Things young men should know. A manual of the anatomy, physiology and hygiene of the sexual system

Front matter

THINGS

Young Men

Should I^now.

Introduction

A few words to Boys and Young Men. Necessity of being in full sympathy|with them. Fathers ignorant and sons untaught on these subjects. Need for instruction. A book a good means for conveying it. The right spirit for this study. Corruption just as dangerous to the life of our republic as it was to the Roman Empire. The heart of a boy. Its right to know the laws of Being 15

Chapter II. Saunterings In Biology

To be skipped by those who read listlessly. How to read rightly. The opinion of F. B. Perkins, the noted librarian. The same from Chas. F. Richardson. The same from Rev. Edward Everett Hale. Abraham Lincoln's books and reading. Theodore Parker. Matter. Organic and inorganic. What is matter? What is life? Brande. Richerand. De Blainville. Herbert Spencer. Huxley. Matter wedded to life. Biogenesis and Abiogenesis. Spontaneous generation. Ancient philosophies. Francesco Redi. The Atom. The Cell. Diseases caused by minute organisms. Smut of wheat. Grape disease. Potato disease. The house-fly's enemy, the Empusa Muscae. Begins in minute corpuscles. Darwin and Abiogenesis. The origin of species. Huxley on same. Science and Religion. Tyndall on. Huxley ditto. Dr. Woolsey on moderation. Bishop Simpson on the joining of matter and spirit in organized matter. The wonderful variety of forms. The unity of life. The unity of matter. Protoplasm. The physical basis of life. Huxley's lecture on the same. Functions of Living Matter. The Nutritive. The Reproductive. The Motive. Quatrefages on the Unstable Equilibrium of Life --

Chapter III. Reproduction

Universal attraction existing between male and female. The enormous number of living beings in earth, air and sea. Sir John Lubbock on the number of species. The law of Death Counter balanced by Reproduction. The greatness of the work. Methods of Reproduction. The Cell. Everything dependent upon Cell activity. Reproduction by Fission. By Gemmation. By Ovulation. The Moner. Bulbs. The Egg. What it really is. The Yelk. The "White."

The Little Yelk, or Germinal Spot. The essential part. The Human Egg. The similarity of the three methods of Reproduction. Male and female united in lower organisms. In the higher, divided. Half given to one individual and half to another. In this way distinction of male and female comes about. Prof. Wilder on. Julien Joseph Virey on. Flowers the reproductive apparatus of the plant. What is bound up in the two specks of Protoplasm. Darwin on. The protection of Seeds. The position of the Reproductive Apparatus. The dignity of Reproduction. The Crown of Woman. Claude Bernard on the connecting links between Reproduction and Nutrition. Researches of Schleiden. Of Schwann. The Blastoderm. Embryonic Cells. H. Muller and Ranvier on Development of Bone. Autonomy of the Elements. Investigations of Duhamel and Flourens. Loss and Reproduction of Parts of Body in Lower Organisms. A limit to Subdivision. The Lizard. Experiments of Legros. Of De Sinety. Regeneration of Nerves. The General Law. Redinte- . gration and Regeneration 57

Chapter IV. Anatomy And Physiology

The Anatomy of General Form. Of the Knife. Of the Microscope. Galen on Anatomy. Valsalva and the Ear. Inauguration of New Beings confided to us. It begins in a Protoplasmic Mass. The Sexual System Devoted to its Production. Its organs partly within, partly without, the pelvis. Scrotum. Testes. Close packing of contents of Abdomen. The varying size of some of its organs. Construction of Scrotum. The Tunics of the Testes. The Testis a gland. Weight. The frame-work of connective tissue. The compartments. The tubes. The Epididymis. The Vasa Defferentia. The Seminal Vesicles. The Prostate gland. Cowper's glands. The Spermatozoids or Zoosperms. Formed in the Testes. Receive additions from various glands. Opinion of Acton. The manner of discharge. Excitement of male organ. The Glans. Its great supply of Nerves. Lavish use of nervous force. The Veru Montanum. The bulb. The Bulbo-Cavernosus Muscle. Ejaculation. Kobelt's account. P^pose following. One ounce semen equivalent to forty ounces bloou Bede on Vigor. Horace Mann on the same. Care of the Reproductive organs. Suspension of Testes in Scrotum. The suspensory bandage. Left testis hangs lower than right. Opinion of Sir Benj. C. Brodie. Size of Penis. In the athletes of old. Arrested development. The Prepuce. Its frequent malformation. The disorders it causes. The reason. The Smegma. Cleansing with water. Ignoi nance of need of so doing. Circumcision. Benefits of. Sensitiveness of Mucous surfaces. A useful pursuit. A care for physical culture. Involuntary emissions. Considered at length elsewhere. Importance of the bath. Sponge baths. Hot or cold water. Proper time for bath. Inductive to sleep 85

