when the family of the pr?tor called in the morning to escort us to the scholia puellulitas, correliana received the attentions of m. hollydorf with marked pleasure; indeed, the happiness of the pr?tor and her mother was so joyfully exultant, that it attracted the attention of the kyronese as well as our own. the temple on the north, occupying the esplanade of the second for?, was the counterpart of the southern in architectural design. but its site was more commanding, embracing in the view obtained from the parapet walk, the latifundium, the grove of the temple beyond the cinctus gate, and the river expanse in the b?otian vale below. on the south the terraced road could be traced in its upward windings to the brink of the basaltic cliff. to the north the view was in like manner circumscribed by the precipice and its outjutting flank of wooded hills. within the enclosure of the temple walls the hill-slope to the north was more abrupt and shaded, and from its cooler temperature it was better adapted for the culture of fruitful shrubs and trees. the weissich of the falling water, and ring of the basaltic cubes, was much more distinctly impressed in their ever varying intonations, rendering hearing upon the parapet difficult, while in the colonnades of the eastern courts of the enclosure conversation became irksome and wearying. these effects were produced by the larger concavity in the southern face, by an inclination given to the main body of the water, from a northern 347curve in the direction of the river current above; a jutting columnar screen, without the falling water, formed a reverberating chamber that reflected the sound northward. mr. welson, remarking the effort required for speaking and hearing, asked the pr?tor the reason of the founder’s preferring the shady courts of the northern temple, for the tender female plants, with its greater disadvantages from the louder sound of the falls, when the warm mellow rays of the southern were so much better adapted for the development of the motherly germ of affection?
before answering, the pr?tor turned his eyes upon the questioner with a quizzical glance, then replied,—“what you have observed is, from present appearances, true, and we learned that the pr?tor indegatus made the selection in accordance with the judgment your discernment has expressed. but, in referring the reasons of his choice to the dosch giganteo, he reversed his decision, sustaining his judgment by urging the special adaptation of the supposed objections for counteracting the then prevalent disposition of the heraclean women for invidious gossip, and their initiation into a staid, thoughtful mood, necessary for overcoming their hereditary inclinations for tongue talk. as i perceive that the question of mr. welson echoes your common curiosity to learn the influence of the choice, i will notice some of the effects in their course of development. yesterday you remarked, while upon the temple walls of the boys’ enclosure, that the whirr of the falling water scarcely interfered with conversation, after you became accustomed to its counter resonance upon your voices, while here we are obliged to seek the screen of a turret, and then speak and hear with difficulty; not so much from the overwhelming loudness, as the confused blending of sound, that renders articulate modulation tiresome. although partially overcome when the ear becomes accustomed to the impression, still 348the monotonous replication of variations in kind, without order in sequence, is too close, as the dosch informs me, in its resemblance to the unmeaning plash of words, to distinguish in utterance those void of affectionate sympathy. this toning influence imposes a thoughtful silence upon those inclined to speak in freedom from the sympathetic direction of thought devisement, encouraging a mood for the study of individuality. the dosch advises me that a prattling novice, from your race, would soon discover that expressionless words became involved in the wish-a-washy plash and whirr of the falling waters; and with repetition would feel the reflection, in burlesque effect, for the enlightenment of her understanding, when fully sensible of the vague implication, and of necessity would be obliged to limit her speech to the honest expression of affectionate emotions. this, he says, has rendered the cataracts of your country unpopular with your fashionable ladies, after the sight-seeing impression has been gratified; still springs being preferred as a place of fashionable sojourn, as they neither confuse or rival in noisy revel their tongues. in proof of what i wish to convey to your understanding, you will perceive that upon useful subjects of enlightenment, the manatitlan voice is readily heard by our accustomed ears. but when i pronounce fashionable dress, society, public opinion, theatre, and like synonyms of multitudinous expression, the sound becomes confused with the noisy repetitions of the water, requiring labored and labiate vocalization to make you comprehend their import. indeed, i perceive that your ears are at as great a loss to recognize the familiar words, as i am to judge of their meaning from the mimicry of sound. but how quickly your perceptive attention is attracted by the sympathetic tones of my voice when attuned in approximation to an affectionate wish! our scholastic ninietas never turn a deaf ear, or a 349void eye from an expression in word or emotion prompted by kindly affection, during the heaviest roar of the winter’s flood. but folly invested with the blatant mechanism of demosthenic oratory, or the rhyming jointure of poetical numbers, could not be distinguished in the faintest weish of a season of drouth. you will perceive from these hints that the elements favored the choice of giganteo; and will now be able to test the wisdom of the preference that subjected our females to the restraining influence of this water power, so effectual for the suppression of a voiceful tongue, hollow in the resonant expression of truthful sincerity. we have been informed by manatitlan auramentors, that your women are almost universally afflicted with a gabbling epidemic of the tongue, beyond which, and the ear, the impression of their utterances rarely reaches; and we are truly glad that you have an abundant supply of large waterfalls provided as successful aids for the inauguration of a thoughtfully silent era. the shades of the northern colonnades and courts have, by the reflection of this wise choice, been made luminous with the rays of affectionate goodness, for woman’s sympathy in its purity and brightness can illumine the darkest night with enduring warmth proof to the vicissitudes of time and place.”
dr. baāhar. “since the days of archimedes there has certainly never been a hydrostatic invention for the practical use of water, that can compare with the beneficial result you proclaim.”
pr?tor. “the dosch desires me to give you the assurance that the hydraulic power of the cataract has been so well tested for tempering in infancy and youth a tendency to volubility, that with the least inclination to fanatical superstition, the globular form of the earth might be esteemed the result of providential intention designed for the regulation of woman’s tongue, as it necessitates the waterfall in the flow of rivers.”
