history will rest chiefly on his bravery and skill as a general in his famous march to the sea. The Sherman family have served their country well. John Sherman, in the Senate, and as Secretary of the Treasury, in times when great abilities were in demand, has made a name as great in his line as the general in the army.

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The receipts of the great Brooklyn bridge for nineteen weeks from the opening, were: For passengers, $34,464; for vehicles, $31,563; for cars, $3,936. Total receipts, $69,163. The average per day was $526.04. The total expenses during the nineteen weeks were $51,418.08.

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The C. L. S. C. continues to grow with great rapidity in all parts of the country. There is no sign of the interest waning in any community from which we have heard. From Plainfield, N. J., the central office, we receive news that the new class will be the largest of our history. New England is rolling up a large membership. All over the West and Northwest there is an interest among the people amounting to enthusiasm. Mr. Lewis Peake, of Toronto, reports a C. L. S. C. revival in Canada. This is the time to circulate C. L. S. C. circulars, and to use your town, city, and county papers to call the attention of the people to the aims and methods of work. By these means a C. L. S. C. fire may be kindled on every street in every town and city in the land.

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The recent pastoral letter of the Cardinal and other high officials in the Romish Church, caused a reporter to ask one of these officers some questions about marriage and divorce, to which he replied as follows. It is wholesome truth: “Marriage is a divine institution, and the Catholic Church under no circumstances whatever permits the sacred contract to be broken.” To the question, “Is there no such thing as separation between husband and wife recognized in the Catholic Church?” he answered: “Separation, yes, for the gravest reasons and under restrictions that do not admit of the remarriage of either of the parties to the original contract while both are living. But divorce in the sense generally accepted, never. Rather than permit divorce, the Church let England separate from the Holy See. The same question was raised by the first Napoleon, and it was ruled against him by the Pope. You will find that if anything bearing the appearance of divorce has been allowed in the Catholic Church, it has always been a case where the most careful investigation showed that the marriage was originally invalid.”

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The Germans on October 8 in many towns and cities celebrated the bi-centennial of the arrival of the first German immigrants in this country, on the ship “Concord.” Their singing, secret, and literary societies paraded in regalia, with banners and music. It was a notable day among the Germans of America.

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Bishop Paddock, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in charge of the diocese of Washington Territory, when speaking of his field of labor before the Episcopal Council in Philadelphia last month, said: “I am decidedly opposed to separating the colored people in their worship from the whites.”

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We learn from an exchange that the authorities of the Erie Railway have decided to discharge every employe who uses liquor as a beverage, whether he gets drunk or not. It is plain that for the safety of passengers a drinking man should not be entrusted with an engine, the care of a switch, with messages as a telegraph operator, or as a superintendent in charge of a division.

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The Methodists of Canada have eliminated the words “serve” and “obey” from the woman’s part of the marriage ceremony. Even the argument that the New Testament enjoins this kind of obedience on wives, did not preserve the words in the ritual. We congratulate the wives on the change.

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Professor W. F. Sherwin has been appointed by Dr. E. Tourjee chorus director in that prosperous institution, the New England Conservatory of Music, in Boston, Massachusetts. The Professor will make Boston his home, and continue to lecture and conduct musical conventions, as heretofore.

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The Cooper Union was crowded one evening last month to welcome Francis Murphy home from England and his own native Ireland. Judge Noah Davis presided and delivered the address of welcome. “In speaking of Mr. Murphy’s work in England and Scotland he quoted the statistics of the United Kingdom to prove that Mr. Murphy’s efforts had been effectual in reducing the excise revenues many thousands of pounds sterling. He said that during his two years’ stay in England and Scotland he had obtained half a million signers to the pledge. Mr. Murphy responded in a few brief words, declaring that the occasion was the happiest of his whole life. A number of short addresses were made by clergymen, and with the singing of songs and choruses, in which the whole assembly engaged, the ceremonies were prolonged until about half-past ten o’clock.”

