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DECEMBER 28, 1913
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PRICE FIVE CENTS
WALT WHITMAN PROPHET AND DEMOCRAT*
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T was my misfortune not to become acquainted with the poetry of Walt Whitman until the year of his death, and
then to be introduced to it and him by
an Englishman at Oxford, who told me he
was our greatest American poet. I went to
England to study, as I went to Germany,
with the idea
that Walt Wl.·itman and Richard
Wagner
were makers of
noise.
I discovered in Germany that cultivated
people
preferred Richard Wagner to
the Italian composers, and I
discovered,
when • I made
th e
acquaintance of Walt
Whitman, that
it did not matter so much whether ·people were cultivated
or not from the point of view of Walt Whitman and the larger life. He is our greatest exponent of democracy.
There are three periods in Walt Whitman's life.
He served thirty years' apprenticeship for life; and then he · underwent a transformation that made him a
new man. and he had twenty years of productiYity; and after that twenty years of
quiescence. He was educated in the Brooklyn public schools. and began his career as
an office boy, in a lawyer's and then in a
doctor's office. Then he became a printer's
apprentice. and wrote sentimental bits, as
we all have done-and not more merito;ious than ours. At eighteen he was teaching school in . Long Island. In 1846 he was
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_
CHARLES ZUEBLIN
help reminding you of a great-a greaterprototype, who spent thirty years In preparing for three brief years of life.
When
you · consider the probable effect on the
world of living the kind of life that Whitman taught us to live, you can see so many
points of contact that you cannot help comparing the preparation of Jesus and the
preparation of Whitman-tb:e chaste ascetic
and the sensuous Bohemian:-. Whitman
came forth a man preaching a religion. He
states it in terms that absolutely .fit him:
"I, too, following many and follow'd by
many, inaugurate a religion, I descend into the arena,
(It may be I am destin'd to utter the loudest cries there, the winner's pealing
shouts,
Who knows? they may rise !ram me yet,
and soar above everything.)
Each is not for its own sake,
I say the whole earth and all th:e stars in
the sky are for religion' s sake."
It is a little shocking to have the •'barbaric yawp" preaching the tenderest religion. But you must take him as he is if
you would understand him.
"Swiftly arose and spread around me the
peace and knowledge that pass all
the argument of the earth,
And I know that the hand of God is tl:::e
promise of my own,
And I know that the spirit of God is the
brother of my own,
And that all the men ever born are also my
brothers, and the women my sisters,
and lovers,
And that a kelson of the creation is love,
And limitless ·are leaves stiff' or drooping
in the fields ,
And brown ants in the little wells beneath
them,
'For several years after his return to
Brooklyn we find him w-0rking as a carpenter-a significant point-and also writing,
speech-making, preaching. In 1855 the first
edition of "Leaves of Grass" appeared, the
same year his father died. When you go to
"Leaves of Grass," you do not find a book,
you find a man revealed. " A feeling or ambition to articulate and faithfully express in
literary or poetic form , and uncompromisingly, my own physical, emotional, moral,
intellectual, and aesthetic Personality, in
th·e midst of, and tallying, the momentous
spirit and facts of its Immediate days, and
of current America-and to exploit that
Personality, in a far more candid and comprehensive sense than any hitherto poem or
book."
If you are perfectly: in tune with the universe, if you are a conscious participant in
all elements of the cosmos, why should you
apologize, why should you be called egotistic?
The explanation of all this is that Whitman was a pantheist. All things were one
to Whitman. Nature was the first of the
elements which gave Whitman that consciousness.
Thoreau was a nature-lover,
but Whitman was more than that: he was
nature.
He saw and felt no distinctions.
Here is the profoundest expression of the
truth of evolution of which I know:
"I am an acme of things accomplished, and
I am an en closer of things .to be.
My feet srrike an apex of th·e apices of the
stairs,
On every step bunches of ages, and larger
bunches between the steps,
All below duly travell'd, and still I mount
and mount.
Rise after rise bow tlie phantoms behind
me.
Afar down I see the huge first Nothing, I
know I was even there,
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It is a little shocking to have the "barit did not mat- baric yawp" preaching the tenderest reter so much whether ·people were cultivated ligion. But you must take him as he is if
or not from the point of view of Walt Whit- you would understand him.
man and tbe larger life. He is our great"Swiftly arose and spread around me the
est ex ponent of democracy.
peace and knowledge that pass all
There are three periods in Walt Whitthe argument of the earth,
man's life.