Chapter V. The Physical Balance

What is balance. Balance of forces in Man. The Intellectual balance. The Physical balance. The Mutual Reactions of the Mental and Physical. Their relative importance. Physical Degeneration. The Doctor's duty. Huxley's idea. True health. Symmetrical training. Opinion of Capt. Burton, the African explorer. The Colleges' neglect of the body. Garfield's views. Horace Mann ditto. Care of Ancient Greeks for physical culture. Plato's assertion. The Chinese idea. Charles Sumner's opinion. Physical disability. Feasibility of teaching students how to be strong. Results of West Point Training. Prof. Sargent's Views, Gymnasium work of the Y. M. C. A. Sir Walter Scott's early Life. Chancellor Kent's story of his early training. Health and spirits unfaltering at sixty-nine. Herbert Spencer. Gibbon and Self-Education. Capacity for work measured by bodily vigor. Great men and their lusty frames. The cant about artificial conditions. Tension and strain. Wellington. Lincoln. Grant. Lee. Garfield. Opinion of Geo. B. Loring. What you should do for yourself. Same general principles apply to all. Rest. Sleep. Prof. Blackie on. Time for sleep. Pestalozzie on the sleep of children. Maclaren on sleep. What a Bank President says. Franklin on air-baths. Thackeray's opinion. Food. Fresh air as food. Haller on. Jean Paul ditto. Dr. F. H. Hamilton ditto. Artificial heat. The wise way of working. Exercise. Imperatively needful. Worth of a good physique. Huxley on. Opinion of President Eliot. College Athletics. Rowing. Foot ball. Base ball. Opinion of a Yale oarsman. Maclaren, of Oxford Gymnasium, on exercise. Its merits and demerits. The philosophy of. Exercise outside of Colleges. For the business man. Must be exhilarating. Du Bois-Reymond. Fast horses. Home gymnasiums. Daily exercise for young men. For business men. Walking. Indian clubs. Bean bags. The Bicycle. The Saddle. Games and Gymnastics. Angling. Lawn Tennis. Ball and bat. Skating. Swimming. Sailing. The element of danger. Ill-balanced Development. Pres. Eliot on success. Kant. Tourgee. Bryant. Delane, of the London Times. George Sand. ^Humboldt. Leonardo da Vinci. Margaret Fuller. Wordsworth. J 1 ,ige Kelley. Herodotus. Boerhaave. Bichat. Cicero. Helvetius. Duke of Wellington. Dean Swift. Horace Bushnell. Rufus Choate. Martin Luther. Bismarck. Avoidance of wrong. The dignity of manual labor ... _. 115