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The C. L. S. C. is rapidly becoming an established institution among New England people. This is to be accounted for in part by the fact that the religious press of Boston and other New England cities has favored the work with earnest, strong words. The Rev. Dr. B. K. Pierce, editor of _Zion’s Herald_, closes a leading editorial on the C. L. S. C., in his paper of a recent date, with these words: “There is another reason why we look with great satisfaction upon this widely-extended home-university. We have fallen upon an era of doubt. The literature of the hour is full of sneers at revealed religion and of arrogant and destructive criticism upon the Holy Scriptures. The daily, weekly and monthly press is strongly flavored with this. Our young people breathe it in the atmosphere of the school and of the streets. Here is one of the best, silent, powerful, positive correctives. This carefully-arranged plan of study and reading for successive years is entirely in the interest of the ‘truth as it is in Jesus.’ It is not narrow, nor dogmatic, nor polemical, nor confined to purely religious subjects, but the whole system is arranged and followed out upon the presumption of the inspiration of the Bible, the divine origin of Christianity, and its ultimate triumph upon the earth. It will powerfully strengthen the faith of young Christians, preserve them from the insidious attacks of infidelity, and enable them to have, and to give to any serious inquirer, an answer for the hope that is in them.”

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The jury system has some glaring defects which should be laid bare and made the subject of agitation till they are corrected. Recently in a famous bribery case (so called) at Albany, N. Y., when jurors were being called and questioned, one of them said, “I don’t know who were the United States Senators two years ago from New York.” Yet this ignorant man was accepted as a juror. This is a common custom in the selection of jurors. It is exalting ignorance at the expense of intelligence and justice. Some remedy should be found for this growing and terrible evil.

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A new field of artistic ability is being developed in the East. It is the decoration of the interior of private residences. Already in New York a number of young artists, who find it difficult to sell all the pictures they paint, are giving their attention to this work, which promises to be very remunerative and very extensive.

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The Chicago agency of Alice H. Birch has been abandoned, and her old patrons may order any game previously advertised by her, at her home, Portland, Traill Co., Dakota.

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The Commissioner of Education has prepared a table showing the illiteracy among voters in the South, which presents a painfully interesting study for educators and statesmen. In the formerly slaveholding States there are 4,154,125 men legally entitled to vote. Of these, 409,563 whites, and 982,894 colored, are unable to write even their names, and their ability to read is very limited. Many, who profess to be able to read, can only with difficulty spell out a few simple sentences in their primers, and really get no knowledge, such as the citizen needs, from either books or papers. Thousands of them have neither books nor papers, and could not read them if they had. Surely a great work must be done for these freed men and poor whites before they are quite equal to all the duties of citizens in a country like ours.

EDITOR’S TABLE.

Q. Dec´orus or deco´rus, which?

A. Webster authorizes both, giving preference to the latter. The former has the advantage of placing the accent on the root syllable, a rule that is very helpful in settling questions of pronunciation, and conforms to usage in the accentuation of cognate words, as “dec´orate,” “dec´oration,” etc. We prefer it.

Q. What is the meaning of “liberal,” in the phrases, “liberal education,” and “liberal religious views?”

A. An education extended much beyond the practical necessities of our every-day business and social life, is liberal. It is not a possession belonging alone to the alumni of colleges and universities. Any person of culture, who, with or without the aid of teachers, has mastered the curriculum of studies prescribed by colleges, or its equivalent, is liberally educated. In the best sense, a man of “liberal religious views” is generous, freely according to others the right to their opinions on all subjects about which good men may differ. He is not creedless, but not bigoted; and cordially approves “things that are most excellent,” wherever they are found. The claim to great liberality, set up by those who have no rule of faith, and no views they are willing to formulate, does not seem well founded.

Q. Where is the line, “Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife” found? and should not the word “madding” be “maddening?”

A. The line is from Gray’s Elegy (73). The adjective “mad” is made a causative verb, without the usual suffix, “en.” We do not find the form in prose, and would not use it.

