PhilistineandGenius 10134509

WO$ $ S B$ BO$ IS SIDI S
Ph il i s tin e an d G eni us
Th e Found at i o n s of N orm al an d
Ab n orm al Psy chology
Symp tomatology Ps ychogno s i s and
, ,
D i agn os i s of Ps y chop a thi c D i s eas es

The C aus at i on an d Treatment
Ps ychop ath i c D is eas es
The Ps ychology of Sugges t i on
Mult i ple Pers on ality
The Ps ychology of Laughter
Psychop athologi c al Res earches
A n Ex p ri m nt l Study of Sle p
e e a e
AStudy of Galva no m etric D efl ectio n s
The Nature an d C aus at i on of th e

G alv an i c Phe no men on
PH I L IS T IN E A N D
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,
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TO$ ON TO : THE C O PP CLA $ $ CO .

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Made in th e $ nited S tates of Am ric

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The G orh a m Press B , o to n

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TO
AT HER S
THE F A ND MOT HERS
OF
THE $ NITE D S TATES

PREFACE
W HE N in 1 909 P hilistine and G enius

was delivered b y me in the form of a
C ommencement address before the H ar
vard S ummer S chool my prediction of
,
the coming Eu ropean war storm was r e

garded b y everybod y as dream and fan cy .
M y best friends and s ympathisers thought

m y foreboding unj ustified and ill found-
ed I was ah alarmist a C assandra when

.
, ,
I spoke of the coming catastrophe whic h

was to shake E urope to its ver y f ou nd a
“ ”
tion When P hilistine and G enius was
.
published in 1 9 1 1 the American and

E uro pean press de aling with the views
,
advanced in this little volume completel y

,
Vi PRE FAC E
igno r ed th e fol lowing warnin g giv en by
me :
“
About the middle of the nineteenth
cent ury Buckle made the prediction that
no war w as an y more to o ccur among civ
il iz ed nat ions. H encefo rth pea c e was t o
‘
reign supreme The wolf shall dwell with
.
the lamb and the leopard shall lie down

,
with the kid ; their y oung ones shall lie

’
down t ogethe r and the lion shall eat

,
straw like the ox .N ations shall beat

their swords into ploughshares and their ,
spears into pruning hooks N ations shal l.
not lift up swords against nations no r ,
shall the y learn war any more T h is .

’
p rophec y was rather hast y We have had .
since th e C ivil war the Fr anco P russian

,
-
war the S p anis h Ameri c an war theBoer

,
-
,
war the Russo Japanese war no t count

,
-
,
ing the ceasel ess wars of ex ter mmation

c a rried on b y c ivili z ed natio ns among the
PRE FACE vii
v arious semi civili z ed and primitive tribes
- .
C ivilized nations do not as y et beat their

swords into ploughshares but keep on in
,
‘
creasing the strength of their a rmed
peace and are read y to fight blood y
,
’
battles in the quest of new land s and the

conquest of new markets .
“
I n spite of the H ague conference con ,
v oked b y the peace loving C zar no othe r

-
,
age has had such large standing armi es

provided with such costl y and effic ient
weapons of execution read y for instant
use The r ed spectre still stalks abroad
.
claiming its victims We still believe in

.
-
the baptism of fire and redemption b y

blood T he dogma of blood redemption
.
is still at the basis of our faith and con , ,
sciou s ly or unconsciousl y we brand that

,
sacred creed on the minds of the y oung

”
generation .
T he present E uropean upheaval has

V1 11 PR E FAC E
finally disclosed to the impartial observe r
the fearful state of E urope as the final
“ ”
outcome of its armed peace I nstead of .
realizing the dangers of armed peace o r

“ ”
of prep aredness we are read y to be
,
come a military demo crac y in which eve r y

able bodied man is a soldier or a sailor
-
,
ever y child is a scout and ever y woman

,
a nurse or a munition worker We are .
anxious to waste our resources on prepar

edn ess r ath er than on the education of the
y oung We hanker for the greatest nav y

.
in the world at a cost of several billions

of dollars We aspire after a million
.
headed billion armed navy and army

, .
We clamor for universal compulsor y , ,
militar y servi ce in which our children

should be drilled for murder and slaugh
ter at the decree of a few autocrati c offi
c ial s and officers We imitate E urope
slavishl y in spite of the fact that the pol
,
PRE FACE ix
icy of pr eparedness or of armed pea c e
h as kept E urope in a state of turmo il for
generations has brought her to the brink
,
of ru in and has plunged her into the most

,
cruel and most destru ctiv e wa r eve r waged

b y man .
The recent estimate of C ount von R oe

dern S ecretar y of the I mperial G erman
,
Treasur y puts the total cost of the war

,
to date the end of 1 9 1 6 for all the bel

, ,
l ig er ents at fi f ty nine and a half billions

,
-
of dollars T he Mechanics and Metals

.
'
N ational B ank of N ew $ ork C it y figures

that seventy fi v e billion dollars will b e
-
spent for direct militar y purposes if the ,
war lasts another y ear The enormit y of .
that expenditure can o nl y be realized if

we consider that the total wealth of G reat
B ritain and I reland is eight y fi v e billions -
of dollars that of G erman y eighty bil

,
l ions that of F rance fift y bill ions that of

, ,
x PRE FACE
Ru ssia fort y billions that of Au st ria
,
H ungar y twent y fi v e billions and that of

-
,
I tal y twent y billions S uch waste is ap

.
p alling $
A c c ording to the figur es given b y Mr .
Fr ank H S imonds eighteen and a h alf

.
,
million casualties of whi ch deaths make

,
u p nea rly one qu art er is the toll already

-
,
l evied on th e fighting men of all the bel

l ig er ent nations b y twent y s ix months of
-
w ar. Mo r e than any other war the p r es

ent E uropean struggle squanders the
wealth of empires and sac r ifi c es the lives
of nations .
Our social s t atus is a rever sion to sav

age ry of the most degener ate t ype an ,
atavistic l a p se towards the p aleolithic and

eolithi c man only more brutal on account
, ,
of the greater power for evi l possessed b y

modern man What H un or V andal ever
.
dr eamt of such c o lossal destru c tion $ The

PRE FAC E xi
fame of Attila $ engh iz $ han Batu and
, , ,
Tamerlane pales and fades before the

glor y of the $ aiser I n a couple of years
.
” “
t he aggressive G erman $ ultu r has
caused more ruin to hum anity than all the
invasions of th e y ellow peril in the h istor y
of mankind C an we take issue with th e
.
late P rofessor R o yce of H arvard when

“
he declares the G erman E mpire to be the
wilfu l and the deliberate enemy of the
”?
human r ace
S ome future historian in descr ibing our
tim es w ill place us below the moral l evel
'
of our contemporaries the Bushman and

,
“
the H ottentot H e ma y say : T owar ds
.
th e end of the nineteenth and at the begin

ning of the twentieth century there too k
p l ace a vast ac cumulation of wealth due ,
t o a r apid devel opment of s c ien ce and

p ractic al art s I nstead h oweve r of im
.
, ,
proving th eir c ondition E u ropean nations

,
xfi PR E FACE
deteriorated morall y and intellectuall y .
“
L iberal education gave way to techni
cal training S cience served greed E du
. .
c ation be c ame mechanical and military in

character The successful banker the
.
,
greed y usurer the c ommonpla c e stor e

,
k eeper the medio cre shopkeeper th e p h i

, ,
listine p at riotic business man be c ame the

p atterns the ideals the guides and lead
, , ,
er s of commercialized nations A dvertis .
ing and noto riet y be c ame the rage and the

bane of s oc1 ety The thinker gave way to
.
the tinker the scientist to th e mechanic

, ,
the artist to the artisan the gemu s to the ,
philistine F alse patriotism of the j ingo

.
t ype controlled and a ni mated b y indus

,
trial and c omme r cial interests became th e ,
standard of nations An insane frenz y .
of militarism seize d on the minds of na

tions Bl ind obedi ence became a virtu e
. .
“
T h e stat e ens l aved the i n dividual .
PRE FACE xiii
D rill and discipline s tu p efi ed people N a .
tions boasting o f scientific efficienc y and

‘
kultur broke treaties attacked de
’
, ,
stro y ed deported enslaved whole p opu l a

, ,
tions of small weak neighboring coun

, ,
tries Women and babe s were drowned

.
like rats 1 n the middle of the ocean A e ro .
planes and Z eppelins showered explosive

missiles on defenceless people F o r such .
cowardl y inhum an and diabolical acts the

, ,
miscreants were decorated and honored as

heroes by their alleged superiors Man .
'
could not have fallen to an y lowe r lev el .
“
The elements of nature were let loo se
for the ruin of nations Man glo r ie d .
in his devilish military inventive powe r

, ,
of destruct ion P rofessors carr y ing high

.
,
‘
the banner of kultur exulted in the de,
’
grading vicious process of training b y

,
which th e individual is h ypnotize d and

n arcotized int o submission t o a b ru tal or
xiv PRE FACE
g a n iz ation of militar y j unk er s h allowe d
,
b y the name of S tate A l l c on c eption of

.
free individual development w as l ost

,
among the G ermanic tribes of C ent ral

E urope I t was the da rkes t period in th e
.
history of mankind A ssaults on c oun

.
t ries massacres of nat ions depor t ation of

, ,
populations into s l aver y fo r powerful mu

nition inte r ests a l l su ch outrages digni
, ,
fi ed b y the name of wa r for the defe n se of

the F atherland h ad not their parallel even
,
in the most degrading period of the h is

tor y of h umanit y Man was cra z ed with
.
the lust of blood fr enzied with r apine and

,
”
s l aughter .
S u ch will be the j ust estimate of ou r

times b y a future impa rtial historian .
W e possess indeed vas t sto r es of wealth ,
but we have not as y e t l ear ne d th eir u se .
L ike si ll y up s t art s we u se ou r weal th fo r

,
dissipation and ru in O ur g reed and

.
xv i PRE FACE
l ea rns to be secretive evasive of truth and
, ,
c owardl y of a ction These traits of cha r

.
acter acquired in earl y childhood become

, ,
basic The chil d wil l never fully rid him

.
s elf of fear and its dist r essing cons e
q u e n ce s F ear.will sta y with him and ,
dog h is steps al l h is life l ong .
F ear is one of the most fundamenta l of

anima l instincts it is th e companion of
,
the most primitive im p ulse of self p rese r -
vation On c e this fear instin c t is ar ouse d

.
,
it g rows l ike an aval anche in its dow nwa rd

’
c ou rse I n l ate r life this fear instinc t be

.
comes manifested in va r ious way s giving ,
r ise to th e most distr essing nervous and

mental s ymptoms I n m y medi c a l prae
.
tice as specialist of nervous and menta l

,
diseases I have t r a c ed again and again th e

,
worst forms of maladies to the fear i ns t in ct

a roused in early ch ildhood .
Training b y fear submission and obe

, ,
PRE FACE xv n
d ience opens th e door wide to all kinds of

nervous and mental germs weakening the ,
mental and moral constitution of man .
Man becomes unreasonable capri c ious , ,
driven by the impulse of self p reservation -
and b y the furies of the fear instinct The .
impulse of self preservation with its satel

-
lite the fear instinct becomes p r edominant

in character which la cks the stamina of
sturdiness frankn ess ope nm indedness
, ,
and independence .
A person brought up in the school of

fear and blind obedience lacks steadiness
of purpose courage independence critical
, , ,
j udgment becomes bigoted and intoler

,
ant H e falls an eas y pre y to the s ugges

.
tions of his times and surroundings suc ,
cum bs to the influence of unsc r upulous
l eaders S uch a person lacks mental and

.
moral poise he is wanting in the true cour

,
age of reason present in the fully devel

,
xviii PR E FACE
oped man and woman H e can not with .
stand the pressure of social opinion being ,
unable to stand b y his post in the face of

threatening social opposition Ruled b y .
fear at home he is governed b y terro r in

,
societ y H e is afraid of social p unish

.
”
ment of losing face as the C hinese s ay
, , ,
with his neighbors gossips circles and , ,
clubs H e dreads above all the j udgment

.
of the crowd and is scared b y the j eers and

,
ridicule of the mob H uman life interests

.
become limited b y the narrow horizon of

a mob ruled personalit y T he unce asing
-
.
obedience to the suggestions of the crowd

weakens and loosens the reasoning and
moral fibre reduces the energies of the
,
mind to the animal level controlled by ,
self prese rv ation and fear

-
.
With reduced and impoverished ene r

gies the person in case of trouble and
, ,
misfortune is unable to fall back on his

,
PRE FACE xix
inner resources he fall s a pre y to worry
, ,
fear anxiet y and disease I n other cases

, , .
the intellectual and moral powers are eu

feebled b y the rigid discipline and b y the
course of enforced obedience the person ,
falls a victim to all form s of temptations .
With no principle to guide him with no ,
will to stay him the person drifts help

,
lessly on the stream of life L ured b y se

.
d u ctiv e sirens his life is finall y wrecked

,
on the rocks and reefs of vice s in crime , , ,
and disease .
Where stumbling on vice disease and , ,
crime is avoided the person inevitab ly