Chapter VI. Celibacy

Celibacy and marriage. Laudable celibacy. Dishonorable celibacy. Laws of all times honor marriage and stigmatize celibacy. Bachelors among the Jews. The Spartans. The Romans. The Germans. The Swiss. The Turks. All men must be celibates for a time. Causes of laudable celibacy. Winsome crown of wife and children. Isolation vs. Character. The family the natural way of life. Culture by discipline. John Sargeant on discipline. Samuel Smiles on character. Prof. Huxley ditto. The discipline of celibacy. It is two-fold. The curbing of appetite. Cultivation of self-control. Desire for life the strongest instinct. The reproductive desire second. The frequency of the test. Saying of St. Antoine. Device of St. Benedict. Of St. Peter of Alcantara. Honor due Roman Catholics. The school of self-mastery. Acton on mental chastity. Dr. J. G-. Holland ditto. Dr. Dio Lewis ditto. Legitimate exercise of function followed by repose. The engorgement of mere excitement. Its reaction upon the nervous system. Upon the apparatus itself. Celibacy consistent with health. Hufeland's opinion. The dissolute die early. Aids to continence. Physical exercise. Testimony of university students. Bath. Sleep, Regularity of evacuations. Mental exercise. A mentally absorbing pursuit. Excessive mental work. Overwork vs, Employment. Carpenter on mental effort. A preoccupied mind and body. The "card plan." Disgust. A medical student's ruse. A clergyman's method. Confession. Device of St. Philip Neri. The false coloring of mystery. Prayer. O. B. Frothingham. "Fellows" of the English schools. Their celibate life. Its object. Self sacrifice of a celibate life. Supposed deterioration. An unfounded impression. Celibacy a wholesome test of the best and strongest. Training for the conflict. The battle everywhere the same. True nobility independent of marital considerations

Chapter VII. Marriage

Difficulties of discussion. Tholuck on. Jeremy Taylor ditto. Huxley on duty. The estimate placed upon marriage. In various countries and different ages. In law. Emerson on. Practical philosophy of marriage. Emerson again. Theodore Parker. Dryden's way of putting it. Love's work. Privileges of. The home what you choose to make it. The livelihood. The one companion. The choice from all the world. Sentiment vs. Sentimentality. The trust conferred. The new inspiration. The preparation. The wedding. Schiller on married life. The Bachelor idea. Arguments pro and con. Devotion. Women in the Universities. Helen Taylor. Caroline Herschel. Grace Darling. Joan of Arc. Florence Nightingale. Ranavalona. The saying of Wendell Phillips. Mistaken conceptions. Bacon on love. Discord and harmony. Carlyle on the humble duties of every day. Pleasure as a pursuit. Love is vicarious. Recreation vs. Pastime. Horace Bushnell on work and play. Bryant's letter to his Mother. Objects of marriage. Obstacles to. Consanguinity. Marriage of cousins. Sir John Lubbock on the practices of plants. Hereditary disease. Consumption and insanity. Dr. B. W. Richardson's opinion. The proper age. Dr. Pratt's opinion. Difference in age between husband and wife. Waiting. Engagement. Should it be long or short ? Acton on. Bourgeois ditto. The ancient custom of betrothals. Advantages of. The stimulus of Love. The painter Quyntyn. The testimony of Dickens. The doubt of stability of affection. Plutarch on "love founded upon beauty."

The value and meaning of beauty. Opinion of Sidney Smith. Of John G. Whittier. Of Ficino. Of Acton. Of Bronson Alcott. Of Emerson. Beauty of Person and of Spirit. Socrates. Descartes. Opinion of Michael Angelo. A legend of Abraham. Dean Stanley's poem. Necessity for health. Franklin's advice. Safe wife-choosing. Real acquaintance. Must choose for yourself. Be demonstrative. Rules for the husband. " Every promise of the soul has its fulfilment." What income makes it safe to marry ? Michelet's opinion. Brave home-founding. Marriage for money. Burdette's advice. The wedding trip. The wife's income. The honor belonging to the reproductive function. Wrong home-teaching. The highest physical enjoyment. The first exercise of the function. Need for gentleness. The golden rule. Dr. Flint's statement. Dr. Guernsey's caution. Dr. Naphey's. Mrs. Duffel's. Michelet's. Patience. Quaint words of Jeremy Taylor. The wisdom of Chaucer. Fear of adversity. The coming of old age. The highest physical expression of affection a matter of expense to the economy. A valuable fluid. An expenditure of nervous force. How often to be indulged. Turkish law. Solon's law. Acton's opinion. Difference between the Englishman and the American. Consequences of excess. Opinion of Dr. H. C. Wood. Pleasure goes with Temperance. The folly of separate rooms. Lallemand's rule. Coitus during Pregnancy. What Dr. Livingstone says. Children. The popular view. An unlimited family. Time when conception is unlikely. Abstinence. Artificial preventives of conception ruinous to health. Parental instinct. Lincoln's saying. Theodore Parker's way of putting it. Ruskin's way. Motherhood means health. Napoleon's opinion. Home life of Prussia's Queen. Hereditary influence of tobacco and alcohol. Worthy children. Healthy babies vs. cross ones. John Hunter's saying. Giving the children a start in the world. Whately's opinion. Garfield's. George Herbert's. And the wife grows ever more lovely and more lovable _- 338