350this humorous interpretation of design excited a smile; but correliana assured the members of the corps, that the effect produced by the sound of the waterfall had been but little exaggerated, inasmuch as it directly induced a thoughtful mood, and disinclination to speak. after a moment’s thoughtful silence, she asked her father if the selection had in reality been made with the provised intention of inducting thought by interrupting speech; and if the women of heraclea had at any anterior date given cause for the constant reproof of falling water, to chide them for the heedless use of the tongue? to which question the father replied, “you must recollect, correliana, that many centuries have passed since the temples were dedicated to educational direction. then, as you are aware, indegatus had been subjected to traitorous annoyances, from which the manatitlan dosch of the period relieved him, enabling him to cope successfully with disaffection which had been fanned by woman’s tongue. the dosch also desires me to remind you of the lessons you have been taught of the commune degradation of civilized women in giga countries.”
padre. “i have often heard of hydropathic treatment of scolding and gadding women, but this is certainly a great improvement, as it obviates by anticipation the ducking-stool.”
descending from the temple walls into the garden court, the necks of correliana and her mother were suddenly enclosed in the arms of a surpassingly beautiful form, whose face was concealed by a profusion of golden hair, which floated in glancing sheen, like the floss of the silk-tree, over the heads of the united three, closing from view the caresses, which seemed to impart to the atmosphere a reciprocal flow of pervading affection, causing each member of the corps to stand transfixed with emotions transcending by far the highest attainments of admiration. m. hollydorf 351stood like a statue fully enravished from self, for he alone had caught a glimpse of the sunbeam’s features, as its rays darted from their concealment, animated with a glow of gladness, that had been lying in wait for a joyful surprise. bewildered with amazement, he was seemingly lost to his personal identity, for he remained heedless and motionless, until recalled by the pr?tor’s salutation. “luocuratia, my evoce, you must not forget the presence of our deliverers. this is m. hollydorf, of whom your mother and sister have so often spoken.” then leaving m. hollydorf, with herself absorbed, he proceeded to introduce the other members of the corps, individually, the names of each luocuratia pronounced mechanically, in repetition, without even the accompaniment of a furtive glance in diversion from the object of her first attraction. with her arms still encircling the neck of her mother and sister, she looked out from the veil of her hair, regarding m. hollydorf with changing flushes of perplexed emotion coursing beneath her transparent skin, like borealian flashes beaming in a moonlit sky. mr. welson, whose quick perception had caught the source of the spell’s inspiration took the pr?tor’s arm, and then beckoning his companions, they joined the happy parents, who added to the fullness of their joy by introducing the members of the corps to their daughters. after enjoying the mutual flow of unbounded affection between parents and children, for a short time, as the centre of attraction, the pr?tor conducted them through the gate alcove of the garden screen, to an acacia hedge, through the interstices of which they could observe, undetected, the scenes of affectionate endearment, in animated, but silent flow, passing in the conscious enactment of thoughtful impression, between the clustering family groups.
at the conclusion of a p?an song of thanksgiving, they engaged in various pastimes, improvised from 352the joyous promptings of the occasion, in which both old and young participated. all their movements were so replete with the affectionate expression of gleesome mirth, song, and frolic wit, the paucity of lingual accompaniments was scarcely noticed. the impression of our own feelings, in unison, the padre recognized, who declared, upon his conscience, that he felt a brighter glow of conscious affection than words could convey, imparted from their silent expression of joyous reciprocation. he soon became so wrought with the intensity of affectionate participation, that he could not resist the attraction, but darted from ambush, exclaiming, “upon my soul, i know that i shall be like a bull in a china shop, but i must be with them,” and was soon in their midst, with face aglow from smiling excitement. the young kyronese maidens, from toddling infancy to seven,—the first stage in the course of instinctive life,—soon took possession of the padre by the right of pre?mption, holding him captive from its conferred privileges of priority in discovery; but permitted the heraclean parents and children to participate in their joy, although holding him as a special bondsman to their arbitrary sway. detaining cleorita and oviata as interpreters, they enlisted the padre as the representative champion of his race in their pastimes. but as an agile athlete his career was more successful for the enlistment of mirth, than for either grace or speed, for he fared worse than dr. baāhar in his trial with the family of the pr?tor, as he was unable to hold the shadows of an old man, of an hundred and sixty years, and his wife. indeed, his movements and appearance indicated that he was their elder in age, for with graceful steps of equal pace, they kept their shadows from his feet, when in the eye of the sun they were lengthened in the rise of the hill. the merriment caused by his defeat cast no shadow over his happy face, but with buoyant smiles he challenged 353dr. baāhar’s badinage with the desire of testing his right to criticise. this accepted, he was again defeated, without other evidences of chagrin than the frequent use of an apologetic if, in disjunctive evidence of his ability to outrun the best, when free from its restraint. the swift action and graceful motions of the heraclean women, maidens, and men in running exceeded by far the highest descriptive flights of poetical imagination devoted to wood-nymph disportings upon the velvet sod, or those of the sea upon its margin of sand, in derivation from grecian fable and song. while bestowing the warmest encomiums in the honest expression of admiration, the curiosity of the corps was excited to learn the means by which the graceful uniformity of the women had been preserved, in disengagement from the ungainly inheritance derived from the impression, supposed to be inherent with their first estate. for, with our civilisation, a broad expansion of pelvic continuations, with the angular articulation of the lower extremities, are esteemed as a progenic provision for ease in the functional speciality of procreation. the pr?tor answered from the dictation of the dosch: “our censorial guardians have, from the earliest date of manatitlan direction, recognized the body’s unlimited capability for improvement, under the restrictive advisement of an education devoted to the kindly reciprocation of experience. admonished by the negative effects, described as the resulting cause, that had produced with the women of your race unwieldy obesity, with a consequent lack of animus power for current communication independent of language, they studied to perfect themselves in the manatitlan art of quality improvement, for increase in affectionate transmission, from the impress of exampled alliance, without words. the doschessa invokes you to conceive in imagination the impression that would be made upon our women, if, without previous 354description they should discover a flock of your giga belles swinging up the avenue of the latifundium, with the longitude, latitude, and circumference of their dresses in oscillating sway from the movements of their limbs in semi-revolution, at an oblique angle from their broad pelvic axis.”