,
lands on the dull shores of the L otophagi .
I deas and ideals are forgotten and for

saken in the routine of animal existence .
T his is the land of P hilistinism a land ,
where all human humane interests inde

, ,
pendent thought and courageous action

,
are wanting P hilistines are uncritical

.
,
n PRE FACE
and morall y The ir inte ll e ctual and mo r al

.
ca pacities become paralyze d atr op hied , .
M an becomes the equal o f the br ute .
With a philist ine edu c ation and tr ain

ing man is fit to b ecome one of thos e nu
,
fo rt una te and p itiful Euro p ean pawns

and automata who obe y blindl y th e com
mands of their superior o fficers P hilis .
tines shoot stab poiso n pill age b u rn

, , , , ,
outrage and mur der at the co mman d of

,
u ns cr u p ul ous s elf seeking leade rs b ruta l

,
-
,
j unkers bloodhounds of empir es

, .
B rought up in a school of f ear obedi h
e nce and su gges tibility th e philistin e like

, , ,
C ain mur de rs his br other without aim

,
and without understa nding the full sig

nifi ca nce of the awful deed H e is no more
.
res p onsible than is the m achin e gu n whi ch

PRE FAC E xxi
he accur atel y trains and poin ts at his s up
posed enemies P hilistines are led to the
.
battlefield like ca ttle to th e s laughter

house P hil istin es have no pers o n ality
.
,
no individuali ty the y are cogs in wheels

, ,
link s m cha ins of mons ter mechanisms .
Th e philis tine the product of our home

,
and school is sugg estible and gul lible he

,
o
,
is alwa y s on the lookout for autho r ity for ,
a le ader whom he shoul d wors h ip b y W hose ,
opinions and conviction he is read y to

swear whose c ommand he is r ead y and
,
proud to foll ow The philis tine is good

.
material for mobs for mental epidemics,

,
for religious cra ze s and for all kinds of

,
hy sterical movements in which not reason

but emotional auto matism is in th e fore
ground P hilis tinis m s tu pidity and im
.
, ,
p licit o bed ien ce of a mons tr ou s efl icien t ,
war mac hine ar e in tima tely interr ela ted .
The individual beco mes a p riv a te, the

xxii PRE FACE
n a tion an ar my ,
a nd the countr
y a
ca mp .
Do we as p arents wish to bring up our

children as soull ess w illles s machines D o
,
?
we wish them to be without good j udg

ment without p ersonal convictions D o
,
?
we wish them to be led about like cattle ?
We certai nl y wish them to be of strong

nature and sturd y character able to stand ,
b y their convi c tions able to use their cr iti

,
cal j udgment able to discriminate the

,
right from the wrong able to love the good ,
and avoid the evil .
I n The Ps ychology of S ugg es tion pub ,
l ish ed b y me in 1 8 9 7 I arrive at the con

,
“
c l u sion that P ersonalit y is suppressed b y
the rigidity of social organization ; the
cultivated civilized individual is an auto
,
”
maton a mere puppet
, Again .
,
“
Under the enormous w eight of the socio
static p r ess the personal self sinks ,
PRE FAC E
the bod y politic into convul sions of
”
demoniac fury .
T he E uropean horrors atrocities and , ,
bruta lities dignified b y the stupefy ing

,
“
and hypnotizin g slogan $ ul tur Pa ,
”
tr iotism ,are due to the earl y training ,
by fear and force of the individual into

,
submission to su p erior authority S uch .
per n icious t rai ning sacrifices the ge nius

of the c hild the originalit y of the man
, ,
to a highly efficient but brut a l and blood

,
thirsty Moloch S tate The E uro pe an

.
war is a menta l plagu e which att acks g i

g a n tic
, social aggregates when thei r ul ti
mate constituent units the individual s , ,
are deprived of independent thought and

libe rt y of decision and action when men ,
are sway ed b y h y pnotizin g suggestions

”
of superior leaders wh o represent the
interests not of every in dividual at his
be st but of high n oble c as tes and of com
,
PRE FACE xxv
mer cial c l asses . T he organized murder of
E uropean nations is due to the sti fl ing
of human genius by the cultivation of
mob spirit which is the cause of all
forms of social insanit y and mental epi
d emics .
I n the stifl ing of the genius of the child

and the cultivation of the mob spirit
America doe s not lag behin d E urope .
Mental epidemics excited b y the fear in

,
s tin ct and by the impulse of self p reserva

-
tion are prevalent in the S tates A s de

, .
scribed by me in The Ps ychology of S ug

g es tion : A merican societ y oscillates be
tween a cute financial mania and attacks

of religious insanit y N o sooner is the
.
business fever over than the deliriu m

a cu tu m of religious mania sets in . So
c iet
y is thrown from S c y lla into C h ar yb
di s
. F rom the heights of financial sp ecu
lation so c iet y sinks into the ab y ss of r e
xxvi PRE FACE
v iv al is m; A merican s ociety s ee ms to f
su
”
f er fr om cir cu lar ins ani ty .
R evivalism a mental frenz y to which

,
the American mob mind is specia lly prone ,
is a resurrection of G reek B acchanalia

and R oman S aturnalia R evivals ar e
.
emotional debauches religious orgies A s

, .
I had pointed out in the s ame work : $ e a
v iv al ism is f ar more dan g erous to the life
of society than drunkenness As a .
s ot man falls below the brute ; as a revival

”
ist he sinks lower than the sot .
I f E urope is in violent convulsions of

war insanity Am eric a su ffers from no
,
—
less serious mental maladies speculation ,
frenzies revival mani as and preparedness

, ,
plagues Mental epidemics are iner adi

.
cable afflictions of the highly evolved mob

spirit char a cteristic of the philistin e T he .
evolution of the philistine is the inv ol u

tion of genius P hilistinism is social de
.
PRE FACE xx v n
y
u te
. T he p r og r es s
to
f
o hu manity is
man from Philis tin e to G eniu
,
f ro
m
$
B OR I S S mrs .
S id is I ns titu te,
M ap lewood Fa r m ,
Por ts mou th , N ew Hamp s hir e .

PHILIS T IN E A ND G E N I US
z P HILIS T I NE AND GE NIUS
i n yo ur daily vocation and that you are ,
deep l y inte r ested in the education of your

countrymen and t hei r children who shar e ,
with you the duties r ights and privileges

,
of citi z enship I al so assume that as men

.
and women o f l iberal education you are

not l imited to the narrow interests of one
pa r ti cular sub j ect to the exclusion of all
,
else I assume that you are espe c iall y

.
interested in the develop ment of person

ality as a wh ole the true aim of educ ation
, .
I also assume that you realize that what

.
is r equisite is not some more routine not ,
more desi cc ated quasi s cientifi c methods

,
-
o f edu c ational p sychology not the saw ,
dust of co ll ege p s eu d ag ogics and philis

-
tine n ormal school training b ut more

,
-
,
light on the problems of life What you

.
.
want is not the training of phil istines but ,
the education of genius .
We need mor e light more information ,

PHILIS T I NE AND GE NIUS 3
on the problems o f life I s it not.
too big a phrase to employ O n a second

?
thought h oweve r I must s ay that your

, ,
problems are the problems of life F o r

'
the problems o f education are funda

mental they are at the bottom o f all vital
,
‘
problems The ancient G reeks were

.
aware o f it and paid special attention to

edu c ation I n rearing his revolutionary
.
,
utopian edifice P lato insists on education

$
as the foundation of a new social moral ,
and intellectual life P lato in his R epub

.
lic makes S ocrates tell his interlocutor ,
“
A d eimantu s : T hen you are aware that
in every work the beginning is the most
important part especially in dealing with
,
anything young and tender F or that is

?
the time w hen any impression which one

,
may desire to communicate is most r eadily

”
s tamped and taken .
We may say that all man s struggles

' ’
,
4 PHILIS T I NE AND GE NIUS
r eligious moral and economical all the
, ,
c ombats and confl i cts t hat fill t he h isto r y

of mankind can be t r aced finally t o the
,
nature and vigor of the desires beliefs ,
and strivings which have been cultivat e d

by the social environment in the earl y life
of the individual The character of a n a
.
tion is moulded by t he nature of its edu

cation The char acte r o f so c iety de p ends
.
on t he early training of its constituent

units The fatalism the su bmissiveness
.
,
of the Oriental ; the msth eticism the in ,
dependence love of innovatio ns and in

,
q u i sitiv ene s s of the ancien t Gr ee k ; the
ruggedness sturdiness harshness and

, ,
conservatism o f the ancient Roma n ; the

emotionalism th e r el igious fervor o f the
,
an cient H eb rew ; th e c omme r cialism r est ,
l e s sness spe cu l ation and s c ientifi c s p irit

,
of modern t imes ar e all th e r esults of the

,
n at ur e of th e earl y educ at io n the indivi d

PHILI S T IN E A N D GE NI U S 5
u al gets i n his r espe c tive so c ia l envir on

ment We may say that the education
.
o f earl y life fo rms th e very foun d at ion

of t he s ocial st ructur e .
L ike cl ay in the hands of t h e p o t te r ,
so is man in the han ds o f his c o m m unity .
S ociety fashions th e bel iefs th e desires , ,
the aims the strivings the kn owl edge

, , ,
the ideals th e chara c te r t he minds the

, , ,
very selves of its c o nstituent u nits Wh o .
h as the c ontro l of t hi s v ital fun ctio n of

mou l ding minds F athers an d m oth e r s
?
,
th e chi ld is unde r your c ontrol To your .
hands to your c are is ent ru sted th e fat e

,
of you n g ge nerations the fate of th e f u

,
tu r e community wh ich c on s ciously o r

, ,
u nconsciously you fas hio n a cc or ding t o

,
the accepted standards and traditions with

which ye n have been imbued in you r own
education .
I t is rel ated I think in P lutarch s

, ,
’
6 P HILIS T I NE AND GE NIUS
L ives of Themistocles tell ing with the
,
iro ni c al fr an kness char acteris t i c o f the

Greek temperame nt t hat his son p ossessed
the g reatest powe r in Gr ee c e : F o r the
At henians command the rest of G reece I ,
command the A thenians his mother c om ,
”
mands me and he commands his mother
, .
T his bit o f Greek irony is not without its

significance T h e mind of the growing
.
generation controls the future of nations .
The boy is father to the man as the ,
p ro v erb has it ; he control s t he future .
B ut who contro l s the boy ? The h ome ,
t h e mother and fat her the gui des of the ,
c hil d s early life F o r it is in early life

’
.
t hat the foundat ion of o ur ment al edifice

is laid All that is good valid and solid
.
,
in man s mental structure depends on the

’
breadth width de pth and s o li dity of th at

, , ,
foundation .
II
T H AT the groundwork of man s ch aracter

’
is laid in his chil dhood appears as a triv

ial platitude I am almost ashamed to
.
bring it before you And yet as I look

.
,
round me and find how apt we are to f or

get this simple precept whi ch is so funda
mental in our life I cann ot help calling
,
your attention to it I f we consider the

.
matter we can well understand the reason

,
why its full significance is not realized .
We must remember that all science begins

with axioms which are apparentl y t ruisms.
What is more o f a truism than the axioms

—
of G eometry and Mechanics that th e
whole is greater than the part that th ings
,
which are equal to the same thing are

equal to one another or that a body r e
,
mains in the same state unless an exter

nal for c e changes it And y et the whole
?
o f Mathematics and Mechanics is built on

those simple axioms .
The elements of science are j ust such

obvious platitudes What is needed is to
.
use them as efficient tools and by their

means draw the consequent e ff ects T he .
same holds true in the science o f educa

tion The axiom or the law of early
.
training is not new it is well known but

, ,
it is unfortunately too o ften neglected

and forgotten and its significance is al
,
most completel y lost .
I t is certai nl y surprising how this law

of earl y training is so disregarded so to
,
tally ignored in the edu c ation of the child .
N ot only do we n egle c t to lay the neces

sary so lid basis in the earl y life of the
child a solid basis ready for the future
,
tion ed and uncritical belie f in authority ,
meaningless imitation of j ingles and gib

be rish memorization of mother goose wis
,
-
dom repetition o f in c omprehensible pray

,
ers and arti cles of creed unintelligent

,
aping of good manners silly games p r ej u

, ,
di c es and supe r stition s and fears of the

su p ern ormal and supernatural are cen ,
sured in adults why should we approve

,
‘
thei r cultivation in the young ?
At h ome and at school we drill into the

'
child s mind uncritical beliefs in stories and

’
tales fictions and fi gments fables and

, ,
m yths creeds and dogmas which poison

,
the very sources of the child s mind A t

’
.
h ome and at schoo l we give the child over

as a pre y to all sorts of fatal germs of men
tal dise ases and moral depravity W e .
leave the child s mind an open field to

’
be sown with dragon s t eeth which bring

’
fo rt h a whole crop o f p e rnicious tenden

P H I LIS T IN E AND GE NIUS 11
cies love and admiration of suc c essful

,
-
evil and adoration of the rule of brute

,
force F rom the dr agon s t eeth sown in

.
’
earl y childhood th ere rises I n l ate r li fe a

whole brood o f fl int hearted men who
-
blindly j ostle and fight and mer cilessly

tear one another to obtain for some greedy
,
Jason some witch of a Medea their cov

,
eted golden fl e ece .