Chapter VIII. Self-abuse

Disorders of the generative system. Not due to ordinary disease. But to violation of nature's laws. Transgression, not misfortune. The number of wrecks. Opinion of teachers. The various expressions of vice. Two classes of disorders. Those dependant upon solitary vice. Upon illicit sexual intercourse. Masturbation, onanism or self-abuse. Definition. Habit, when formed. After puberty seminal discharge. Development of over-sensitiveness. Dreams and emissions. Downward progression. Loss of tone. Spermatorrhoea. Extent of the evil. The possibilities wrapped up in a boy. Lack of instruction. Fathers and physcians at fault. Must be taught self-control. School-teachers, What one of them says. Effects of castration. How evil habits are formed. Value of sympathy. Trust the boys. Why is abuse followed by disaster? The signs of danger. A fugitive quality. Hesitation and sluggishness. Seeking solitude. Furtiveness. The results as seen by a teacher. Erb on these excesses. Hammond ditto. Hart ditto. Inflammation of the brain. Spinal paralysis. Locomotor Ataxia. Softening of spinal cord. Epilepsy. Chorea. Melancholia. Mania. Dementia. Statistics of epilepsy. Prevalence of the vice in the schools. Watson on these consequences. Insanity. Its relation to masturbation. Does masturbation lead to it? Testimony of Supt. Hill of the Iowa Insane Hospital at Independence. Of Dr. Samuel Worcester. Of Dr. Small. Of Dr. John Ware. Of Sup. Talcott of New York State Asylum at Middletown. Of Dr. William A. Hammond.

Of Dr. Roberts Bartholow. Of Supt. Gray of Utica, New York, Asylum. Of Dr. Coulston. Of Dr. Henry Maudsley. Of Drs. Bucknill and Tuke. Of Schroeder von der Kolk. Of Dr. Skae. Of Dr. Acton. Of Dr. Bourgeois. Of Count Joseph de Maistre. A letter from an educator. Words from an old teacher. The curse of purposelessness. Opinion of Dr. Hartshorne. Emerson's "One Evil in Life." Dissipation of the intellectual powers. Not the function, but its abuse. Abuse of power. The change in the boy at school. The young man at college. In business. An unaccoutable failure. The pity of it all. Spectres of men. The imagination. The highest of mental powers. Anecdote of Gen. R. E, Lee. Opinion of Reveille- Parise. The possibility of restoration. Sextual precocity. How to prevent. Proper age for parental instruction. Herbert Spencer on the aim of parental discipline. Boys to work for. A relative matter. Innocence of occasional seminal loss. Difference between normal and abnormal. Refuse to stand guard over function. Spermatphobia. The local lesions. The prostatic Urethra. The ejaculatory ducts. Hyperesthesia of this region. A dispute. Opinion of Dr. Gross. The local cause. Change in the quality of reproductive fluid. Bartholow on. Stricture. Impotence. Loss of tone. Physician must overcome the irritation. Patient must renounce habit. Each must help the other. Acton's Method. A better one. The sound. Internal remedies. Of marked value. Their indications, dose and preparation. Incessant occupation. Mind and body not aliens, but allies. Excessive walking. Boerhaave's secret. Prof. Blackie's advice. The bath. Local and general. Bed-time. The dance. The theater. Habits of reading. Tea and coffee. Tobacco. Alcoholic drinks. The special vs. the general. What is needful. An ancient story __ 454