mr. welson. “fear would certainly be the first emotion, and i doubt if upon nearer acquaintance they would be able to discover in them qualities of merit sufficient for the stay of disgust. unless, in their kindly pity, they should look upon them as samples of a female species of humans, who had in penance for stupidity been made to assume the role of jennies, self-condemned as beasts of burden to bear the material emblems of folly. indeed, when fully impressed with the utter dearth of their conceptive intelligence, beyond the formulistic rites of fashionable instinct, and rote rehearsals of prayers for selfish preservation, from the goading effects of self-immolation styled conscience, even pity would be likely to suffer in trembling hesitation upon the verge of abhorrence.”
we will now leave the pr?tor and dosch to entertain their guests in the courts and colonnades, while in reversion we complete our description of the garden tableau. after the pr?tor’s departure with his guests, luocuratia, unmindful of aught else, gazed through her flowing veil of hair upon the face of m. hollydorf, with the wondering daze of the fawn when surprised in its leafy covert by the gentle presence of woman. with one arm still encircling her sister’s neck, yet seemingly unconscious of her presence, she was recalled to herself, from the dreamy maze of her vision, by the voice of her mother. then she asked with fluttering hesitation, “what is it?” correliana caressingly removed the arm from her neck, then gathering her sister’s flowing hair from her brow, bore it back from her face, 355and while her mother bound it with a silicoth fillet, whisperingly, with the prelude of a kiss, replied, “it is yourself, luocuratia, be calm, and to-night you shall know.” m. hollydorf, who had attended correliana like a doomed shadow, from the day they left the tortuga, thinking and acting from her prompting, even in matters pertaining to his professional avocations, had with the first glance that he caught of her sister’s face, stood like one transfixed, his eyes alternating from one to the other, until the attraction of luocuratia’s involved his own. placing luocuratia in her mother’s charge, correliana took m. hollydorf’s hand and directed him to a vine-covered alcove in the lower garden walk. when seated, she said, “we are so thankful, for we are now saved from the inherent misery that broods like a pall over your people. you will now be happy, but not yourself again! if i should allow you to recover from the amazement of your surprise, without an explanation, you might think me lacking in truthful sympathy, which we hold, under direction, as the privileged source of our affection. advised, from the first, of the instability of instinctive ‘love’ founded upon personal attractions, which is the ruling incentive for marriage with your race, i withheld from you a knowledge of my sister’s existence, and our twin resemblance, that her affections might not be invoked with peril; for as you have felt, we are endowed with the censorial essentials of perception in premonition of cause and effect. the long delayed visit to our schools was deferred, for the proof of your susceptibility to our current flow, and constancy in affection; and we are happy in being able to feel the assurance that the transfer of your allegiance to her keeping will be free from regretful reflection. notwithstanding the long endurance to which you have been subjected, and the severity of the trial for the cure of your self-imposed humiliation, 356the result not only compensates for your suffering, but confirms the wisdom of the judgment that prompted the restraint, by enhancing the zest with the security of a happy fruition. the relief to me is unspeakable, for in my assisted study of your peculiarities we have learned that from your appreciation of our unselfish affection the idea of returning to your people has become repugnant beyond the endurance of thought. your sensitiveness so well corresponds with curatia’s in nature, that we are sure her influence will aid you in transferring your sole reliance for happiness to heraclean keeping, but not in forgetfulness of your responsibility for the welfare of your people. but it is well for you to understand her inability to cope with selfishness, which we are informed, holds supreme control with your race. even my bolder nature that dared almost inevitable capture by our savage foes, from the physical weakness of our people, from want, shrinks with the thought of incurring the instinctive abuse they are said to heap upon the good and evil alike, who oppose their gainful lusts.”
m. hollydorf’s countenance was at first moved with reflective embarrassment, from the self-impressed accusation of inconstancy, but as correliana made no allusion to his defection, except for the expression in grateful relief, his spirits gradually revived from selfimposed oppression. yet in attempting to express his appreciation of the remarkable resemblance of features, his tongue refused logical utterance. in anticipation of what he wished to say, correliana bid him rest easy on the score of the past, as a full relation of all that had transpired would in no way impair the confidence of luocuratia, but would rather tend to increase the development of her affection from the preference you have shown for her resemblance. this tacit sanction, for the transfer, restored m. hollydorf’s grateful impressions, which raised his 357spirits to an unwonted degree of elation. but a serious shade of thought having settled upon the brow of correliana his apprehensions were again startled. observing the relapse she hastened to reassure him, by asking, “how is it that you, and captain greenwood, have remained so long under the rule of selfishness, with natures so quick for the appreciation of our example?”
m. hollydorf thoughtfully replied: “it was undoubtedly with us as with thousands of others, whose thoughts in association were under the control of evil example, in following the educated usages of the past with unquestioning and reverential reliance, expressed in the fatuous motto of society in all its grades, which contends that ‘what has been, will be, to all eternity.’ this willfully blind abrogation of creative indications for self-reduction to brutality, has been fostered by a religion that directly encourages evil by offering the means of redemption to the vilest, by rights and ceremonies which ignore the practical evidences of purity and goodness. offering in substitution, vague terms which lure the stupid masses to present misery and a hopeless material end. a modicum of these prestigical word combinations, the padre has furnished for the education of your tonguester birds; but if you should pass through the streets of our cities, with every step, your eyes, nose, and ears would be saluted with defilements that would cause you to shrink with shame from your kinship with civilized humanity.”