I II
W E r egard with disapproval the bloody

combats of some savage tribe ; we regard
with horro r the s acrifice of chil dr en and
p risoners to some idol o f a P henician Mo
‘
l och or Mexi c an Hu itz li o Potchl i ; we are

-
shocke d at the crimin al pro c eed ings of the

infamous Torquemada wi th his inquisi
tion glorying in its terrors and tortures
in the name o f C hrist ; we are sickened as
we read of the religious wars in E urope ;
we shudder at the horrors of the night
of S t Bartholomew ; we are appalled b y
.
the recent slaughters o f the Jews in Rus

s ia
, by the wholesale mass acre of the
Christians in T urke y .
All such atrocities we say belong to

, ,
Is
PHILIS T I N E AND GENIUS 13
barbar i c ages and are only co mmitted in

semi c ivilized countries We fl atter our
-
.
selves that we are di ff erent in this age of

enlightenment an d civilization A r e we .
diff erent ? H av e we changed ? H ave

we a right to fling stones at our older
brothers the savage and the barbarian ?
,
We ar e s o used to ou r li fe that we do not

no tice its evils and misery We can e as ily
.
s ee the mote in the e y e of o ur n eighbor ,
but do not notice the beam in ou r own .
We are still s avage at heart Our civi

.
liz ation is me r e gloss a t hi n coating

,
o f paint and varnish Our methods of

.
inflicting pain are more r efin ed than those

of the I ndian but n o less cruel whil e the
, ,
number of the v ictims sa crifi ced to our

gr eed and rapacity may even exceed the
numbers fall en b y the sword of the barbar
ian or by the torch o f the fan at ic T he .
slums i n our c ities are foul and fil thy ,

14 PH ILIS T I N E AND GEN I U S
teemi n g w ith deadly germs of diseas e
wh e r e t he mort ality of our infants and
childr en in some cases rises to the fright ful
figur e o f 2 0 4 per thousand $
The s anita ry c onditions of ou r cities
are fil thy and dea dl y They c ar ry in
.
thei r wake al l forms o f plagu es pests ,
and dis eases among which tuberculosis is

,
“
so we ll kno wn to the lait y Tu ber cu
.
”
l osis
, r eads a r e p o rt of a Tenement
H ou se C ommission is o n e of t he res u lts
,
“
of ou r inhumane tenements ; i t fo l lows in

th e train o f ou r inhumane sweatshops .
I t c omes where t h e hours of labor a r e

l ong and the wages are smal l ; it affl icts
th e children who are sent to l abo r when
”
t h ey s hould yet be in s chool .
“
T h e C onsume r s L eague says M r
’
, .
“
John G raham Brooks l ong hesitated to
,
l ay str ess u pon these as p ects of filth and

disease becau se of t heir alarmist and sen
,
PHILIS T I NE AND GE NI U S 15
nature and o f the imme di ate and

s ation al ,
grave risk to the consumer of the goods

manu factured in the sweatshop and the
t enement house I f the sweatshop spr ead
.
diphtheria and scarlet fever there is the

,
hue and cr y before pe rsonal dange r But :
these dise ases are the very slightest ele

ments of the real risk to the general good .
I t is the s poiled human li fe with i ts ,
dea dl y lega cy o f enfeebled mind and

body that reacts directly and indirectly
,
”
on the social whole We do not realize
.
t hat we drift into nation al degeneracy .
We fail to realize that we raise a gener a;

tion of stunted lives o f phy sical and
,
nervous wrecks of mental invalids and

,
moral cripples .
We boast of ou r wealth unrivalled by

other countries and b y former ages We .
should remember the great povert y of our

masses the filthy conditions of our we al thy
,
16 P HILIS T I N E AND GE NIUS
c i t ies with their loathsome city slums in
,
-
,
which human beings live breed and teem

,
l ike so many worms .
We S pend on barracks and prisons

mo r e th an we do on schools and coll eg
What is the l evel of a civilization in
which the c ost o f crime and wa r far ex
c eeds t h a t of the education of its futu r e
citi ze n s ? We s p end on our army and

navy a quar t e r o f a billion dollars which
,
“
is found to be insu fficient while the tota l
,
money burden of crime amounts in this

c ountry to the enormous sum of 6 0 0 mil
”
lion dollars a year $
The c ost of crime alone is so enormous
th at a r epresentative o f the Board of
C harities of one o f our E as tern states
“
c onsiders the entire abolition of all the
penal c odes and the complete liberty of
t he c riminal class . Our civilization can
boast of the c it y s lum the abode o f mis
-
,
18 PHILIS T I N E AND GE NIUS
the grate We are charitable and he lp
.
o ur me di ocrities imbeciles a nd idiots

, ,
while we neglect ou r talent and genius .
We have a blind faith that genius like ,
murder will out We know of success

, .
ful talent but we do not know of t h e

,
great amount o f unsuccess ful talent and

genius that h as gone to waste We favo r
.
imbecility and slight genius .
One of the phy sicians of the instit u t ion

overheard ou r conversation and attemp ted
to j ustify his work by an argument c om
mouly advanced an d uncritically ac
c ep ted— “
Our civilization our C h ristian
,
civilization values human li fe D oes

our civilization really value human life ?
T he infan t mortality of the sl ums of our

large c ities and the factory work o f our
young children do not seem to j u stify
such a claim .
T h e loss o f life on our r ailway s is as

PHILIST INE AND GENIUS 19
large as one caused b y a national war .
T hus the number of persons killed on

Ame rican railway s during a period of
three y ears ending J un é 3 0 1 9 00 was
, ,
about while the mortalit y of

British forces Including death from dis
,
ease during three y ears o f the S outh A f

’
ri c an war amounted to In 1 9 01 ,
one ou t o f every 40 0 r ai l way emp l oyees

was killed and one out of eve ry 2 6 w as
inj ured I n 1 9 0 2
.
, emp loyees we re
killed and were inj ured .
C omm enting on the s tatisti cs of r ai l

way accidents Mr John Graham B rook s
, .
“
say s : One h as t o r ead and r e r ead -
these figures before their grewsome s ig

nifi can ce is in the l eas t clear I f we .
add the mi ning iron and lu mbering in

,
du stries —p o rtions of whic h are more d an

,
er ou s than the r ail r oad some o n

g c ep
-
, c
tion is possible of the mu t ilate d life due

”
to ma ch ine ry as it is n ow run I t may
.
20 P H IL I S T I N E AND GE NIUS
also be of inte rest to l ear n that a cc ording
,
to the cal c ul ation made by a r epresenta

tive o f one of the insu r ance c om p anies ,
more than a million and a half ar e annu

ally killed and inj ured in the United
S tates alone .
The waste of human life is in fact

greate r than in an y previous age “
S aul
.
hath s l ain his thous ands but D avid his

,
ten thousands .Think of our modern

warfa r e wit h its infernal machines of
,
carnage mowin g down more men in a day

,
than the warlike A ssyrians and Romans ,
with thei r crude bows arrows and cata

,
p u lts c ou l d destroy in a c entu r y And

, .
is not ou r c oun try ou r civilized Christian

,
so ciety with its high valuation of human

,
li fe keeping o n increasing its army and

,
nav y and p e r fe cting de adly weap o n s of

,
slaught e r and c a rnage W h a t abou t th e

?
j u sti c e dealt ou t by J u dge L ynch Fr om

?
PHILIS T I NE AND GENIUS 21
1 882 to 1 90 0 ther e were about thr ee thou

sand lynchings $ What about our grand
imperial policy What about our dom
?
in ance over weak and ignoran t tribes ,
treated in no gentle way by the armed

fist of th eir civilized masters who send
,
to the benighted heathens their mission

aries to preach religion and their soldiers
to enforce the sale of narc otics and other
civi lizing goods ?
IV
WE are stock blind to our own barbar

-
ities ; we do not r ealize the enormities of

o ur l ife and consider our age and countr y
as c ivilize d and enlightened We c en sure
.
the faul ts o f other socie t ies but do not

,
n btice ou r own .Thus L ecky in describ ,
“
ing R oman societ y say s : , The gladia
t orial games form indeed the one featu r e
which to a mode rn mind is almost in

conceivable in its atro city That no t o nl y
.
men but wome n i n an advanced period of

, ,
—
civilization men and women who not
,
only professed but ve ry fr equ ently ac ted

,
—
upon a high c ode of mo r als should have
made the c arnage o f men their habitual
amusement th at all this s h oul d h av e c on
,
tinn ed for centuries with scarcely a p r o

test is one of the most startling fa cts in
,
moral history I t is however per fe ctly

.
, ,
normal while i t ope n s out fields of eth

,
i ca l In quiry of a v e r y dee p thou gh p ain

,
f ul chara cte r
, .
A s I n modern times our college author

,
ities j ustify the b rutalities of footb al l

and p r 1z e fi ghts s o in ancient times the
-
,
great mor alists of those ages j ustified

their gladiato rial games Thus the great
.
orato r the mo r alizing philosopher C i c ero

, , ,
in speaking of the gladiatorial games ,
“
tells us : When guilty me n a r e c om
p ell ed to fight no bett
, e r di s c ipline against
su ff ering and death c an be presented to
the e y e An d it is certainl y instructive
.
“
for us to l earn that the very men who
looked down with delight when the sand ,
of the arena reddened w ith human blood ,
made the t heater ring wit h applau se when

Terence in his famous l ine proclaimed the
”
brotherhood o f men .
One feeble protest is on record a protest

,
c oming from the mother of civilization ,
from ancient Athens . When an attempt

w as made to introdu c e the games into
Athens the philosophe r D emonax ap
,
pealed successfully t o the better feelings

“
o f the p eople by ex claiming : $ ou must
”
first overthrow the altar of pit y $
T he philoso pher D emonax had not the
compromising spirit of the modern pro
f es s or. A lthough th e brutal games of
our y outh and populac e need a D emonax ,
we certainly should not look for one in our

colleges and universities Our college au
.
th orities assure u s that athletic prestige is
indispensable t o a good university I n .
fact according to some o fficial statements

, ,
football teams are supposed t o express the

su p e rior intellectu al a ctivities of ou r fo r e
and we read of wars slaughters mur ders
, , ,
l ynchings crimes and outrages on life and

,
liberty ; we read of strikes lockouts of , ,
tales of starvation and of frightful infant

mortality ; we read of diseases and epi
demies r avaging the homes of our working
population ; we read of corporation in
iqu ities of frauds and corruption of our
,
legislative bodies of the control o f politi cs

,
b y the criminal classes of the great me

tr op olis of our land . We read of all that
evil and c orruption but forget them next
,
moment .
Ou r so cial life is c orru pt o ur body po l

,
itic is eaten through with canke rs and

“
sores the whole head 1 8 S Ick and the
,
whole heart is faint F rom the so l e of

.
the foot eve n u nt o the head t here is no ,
soundness in it ; but wounds and brui ses ,
”
and putrefying sores and y et we think
,
we are a civili ze d peop l e superio r to all

,
PHILIS T INE AND GE NIUS 27
c oun tries and to all ages The v oice of .
our brother s blood crieth unto us from

’
” ?
the ground H ow c an we be so c al lou s
.
H ow c an we be so mole blind and so stone -
deaf ?
The truth is we have but a thin varn ish

,
of humaneness glossing over a rude bar ,
bar ism With our lips we p r aise the G od

.
of love but in ou r hearts we adore the

,
G od of for ce H ow much physi c al force

.
is worshipped we c an r ea lize from the

crowds that t hr ong the games of base
ball football prize fights and boxing ex
, ,
-
h ibition s They go into tens of tho u

.
sands H ow man y would be drawn by a

.
S t P aul an E pictetus or a S o c rates ?

.
, ,
The newspaper the mirror of ou r social ,
life is filled with the names and exploits

,
of o ur magnates of high finance our ,
money mongers and usurers Ou r j our

-
.
n al s teem with deeds and scandals of our

“ ”
refined smart set set u p as patte rns as ,
28 PHILIS T INE AND GE NIUS
ideals after which our middle class so
,
longin gly c raves L ike the I srae lites o f

.
old we worship golden calves and sa

cr ed b ulls Ou r daughte r s year n after
.
the barbari c s h immer and glitter of the

bej ewelled besp angled empty minded
, ,
-
,
“ ”
parasiti c females of the smart set . Our
college boys a dmire the feats of the
traine d athlete and scorn the work of the
“ ”
gr ind . O ur v er y schoolboys crave for
the fame of a J eff r ies and a Johnson I f
-
.
in t h e depths o f spa c e the r e is some so l ar

system inhabited by r eally r ational beings ,
an d if one of suc h beings should by some
mira cl e h ap p en to visit our p l anet he ,
would no doubt t urn away in horror .