Chapter IX. The Venereal Diseases

Origin of the word "venereal." The three venereal diseases. Dependent upon a specific animal poison. They follow the profligate. Their ravages as old as the centuries. Terrific penalties. Natural law. Pleasure is rightful. Pain masquerading as pleasure. The four things which should be taught. 1. That the Bible. gives an accurate account of the vice. 2. That the evil exists and is practical. 3. That men of affairs are alive to the danger. 4. Just what the diseases are. The Mosaic law. Solomon's testimony. His experiment. A good picture of Broadway and the Bowery. The youth certain to meet the temptation. How it is in New York. In a smaller city. In a country village. The boyhood experience of Dr. Talmage. What Dr. Holland says. The way "Gath" sees it. A sermon from the Chicago Times. The physical penalties. Gonorrhoea. Cause, Symptoms. Duration. Stricture. Treatment. Injections. Hot water. Complications. Ophthalmia. Rheumatism. Inflammations. Posibility of non-specific attack. Chancroid. Comparatively a small matter. Its frightful resemblance. Its peculiarities. Treatment. Syphilis. Its hideous prominence. Its never-ending taint. When did it first appear? The seige of Naples. The Marranes. The theory of its American origin. Traces of syphilis in prehistoric skeletons. Accounts in early Chinese and Japanese medical literature. The primary stage. The sore. The bubo. The secondary stage. Affections of the skin and mucous membranes. - The fever. Tertiary syphilis. The stage of destruction. Its appalling ravages. Some pictures of its work. Is it ever cured? Conflicting opinions. Hereditary Syphilis. Its characteristics. Opinion of Drs. Yan Buren and Keyes on the duration of syphilis. Of Dr. B. W. Richardson. Treatment. But few drugs found to be of service. Sin and death go hand in hand. A dark and a bright picture. The possibility of a noble life 539

APPENDIX A. — Indian Club exercise as adopted by British army, with additions. _ _,

APPENDIX B. — Swedish movement cure, with prescriptions. System of Prof. Hartelius of Stockholm _

APPENDIX C. — System of physical culture of Archibald Maclaren, of the University Gymnasium, Oxford

G&^SZ)

Chapter 1 Introductory

I want to say a few plain, kind, earnest words to the boys and young men of our beloved republic. I put them together, boys and young men. Not because I have forgotten that on the one hand boys are ambitious to be known as men, and with sensitive jealousy claim the fullest recognition of every mile-post which they have passed, and that on the other, young men are equally sensitive as to their newly earned title of man as distinguished from that of boy — not at all. But because as the years go by the young man will find that the "boy" within him is the jolliest, truest, most whole-souled part of him, and because the boy, the boy worthy of the name, possesses all the manly qualities of the man. Pope's definition, " Worth makes the man, the want of it the fellow," has been ringing down through the "corridors of time" ever since he wrote it, with that acclaim which the vox populi ever gives to truthful utterances. It is true alike of fifteen and of fifty, if we are to estimate alone by the flight of years. So I speak to the coming men of the republic, passing over the artificial distinction of years, dwelling upon a single sudject which is of interest alike to the young and the old, to all who have passed the technical childhood known to medicine, and set foot within the unknown land of puberty. To this delightsome land I trust you will find the following pages a faithful guide-book.