“alue!” exclaimed correliana, with sadness, “we are so puzzled in our endeavors to understand the source of the misleading infatuation; as the means of happiness is so evident and easy, and their rejection so labored, inconsistent, and unnatural, pardon my sincerity, that we are constrained, from the testimony, to believe that civilized enlightenment, with your other vague terms, are in fact the wordy hallucinations 358of precedental madness. in the review of our past lives, under the impression of your example, we have absolutely acknowledged the impeachment, replied m. hollydorf. even dr. baāhar’s fantastical ideas of precedental ‘virtue,’ derived from the vicarious nursing of a maiden aunt, whose celebic worship was devoted to the curative inspiration of a pill-box, which imposed upon him the humors of medical study, has at last in so far yielded to the affectionate sincerity of heraclean example that he secludes himself when he worships, with the smoke offerings of the pipe dedicated by imperial and princely lips, as a reflection of worldly honors.”
correliana. “but your women, m. hollydorf? do they no longer feel within them the current affection bestowed for transmission with an increase from happy usage?”
m. hollydorf. “here, in besieged seclusion, you have had but little opportunity, even with manatitlan teachings, to learn with a realizing impression the besetting temptations of envious vanity, which have beguiled our women from their natural inheritance of unselfish love; and if their more extended and practical experience has failed to open for understanding vision the vista of civilized woman’s folly, my efforts will prove a bewildering aggravation to your already puzzled perception. but if you persevere in your colonistic intention, and are able to sustain the shock imparted from the degradation of your sex from all the hopeful endearments that should render life desirable for transmission, you will, i fear, despondingly lament the hopeless nature of your undertaking. then, you will, i doubt not, shed tears of bitterness more acute from baffled sympathy, than those bestowed in memorial tribute for your relatives when triply besieged by savage foes, famine, and pestilence.”
correliana. “but you have ruined cities, like old heraclea, scattered broadcast over the surface of 359your continents, which bespeak in as plain language the end of folly, envy, hate, and revenge?”
m. hollydorf. “these are visited by pilgrims of curiosity, who in retailing their conjectural wares of relic origin, give no practical heed to cause and effect for the inauguration of an era of educated prevention. yea more, on their return to the haunts of civilization jostle with indifference living memorials of a misery as abject in servile dependence upon drones, as the slaves who passed a laboring and starving existence in rearing these ruined fanes of delusion for the gratification of ambitious bigotry and despotism.”
correliana. “but you, as men, represent the different nationalities considered to be the most and least susceptible to kindly intelligence; yet each of you, in your degree, have held yourselves, from choice, with few exceptions, amenable to our example. all of your adherents have acknowledged themselves better and happier than they ever expected to be in life. still, you doubt our ability to enlist, with the simplicity and purity of our example, the affectionate reciprocations of your women? surely you speak in riddles of enactment and theory, as perplexing as if in discourse you should say, empty barns full of grain. are there not many others among your learned men equally able to distinguish that purity and goodness are in reality the source of happiness; and from their own experience, that evil results in misery and woe? then why do your anticipations forbode for our kindly sympathies a distress so dire?”
m. hollydorf. “there are undoubtedly many thousands, if not millions, who would hold themselves as gratefully amenable to your affectionate example as the members of the corps, if they could be subjected to the same experience. for we are in no way better than the well disposed commonalty, and were as heedless before we were attracted by your example, 360as the generality. speaking honestly, in my own behalf, for my own disparagement, i rarely, if ever, became disengaged in thought from the instincts of selfishness while in association with the most exalted of our kind. in truth, i never felt in the remotest degree that there was a reality in the reputed second existence advocated by our mythology, and was in no way impressed with an assurance of immortality, until we were imperceptibly led to recognize its impression from the example of yourself and people. but you must recollect that our meeting was under peculiar auspices, which enlisted and absorbed our sympathies to the exclusion of self, as if in premonition of the eventful recompense following in train. no favoring circumstances like those transpiring for our introduction, will be likely to prepossess our people in your undertaking, for their own behoof, if we except the sensational announcement which will herald your origin, in connection with our animalculan discovery. the impression that will be imparted from your exampled exposition of the effects of heraclean education will prove as evanescent in the substitution of purity and goodness for the material excitements of instinctive gratification, as the opening imitations of the popular humorist, or lyceum lecturer, who attract the attention of their audiences for an hour with quips and snaffles of idiomatic license, or theories as valueless as shadows. if the proscriptor’s compilations should fail to awaken their thoughtful interest, in their own behalf, with a realizing desire for the inauguration of a system of education for the benefit of succeeding generations, then i fear that your treasured hopes will find in recognition a tardy requital.”
correliana. “but are not the emotions expressed by your word friendship, the talismanic offshoots of affection; and will they not aid our example enlisted for the inauguration of a system of education that will 361bestow upon their children a living realization of immortal impressions?”