V
WE p r ess o ur ch ildren int o t h e trium

'
phant mar ch of o ur in du st rial Jug g er

naut Over
. children under 1 5
year s of age toil in fields fa ctories mines
, ,
and workshops The s lums a n d t he fac

.
tory cripp l e th e e n ergies of our yo ung

gene r atio n T h e slaughte r of the i nn o
.
c ents a n d th e sa crifi c e of our chil d r e n t o

t h e insatiab l e Mo l och o f indust r y exclu de
u s fr om th e r ank o f civilized so ciety and
p la c e u s on th e l ev e l of barbari c n at ions .
Ou r educator s a r e na rr o w min ded p ed

-
ants They a r e oc cup ied wit h the d ry

.
bones o f t ext book s the sawdus t of peda

-
,
o
g g ics a n d t h e would -
be s c ie n tifi c ex
r iments of ed uc ationa l psy ch o l ogy ; the
p e y$
99
30 PHILIS T IN E AND GE NIUS
are ig n o r ant of the re al vi t al p roblem s of
human interests a kn owledge o f which
,
goes to make the t rul y educat ed man .
Abou t the middle o f t he ni n eteenth

c ent ury Bu ck l e made the pr e diction that
,
no wa r was any more to o ccu r among c ivi

liz ed n at ions . H en cefor th p ea c e w as to
“
reig n supreme . T h e wolf sha ll dwe ll
with th e lamb and the l eopard sh al l l ie
,
down wit h the kid ; t h eir young ones shall

lie down toge th e r an d the lio n shall eat
-
,
straw like the ox . N at ions sh all

beat their swords into ploughshare s
and t h ei r spears into p ru ning hooks N a .
tion shall not lift up sword again st n ation ,
nor shall the y learn war any more This .
prophe cy w as r ather hasty We h ave had.
sin ce t he C ivi l war the Fr ancoPru ssian

,
-
war the S panish A meri c an wa r th e B oer

,
-
,
war the R usso Japanese war not c o unt

,
-
,
ing the ceasel ess wars of exterminat io n

PHILIS T IN E AND GE NIUS 31
carried on by civil ized nations among

the various semi civilized nations and
-
primitive t ribes C ivilized nations do not

.
as yet beat their swords into ploughshares ,
but keep on increasing the strength of

“ ”
their armed peace and are read y to fight
,
blood y battles in the quest of new lands and

the conquest of new markets .
I n spite of The H ague conf erence o f

pea ce convoked by the peace loving C zar
-
,
no other age has had such l arge standing

armies provided with such c ostly and ef
fi cient weapons of execution ready for in
stant use The r ed spectre still stalks
.
abroad claiming its vi ctims We still be

.
lieve in the baptism of fire and r edemp

t ion b y blood. T he dogma of blood r e -
demption is still at the basis o f our faith

and consciously or uncons ciously we
, ,
brand th a t sacred creed on the min ds of

the youn g generation .
32 P H ILI S T I N E AND GE NI U S
We ar e no t educ ated to see and u nder
stand the wr et c hedn ess the misery o f our
,
—
life t he evi l of th e wo rl d falls on the
,
blind s p o t of o ur eye I n t h e n ame of

.
evolution and t h e su rvival of the fittest ,
we j usti fy the grasping arm of the strong ,
and even glory in the extermination o f

the weak The weak we say must be
.
, ,
weeded out by the p roce sses of natural

selection The strong ar e the best ; it is
.
right that they should survive and fl ourish

like a gree n bay tr ee The fact is that we
.
are stil l dominated by the law of the

j ungle the de n and the c av e We ar e
, .
still wi l d at heart We sti l l harken to the

.
cal l of the wild ; we a r e ruled by the fi s t ,
t h e claw and the tooth .
L ove j usti c e gentle n ess p e ac e reason

, , , , ,
symp athy and pity all humane feelings

,
and promp t ings ar e with us sentiments o f

“ ”
unnatu ra l o r su p ernatural r eligio n
34 PH ILIS T I NE AND GE NIUS
at such profane brutality Mandeville
.
onl y proclaimed the leading the guiding

,
principle of the c oming age o f industrial

pros p erity We now k now bette r A re
. .
we not evolutionists ? H ave we not

learned that progress and evolution and
the improvement of the race are brought
about by the fierce struggle for existence ,
by t he process of natural selection by the

,
me r cil ess elimination of the weak and by

the triump h o f the strong and the fit ?
Wh at is the use of being sentimental ?
L ik e B r ennu s the G aul we throw our

, ,
sword on the scales o f blinded j ustice and

“ ”
shout tri umphantly Va? victis $
VI
W E are confirmed optimists and s ow op «
timism broadcast We have optimisti c

.
clubs and mental scientists and C hristian

—
scientists al l afflicted with incu r able
,
op hthalmia to surrounding evil and mis

ery We are scientifi c we ar e evolution
.
,
ists we h ave faith in the sort of optimism

,
taught by L eibnitz in his famous T heo

d icea We are the C andides of our or
.
acles the Pangl os ses $ ou may possibl y

, .
r emembe r what V oltaire writes o f P ro

f essor P angloss . P angloss used to
teach the science o f metaphysico theolo-
g
-
o cosmologo n oo
-
d l eol o
gy H e
. demon
s tr ated to admiration that there is no e ff ect
without a cause an d that this is the best of

35
36 PHILIS T I NE AND GE NI U S
al l p ossible worlds I t has been pr ov ed
.
,
said P ang l oss that things c ann ot be othe r

,
wis e t han they a re ; fo r ev e rythi n g the ,
end fo r wh ich ever ything is made is n e c ,
es s aril y t he best end Observ e h ow n oses

.
ar e ma de to c arry S pectacles and sp ecta ,
cl es we h ave a cc ordingly E veryt h in g .
that is is the best that could p ossib ly be

,
.
I t is such shallow o ptimism that n ow gains

currency .
Ve rily w e are a ffli c ted wit h mental

‘
“
c at a r a ct .I f we should b ring cl early
to a man s sight ’
says S ch openh auer
, ,
“
th e t errible su ff erin gs a n d mise r ies to
w hi c h his life is constantly exposed he ,
wo u ld be seize d with horro r and if we ,
were to c ond uc t the c on firmed o p timist

t hr oug h the hospital s infi rmar i es and , ,
su rgi ca l Operating rooms throu gh pris-

,
ons as ylu ms torture chamber s an d slav e

, ,
-
kenn els ov e r battlefields and places of

,
exe cut ion ; if we we r e to o p en t o him a ll

PHI EIS TI N E AND GENIUS 37
the dark abodes of miser y where it hides ,
itself from the glance o f cold curiosity he ,
would understand at last the n atur e o f

this bes t of p oss ible worlds .
S chopenhauer is metaphysical pessi ,
misti c but he is certai nl y not blinded by

,
a shallow optimism to the realities o f l ife .
D run k with the S pirit of Optimism we ,
do n ot realize the degradation the misery ,
and poverty o f ou r life Meanwhile the .
human genius the genius which all of u s

,
possess l an gu ishes famishes and perish es

, , , ,
while the brute alone emerges in triumph .
We are so overcome by the faith in the

transcendent optimistic evolution of the
,
good that through the mist y heavenly

, , ,
angelic visions we do not discern the

,
cloven hoof of the devil .
Pr o fessor James in a recent addres s

told the Rad cli ff e graduates that the aim
“
of a college education is to r ecog niz e the
-
”
g ood m an when , you see him T his a d .
38 P HILIS T I N E AND GE N I U S
v ice may be good for R adcli ff e young
l adies ; but fathers and mothers the true
, ,
edu cation o f life is the recog nition o f evil
wher ever it is met .
The Bible begins th e s t o ry of man in a

p aradi se o f ignorance and finishes it with
his tasting of the fruits of the forbidden
tree of knowledge of good and evil .
“
And the eyes of them both were o p en ed
and they knew that they were n ak ed .
A n d the L ord G od said

‘
— B eho l d t he
, ,
man is become as one o f u s to know good

and evil and now l es t h e p ut fort h h is
, ,
hand an d take also of the tree of li fe and

eat and l ive for eve r Therefore the .
,
L ord G od sent him forth from the garden

”
of E de n S o he dr ove ou t the man
. .
We prefer the si nfu l mo rtal but godl ike, ,
man with his kn owledge o f ev il to the

b ru tis h p hilisti n e i n the b l iss of El ysium .
VI I
IN the education of the y oung genera

tion the purpose o f the nation is to bring $
up the child as a good man as a liberal ,
minded citizen devoted soul and body to

,
the inte r ests o f social welfare This pur .
pose in the education of the young citizen

is of the utmost importance in every so
ciety but it is a vital need in a democratic
,
society We do not want narr ow mi nded

.
-
patriots devoted to part y f actions nor big

-
,
oted sectarians nor gr eed y en tr e r eneu rs

, p
fastening in trusts like so many barnacles
, ,
on the body politic We do not want

-
.
ringleaders and mobs uns crupulous bosses

,
and easily led voters What we n eed is

.
men h avm g at heart the wel far e of their

fellow men
-
.
The purpose of the education provided
b y the nation for its yo ung generation is
the rearing of healthy talented broad , ,
minded citizens IVe n eed above all

.
, ,
good citizens active and intelligent with

, ,
a knowledge of life and with a delicate

sense of discrimination and de tec tion of
evi l in a ll its protean forms ; we need
strong minded citizens with grit and
-
c ourage to resist oppression and root out

evi l wherev er it is found A strong sense .
of r ecognition o f evil should be the s o c ial

sense o f e v ery well educated citizen as a
-
safeguard of so cial and national li fe .
The p rincip l e f
o r ecog nition o f evil u n der
all its g u is es is at the bas is f

o the tru e edu
ca tion o f man .
I s it not st r ange t h at this vita l p rin

cip l e of edu c ation the r ecognition o f evil
, ,
— a fundamental principle with the great

—
t hinkers o f humanity should remain s o ,
tors and are looked up to b y the tea cher s
as able bus iness men T heir merit is.
r outine di scipline and the hiring of cheap

,
teachin g employees
-
.
I t is certainly a great misfortune to the

nation that a good number of ou r would
be scient ific pedagogu es are such medioc
r ities with s o absurd an exaggeration of
,
their im p o r tan ce that they are well satis

fi ed if t he mass of t heir pupils turn out
exa ct r eprodu c tions o f the sill y p eda
gogue What can be expected of a n a
.
tion t h at ent rusts the fate of its young

generation to the c are or careles s ness of
young girls to the ire o f old maids and
, ,
to pettifogging o fficial s with their educa

tion al red tape discipline and routine
, ,
p ett y bureau c rats animated with a hatred

towar ds t alent and genius ?
T h e good y goody schoolma am th e

-
’
mandarin schoolm aster the philistine

-
,
PHILIS T I NE A N D GE NI U S 43
pedagogue the pedant administrato r with

,
-
his business capacities have proved them

,
selves incompetent to deal with the edu

cation of the y oung T hey stifl e talent
.
,
they stupe fy the intellect they paral yze ,
the will they suppress genius they be

, ,
numb the fa culties o f our children The .
educator with his pseudo s cientifi c

,
-
,
pseudo ps y chological p seu dogog1cs can

-
,
only br mg up a set of philistines with

,
—
firm set habits marionettes dolls
,
— , .
Business is put above learning admin ,
is tr ation above educatio n disci p line and ,
order above cultivation of genius and tal

ent Our schools and colleges are con
.
trolled b y business men The school .
boards the boards of t rustees o f almost

,
every school and c olle g e in the country

consist mainl y of manufactur er s store ,
keepers tradesmen bulls and bears o f

, ,
Wall s treet and the market place W h at -

.
44 PHILIS T I N E AND GE NIU S
wonder that they bring with them the
ideals and methods of the fact or y the ,
store the bank and the saloon I f the

, .
saloon controls politics the sho p c ontrols

,
education .
B usiness men are no more competent to

run schools and colleges than astronomers
are fit to run hotels and theaters Our . .
who l e edu cational system is vicious A .
p opular scientific j ournal ent ered a p r o

test against the vulgarization of our col
leges the dep artment store trade methods
,
-
o f our universities but to no avail The

, .
popular hero the administrative business

,
superintendent still holds sway and poi

,
sons the source s o f our social life by de

basing the very foundation of ou r na
tion al edu c ation.
V III
F ROM time to time the edu é ational

methods of our philistine teachers are
brought to light A girl is forced by a
.
schoolma am of one of our large citi es to

’
stay in a corner f or hours because she ,
unintentionally transgressed against the

barrack discip line o f the s chool r egul a
- -
tions When the parents became afraid

.
of the girl s health and natu r ally to ok

’
her out of school the little girl w as,
dragged be fore the court b y the truant

“
o ffic er F ortunately the j udge turned to
.
the truant o fficer and asked him how the

girl could be a truant if she h ad been su s
,
pended H e didn t believe in b r eaking