He served thirty years' · apprenticeship for life; and th·en he under- And I know that the hand of God is tl:.·e
promise of my own,
went a transformation that made him a
And I know that the spirit of God is the
new man, and he had twenty years of probrother bf my own, .
ductivity ; and after that twenty years of
quiescence. He was educated in the Brook- And that all the men ever born are also my
brothers, and the women my sisters,
lyn public schools, and began his career as
an office boy, in a lawyer's and then in a
and lovers,
doctor's office. Then he became a printer's And that a kelson of the creation is love,
apprentice, and wrote sentimental bits, as- And limitless ·are leaves stiff or drooping
in the fields,
we all h ave done-and not more meritoAnd br·o wn ants in the little wells beneath
·rious than ours. At eighteen he was teaching school in Long Island. In 1846 be was
them,
editor of the Brooklyn Eagle, having And mossy scabs of the worn fence, heap'd
climbed tbe ladder of the newspaper prostones, elder, mullein and poke weed."
fession.
Then he began his Wanderjahre
That is a ratl:.·er large philosophy-from
as a journeyman printer. He went to the
God to poke-weed-and there is nothing
South and the Far West. In 1848 he was
left out of it ; he dodges no issue and no
on the editorial staff of the New Orleans
Crescent. Here there is a shadow on his element of life, here, hitherto, or hereafter.
life.
In New Orleans he had a wife or
wives.
vVe do not know anything of the
domestic affairs of Whitman except tl::.at in
MY CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO YOU
later years, in Camden. he was visited by
grandchildren. It is only fair to make your
HE keenest joys, the great est
own estima te of the meanin!I> of this obscure passage of his life.
satisfactions, the richest treasures we find in each other. Our
But there came within a year a complete
mut ual intimacies are the coin
transforma.tion of this man, such as takes
of the kingdom of life. He is ricl:.est
place in the life of every person who finds
who knows best the most people. W e
himself.
Walt Whitman was born again ;
only know each other when we share
and no man or woman finds his place in the
the best there is in us. Material posworld until he is · born again. (Applause.)
sessions are worth while only as they
You may state this in any terms you like,
help us to know people. They become
but if you don't undergo a transformation
a deadly poison when they get between
and come into a consciousness of your reus and folks.
lation to the infinite you do not really live.
In addition to exchanging friendli(Applause.) In 1850 he was back in Brookness one day in the year, let us give
lyn. It was still several years before l::.-e
ourselves to each other every day in
produced the volume that was to startle
the year. That is the meaning back
the literary and thinking world. I cannot
of this whole Christmas business. ·,
-George W. ·Coleman.
*The speeches and the questions and answ~rs
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Tile explanation of all this is that '\Vhitman was a pantheist. All things were one
to vVhitman. Nature was the first of th·e
elements which gave Whitman that consciousness.
Thoreau was a nature-lover,
but ·whitman was more than that: he was
nature.
He saw and felt no distinctions.
Here is the profoundest expression of the
truth of evolution of which I know:
. "I am an acme of things accomplished, and
I am an encloser of things to be.
My feet srrike_ an apex of th-e apices of the
stairs,
On every step bunches of ages, and larger
bunches between the steps,
All below duly travell'd, -and still I mount
and mount.
Rise after rise bow the phantoms behind
me,
Afar down I see the huge first Nothing, I
know I was even there,
I waited unseen and always, and slept
through the letl.-argic mist, and took
m y time, and took no hurt from the
fetid carbon.
Long I was hugged close-long and long.
Immense have been the preparations for
me,
Faithful and friendly the arms that have
helped me.
Cycles ferried my cradle, rowing and rowing like · cheerful boatmen,
.
For room to me stars kept aside in their
own rings,
They s ent influences to look after what was
to hold me,
Before I was born out of my mother generations guided me,
My embryo has never been torpid, nothing .'
could overlay it.
·
For it the nebula cohered to an orb,
The long slow strata piled to rest it on,
Vast vegetables gave it s ustenance,
Monstrous ·sll:uroids transported it in their
mou th-s ·and deposited it with· care.
All force·s .·.hav.-e..been steadily em ployed to
co~lete~·and delight me.
Ngw ,o.11.,.t1£s.'":spot I stand with my robust
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Y{)u·:-remeniber Martin Luther's "Here I
stand; ·r can do no otherwise." What was
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WALT WHITMAN, PROPHET AND DEMOCRAT.
(Continued from Page 1.)
defiance of the Church to identity with the
universe? If you stop to think how you got
here, and look at all your antecendents,
everything must have been mapped out in
order that you should be here today. Such
is the conception of this poetic evolutionist.