I do not think I am deceived in the happy confidence that I am in full sympathy with those to whom I fain would speak. I only ask to speak because of that very sympathy. For with the training and experience which a physician's daily work of necessity brings to him, it cannot be otherwise than that much shall be learned which all boys and young men should know, and I think what the knowledge would have been worth to me in days bygone, think how it must be learned in the dread school of experience unless the fathers or the doctors volunteer the information. The first thought certainly is that the work belongs of right to the fathers, and yet not one father in a hundred gives his sons any instruction whatever on this subject, so ennobling, so all-important, so far-reaching in its relations and consequences, and in which more than any other are wrapped up the things which belong to their physical peace. The reason for this state of affairs is not hard to find. You remember in Judge Tourgee's work, "Bricks without straw," Eliab Hill, in his talk with his teacher, quotes the line from tennyson, "Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean," and tells of his failure to intuitively grasp its meaning, thus illustrating the tremendous impetus obtained by free and intelligent races from that unseen and unrecognized force which might be termed hereditary education. But if we have inherited the culture of the ages, so slso have we had to meet and conquer slowly and with hesitancy, the prejudices of the early days which have in like manner been handed down to us. It has been a slow and tedious progression which has brought astronomy out of astrology, chemistry out of alchemy, truth out of superstition. The old idea that ignorance and inocence went hand in band, and that ignorance could not be taught save as innocence should be distroyed. has been conquered but slowly and painfully. The last stand for it has been made on the ground of the reproductive system, the position being tacitly held that young men and women never thought about such things, and to volunteer any instruction in such matters would be to wantonly destroy the perfumed innocence of childhood, as one might strike the delicate bloom from the plumb by a careless motion of the hand.

Have we not had quite enough of the "perfume" and "bloom" theories? Have they not held their fateful sway long enough, while the sons, who should have grown up as plants in their youth, and the daughters, who should have been as corner stones polished after the similitude of a palace, have had the bloom of youth fade from their cheeks and the " incensebreathing morn " of youth depart from their lives, to be succeeded by the jaundiced countenance of ill-health, and the foul breath of disease — all for the lack of a little kindly instruction ? Professional and popular sentiment have joined hand in hand in this mistaken course until recent years, and, strange as it may seem, rarely is there heard within the walls of any medical school of any "pathy" a single lecture on the physiology of reproduction as applied to the practical every-day life of men and women, although the physician cannot practice a day without encountering the need for just such instruction on the part of his patients. So, with the prevailing sentiment tabooing the subject came naturally the suppression of discussion, and with the suppression of discussion came its inevitable consequence, ignorance ; and ignorance instructs no man. Here, then, we have at once the double cause of the father's Silence. He had the precedent of his own case. His father had said nothing to him — why should he instruct his son ? And again, not having been himself instructed, he is more or less ineligible as an instructor for his son. Should the son become anxious about himself and apply to the doctor, he was but too likely to meet with the reply given by an old practitioner a few weeks ago, to a young man who consulted him. " Oh, yes," said he, "most young men get scared about themselves ; " and dismissed the subject. Yet he was the family physician. But this is a picture of what has been. Now a generous public welcomes heartily any information on this topic. The doctor meets the honest seeker after truth with ready sympathy and kindly counsel. Yet still the fathers do not speak, and perhaps they ma} 7 be right. For often the silent, printed page can speak more eloquently, more pointedly than word of mouth. For if nearest friends do speak to us of these things, the unconfessed fear that they may essay to enter the holy of holies within us, which admits no high priest save ourselves only, may put us in an attitude not quite receptive and unconstrained ; while the printing press delivers its message with no prying glance into the expressive face, nor sinister questioning of the thoughts of the heart. As, then, the fathers have by their silence asked us to speak, is it asking too great a favor that you sit down alone with these pages as you would with your own trusted family physician, that we may learn together with reverent mind that which it is most important for us to know ?

Let it be insisted upon that we bring to our study the reverent mind. I have sometimes thought that the greatest weakness of our day is irreverence. If we but stop to think we are at once assured that our strong men, men of note in science, in letters, in everything, are reverent men. Mr. Ingersoll is often spoken of as the type of the irreverence of our age, and yet in his best moments he is most reverent. Listen while he speaks from the side of his dead brother: "Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word ; but in the night of death hope sees a star and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing." Surely these are reverent words ; more than this, they are strong words. We are so often compelled to listen to the jeering and irreverent word, omnipresent in the shop, the store, the office, the hotel, and on the railway train, ruthlessly profaning the most sacred things of life as though it were evidence of strength of mind so to do, that we must needs ever remind ourselves that the vulgar is weak and the pure strong. For every unseemly joke and shameless story to which we must perforce lend an unwilling ear, carries with it the implied lie that it is the badge of an independent mind to laugh at and make sport of the most hallowed of life's possessions. Whereas, the false and vile is pitiably weak, while ' ' Truth is mighty and will prevail. ' '