.
’
”
children s wills ’
.
46 PHILIS T I N E AND GE NI U S
I n another cit y a pupil o f genius was
“
excluded from school because he did not
”
fa ll in with the s y stem l aid out b y the
“
ver y able business supe rintendent
-
A
.
schoolmistress con ceives the happ y idea o f

converting two of her r efractory pupils
into pin cushions for the edifi cation of
-
“ ”
h er c lass. A n educational administra
tive su p erinten dent of a large prosperous
,
c omm u nity told a lady who brought to
him he r s on an extr aordinarily able boy

, ,
“
I shall n ot take y our boy into my high
”
s chool in spite of his kn owledge
, When
.
the mother asked him to listen to h er he ,
lost p atien ce and told her with all the

forc e of his school authority Madam
-
, ,
put a r o p e aroun d his n e ck weigh him

,
”
we ll down with bricks $
A prin cipal o f a high schoo l in one of
the pr o min ent N ew E ngland town s dis
misses a highl y tale nt ed pu pil b ec ause to ,
quote verbatim from the orIgInal school

“
document H e is not amenable to the dis
,
cip lin e o f the school as his school life h as

,
been too short to establish him I n the habit

“ ”
of obedience H is intellect the prin
.
,
“
cip al s o fficial letter goes on to sa y
’
re ,
mains a marvel to u s but we do not feel

, ,
and in this I think I speak for all ,
”
that he is in the right place I n other.
words in the opinion o f those remarkable

,
pedagogues educators and teachers the

, ,
school is not the right place for talent and

genius $
A superintendent of schools in l ectur
“
ing before an audience of subor dinate
”
teachers told them emphatically that
ther e was no p la ce f or g eniu s in our
s chools D ear old fogies one can well

.
,
understand y our indignation $ H ere we

have worked out some fine method s clever ,
rules beautiful s y stems and then comes

,
48 PHILIS T I NE AND GE NIU S
genius and upsets the whole structure $
I t is a shame $ G enius cannot fit into the
pigeon holes of the office desk C hoke
-
.
genius and things will move smoothly in

,
the school and the office .
N ot long ago we were informed by one

—
o f those successful college mandarins ,
lionized by office clerks superintendents

-
,
and tradesmen that he could measure cd

,
u cation by the foot rule $ Our R egents

-
are supposed to raise the level o f educa

tion b y a vicious s y stem of examination
and coaching a s y stem which P rofessor
w
,
James in a private conversation

, i th
“ ”
me has aptly c haracterized as idioti c
, .
Our schools brand their pupils b y a s ys

tem of marks while our foremost colleges
,
measure the knowledge and education of

“ ”
thei r students b y the number of points
p assed T he student may p ass either in
.
L ogic or Blacksmithing I t does not .

50 PH ILIS T I NE AND GE NIUS
maste r mind ankylosis school su p erin
-
,
-
tendent sti ff j oi nt ceremo ni alism fact o ry

-
,
regulations and oflice discip line We give -

.
our pupils and students ar tisan ins p ira -
tion and business spirituality O riginal

-
.
it y is suppressed I n dividuality is crushed

. .
Mediocrit y is at a p remi u m T hat is why .
our country has such clever business men ,
such c unning artisans s uch resource fu l

,
,
politicians such adroit leaders of n ew

,
cults but no scientists no artists n o

, , ,
philosophers no statesmen no genuine

, ,
talent and no true genius .
S chool teachers have in all ages been

-
mediocr e in in tellect and incompetent .
‘
L eibnitz is regarded as a dullard an d
N ewton is considered as a blockhead .
N ever however in the history of manki nd

, ,
h av e s chool teachers fallen to such a low

l eve l of me dioc rity as in our times an d in ‘
o u r c ountry F o r i t is not the amount o f

.
PHILIS T I NE AND GE NI US 51
kn owledge that counts in true educatio n ,
but originalit y and independence of

thought that are o f importance in educa
tion But independence and originalit y
.
of thought ar e j ust the very elements that

are suppressed by ou r modern barrack
s y stem of education N o wonder that
.
“
militar y men claim that the best e duca
”
tion is given in militar y schools .
We are not aware that the incub us of

offi cial d om,and the succubus of bureau
cracy have taken possession of o ur s chools .
T he red tape of offi cial d om like a poison

,
ous weed grows luxur iantly in our schools

,
an d chokes the l ife of our young genera
tion I nstead of growing into a people

.
of great independent thinkers the n ation

,
is in danger of fast becoming a crowd of

well drilled well disciplined commonplace
-
,
-
,
individuals with strong philistine h abit s

,
and notions of hopel ess medio crity .

I n levelling edu c ation to medio crit y we
ima g ine that we uphold t he de mo cr atic
spirit o f our in stitutions Our Ame rican
.
sensibilities ar e shocked whe n the presi

dent of one of our l eading coll eges dares
to r e c ommend to his college that it shou l d
cease c atering to th e ave r age student .
We thin k it u n Am eri c an r ank treason

-
,
to ou r democratic spi rit when a col l ege

president has t he c ourage to proclaim th e
principle that To form t h e min d and
’ “
characte r of one man of marked t al ent ,
not to say genius would be worth more to

,
the c ommunity which h e wo u ld se rv e th an

the routine training of hundre ds o f un
”
d er gr adu ates .
We are optimistic we believ e in the

,
perni c ious superstition that geni u s n eeds

no help that talent wil l take car e of it
,
sel f Our kit chen cl o cks and dollar time

.
p ie c es n e ed c ar efu l h and l in g bu t o ur
,
chronometers and astr ononn cal c lo cks can

run by themselves .
The truth is however th at the p urpose

, ,
of the school and the college is not to cr e

ate an intellectual aristocracy but t o edu ,
cat e to bring out the individuality the

, ,
originality the l atent p owers o f talent

,
an d genius presen t in what we u nf or tu

“ ”
n atel y regard as t h e average student .
F ollow Mill s advice I nstead of aiming

’
.
at at hletics soci al conn ections v o c ations

, ,
and generally at the pro fessiona l art of

“
money making A im at something noble
-
, .
Make y our s y stem such that a gr eat man

may be formed by it and there wi ll be a ,
manhood in your little men o f whi ch yo u ,
”
do not dream .
Awaken in early childhood th e cr it

ical spirit of man ; awaken early in ,
the child s life love o f knowledge love

’
, ,
of truth of ar t and liter ature for their

,
own sake and you arouse man s genius
,
’
.
We h ave ave r age mediocre s tudents be ,
c ause we have mediocre tea chers de p art,
ment store superintendents clerkly p rin

-
,
cip al s and deans with bookkeepers souls ’

,
be c ause our schools and c o llege s de liber

ately aim at medio crity .
R ibot in des cribing th e degene r at ed

Byz antine Greeks tells u s that thei r l ead
ers we r e medio c rities and t hei r gr eat
men commonplace personalities I s the .
American nation drifting in the same di

rection ? I t was the system of cultiva
tion of independent thought th at awak
ened the G reek mind to its hi ghest achieve
ments in arts scien c e and p hilosophy ; it
,
was the deadly B yzantine bureaucratic

r ed tape with its cut and dried theologic al
- -
discip l ine t h at dried u p the sources of

Greek ge ni u s We ar e in dange r o f
.
building up a B y z an tine empire with large

institutions a n d big c orporatio ns but

,
WIth s mal l minds and dwarfed individuali

‘
‘
ties L ike the B yzantines we begin to

.
value administratio n above individuality

and official red tap e c e r emonialism above
,
-
ori ginality .
We wish even to turn o ur schools into

practi c a l scho ol shops We shall in time
-
.
become a nation of wel l trained clerks an d

-
clever artisans T he time is at hand when

.
we shall be j ustified in wr it ing ove r the

“
gates of our school sho p s mediocrity
-
”
made he r e $
IX
I A SS $ M E that as liberal men and women

you have no use for the process of cram
ming and stu ffing o f c ollege geese and -
mentally indolent morall y obtuse and

,
“ ”
reli gious l y cultured p rigs and philis
tines but that you r ealize that your true
,
vocation is to get ac c ess to the latent ener

gies of you r children to stimulate their r e
,
serve energies and educate bring to light

, ,
man s genius The s cience of psychop ath

’
.
ology now sets forth a fundamental prin

cip l e wh ich is not only of the utmost im
portan c e in ps y chotherapeuti c s but also,
in the domain o f edu c ation ; it is the prin

cip l e of stored up dormant r ese rve
, ,
—
energ y the principle of potential sub
, ,
conscious reserve energy

, .
56
unrestricted advice F ixed adaptation s
.
,
stable habits tend to raise the thresholds

,
of mental life tend to in hibit t h e libera

,
tion the out put of reserve energy

,
-
.
A void r ou tine D o not let your pupils

.
fall into the ruts of habits and customs .
i
D o not let even the bes t o f habits harden
ond the point of furthe r possible modi
cation .
Where there is a tendency towards

formation of over abundant mental car
.
-
til ag e s et your pupils to work under

,
widely di ff erent circumstances C on .
front them with a changed s et o f condi

tions $ eep them on the move S ur
. .
prise them by some app arently p ar adox i

cal relations and strange phenomena .
D o not let them s ettle do w n to one definite

set o f actions or reactions R emember
.
that rigidity like scl erosis induration of

, ,
t i s sue , means de c ay of originality destru o

,
tion of man s genius With so lidified and

’
.
unvariable habits no t only does the r e

se rve energ y become entirely in ac cessible ,
but the ver y in dividualit y is extinguished .
D o not make of our children a nation of

phili stines W hy say y ou make man in
.
,
you r own image ? D o not make your

schools machine shops turning out on one
-
,
uniform pattern so much me diocrit y per

y ea r C u ltivate variability The tend
. .
en cy towards variability is the most pre

cions p art o f a good education B eware .
of the philistine with his set stable habits

, .
The important p r mc1 pl e in edu cat1 on I s

not s o much f orma tion of habits as the
power of their re for ma tion The power
-
.
o f breaking up habits is b y far the more

essential factor of a good education I t .
is in this power of breaking down habits

that we can find the ke y for the unlock
ing of the otherwise inaccessible stores of
60 P H ILIS T I N E AND GE NI U S
subc onscious r eserve ener gy . T he cu l ti
va tion o f the p ower o f habit disinteg r a

-
tion is what con s titu tes the p r op er edu ca
m a n s g enius fi
’
le
tion o f
A w ll known ed i t o r of n of th
*
e c d mi c $ ou rn l
o e e a a e a s
on Educ tion l P ych olo gy writ s t o me s foll ow

a a s e a s
$ o ur r em r ks ou th o i d nc of r outine woul d
“
a e av a e
be lik a d g to bull fo r numb r of educ

e re ra a a e a
to r s wh o mp h as i i ng the i mp o r t nc e o f h bi t fo r
are e z a a
mati on i n duc ti on t p r sent

e a
”
a e .
$
TH E powe r of breaking down or dissolv

ing habits depends 0 1 1 the amount and
strength of the a qu a for tis of the intellect .
The logical and criti c al a ctivities of the

individual shoul d be cultivated with spe
cial care The c riti c a l self as we ma y
.
,
put it should have control ove r the auto

,
matic and the subcons cious F o r t he sub

.
cons c ious h as been shown to form the

fe rtile soil for the breeding of the most
dangerous germs of mental disease epi ,
d emics plagu es and pestilences in thei r

,
worst forms We should try to dev elop

.
the individual s critical abilities in early

’
childhood not permitting the suggestibl e

,
sub c onsciousness to predominate and to ,
61
62 P HILIS T I NE AND GE NI US
become overrun with noxious weeds and
pests.
We should be very careful with the

child s critical self as it is weak and h as
’
little resistance We should there fore

.
, ,
avoid all dominating authority and cat e

o r ical imperative commands A utocrati c
g .
authority cultivates in the ch ild the p redis

position to abnorma l suggestibility to ,
h ypnotic states and l eads towards the

,
dominance of the subconscious with its

train o f pernicious tendencies and delete
r iou s results
.
There is a period in the child s li fe ’
between the ages o f five and ten w hen

he is very inqu isitii fi asking all kinds
‘
,
h w
of qu es tl ons I t is
.
,
s ion in the chil This inquisitiveness

and dis cussion should b y al l means be en
cou ra g ed an d fostered We should aid .
the deve l opment o f the spirit of inqui si

PHI L I S TI NE AND GE NIUS
tiv enes s and curiosity in the child F or .
this is the acquisition o f control over the

stored u p latent en ergies of man s ge nius
-
,
’
.
We should not arrest the child s ques ’
tionin g spirit as we are often apt to do

, ,
but should strongl y encourage the appar

entl y meddle s ome and troublesome search
ing and pr ying and scrutinizing of wha t
ever in ter es ts the child E verything
.
should be open to the child s searching in

’
ter es t ; nothing should be suppressed and
tabooed as too s acred for examination .
T he spirit of inquir y the genius of man