m. hollydorf. “better by far that you rely upon your own unaided example, and in no way venture your hopes upon the hazard of its trial! for there is not in the word catalogue of instinctive delusions, one so hypocritically heartless and treacherous. friendship in demonstration with our race, is, as the dosch has informed you, a ‘marketable commodity,’ as variable in expressed quality and price as the puff stocks founded upon the gambling exchange of gold. it extends its material aid upon like security in kind, and gold as the medium, is the equivalent of grateful reciprocation. in fact, gratitude and friendship in manifestation with us may be truthfully expressed as an ambuscade of expectation lying in wait for the surprise of future favors. it grieves me that i have no truthful resource from which to impart consolation and assurance, in solace for the encouragement of your proposed adventure; for, to our judgment, the sanction of the manatitlan auramentors offers the only hopeful warrant of its feasibility. but for the better exposition of the instinctive heartlessness of our race, i will endeavor to give you a true representation of the result of our discovery, if the golden deposits of your mountains and rivers should be revealed to the students of our colleges. abandoning their studies they would lead in the tide of adventurous emigration, and on reaching your city, heedless of your example, they would take advantage of weakness as a license, that in gratification would defy tears, pleadings, and expostulations advocating your rights of local option. the englishman would hold it as his sovereign right to do as he pleased, with the certainty that his government would hold you responsible for any resistance to his acts, and with the pretext of an alleged affront, the ocean cormorant would plume her wings and sharpen her beak and talons for 362your engorgement, esteeming you and your city ‘lawful prey.’ emigrants from my own, and nations of kindred habits, would claim the philosophical privilege of corrupting your fruits and grains, by brewing and distilling them into strong drinks; which tacitus, a historian of your race, alleges was the practice of the germans from the period of their earliest settlements. but a few days, or weeks, would pass, before your city’s present cleanly freedom from the evidences of detrition, would be changed into a sty reeking with filth and saintly odors, and your temple schools into progenic beer nurseries for the instinctive propagation of liberalism, and sogdonian classics, peculiar to the transition period of the incursive pot-pourri invasions of the northern, eastern, and western hordes, into germany. in usurpation of the current flow of affection, that responds in grateful songs of praise to the creator, the hoarse croaking of maudlin revellers would make night hideous with strepitant grunts of liberty and instinctive patriotism; while in vindication of hereditary privilege, they would exhibit their memorial ‘love and friendship’ by sword emblazonry tattooed upon each other’s cheeks, chorused in medley with oaths from english, irish, french, and other idiomatic mouths as accompaniments to their manuals in the art of self defense. if your people should adventure affectionate expostulation in behalf of their children, they in reply would exhibit their bloated and bleared visages as the fatherly source of a new and regenerate race of freemen, delivered by the democratic efficacy of saving grace from the pulings of puritanism. well aware of my inherited defects and unworthiness for the privileged enjoyment of your people’s purity, i shudder with the reflection that the current of your affection could be stayed, and forever turned backward, if by rumor the golden treasures in utensil use should be bruited in the civilized purlieus of our cities for the attraction of their troglodyte grovellers hitherward.”
363correliana (with clasped hands and tearful eyes.) “may goodness forefend us from a calamity so dire! better by far the consummation so long urged by our savage foes! but we must still cling to our hopes founded upon your ready perception of an affection that enables us to live away from human bodies with habits such as you have so wofully described.”
as correliana uttered in fervent appeal her invocation, the pr?tor called m. hollydorf to indicate the selection he had made from the young maidens to fulfill the marriage intention with the verging graduates of the male department? in answer to this quizzical request, he acknowledged that the only maidens he had seen were luocuratia and correliana, but with his happy impressions would endeavor to make amends for his selfishness. all, with the exception of the padre, confirmed the censor’s choice, but he with his usual uncertitude of thought made such varied and liberal selections that in consummation they would have proved sadly polygamous. the dosch had already explained that the education of the heraclean children had been limited to the practical requirements for the supply of family wants, in conducive aid for the perfection of happy association. so that in the educational department of letters the variety had been of the most meagre description, the quota of information relative to the affairs of the world at large having been supplied by manatitlan auramentors. accomplishments and ritual formulistic ceremonies were unknown.
we were more than surprised with admiration, when we visited the kitchen department, in which the manipulations were conducted with such ease and purity, that our previous ideas entertained of housekeeping were quite confounded. during our inspection of the kitchen, the busy hands of a detachment of young maidens were engaged in the preparation of food for the midday collation; their faces the while 364were beaming with the rays of unspeakable gladness, and their eyes in condimental purity imparted luxurious joy, as a relishing foretaste to the edible results of their culinary pastimes. in keeping the bright glow of the unique utensils, of beautifully alloyed gold, reflected in the convex and concave radiance of their disks the lustrous embodiment of maidenly proportions, with faces comically imaged in grotesque contrast with the reality. the dwarfed reduction of their graceful forms and faces to a semblance in breadth of visaged mouth, nose, cheek, and eyes, to the chattel biddy instincts who hold untidy supremacy in the kitchen departments of civilization, gave a mirthful vitality to the metallic expression that heightened the ludicrous effect, so that under our watchful gaze, it would occasionally culminate in the voiceful melody of a laugh. purity and order reigned supreme, so that there was neither odor or speck for insect attraction. the effect of this ruling self-dependence was heightened with vivid impression, from the expression of grateful pride that beamed with the emulative exhibition of their “useful accomplishments.” in their personalities they were so free from adhesive taint, that the atmosphere seemed pervaded with the clarifying transpirations of beings exalted above the grossness of mortality.