Historians tell us that it was this same pitiful weakness of false life which worked the inevitable decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Corrupting first the family and society, the hideous corrosion ate its way remorselessly into the very unit and foundation of government, until Rome fell to pieces from its own rotten weight. I have said that I desired greatly to speak to the youcg men of our Republic, of our beloved country. No itching for a well-rounded and resounding sentence dictated that phrase. None but the physicians of the land can ever know how well-nigh universally its boys and young men have wandered into by and forbidden paths, and if all-powerful Rome succumbed to social rottenness, what is to become of our own great Republic under like conditions ? Some six years ago, when financial heresies were most rampant, our lamented President Garfield wrote a ringing article for the New York In dependent , his opening sentence being this: " 'Never to despair of the Republic ' is the first lesson of patriotism and the highest duty of the citizen." That is it exactly. He spoke in full view of the dangers which threatened our national credit ; we speak in full view of the dangers which threaten that unit of government, the family. And shall we not take up his own sturdy battle cry of freedom and wake the echoes again and again with the shout of "Never despair of the Republic" as we face this other danger ; remembering that much of this transgression has been done "ignorantly in unbelief," and that with reverent enlightenment it shall be ours to add that other triumphant exclamation, " The truth has made us free."

Let me say farther, that that man is irretrievably lost, who has not the highest respect for the audience to whom he would speak. The man who opens his lips to talk down to the waiting multitude has made failure most lamentable before he has uttered a word. It is a wonderful privilege which is given a man when he is permitted to speak to an expectant crowd of eager faces, who are waiting to be instructed, hungering to be fed, longing to be thrilled with the presentation of that which he has worked out for them while their time and strength have been spent faithfully in other duties, else they had been able to do better, perchance, for themselves what it is his prerogative to do for them. I have the most unbounded admiration for that august assemblage to which I would speak ; which I should not attempt to address did not these my peers have a right to expect of me whatever I might be able to offer them as the fruit of special training in a single direction. For this world of ours is a great commune in the noblest sense of that rather disgraced word, and every advance of civilization but tends to perfect our true communism.

Some wise man has exclaimed, u Who can know the heart of a boy ! ' ' Ah, the heart of a boy is a most sacred thing. Its ambitions, its aspirations, its loves, its longings, its chivalry, it& intuitive admiration for all that is noblest, truest, and best, who can fathom ? Who can ever estimate how many true, boyish hearts have been thrilled beyond expression by the "pieces " in that old "McGuffey's High School Keader ? " No teacher or examining committee can ever know. How well I remember my own experience. To ' ' read in school ' ' was a fiery trial in both the internal and external meaning of the words. The mantling flush which made my very ears tingle, was ample justification of the external. We used to call it "getting hot." And the outward sign was no exaggeration of the mingled diffidence, admiration for the piece, and miserable consciousness of failure to reach my ideal rendering which burned within. We boys were awkward and vandal readers enough when we read before the school, but no master of rhetoric and elocution will ever approach the rendering which the greathearted boys have all along been giving the selections in the old readers, in those still hours when that ruder voice which speaks to the external world was superceded by the matchless inner voice, filling with perfect cadence the marble halls of the soul's innermost temple. There has " Spartacus " had its only perfect rendition ; there alone has the " Polish Boy" been adequately voiced; there, -and there only, have the " Bells," silver, golden, brazen and iron, spoken with perfect tone and meaning. The world will never know what it owes to this true-heartedness which it has never guessed, and which never has and never will find outward expression . To this true-heartedness I dedicate these pages, knowing full well that I am perfectly safe in entrusting to its censorship the revealings it contains of nature's laws and nature's penalties. Those to whom sacred trusts are committed are ever ennobled by their faithful keeping, and I commit these pages to your keeping, confident that whatever new trust they may bring to you will be so faithfully kept that all shall recognize that not the ignorant, but the instructed young man is the noblest Koman of them all.