, ,
is more sacred than any ab stract bel ief ,
dogma and creed .
A rabbi came to ask m y advice about

the education o f his little bo y My ad .
“ ”
vice was : T each him not to be a Jew .
T he man of G od departed and never came

again T he rabbi did not care for edu
.
cation but for faith H e did n ot wis h

, .
64 P H ILIS T I N E AND GE NI U S
his boy to become a man but to be a Jew , .
The most central the most cr ucial pa rt

,
o f the education of man s genius is the ’
knowledg e the r ecognition of evil in all

,
its protean forms and innumerable dis

guises intellectual aesthetic and moral
, , ,
such as fallacies sophisms u gliness de

, , ,
formity prej udice superstition vice and

, , ,
depravity D o not be a fraid t o discuss

.
these matters with the child F or the .
knowledge the re c ognition o f evil doe s

,
not only possess the virtue of immu niz a

tion o f t he child s mind against all evil
’
,
but furnishes the main power for h abit

disintegration with consequent release and
control o f potential r eserve energy of ,
manifestations o f human genius When .
a man becomes contented and c eases to

n otice the evils of life as is done by some
,
modern r eligious s ects he l oses his hold on

,
the powers of man s genius he loses touch

’
,
66 P HI L I S T I N E AND GE N IU S
his subconscious sense by deluding him by
means of hypnotic and post hypnotic sug -
gestions of positive and negative hallu

cin ation s with mist y and my sti c beatifi c
, ,
visions Open his eyes to u ndisgu ised r e

.
alit y T each him S how him how to strip

.
,
the real from its unessential wr appings

and adornments and see things in their
nakedness Op en the eyes of you r chil
.
d r en so tha t they s hall s ee, u nd ers ta nd
an d f a ce f
cou r ag eous ly the evils o life .
T hen will you do your duty as parents ,
then will you gi ve your children the

proper education .
XI
I H AVE spoken o f the fundamental law

of early education T he question is how
.
r
ea y l ? There are of course children
, ,
who are backward in their development .
This backwardness may either be cong en

ital or may be due to some overlooked
pathological c ondition that may be easily
r emedied by proper treatment I n the.
l arge maj ority o f chil dren however the

, ,
beginning o f education is between the

s econd and thir d
yea r I.t is at that time
that the child begins to form his in terests .
I t is at that critical period that we have

to seiz e the opportunity to guide the
'
child s formative energies in the right

’
channels To delay is a mistake and a

.
67
wrong to the child We can at that ea rl y
.
period awaken a love of knowledge whi c h

will p ersist through l ife T he child will
.
as eagerly play in the game of knowledge
as he now spends the most of his energies

in meanin gless games and obj ectless silly
sports .
We claim we are afraid to force the $
child s mind We claim we ar e afraid

’
.
to s tr ain his brain p rema tu r ely This is .
an erro r I n directing the c ourse o f the

.
use of the child s energies we do not force

’
the chi l d I f you do not dir ect the ener

.
gies in t h e r ight course the ch il d will

,
was te them in the wr ong dire c tion The .
same amount of mental energy u sed in

those silly games which we think are spe
,
c ially adapted for the childish mind can ,
be directed with l asting benefit to the de

, ,
v el opment of his in ter es ts in in tellectu al

XI I
A R I S T OTL E laid it down as a self evident

-
proposition that all H ellenes love knowl

edg e. T his was tru e of the national g en
ius of the ancient G reeks T he love of wis
.
dom is the pride o f the an cient G reek in

contradistinction to the barbarian who ,
does not prize knowledge We still b e .
long to the barbarians Our children our

.
,
pupils our students have no love of knowl

,
edge .
T he ancient Greeks kn ew the value of

a good educatio n and understood its
fundamental elements The y laid great
.
stress on earl y education and they knew

how to develop man s mental energie s
’
,
without fear of inj ury to the brain an d

70
P HILIS T IN E AND GE NIUS 71
physic al constitution T he Greeks were

.
not a fraid o f thou ght that it might in

,
j ure the brain T hey were strong men

.
,
great thinkers .
T he love of knowle dge the l ove of tru th

,
for its own sake is entirel y neglected in

,
our modern schemes o f education I n .
stead of training men we train mechanics ,
artisans and shopkeepers We turn our .
national schools high schools and univer

,
sities into trade school s and machine shops

- -
.
T he school whether lower or higher has

, ,
now one purpose in view and that is the ,
training o f w mi hea moi m oney

making I s it a wonder that the result
.
is a low form of mediocrit y a dwarfed and ,
crippled specimen o f humanity ?
Open the reports of our school s u p er in

t en d en ts and y ou find that the illustrations
setting forth the prominent work per

formed b y the sch ool represent carpentry ,
shoemaking bl acksmithing bookkeeping
‘
, , ,
type w riting dressmaking millinery and

, ,
cookery One wonders whethe r it is the

.
report of a facto ry inspecto r the s cien ,
”
tific advertisement of some instrument
make r o r machine shop a booklet of some
-
,
popular hotel or an extensive c ir c ula r of

,
some l arge department store I s th is -

.
what our modern education consists i n ?
I s the aim of the nation to form at its ex

pense vast reserve armies of skille d me
chan ics, gr eat numbers of well trained -
c ooks and well behave d cl erks <I s the

- ?
pur pose of the nation to form cheap

skilled labor for the manufacturer or is ,
the a im of society to form intelligent edu ,
cated citize ns
The h igh schoo l and c ollege c ourses

-
advised by the professors and e l e ct ed by

th e student are with reference to the vo c a
t io n in li fe to business and to trade Ou r
,
.
X III
TH E great thinker John S tu art Mill

, ,
“
insists that t h e great business of ev ery
rational being is the strengthening and
enl arging o f his own intellect and ch ar ac
te r The empiri c al kn owledge which the
.
world demands which is t he stock in t rade

,
o f mone y getting we would l eave the

-
,
”
world to provide for itself . We mus t
“
make our system o f educatio n such that
a great m an may be formed by it , and
there will be a manhood in you r litt le men
of which you do not dream We must .
have a s y stem of education capable of

”
forming great minds E ducation must
.
aim at th e b ringing out of the genius in

man D o we achieve such aim by the
.
74
PH ILIS T I NE AND GE NIUS 75
format ion of p hilist i ne specialists and -
young petty minded artisans

- ?
“
T he ver y cornerstone of an educa
” “
tion Mi ll t el l s u s intended to form
, ,
great minds must be the r ecognition o f

,
the principle that the obj ect is to c al l

, .
fort h the greatest possible quantity of in

tell ectu al p ower and to inspire the intens
,
est love of tru th; and this withou t a p ar

ticle f
o r eg ar d to the r es u l ts to which the
”
ex ercis e of that p ower Withmay lead .
u s the only love of truth is the one that

leads to the shop the bank and the count
,
ing house
-
.
The home c ontrols the school and the

c ollege A s l ong as the h ome is domi
.
n ated b y c ommercial ideals the schoo l will ,
turn out mediocre tradesmen .
This however is one of the character

, ,
is tic t ypes of the American home : the

mother thinks o f dr ess es f ashion s and par, .
ties T he daughte r t wangs and thru ms
.
on t h e piano makes v iolent attempts at

,
“
singi ng t hat sound as the c ra c kling of
”
thorns unde r a p ot is passionately fond
,
of shop p ing dressing and visiting B oth

, .
,
mothe r and daughte r l ov e society Show

, ,
an d gossip The fathe r works in some

.
busi n ess o r a t some tr ade and l o v es sports

and games N o t a spark of r efinement
.
an d cul tu re n ot a r edeeming r ay of love

,
of knowledge and of art l ighting u p the ,
comm onp l a c e and friv olous life of the

family What wo n de r that the children
.
of t en and eleve n c a n h ar dl y r ead and

wr ite are l ittle b ru te s and waste away
,
their pr e c ious life of chil dhood in the close ,
dusty ov erheated r ooms of the early

,
grades of some el ementary sch ool ? C om

mer cial mediocrit y is raised at home and
cul tivat ed in the s chool .
“
A s a means o f e duc ati n g th e man y ,
78 P H IL I S T I NE AND GE NI U S
the edu cational v al u e of a university whi ch
is but a mode rn edition of a gla di atorial
schoo l with a smatterin g of the humani
tie s What is the education al value of an
?
in sti tu tion o f l earnin g that ex p els its best

“
st u dents be c au se they att r ac t more at
”
tention than thei r professors ? Wh at is
the inte lle c tu al l eve l of a c oll ege th at
ex p e l s fr om its c o u rses the ablest of its
stu dent s fo r some s light infrin gement and
,
that a n invo lu ntar y one un de r t h e p r e

,
tex t that it is done for the sake o f class

“
dis ci pline fo r the gen e ral goo d of th e
,
”
cl as s ? What t rav esty on education is a
sy stem that suppresses genius in the inter
est of me di o cri ty ? What is the cul t ural ,
the humanisti c v alu e of an edu c atio n th at

p ut s a pri z e o n me dio crity ?
$ IV
D I S C I PL IN E fixed habits approved by the

,
pedagogue are S peciall y enforced in o ur

s chools To t his may be added some
.
“ ”
cultu r e in the art of money getting in
-
the c ase of the boys whil e in t he case of

,
girls the aesthetic training of millinery

and dressmaking may be in cluded The .
colle ges in addition to class discipline

,
-
looked after by t h e pro fessors an d col

lege authorities are essentially an organi
-
,
z ation of hasty pudding c lubs

-
football
,
associations and athleti c c orporations .
What is the use of a college i f not for its

games ? Many regard the college as u se
ful fo r the formation of business acquaint
ances in l ater life Others again consider
.
79
the college a good place fo r learning fin e
manners I n othe r words the college and
.
,
the s chool a r e fo r athletics good manners, ,
business c ompanions hip mechanic al arts

,
and money getting T h ey are fo r any

-
.
thing but education .
We have be c ome s o used to c ollege ath

letics th at it appears strange and possibly
absurd t o demand of a c ollege the culti
vation of man s genius Who expects to
’
.
fin d an in te ll ectual atmosphere among the

grea t body of ou r college undergraduates ?
Who expects of our schools and c olleges

t rue cul tu r e an d the cul tivation o f a taste
for literature a rt and s cience A dean
,
?
,
an u nusually able man of one of the ,
prominent E astern c olleges tells me that

he and his friends are v er y pessimistic
about his students and especially about the
great body of undergraduate students .
L ite r ature a rt science have no interest

, ,
sets but we fail to realize the baneful ef
,
fects of submitting the y oung minds to the

grindstone of our edu c ational discipline .
I h ave kn own good fathers and mothers

who have un fo rtunately been s o imbued
with the necessity o f disciplining the chil d
t h at they have c rushed the child s S pirit in
’
the n arr ow bonds o f routine and custom .
H ow can we expect to get great men and

women when from infancy we train our
chi l dre n to conform to the philistine wa y s
o f Mr s G rundy
.
?
I n our schools and colleges habits dis

, ,
cip l ine and behavior are sp ecially emp h a
sized by o ur teachers instructors and pro

,
f es s or s
. Our deans and professors think
“ ”
more of red tape of points of discipline
, ,
th an of stud y ; they think more o f author

itativ e suggestion than o f critical in
struction The pedagogue fashions the
.
pupil after his own image The pro .

with his disciplinarian tacti cs

f es s or , ,
forces the student into the imbecile mum

my like mannerism of E gyptian pedantry
-
and into the barr ac k regulations o f class

-
etiquette Well may pr o fessors of our

.
“
war schools claim that t h e best edil ca
-
”
tion is given in military academies They .
are right i f discipline is education But

, .
why not the reformato ry the as ylum and

,
the p rison ?
We trust ou r unfo rt u nate youth to the

P rocrustean bed of the men t ally obtuse ,
hide bound pedago gu e

-
We desi cc ate
.
,
sterilize petrify and embalm o ur youth in

,
keeping with the r ul es of ou r E gyptian

code and in a cc ordan ce with the C onfu c ian
r egulations of our school clerks and col-
l ege mandarin s Our childr en learn by

.
r ote an d are gu ided b y ro utine .