Q. Are there any books purporting to prove scientifically the immortality of the soul?

A. If by “scientifically,” the querist means, as we suppose, rationally, philosophically, our answer is, yes, very many. More books have been written upon this one subject than one could read carefully in a lifetime. Several thousand distinct works, written in Greek, Latin, English, and the principal languages of Europe, have been catalogued by Ezra Abbott. The catalogue itself, published as an appendix to Alger’s “Doctrine of a Future Life,” would make a respectable volume, containing, as it does, a list of more than five thousand books, by almost as many authors, who discuss, more or less satisfactorily, the great problem of the soul. Some propose, not argument, but only a history of the doctrine of a future, immortal life as held by the different races of men, with various shades of opinion respecting it. Some doubt, some disbelieve, and some, discarding all rational processes, accept the dogma as a matter of faith alone, lying beyond the field of our reason. But many Christian writers, thankful for the “more sure word of prophecy,” and that “life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel,” hold also that outside the realm of faith, it is a fit subject for rational investigation, and as capable of proof or demonstration as other moral and psychical problems. Perhaps most of the works named in the catalogue consulted, treat of the soul and its immortality in connection with other principles and facts of the religious systems accepted by the authors, and are too voluminous for common use. Drew’s “Essay on the Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul” founded wholly on psychological and rational principles is regarded a masterpiece of metaphysical argument—clear, logical, satisfactory.

Q. Is the expression “as though” ever correct?

A. “Though” is often used in English, taking the place of the conditional _if_, especially in the phrases _as though_ and _what though_, which interchange with _as if_ and _what if_; _e. g._:

“If she bid me pack, I’ll give her thanks _as though_ she bid me stay by her a week.”—_Shakspere._

“A Tartar, who looked _as though_ the speed of thought were in his limbs.”—_Byron._

Other examples need not be given. These approve the expression as correct, though not much used at present.

Q. Will the firing of cannon over water bring a dead body at the bottom to the surface; if so, why, or how?

A. The concussion or violent agitation of the water may loosen a body slightly held at the bottom, when, if specifically lighter than water, it will rise.

Q. In “Recreations in Astronomy,” p. 163, it is said 192 asteroides have been discovered, with diameters from 20 to 400 miles; and on the next page it is “estimated” that if all these were put into one planet, it would not be over 400 miles in diameter. How can that be?

A. Allowing, as the author does, that the density of the masses remains the same, it would, of course, be impossible. We have not the means at hand to either verify or correct the diameters given, and can not locate the error.

C. L. S. C. NOTES ON REQUIRED READINGS FOR NOVEMBER.

TIMAYENIS’S HISTORY OF GREECE.

PARTS 10 AND 11.

P. 258.—“Mummius,” mum´mi-us. See Timayenis, p. 251, vol. II.

“Delos,” de´los.

“Mithradatic,” mith´ra-da=´=tic. For history of Mithradates see Timayenis, vol. II., p. 254.

P. 259.—“Sulla,” sul´la. (B. C. 138-78). A Roman general, the rival of Marius. After the close of this war Sulla went to Italy, defeated the Marian party and issued a proscription by which many thousands of his enemies perished. For the two years following he held the office of dictator, which in 79 he resigned to retire to private life.

“Epidaurus,” ep´i-dau=´=rus. One of the most magnificent temples in all Greece, that of the god Æsculapius, was situated there.

“Peiræan,” pei-ræ´an. Through this gate ran the road to the Piræus, and at the Sacred Gate began the sacred road to Eleusis where the festivals and mysteries were celebrated.

“Bithynia,” bi-thyn´i-a; “Kappadokia,” cap=´=pa-do´ci-a; “Paphlagonia,” paph=´=la-go´ni-a.

P. 260.—“Chrysostom,” krĭs´os-tom. See Timayenis, vol. II., 319 sq.

“Anthemius,” an-the´mi-us; “Isidorus,” is´i-do=´=rus. Eminent architects.

P. 261.—“Pompey.” (B. C. 106-48.) Pompey had been a successful general from early life, receiving from Sulla the surname of Magnus.

P. 262.—“Soli,” so´li. The word solecism (to speak incorrectly) is said to have been first used in regard to the dialect of the inhabitants of this city.

“Pompeiopolis,” pom´pe-i-op=´=o-lis; “Armenia,” ar-me´ni-a.

“Tigranes,” ti-gra´nes. The king of Armenia from B. C. 96-55. He was an ally of Mithradates until this invasion by Pompey, when he hastened to submit to the latter, thus winning favor and receiving the kingdom with the title of king.