our own unworthy selves, reflected in contrast from the clear transparency of their bodily investments, caused us to shrink abashed from the hallowed precincts that bespoke in their immaculate purity a perfection that we had supposed beyond the reach of mortal attainment. m. hollydorf, who was of us all the most sensitively mindful in holding himself amenable to the heraclean example in personal purity, scarcely ventured to cross the threshold, for among the hand-maidens luocuratia had taken her place, but with her thoughtful face tinged with blushes shadowed from the dawning realm of unrevealed 365emotions. her side-glances, timidly regardful in wondering perplexity, surveyed the object of her newborn attraction in thoughtful search for the evidences of reciprocal impression. but the educated society sophistications of m. hollydorf’s instinctive self clouded the frankness of his expression with the turmoil of impulsive excitement, that rendered him unintelligible and diffident in bearing. this sensitive shield of instinct baffled her longing search for the current impressions of assimilation, imparting to her hands a trembling uncertainty, plainly indicating that her devotions were not fully enlisted for the ritualistic perfection required for the shapely modeling of the oracular cakes intrusted to her leavening touch of purity. to our less enamored vision her touch seemed to impart chaste consecration, for not the slightest stain or discoloration from edible crudity, in preparation for the elaboration of fire, was retained by her hands, so that in contrast we were again inclined to revolt from ourselves. but with all our opposition, intrusive memory forced upon us, with prompted aid, the contrast of swinish priests administering their wafers of dough desecrated by their filthy hands for the unthinking drove specialities of the common herd. in verification of the common impression, the padre whispered to mr. welson, “i wish to goodness i dared receive one of those crumpets from her hands, for upon my soul i believe it would shrive me for a taste of purity?”
m. hollydorf overhearing the padre’s supplication cast upon him a grateful look of appreciation. admonished by our feelings of grossness, we with reverence retreated beyond the charmed circle, but lingered within view screened by a hedge of rose and honeysuckle, through which our eyes paid worshipful devotion to the digital service of the kitchen nymphs. without the aid of mystic conjurations, the scene seemed invested with a refinement of purity that exceeded 366the compass of instinct, raising our capacities for the realization of beauty, with a halcyon blending, for the perception of an enduring affection. spell-bound within our enclosure, delightfully absorbed with our thoughtful contemplations, and nectarious impressions, varied with occasional voiceful melodies, concerted in time to the movements of busy hands and feet, we were startled from our reveries, and retranslated back to the grossness of appetite, by the exclamation, “oh, for a tobias sausage, well underlayed and flanked with gamey kraut, and a mug of foamy lager, for i am as hungry as a bear.”
the body of dr. baāhar appeared in the rear of this hungry ejaculation, enveloped in flowers and cuttings bestowed by the teachers from the garden growths cultivated by the pupils. in a moment the carols of the kitchen celestas ceased, and sidelong glances were directed to the hedge to detect the intruder whose guttural accents betrayed the profanity of his petition. the effect produced by this interruption may be truthfully likened to the hush imposed upon the twilight warblings of the water-thrush, swayed in tuneful measure upon the spray by the evening zephyr, and the rippling accompaniment of a flowing stream, when its evening carols are suddenly checked and silenced, for the night, by the croaking heralds of darkness from the sedgy confines of a neighboring bog. even the padre, whose stomach had many a time and oft remonstrated with indigestive harshness against the introduction of crab salad,—saur-kraut’s english and american cousin,—egg-nogs, brandy smashes, and like poetical compounds for its disposal, stood aghast at this profanation of the divinities’ edible incantations. finding himself unexpectedly subjected to an array of admonitory glances, his eyes sought through the openings in the hedge the cause of his cool reception, and with its revelation became aware of his invocation’s 367apostate grossness. as he stood peering through the leafy screen, forgetful of his flowery decorations, he looked like a satyr wood-god of ancient devisement, in orchidean envelope, regaling his sight with a surreptitious view of the grove nymphs while adorning their persons for the festal mysteries.
correliana, who came with the teachers to escort us to the refectory colonnade, with the desire of the scholars that we would test the relish of their food preparations, aided in disrobing the doctor of his flowery dress; this accomplished we joined the parents and children who were waiting to receive us in the vestibule. the tables were covered with cloths of tinted white interwoven from the fibres of the plantain and tree silk-floss, which produced a novel effect. this cloth was styled tapalmtr?, a web of lighter texture being used for raiment. when seated, the dosch addressing us from the platform of the tympano-microscope, which had been transferred from the pr?tor’s table for the day, asked us to bestow our critical attention upon the cloth, to detect its conservative peculiarities for cleanly protection and rejection of corrupt attaint. the brightness, purity, and softness of the fabric, had not only attracted our attention as consonant with the characteristics of correliana, on the occasion of our first interview, although reduced for the supply of others’ necessities, to the limits of modesty, in extremity, but had with the scientific zest of curiosity been the subject of speculative investigation after our arrival in heraclea. but since our introduction to the manatitlans, it had only attracted our attention, feeling well assured that all in accruance for mutual benefit would in season be made known. “its apparent peculiarities, in their partial perfection, we have been enabled to bestow upon the heracleans,” explained the dosch, “for their advantage during the trials of the siege. although, from the lack of material, and means of elaboration, 368imperfect in comparison with our attainments in its illimitable adaptation for the fulfillment of all material requirements for protection, it has subserved with them for the supply of a protective agent to their textile fabrics, conservative in transmissible durability and sanitary purity. its special adaptative qualities are the extremes of mobility and immobility, and imponderability in degree sufficient for relieving the impressions of weight. these, together with a non-adhesive surface, with a capability for rendering it elastic and non-elastic to either extreme, and indestructible from exposure to the elements, have served as invaluable aids for comfort and their preservation. as an effective aid for increasing the durability of textile fabrics, you can judge when i state that the garments and cloths are heir-looms of centuries’ transmission as well with the heracleans as with our race; an electrical current keeping them repulsively free from impurity, they are to all intents new to each succeeding generation.”