$ V
B E IN G in a barbaric stage we are afraid

,
of thought We are under the er r one

.
ou s belief th at t hinking study causes

, ,
nerv ousness and mental disorders I n my .
p racti c e as p hysician in nervous and men

ta l di seases I can s ay without h esitation
,
t h at I have not met a single case of nerv

ous o r ment a l trouble c aused by too
mu c h thinking o r ove rst udy This is at.
present the opinion of the best psycho

pathologis t s What produces nervous
.
is wo rry emotional excitement and

,
lack of interest in the work B ut that .
is pre cisely what we do with ou r children .
We do not take care to develop a love of

knowledge in thei r early li fe fo r fear o f
brain inj ury and then when it is l ate to
,
86 P HILIS T I N E AND GE NI U S
a bar barian with a nimal pro cliv ities and a
strong di stas t e fo r kn owledge and mental
enj oymen t but he will be a strong
, ,
healthy thinking man

, .
B esides many a menta l troub l e will be

,
pr e v ented in adu lt life The c hild wil l

-
.
acquir e kn ow l edge wit h t h e same ease as
h e l earns t o r ide th e bi cy cl e or play ball .
B y the tenth year without alm ost any ef

,
fort the child will a cqui r e the kn owledge

,
which at presen t the best c oll ege gradu ate -
obtains wit h i nfi nite l abo r and p ain .
That t his c an be a c comp lis h e d I c an say

with authority ; I k now it as a fac t fr om
my own experience with child li fe -
.
Fr om an e c onomical standpoint al one ,
t hink of the saving i t would ensure fo r

society C onsider the fact that ou r ch i l
.
dr en spend n early eight years in the c om

mon school stud ying spelling and ar it h
,
metic and do no t kn ow t hem when t h ey

,
graduate $ Think of the eight y ear s o f

P HILIS T I N E AND GE NI US 87
waste of school buildings and s al aries fo r

the t ea ching for c e H owever our r eal
.
,
obj e ct is n ot economy but the develop

,
ment of a strong healthy great race of

, ,
ge nius.
A s fathe r s and mothers it may interes t

you t o lea rn of one of those bo y s who were
b rought u p in the love and enj oyment o f
knowledge for its own sa ke At the age .
of twelve when other children of his age

,
are hardly able to read and spell and drag ,
a mise r ab l e ment al existen ce at the ap r on

strings of some antiquated school dame -
,
the bo y is intensel y enj o y ing course s in

the highest bran ches of mathematics and
astr onomy at one of o ur foremost u niver
sities The I lia d and the Odyss ey are
known to him by heart and he is deepl y,
inter ested in t he advanced work of C lassi

cal P hilology H e is ab l e to r e ad H e
.
r odotu s ZE s ch l u s S ophocles E uripides

, y , , ,
Aristophanes L ucian and other Greek

,
wr iters with the s ame z est and ease as our
schoolboy r eads his R obinson C rusoe or
t he productions of C oope r and H enty .
The boy has a fair un derstand ing of C om

ative P hilology and M y thology H e
p a r .
is well v ersed in L ogi c A n cient H isto ry

, ,
Ame ri c a n H istory and has a general in

sight into ou r p olitics an d into the groun d
work of o ur C onstitution At the same.
time h e is o f an extremely happy dispo s i

tion brimming over with humo r and f u n
, .
H is p hysi c a l c ondition is s pl endid his

c heek s g l ow with h ealth Many a girl
-
.
would env y his complexion B eing above .
five feet four he towers above the average

boy of his age H is phy sical constitution
. ,
weight form an d hardihood of organs far

, ,
s u rpasses that of the ordi nar y s choolboy .
H e l ooks like a boy of S l xteen H e is .
h ealthy s tro n g and stu r dy

, .
T he philistine p s eu d ag og u es the s elf

-
,
c ontented school auto cr at s ar e s o imbued

-
bored in the average child and we let it ,
lie fallow We are mentally p oo r not

.
,
be c ause we lack riches but be c ause we do

,
n ot know how to use t he wealth o f mines ,
the hidden treasure s the now inaccessible

,
mental powers which we possess .
I n speaking o f our mental capa c ities ,
F ran cis G alton I think say s that we ar e

, ,
in relation to the ancient Greeks what the

Bushmen and H ottentots are in relation to
u s G alto n and many other learned men
.
regard the modern E uropean r aces as in f e

rior to t h e H ellenic r ace T hey are wr o n g
.
,
and I k now from experience tha t they are

wr ong I t rests in our hands eithe r to
.
remain in ferior barbarians or to rival and

eve n surpass in brillian c y the genius of
.
the anci ent H ellenes We can develo p

.
into a gre at race by the p rope r educ ation

of man s genius
’
.
$ VI
ON E other important point claims our

attention in the process of edu cation o f
man s genius We must i mmunize our
’
.
children against mental microbes as we ,
vaccinate our babies against small pox -

.
The cu l tiva tion

ofcr itica l
j u dg me n t and
the knowledg e of evil ar e two p owerfu l
cons titu en ts tha t f orm the an titoxin

'
f or
the neu tr aliz ation of the viru len t tor in s
p r odu ced by mental micr obes

At the .
same ti m e we should not neglec t proper

conditions o f mental hygiene We should .
not peo p le the child s mind with ghost

’
stories with absurd belie fs in the super

,
natural and with articles of creed charged

,
with brimstone and pitch from the bowels

of hell We mu s t g u ar d the child ag ains t
.
91
92 PH ILIS T I N E AND GE NIUS
a ll evil fear s , s up ers titions , p r e u djices a n d
cr ed u lity .
We should c ounteract the baneful in

fl u en ces o f the pathoge ni c pestiferous , ,
ment al microbe s which now infest our

s ocial air since the c hild not having yet
, ,
formed the antitoxin o f critical j udgment

and knowledge of evil has not the power ,
of resisting mental infe c tion and is thus ,
very susceptible to mental c ontagion on

accou nt of his ex t reme suggestibili ty .
T he cultivation o f credulit y the absen c e ,
of critical j u dgme nt and o f r e cognition

of evil with consequent increase of sug
,
g es tibility make, man an easy pr ey to

all kinds of social delusions menta l epi ,
demies religi ous craz es finan c ial manias

, , ,
an d politi cal plagu es w hi ch have bee n the

,
ba l eful pes t o f agg r egate humanity in all

ages .
The M uniz ation o f childr en the de ,

94 P HI LIS T I N E AND GE NIUS
studies and why the p edanti c methods o f
a c ademi c pedagogy are arid and sterile .
I n some c ases the do ct o r actual ly un der

takes the training of th e young T hu s .
t h e I tali an do cto r Maria Montesso ri

, ,
from the edu c atio n of defective chi l dren

has fin ally unde rtak e n wi th immense al
, ,
mos t phenomenal su cc ess t h e t r ainin g

, ,
and edu c atio n of normal children .
A s we look forward into the future

we begin to see t h at the s choo l is c om
-
ing u nde r t he c ontrol o f the me di cal

man T h e medi c al man f r ee from s uper
.
s titions and prejudi c es p ossessed of the

,
s cien c e o f mind and body is t o as sume,
in t h e futu r e the su p e rv ision o f t h e edu c a

tio n o f t he n atio n.
The schoo l master and the schoo lma am ’
wit h t hei r n arr ow minde d p edanti c p seu

-
,
dog ogics ar e gr adu a ll y losin g p restig e

and p assin g away w hile t h e me di c al ma n
,
al one is able to c o p e with the seriou s

th r eatening dange r of national mental
degeneration Just as the medi c al pro
.
f es s ion n ow saves t h e nation from physi

cal degeneration and works for the physi
cal r egeneration of the bodyzp olitic so ,
wil l the medical pro fession of t h e f u

ture as sume the duty of saving the nation
from mental and moral decline from de ,
genera t ion into a p eo p le o f fear pos -
sessed mind racked ps y chopathics and

,
-
neurotics with broken wills and c ru s h ed

,
individualities on the one h and accomp an

,
ied on the other hand b y t he still worse

, ,
a ffliction and incurable malady of a self

contented medio crity and a hopeless C hi ,
nese philistinism .
T here are in the U nited S tates about

two hundred thousand insane while the,
victi ms o f ps y chopathic mental maladies

,
may be c ounted by the millions I nsan .

it y can be greatl y alleviated but mu ch
, ,
if not all of that ps y chopathi c mental

,
mise ry known as functiona l mental dis

ease is entirely preventable I t is the
.
result of our pitiful wretched brain

, ,
starving mind crippling methods of edu

,
-
cat io n
.
PH
:
9s
'
ILIS T I N E GE NIUS
“
AND
the patient b y the hypnoidal s t ate c learly

traced his present condition to th e infl u
en c e o f an old woman a S unday s ch ool ,
teacher who infected h im with those vir

,
u l ent germs in his very early c hil dhood ,
about the age of five L et me r ead to you

.
a paragrap h from the patient s own ac ’
“
coun t : I t is di fficul t to p l a c e the begin
n ing of my abnorma l fear I t c e rtainly .
originat ed from doctrines of hell which I

heard in early childhood particularly from ,
a rather ignor an t elderly woman who ,
taught S und ay school My early r eli .
gion s thought was chiefl y concerned with

the di r efu l eternity of torture that might
be awaiting me i f I was not good enough
,
”
to be saved .
An other patient o f mine ; a cle rgyman s ’
wife was extremel y nervous depressed

, , ,
an d su ff ered from insomn ia from night ,
mar es from panophobia general fear

, , ,
PHILIS T I NE AND GE NI $ S
dr ead of the unknown from claustro ,
phobia fear of remaining alone fe ar of

, ,
darkness and nu merous other fears and

insistent ide as into the details of whic h I
,
cannot go h ere B y means o f the hyp noi

.
dal state the symptoms were traced to .
impressions o f early childhood ; when at

the age of five the patient was suddenly
,
confronted by a maniacal woman The .
child was greatly frightened ; and since

that time she became possessed by the fear
of insanity When the patient gave birth
.
to her child she was afraid the child would

,
be c ome insane ; many a time she even ha d

a feeling that the child was insane Thus .
the fea r of insanit y is traced to an ex p e

r ien ce o f early childhood an expe rience ,
which h aving be c ome subco nscious 1 s

, ,
manifesting itsel f persistently in the p a

tient s c onsciousness
’
.
The p atient s parents we r e v e ry r e li

’
P HILIS T I N E AND GE NI U S
gions and the child was brought up not
,
only in the fear o f G od but also in the

,
fea r of hell and the devil Being sens i.
tive and imaginative the devils of the

,
gospe l were to her stern r ealities S he .
“
had a firm belief in diabolical posses
” “ ”
sions and unclean spirits ; th e l egend
of Jesus exorcising in the coun t ry of the
G adarenes un clean spirits whos e name ,
is L egion was to her a tangible r eality

, .
S he was b r ou ght up on brimstone and

pitch with everlasting fires o f the bot
,
”
toml ess pit for sinn ers and unbelievers .
I n the hypnoidal state she clearly r emem

bered the p re ac her who used every S un
,
day to give her the horrors by his p ictur

esqu e descriptions of the tort ures o f the
“
bottomless pit ”
S he was in an g uis h
.
over the unso lved question : D o little

”
sinner girl s go to hell
- ? T his fear of hel l
1 02 P H ILIS T I N E AND GE NIUS
alo n e ; she passed many a night in a state
of ex citement fr enzied with the fear of
,
apparitio ns an d ghosts .
When about t he age of seventeen she ,
ap p arently freed h ersel f from the be lief

in ghosts and u n cl ean powers But the .
fear acquired in h er c hildhood did no t

lapse ; it persisted subconsciously and
mani fested itself in the form of u ncon
tr oll abl e fears S he was a fraid to remain
.
alone in a room especially in the evening

, .
Thus once wh en she had to go upstairs

, .
alone to pack her trunks a gauzy garment ,
cal led forth the experience of her ghost

fright ; she had the illusion of seeing a
ghost and fell fainting to the fl oor $ m
, .
less speciall y treated fears acquired in

,
ch ildhood l ast through li fe .
“ ”
E very ugly thing sa y s Mosso the
, ,
gr eat I talian physiologist told to the ,
ch il d ever y shock every fright given h im

, , ,
PHILIS T INE AND GE NI US 1 03
wil l remain like minute splinters in the

fl esh to torture him all his li fe l ong
, .
“
A n old soldier wh om I asked what his
greatest fears had been answered me ,
‘
thus : I have only had one but it pur ,
sues me still I am nearl y sev enty years

.
old I have l oo k ed death in the fa c e I do

,
not know h ow many times ; I have n ever

lost h eart in any dange r but when I pass
,
a little Old church in the shades o f the

fores t or a deserted chapel in the moun
,
tains I a l way s remembe r a neglected ora

,
tory in my native village an d I s hi v e r and

,
look around as though seeking the c orpse

,
o f a mur dered man which I once s aw car

ried into it when a child and with which
,
an o l d servant wanted to shut me up to

make me good H ere too experience s
.
’
, ,
of early childhood have persisted s ubcon

s ciou sl
y throughout lifetime .
XV III
I A PPEAL to you fathers and mothers

, ,
and to you liberal minded re aders as king

,
-
,
you to turn y our attention to the educa

tion of your children to the training of
,
the youn g generation of future citizens .
I do no t appeal to our official educators ,
to our scientific ps y cholo gi cal p s eu da

,
o
g g u es ,to the clerks o f our teaching sho p s ,
— f or they are beyond all hope . F rom

that quarter I expe ct nothing bu t attac ks
and abuse We cannot p ossibly expe c t
.
o f the philistine educato r and mandar in

-
p s eu d a g og u e the adoption o f di ff eren t

views of education We sh ould not kee p
.
new wine in o l d goat skins T he pre sent

-
.
sch ool s ystem squanders the resources of

-
the countr y and wastes the energies the ,
lives of our children L ike C ato our cry

APPE N D I X
P RE C OC I T$ IN C H I LD RE N
B$ precocit y I mean the manifestation of

the child s mental functions at a period
’
earlier than the one observed in the past

and present generations of child r en .
I n the course of his growth and de

v el op ment the individual unfolds his inne r
powers through acquisition of the stored

up experien c es of previous generat ions .
T he well known biogeneti c law ma y with ,
some modifications be applied to mental ,
life The development of the individual