Next to nature, of course, the exposition
of pantheism that reveals itself to us is that
of man. And what has most embarrassed
us in this connection is his thought of sex.
"Whitman always thought of sex, not as
woman, but as man and woman coincidently.
What is the use of philosophizing
Q: Would you say that Whitman beabout health and a strong body when we lieved in reincarnation?
don't get ::.. chance to develop ourselves?
A: No, because there was no cessation.
A: The main use is to make us insist
Q : Whom do you consider the greatest
on getting a chance.
American poet, and why?
Q (Mr. Sagerman): What is the use of
A: Wale Whitman, for reasons I spent
about an hour in explaning!
praying to an impersonal God?
Q: How would Miller and Bret Harte
A: The expression of prayer to tl:.·e modern mind is designed to get the person who stand, from Whitman's point of view?
A: I don't believe they ought to be menputs forth the petition to go and answer it
They were
himself, and he feels a little more sure of tioned in the same breath·.
doing this if he prays to an impersonal splendid men who gave us a beautiful spirit "Fast-anchored eternal O love! 0 woman I
love!
of the West but they were essentially local.
God.
0 bride! 0 wife! more resistless than I
Q : Would it be possible to find enough
Q: Was Wart Whitman a member of the
can tell, th·e thought of you!
Whitman admirers here to start a sub- Then separate, as disembodied or another
Baptist denomination?
A: He was never a member of any scription for the purchase of Whitman's
born.
Long Island home?
church.
Ethereal, the last athletic reality, my conA (Mr . Coleman) : If any here wish to
Q: What was Walt Whitman's definition
' solation,
do that, let them give their names to Miss I ascend, I float in the regions of your love,
of God, and what is yours?
Crawford.
A: Walt Whitman taught that God was
0 man,
Q: Why was Whitman appreciated in
O. sharer of my roving life."
everything, that there was no distinction England and Germany before America?
between the material and the spiritual, the
A: In
the people
His understanding of sex was like the unfinite and the infinite-it was all one great wh·o read the first place, becaus~ in England
are more democratic
Life-Force.
I see no reason to disagree and Germany, and, second, because they are derstanding of the Greek sculptor. We do
not have the sculpture of ancient days bewith that definition.
more appreciative of good literature.
cause we do not know the human body so
Q (Mr. Victorson): Wasn't Edgar Allan
Q: Walt Whitman looked upon death as
well. Whitman knew the human body, and
Poe a greater American poet than Walt beautiful. Would he think that capital pun- he knew his own body.
Whitman; and did Whitman invent his own ishment was a beautiful death?
"Shall I tell you, reader, to what I attribphilosophy, or was he a follower of SpiA: Whitman did not believe we should ute my already much restored health? That
noza?
hasten to death in order to enjoy the bene- I have been almost two years, off and on,
A : Poe is our greatest poet in form, but fits that fellow, which is the orthodox view. without drugs and medicines, and daily in
he had no such things to express as Whit- He believE:d we should live here as long as the open air. Last summer I found a parman had. Spinoza and Whitman are very possible, to qualify.
ticularly secluded little dell off one side by
similar, but I see no indication that WhitQ: What was Whitman' s conception of
my creek, originally a large dug-out marlman had read Spinoza.
the origin of God and the universe ?
pit, now abandoned, filled with bushes,
Q: Isn't Whitman's poem, "Captain, My
A: I do not know that he anywhere
trees, grass a group of willows, a straggling
Captain." one of the best in th·e English gives that; I do not think he ever tried to, bank, and a spring of delicious water runlanguage?
though he does speak of "universal noth- ning right through the middle of it, with
A: That is a question of taste; I think - ingness" as a beginning.
two or three little cascades.
Here I reit is. (Applause.)
Q: Would Whitman distinguish between
treated every h·ot day, and follow it up this
God and the world?
summer. .. Never before did I get so close
Q: What is the difference between WhitA: No. We are living in a world of mat- to Nature; never before did she come so
man's idea of pantheism, as expressed toter. When we make the transition from close to me . . . Sweet, sane, still Nakednight, and Haeckel's monism?
A: Whitman felt that we had a respon- matter to water, air or ether, when you see ness in Nature!-ah, if poor sick, prurient
there is no dividing line between organic humanity in cities might really know you
sibility fo1• the carrying on of the universe,
and ignoranic life, it seems easier to con- once more!
Is not nakedness then indeand I do not find that in Haeckel.
ceive of th:e material and the spiritual as cent?
No, not inherently.
It is your
Q: Did Whitman attempt to live the
all one. (Applause.)
thought, your sophistication, your fear,
life he preached or not?