padre. “why, what a boon the art will prove to the world? especially to the poor, who will esteem you their benefactors forevermore.”
dosch. “it has, with many other attainments, been achieved by goodness for the perfection of purity; and as the miseries of your race are self-inflicted from the stupidity of over-indulgence, its bestowal upon them, in their present state, would prove an encouragement to evil, rather than for its abatement. from this consideration we do not intend to hold ourselves culpable by offering it as a premium for the cultivation of selfish greed and luxurious indulgence. the scientific improvements of your progressive race in the adaptation of vegetable, animal, and metallic productions for the development of their tiger instincts, is quite sufficient for the exemplification of their delusive aspirations, without prostituting the labors of affection for the encouragement of envious hatred.”
369padre. “but do you arrogate to yourselves greater goodness in your decrees than god, who bestows sun and rain on the good and evil alike?”
dosch. “your distinction of creative indications in the bestowal of gifts, is, in delusive appeal an assumption characteristic with sectarianism. it should be evident to perception, that creative benefactions extend to the whole creation, to the reptile, and monkey, as well as to the higher grades of mankind. but the endowment of humanity with powers of discernment to distinguish between good and evil, is an indication of intention that directly implies the privilege of choice for securing the results of happiness or misery. in other words, if man prostitutes his privilege, and makes a brute of himself, he must expect the living void of bestiality, and incapacity for present happiness, with its affectionate premonitions of immortality.”
when seated, the pr?tor, while acknowledging the superiority of knives and forks, drew from his hand its transparent glove, offering it as an apology for the use of their fingers in eating, by showing that it was repellant to adhesive matter. although instructed in the use of chop-sticks, and knives and forks, they were not yet proficient in their use, and would prefer the use of their fingers with their silicoth gloves if the habit would not offend? this accorded, a maiden was self-assigned to each guest who adjusted mappas (napkins) to their necks. luocuratia, radiant with blushes and smiles, assumed the charge of m. hollydorf, assisted by an indian maiden of singular beauty. correliana observing the curious interest excited by her presence and others of her race, introduced her by the name of toitla, as one of their foster sisters of the betongo tribe, taken when infants and adopted for a hostage education; their parents visiting them whenever an opportunity offered without attracting the notice of their savage 370allies, a swinging bridge having been constructed for the northern basin of the falls to facilitate their entrance and exit unobserved. “to their gratitude,” she exclaimed with tearful eyes, “we are indebted for the food that preserved us from starvation, when the malignant river savages sowed caterpillars and other noxious grubs upon the wind, from the brink of the precipice, which destroyed our means of subsistence.”
after the first course of maize and banana-bread,—styled by the padre crumpets, while under the moulding pressure of luocuratia’s fair hands,—the elder maidens seated themselves beside their parents, the little ones taking their places, their busy eyes watchful for an opportunity to render aid in supplying the wants of their parents and guests. so well versed were they in the language of eyes, tongues were rarely used. our most skillful performer with the knife and fork caused them to stand on tiptoe with wonder, in view of their rapid alternations in the transfer of food to his mouth, although himself unmindful of special notice. whether the pantomimic expressions evoked from their symmetrical hands, arms, and questioning eyes, were elicited from the quantity or facile speed in the disposal of food, we could not judge. at the close of the refection, the pr?tor remarked, that the impression of their debt of gratitude was accumulating so fast from an increase in happiness, they felt sensitively the poverty of their resources for making suitable returns. “but if you will only wait with confidence, our dispositions will find some method of recompense that will prove more acceptable than metallic gold?”
mr. welson assured him if true happiness could be considered a meed for equivalent reciprocation, the heracleans had conferred far more by their example than they had received.
dosch. “then you must fain remain content with 371each other, and bestow your mutual aid upon the less favored for the recognition of your source of happiness. as the day is drawing to a close, perhaps dr. baāhar will favor us, and the other children, with his impressions and ideas derived from his associations of the day?”