.
R p ro d uc d in p rt wi th th kin d p r mi i o n
e e a ,
e e ss
o f th p ub li h r from my c o ntri b u ti o n t th
e
’
s e s, o e
f o rthcoming E ncyclop d i o f E d u c ti o n pub li h d

ae a a , s e
by S ir I c P itm n n d S o n L on d on E ngl n d
saa a a s, , a .
1 07
1 08 PHILIS T INE AND GENIUS
is an abbreviated reprodu ction of the evo
l u tion of the species Briefl y put : Onto
.
genesis is an epitome of P h ylogenesis .
This biogenetic law holds true in the do

main of education The stored up ex
.
-
ien ces of the race are condensed fore

p er ,
shortened and recapitulated in the child s

,
’
life h istory This process of progressive

“
precocit y or of foreshortening of edu
,
9,
cation h as been going on unconsciousl y in

,
the c ours e of human evolution We hav e

.
r eached a stage when man can be made

cons cious of this fundamental process ,
thus ge t ting control over his own growth

a n d development .
Although the pro cess of foreshortening

of education has been taking pla c e
throughout the histor y of mankind and ,
esp ecially of c ivilized humanit y still the

,
p rocess h as remained imperceptible on ac

c ount of its ex tremel y slow rate of prog
1 10 PH I LIS T I NE AND GE NIUS
have their origin in small centres and r e
s tr icted areas .A new species ma y begin
with some app arentl y insignificant varia
tion whi ch ma y grow and develop and ,
which from a certain standpoint may be

, ,
regarded as an abno rmalit y .
Wh at at present is considered as p r e
cocity
”
, and hence as an abnorm alit y ma y ,
r eall y be the foreshadowing of the future .
The apparently precocious variation may

and wi l l turn out a normal phenomenon .
The stone which the builders refus ed is

become the head stone of t h e corner .
E arl y education precocit y is t o become

, ,
the co rne r stone of human life A t p r es .
en t the p r elimina ry p eriod o f child educa
tion is u nd u ly r etar d ed to the detriment
of the individ ual and s ociety .
T h e tru th is we do not r ealize the im

,
portan c e of earl y training We begin .
edu c ation l ate in the child s life wh en dis

’
,
positions have become formed and habits

have become rigid T his dela y seriously
.
inj ur es the growth of the child b y lower

ing the level of mental activit y The .
critical points of formation of mental in

t er es ts are allowed to slip b y leaving the
,
individual irresponsive to mental aesthetic

, ,
and moral interests T he critical turning

.
points when the best energies could be

,
brought out are not taken care of at the

,
right moment .
The mental fun c tions be come pre

matu r el y atrophie d and degenerated .
When we late r on attempt to awaken

those functions we are surprised to find
,
them absent We labor unde r the false

.
impression th at the child is naturall y

inapt and deficient To make up for this
.
apparent deficiency we force the child s ’
mind into narrow channels crippling and

,
deforming it into mean mediocrity T he .

1 12 PHI LIS T INE AND GEN IUS
child is run into the rigid moulds of home ,
school and college with the r esult of

,
permanent mutilation of originalit y and

genius The in dividual is deformed be
.
,
cause the critical spirit o f inquir y and

originalit y is racked on the P rocrustes ’
bed of home and school The unfortunate

.
thing about it is the firm belief that the

crippled S pirit of the child is a congenital
mediocrity I nstead of shouldering the
.
fault w e put the burden on H eredit y

'
.
,
D arwinis mwith its spontaneous var iation

and hereditar y transmission Austro Ger ,
-
ma ni c Mendelism accompanied b y a wide

,
spread propaganda of E ugenics have ,
blotted out from view the far more fun

d amental factors of environment and edu
cation which pla y such a paramount r Ole
in man s life ’
.
We may profit by r ecent studies in

P s ych op athology I n my investigations
.
1 14 PHI LI S T I NE AND G E N I U S
be careful not to c ast the child s mind ’
into read y made moulds not to s ubj ect ,
his mi nd his cha rac ter to the yoke of

,
meaningless mannerisms and rigid formal

ities We sho uld h ave respect for the
.
child s personalit y We should remem

’
.
ber that there is genius in ever y health y ,
no rmal child .
We are blind to the child s latent gemu s ’
bec ause we look to brute force as our

standard L ike savages we are afraid of
.
”
genius especiall y when it is manifested

,
“
as pr ec ocit y in children This abj e ct .
fea r of genius and of p r e co c it y is one of

the most pernicio us philistine su p er s ti
tions causing the retardation of the prog
,
ress of humanit y The fear of mental.
p re cocit y is essential ly the phobia of the

inveterate philistine .
We should bear in mind that the phil

istine is an insign ifica nt though exact ,
P HILIS T I NE AND G E N I U S 115
pa rt of a h uge social machine of a F rank

,
”
en s tein kultu r before w hi ch the phil
is tine prostrates himself in dust a socia l ,
monster of which he is proud to form an

irresponsible mite Whether he be an
.
atom of a political organization of a na ,
tion or of a militar y kultu r s y stem the

,
-
,
philistine is trained to be c ontent to play

the same ignoble slavish r ole of submis
,
sion obedien ce and irrespons ibility

, , .
Without persona l conscien c e without pe r

,
sonal will without per sonal initiative the

, ,
impersonal philistine is like the stupid

genie of Aladdin s lamp wh o slavishly
’
obe ys the master of the magic lamp .
The present horrib l e E uropean wa r

( predic t ed in t h is volume several y ear s
before the onset of the war S ee pp 3 0
. .
,
3 1 ) is t h e un fortunate but natu r al out

,
come of philistine education and philistine

l i fe The i mmediat e c au se of th e war may
,
1 16 PHI L I S TI N E AND G E N I U S
be t r a c ed to po l itics greed c omp etition to
, , ,
c ommercial industrial cul tural national

, , , ,
international and ra cial complications

, .
At bottom h owever the present E uro

, ,
pean war is ul t imatel y due to our per

niciou s s y stem of training the bane of ,
ou r industrial soc ial life Millions of men

, .
are drilled and d iscip lined to act as autom

ata ; men are tr ained from childhood ,
at home school c ollege and universit y

, , ,
to surrend er their individua l j udgment,

and follow blindly an alleged social con
”
s el ou s n ess
, entrusted b y a set of phil ,
istin e bu r eau c rats to superior leaders to

, ,
general s admirals and fi eld marshals

, ,
-
.
Men a r e hy pnotized b y a pernicious and

vicio u s s y stem of training and quasi edu -
cat i on to consider it a high sacred ideal ,
t o obey implicitl y the wi ll of a few of

fi cial s and diplomat s to attack plunde r, ,
and slaughter at th e command of ge n

‘
118 PH L I IS T I N E AND G E N I U S
grandeur of delivering thei r personal r e
sponsibilit y in the keeping of a handful
of B yzantine bureaucrats irresponsible ,
j unkers and half crazed C aesars

,
-
.
” “
The principle B e C hildlike is para
mount in the education of mankind The .
child represents the future all the pos ,
s ibilities all the coming gr eatness of the

,
human ra c e We the adults are con

.
, ,
t aminated b y the bruta l passions and vices
incident to the struggle for existence and

self prese r vation
-
.
P lasticit y of mind is characteristic of

genius P lasticit y of mind and bod y is
.
pre eminentl y characteristic of the child .
A daptabilit y and plasticit y are found in

all y oung tissue muscle gland and nerve
, , , .
A s the organism ages become s di ff er ,
en tiate d and adapted to special fun c tio n s

,
and conditions of life it loses its original,
plasticit y The tissues become fixed and

.
PHILI S T I N E AND G E N I U S 1 19
th e functions s et The adult s b r ain and .

’
mind begin to work in ruts The/child — is .
The child looks at the worl d with e yes

simple clear bright not blinded b y the
, , ,
heavy s cales of traditions superstitions , ,
and prej udi c es of remote ages The in .
tr icate worries complex fears selfish mo

, ,
tiv es
, brutal passions greed revenge , , ,
mal i c e vice enmit y do not as y et mar the

, ,
soul of the child Artificial needs strong .

,
animal p assions h ave no fir m hold on the

ch ild s mind The child s mind is p u
’
.
’
fresher brighter far more original

, ,
the adult intelligence with its phili

notions and hide bound habits of th ought -
a nd belief .
With a g e the mind becomes specialized

and degraded in qualit y $ nless check ed .
b y a good education and b y a persistent

.
r
course of me ntal actii ity j inl é lle ctu al and '
f
,
1 20 PHILIS TI NE AN D GENIUS
othe r menta l adult mind is
inter estsk j hg
nl es s controlled b y
a good ed on and b y intense mental

interests free from service to animal
,
needs the emotions of self regard the im

,
-
,
pulse of self preserv ation with its fear in

-
s tin ct graduall y gain in man the upper
hand <In the child on the contrar y the

.
, ,
personal interests are relativel y weak and ,
fl uctuating hen c e the possibilit y of pure

,
disinterestedn ess pure curiosit y love of

, ,
learning the root of all originalit y pres

,
ent both in genius and the child The

$
child p r esent s th e innocence and gentle
ness of human genius the adult philistine ,
is theembodiment of the force and cun

’ \
ning of the brute \ .
We should not be scared b y the bug

bear of precocit y We should awaken .
man s genius b y giving the child an earl y

’
,
”
a
“
pr e c ocious edu c a t ion We shoul d .
1 22 PHI L I S T I N E AND G E N I U S
the pe riod of entrance into c ollege is ,
biologicall y an erroneous tendency I t .
would be better to have the young man ge t

to co llege earlie r g r aduate earl ie r get
, ,
into practica l life or into p r ofession al

schools earlier whil e the power of lear ning
,
”
is greate r .
I may say t hat within m y expe ri en c e

child ren who had the ad vantage of an
early education and training manifeste d
a higher gr ade of intelle c tual and mo r al
‘
life a far bette r state of ph ysical health

,
th an children brought up under the pres

ent r etarding and crippling s y stem of ed u
c ation I n conclusion I ma y add that i n
.
o r de r to gain access to man s R ese rv e ’
E nerg y we must have recourse to early

ch ild edu c ation to the much maligned
, ,
“
and g r ea t ly fear e d Pr e c o c ity in Ch il
dr e n .
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WO$ $ S B$ BO$ IS SIDI S

D i agn os i s of Ps y chop a thi c D i s eas es

AStudy of Galva no m etric D eﬂ ectio n s

The Nature an d C aus at i on of th e

Medic al Dz rector , S idw Ins titute Por tsmouth, N ew Hamps hir e

BOS TON : $ I C HA$ D G BAD GE$ .

TO$ ON TO : THE C O PP CLA $ $ CO .

Made in th e $ nited S tates of Am ric

The G orh a m Press B , o to n

THE $ NITE D S TATES

W HE N in 1 909 P hilistine and G enius

the coming Eu ropean war storm was r e

M y best friends and s ympathisers thought

ed I was ah alarmist a C assandra when

I spoke of the coming catastrophe whic h

published in 1 9 1 1 the American and

advanced in this little volume completel y

the lamb and the leopard shall lie down

with the kid ; their y oung ones shall lie

down t ogethe r and the lion shall eat

straw like the ox .N ations shall beat

spears into pruning hooks N ations shal l.

not lift up swords against nations no r ,

shall the y learn war any more T h is .

p rophec y was rather hast y We have had .

since th e C ivil war the Fr anco P russian

war the S p anis h Ameri c an war theBoer

war the Russo Japanese war no t count

ing the ceasel ess wars of ex ter mmation

C ivilized nations do not as y et beat their

battles in the quest of new land s and the

v oked b y the peace loving C zar no othe r

age has had such large standing armi es

claiming its victims We still believe in

the baptism of ﬁre and redemption b y

is still at the basis of our faith and con , ,

sciou s ly or unconsciousl y we brand that

sacred creed on the minds of the y oung

T he present E uropean upheaval has

realizing the dangers of armed peace o r

come a military demo crac y in which eve r y

ever y child is a scout and ever y woman

a nurse or a munition worker We are .

anxious to waste our resources on prepar

y oung We hanker for the greatest nav y

in the world at a cost of several billions

headed billion armed navy and army

We clamor for universal compulsor y , ,

militar y servi ce in which our children

of ru in and has plunged her into the most

cruel and most destru ctiv e wa r eve r waged

The recent estimate of C ount von R oe

Treasur y puts the total cost of the war

to date the end of 1 9 1 6 for all the bel

l ig er ents at ﬁ f ty nine and a half billions

of dollars T he Mechanics and Metals

N ational B ank of N ew $ ork C it y ﬁgures

spent for direct militar y purposes if the ,

war lasts another y ear The enormit y of .

that expenditure can o nl y be realized if

of dollars that of G erman y eighty bil

l ions that of F rance ﬁft y bill ions that of

H ungar y twent y ﬁ v e billions and that of