P. 263.—“Phillippi,” phil-lip´pi; “Octavius,” oc-ta´vi-us.

“Philhellenist,” phĭl-hĕl´len-ist. A friend to Greece.

“Philathenian,” phĭl-a-the´ni-an. A friend to Athens.

“Actium,” ac´ti-um.

P. 264.—“Ægina,” æ-gi´na; “Eretria,” e-re´tri-a.

“Stoa,” sto´a. Halls or porches supported by pillars, and used as places of resort in the heat of the day.

“Athene Archegetes,” a-the´ne ar-cheg´e-tes; “Peisistratus,” pi-sis´tra-tus; “Nikopolis,” ni-cop´o-lis.

P. 265.—“Cæsarean,” cæ-sā´re-an.

“Seneca.” (B. C. 5?-A. D. 65.) A Roman Stoic philosopher. The tutor and afterward adviser of Nero. When the excesses of the latter had made Seneca’s presence irksome to him, he was dismissed and soon after, by order of Nero, put to death. His writings were mainly philosophical treatises.

“Agrippina,” ag-rip-pi´na. Nero was the son of Agrippina by her first husband. On her marriage with her third husband, the Emperor Claudius, she prevailed upon the latter to adopt Nero as his son. In order to secure the succession she murdered Claudius and governed the empire in Nero’s name until he, tired of her authority, caused her to be put to death.

“Isthmian,” ĭs´mĭ-an; “Pythian,” pyth´i-an; “Nemean,” nē´me-an; “Olympian,” o-lym´pi-an. See author for accounts of these games.

“Pythia,” pyth´i-a. See Timayenis, p. 44-45, vol. I.

P. 266.—“Vespasian,” ves-pā´zhĭ-an; “Lollianus,” lol-li-a´nus.

“Aristomenes,” ar´-is-tom=´=e-nes. The legendary hero of the Second Messenian War. In 865 B. C. he began hostilities and defeated Sparta several times but was at last taken prisoner. The legends tell that he was rescued, from the pit where he had been confined, by an eagle and led home by a fox. When at last Ira fell, Aristomenes went to Rhodes, where he died.

“Aratus,” a-ra´tus; “Achæan,” a-chæ´an. See Timayenis, vol II., p. 242-243.

P. 267.—“Zeno.” The founder of the Stoic philosophy. A native of Cyprus. He lived, probably, about 260 B. C. He is said to have spent twenty years in study, after which time he opened his school in a stoa of Athens. From this place his disciples received the name of _Stoics_.

Translation of foot-notes: “They call those sophists who for money offer knowledge to whomsoever wishes it.” “A sophist is one who seeks the money of rich young men.” “Sophistry consists in appearing wise, not in being so; and the sophist becomes wealthy by an appearance of wisdom, not by being wise.”

“Gorgias,” gor´gi-as. “Leontine,” le-on´tine. An inhabitant of Leontini in Sicily.

P. 268.—“Dion,” di´on chry-sos´to-mus, or Dion, the golden mouthed, so called from his eloquence.

“Strabo,” stra´bo. His geography is contained in seventeen books. It gives descriptions of the physical features of the country, accounts of political events, and notices of the chief cities and men.

“Plutarch.” His “Parallel Lives” is a history of forty-eight different Greeks and Romans. They are arranged in pairs, and each pair is followed by a comparison of the two men.

“Appianus,” ap-pi-a´nus. The author of a history of Rome.

“Dion Cassius.” (A. D. 155.) The grandson of Dion Chrysostomus.

“Herodianus,” he´ro-di-a=´=nus.

“Epiktetus,” ep´ic-te=´=tus. Few circumstances of his life are known. Only those of his works collected by Arrian are extant. As a teacher it is said that no one was able to resist his appeals to turn their minds to the good.

“Hierapolis,” hi´e-rap=´=o-lis.

“Longinus,” lon-gi´nus. The most distinguished adherent of the Platonic philosophy in the third century. His learning was so great that he was called “a living library.” He taught many years at Athens, but at last left to go to Palmyra, as the teacher of Zenobia. When she was afterward defeated by the Romans and captured, Longinus was put to death (273).

“Lucian.” See notes in THE CHAUTAUQUAN for May, 1883.

“Samosata,” sa-mos´a-ta.