the doctor, without apology, responded as follows: “during the day i have been so enchanted with the harmonizing voices of the parents and children, free from chiding, whining importunities and reproachful bitterness, common to our schools, both male and female, that i was often prompted to speak to you of the effect that has ever been accorded to harmony in musical concord, from the remotest antiquity; but checked myself from reverting to classical fables in view of the brighter reality of your example, which has impressed me with the reflection of a future, made glorious with the realization of your true affection, as the only abiding source of happiness. we feel ourselves novices in appreciation and capacity for reciprocation, as well as in the power of self-command, but will treasure your loving example for a clearer perception of our faults of omission and commission. notwithstanding our gratitude has but recently emerged from its cocoon of selfishness, we feel that its rays are brighter, warmer, and more kindly in their influence and extension, and truly hope that we shall be able to reflect your example for the lasting good of the well disposed. if the possibility or probability of reducing a woman’s tongue, young or old, of any race, to the limits of useful, witty, or consoling speech, dictated from thoughtful impressions for kindly reciprocation, had been advocated in my presence by the members of the royal scientific societies of london, paris, or berlin, i should have given less heed to their arguments in support of feasibility, than to the babblings of a brook. or if in prophecy, the scenes of to-day had been foretold as a probable 372event likely to occur by any transition, i should have attributed its source to the fantastical chimeras of a fool. moreover, if in thought suggestion the manatitlan auramentors had substituted the idea that i could improve upon ancestral precedents, i should have thought myself, when free from their influence, subject to the freaks of insanity. albeit not much given to respect in following advice, or imitating parental example in my youth, still both law and gospel forbade one to think himself wiser in his generation than his antecedents; from this prevailing authority we expected that our men would wield their swords, and the women their tongues, in opposition to their own promulgated ways and means of salvation, to the end. from the light of this morning’s example i can realize, in view of the past, that inconsistency is the soul of instinctive selfishness, as well as the ‘substance’ of law and gospel, upon which we found our vaunted civilization. in addition, your system of education founded upon the practical adaptation of study to the requirements of life, makes me feel that i have used my brain as a store-house for the vile and useless lumber of past ages, which had better have been buried in the instinctive grave of oblivion. in fact, i have hibernated in common with the class styled learned men, in company with the corrupt bodies of a dead ancestry; and while subject to the winter gloom of instinct, have existed in ritualistic dependence upon the fancied nutriment derived from sucking my mental paws, while in truth exhausting my resources of vitality, and hopes of immortality. but whatever there is in me left of rational appreciation, capable of being cultivated in diversion from the baneful influence of the past, shall be devoted to the welfare of future generations, for the abatement of selfish greed which seeks to accumulate in excess of self-requirements to the detriment of others.”
373at the close of the doctor’s declaration of faith, the padre quietly remarked to mr. welson, that he fully believed in the manatitlans and their power of thought substitution. then, after even-song, correliana led in a hymn commemorative of heraclean deliverance, of which the following is an imperfect rendition:—
“father supreme, our guide and stay,
when sore opprest for others’ wrongs,
in pity, thou didst ope a way
to save; to thee the praise belongs.
“guide those, to whom we owe the aid,
under thy sole direction sent,
that our paths of peace may be made
through them the sign of great event.
“that instead of war brings goodwill,
preferring kindred love to self,
that others’ joy may prove their skill
in place of hoarding useless pelf.
“nor deem it ill, that they can learn
from manatitlans peaceful sway,
love’s power to bring like return,
and bear from hate the palm away.”
after exacting a promise that we would accompany their parents on their next monthly visit, we were permitted to depart, and, as the temple gates closed, held in review, with thoughtful silence, the scenes of the day, feeling within us that they were the index of future happiness for our race. our thoughtful revery was broken by lindenhoff, the corps’ genealogical curator of sound, who expostulated: “it is strange that the heracleans still continue to drone the old p?an cadences practiced by the greeks four thousand years ago, after hearing the manatitlan operatists; for they are really a wonderful people, and superior musicians, notwithstanding their lack of power for the expression of the deeper emotions of rage, love, and revenge, which are in reality the vitality 374and soul of our great master’s compositions. they show but little versatility in fugue movement, which expresses the gliding power of musical intelligence; this certainly discovers a material lack of appreciation, however accomplished they may be in other respects. in fact, the manatitlans would be esteemed as superior vocalists the world over, if they could register a little more volume to their voices. i would much rather undergo one of mr. welson’s practical jokes than listen again to the droning of the heracleans, for their execution was perfectly shocking, and they have far less capacity in the lower scale than the bumble-bee.”
the music taster’s criticism provoked a hearty laugh, but the padre, with warmth, exclaimed: “upon my soul, for the life of me, i can’t see any cause for fault finding with sound, when the words harmonized so well with one’s feelings of grateful sympathy. a good heartfelt invocation from such voices, which were as beautiful as their faces, should not be questioned by our coarse natures! why, man alive, if i had had the voice of a nightingale, it would have choked with kindly emotions from the harmony of their affectionate solicitations in our behalf! faugh, man, your opera tral-la-la yells are as empty as the screechings of cockatoos and the croakings of frogs in comparison! the chord of sympathy they touched is beyond the reach of your norma quirketizations.”
all joined in hearty commendation of the padre’s strictures on the hypercritical curator, mr. welson reminding him that the maniculan choristers would have failed to impress his sensitive ears with their excellence without the magnifying aid of the tympanum. “in full chorus, to the unassisted ear, their music would have sounded monotonous, hardly reaching in volume the lisping chirrupings of an infantile cricket, heard from its home in a distant cranny. as with your registrations of impressions derived from 375its voice, the heracleans would find manatitlan instruction wanting in volume for successful imitation. but,” he added, as correliana overtook them, “here is the offending composer; we will now hear what she has to say in extenuation for neglect of opportunity for improvement in the cultivation of fugue flights above the reach of harmony.”
correliana, observing the quizzical expression of mirth that accompanied this appeal, inquired the cause. in answer, mr. welson rehearsed the criticism of the curator, to which she blushingly replied: “you will, i hope, consider in our behalf, when i acknowledge the justness of your criticism, that before your arrival we were constantly harrassed with troubles which required the active employment of our people’s thoughts in the devisement of expedients for preservation. these kept us occupied with the full enlistment of our sympathies, so that we could only exercise our musical inclinations in the transmitted current of our original songs of thanksgiving. but in our greatest distress we longed for a harmonized extension of capacity, that you have supplied with adjuvantic aids, from which, in time, we hope that we may be able to render you satisfaction, with the evidences of industrious application.”
the curator of sound was too much abashed for an apologetic reply; and the dosch requested mr. welson to say, that for their evening’s entertainment he would relate the circumstances that placed the “dulcetina” in the hands of captain greenwood for disposal.