P. 270.—“Thesmopolis,” thes-mop´o-lis. “Sappho,” sap´pho. “Domitian,” do-mish´ĭ-an.

P. 271.—“Pliny,” plĭn´ĭ. (61?-115?) The nephew of the elder Pliny. His life was largely spent in literary pursuits. His works extant are the _Panegyricus_, an eulogium on Trajan, and his letters.

“Seleukidæ,” se-leu´ci-dæ. So named from Seleucus, the first ruler of the Syrian kingdom, one of the four into which Alexander’s kingdom was divided on his death.

P. 272.—“Archon Eponymus,” ar´chon e-pon´y-mus. The first in rank of the nine Athenian Archons, so called because the year was named after him.

“Favorinus,” fav´o-ri=´=nus. He is known as a friend of Plutarch and Herodes. Although he wrote much, none of his books have come down to us. “Herodes,” he-ro´des.

“Mnesikles,” mnes´i-cles. The architect of the Propylæa.

“Ilissus,” i-lis´sus. A small river of Attica.

Translations of Greek inscriptions: “This is Athens the former city of Theseus.” “Here stands the city of Adrian, not of Theseus.”

P. 273.—“Stymphalus,” stym-pha´lus. A lake of Arcadia.

“Patræ,” pa´træ.

P. 275.—“Pliny.” (23-75.) Although he held various civil and military positions, and during his whole life was the intimate friend and adviser of Vespasian, he applied himself so incessantly to study that he left one hundred and sixty volumes of notes. Pliny, the younger, says that the lives of those who have devoted themselves to study seem to have been passed in idleness and sleep when compared with the wonderful activity of his uncle. The only work of value come down to us is his “Historia Naturalis.”

“Lebadeia,” leb´a-dei=´=a.

“Stoa Pœkile.” The painted porch, so-called from the variety of curious pictures which it contained.

“Theseum,” the-se´um. The temple erected in Athens in honor of the hero Theseus. To-day it is the best preserved monument of the splendor of the ancient city.

“Kerameikus,” cer´a-mi=´=cus. A district of Athens, so called from Ceramus, the son of Bacchus, some say, but more probably from the potter’s art invented there.

P. 277.—“Commodus,” com´mo-dus; “Caracalla,” car´a-cal=´=la; “Dacia,” da´ci-a; “Mœsia,” mœ´si-a; “Decius,” de´ci-us.

P. 278.—“Gallienus,” gal´li-e=´=nus; “Valerianus,” va-le´ri-a=´=nus.

“Pityus,” pit´y-us; “Trapezus,” tra-pe´zus; “Chrysopolis,” chry-sop´o-lis; “Kyzikus,” cyz´i-cus.

“Dexippus,” dex-ip´pus. He held the highest official position at Athens. Was the author of histories, only fragments of which remain.

P. 279.—“Artemis,” ar´te-mis. This temple of Artemis, or Diana, Lübke calls the “famous wonder of the ancient world.” Its dimensions were enormous, being 225 feet broad and 425 feet long. “Aurelian,” au-re´li-an.

P. 280.—“Flavius Josephus,” fla´vi-us jo-se´phus. (37?-100?) The author of “History of the Jewish War” and “Jewish Antiquities.”

“Philo Judæus,” phi´lo ju-dæ´us. His chief works are an attempt to reconcile the Scriptures with Greek philosophy.

P. 281.—“Nikolaus,” nic´o-la=´=us; “Nikomedeia,” nic´o-me-di=´=a; “Claudius Ptolemæus,” clau´di-us ptol´e-mæ=´=us; “Pelusium,” pe-lu´si-um; “Plotinus,” plo-ti´nus; “Lykopolis,” ly-cop´o-lis.

P. 282.—“Zenobia,” ze-no´bi-a; “Palmyra,” pal-my´ra.

P. 286.—“Maximian,” max-im´i-an.

P. 287.—“Constantius,” con-stan´ti-us. “Chlorus,” chlo´rus, “the pale;” “Naissus,” nais´sus; “Galerius,” ga-le´ri-us.

P. 288.—“Eboracum,” eb´o-ra=´=cum; “Licinius,” li-cin´i-us; “Maxentius,” max-en´ti-us.