Q (Same): Is reality spacial?
your respectability, that is indecent. There
A: He preached what he lived.
(ApA: I do not· think the human mind can
come moods when these clothes of ours are
plause ..)
project itself beyond time and space.
not only too irksome to wear, but are them-.
Q: Wh:v should we strive for the beauQ (M r. Mills): Is not Edward Carpenter
s elves indecent. Perhaps indeed he or she
Q:
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ford, as set fort]
a most interesti
qualify _or publi
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to technical kno,
duce the number
ment, and also n
( on the appointin
choice of rival <
suggestion that
Strangely enougl:
Twentieth Centur
land, the popular
ited woman suffr
form of examina
zens, whereby ir
bare literacy she
manded. Her dii
ject of qualificatic
ablest I ever he~
similar line, Mr.
late himself on fir
company.
*
I am deeply in1
municipal auditori
in every commun
place for all the_
every. requiremen
objectional bias <
cities this great
been left to the ha
enterprise. In a f
ing cities all over
authorities have t:
and the result is
auditoriums that :
a pride to the cit
ing to the whole
And I am just f
for an adequate <
keenly felt in the '
week a letter cai
friend.. :\fr. C. P.
In Ashland, N. H .,
known Boston busi
him:
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Poe a greater Amer1eau 1,ue: c cu~u . . -·v\Thitman ; and did Whitman invent his own
philosophy, or was he a follower of Spinoza?
A: Poe is our greatest poet in form, but
ae had no such things to express as Whitman had. Spinoza and Wh:itman are very
similar, but I see no indication that Whitman had read Spinoza.
• Q : Isn't Whitman's poem, "Captain, My
Captain ," one of the best in th·e English
language?
A: That is a question of taste; I think
it is. (Applause.)
Q: What is the difference between Whitman's idea of pantheism, as expressed tonight, and Haeckel's monism?
A: Whitman felt that we had a responsibility for the carrying on of the universe,
and I do not find that in Haeckel.
Q : Did Whitman attempt to live the
life he preached or not?
A : He preached what he lived.
(Applause ..)
Q: ·why should we strive for the beautiful and good if God is everything and
everything is godly?
A: Why not? The pantheistic idea involves a process.
We are moving· toward
the fullness of life, and it puts a responsibility upon each individual to leave the
world richer th,m h~ found it.
Q (Mr. Brown) : Since we do not know
the exact circumstances of Whitman's life
in New Orleans, should we not call it a
blank, instead of a blot, in his life?
A: I did not say it was a blot, but a
shadow. It was not a blau,k.
From our
present conventional standpoint we must
neither gloss over nor glorify it.
Q: You said Whitman was a Socialist
but did not belong to the party.
I have
known other gentlemen who did the same
thing-for a reason.
,
A: I d.j_d not say he was a Socialist.
Q: What generation guided Whitman
before he was born?
A: If you press this poetic language too
literally you will lose th~ meaning.
Q (Mrs. Sargent): Would you give Whitman to youth to read without guidance?
A: No; until young people have nearly
finished their adolescent stage, give them a
book like Oscar Triggs' Selections from
Whitman.
·
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ishment was a beautiful death ?
A: Whitman did not believe we should
hasten to death in order to enjoy the benefits that fellow . which is the orthodox view.
He believed we should live here as long as
possible, to qualify_
Q : What was Whitman's conception of
the origin of God and the universe ?
· A: I do not know that he anywhere
gives that ; I do not think he ever tried to,
though he does speak of " universal nothingness" as a beginning.
Q: Would Whitman distinguish between
God and the world?
A : No_ We are living in a world of matter. ·when we make the transition from
matter to water, air or ether, when you see
there is no dividing line between organic
and ignoranic life, it seems easier to conceive of th:e material and the spiritual as
all one. (Applause.)
Q (Same): Is reality spacial?
A: I do not' think the human mind can
project itself beyond time and space.
Q (Mr. Mills):, Is not Edward Carpenter
as far beyond Whitman as the 20th century
is beyond the 19th, and would not Whitman
in this century be a syndicalist, as Carpenter is?
A: I do not think Edward Carpenter is
in · any sense beyond Whitman.
As for
Whitman's being something today, it is
none of our business, and very unprofitable
besides, to ask that.
He has a universal
and timeless philosophy. which we st.ould
apply with the same kind of universality
that he did.
Q (Mr. Frazier) : Isn't it surprising that
John Boyle O'Reilly was in favor of raising
money to build a cottage in New England
for Whitman?
A: I think that when you get to the cosmic philosophy of Whitman it is so far beyond such little differences as those of
Cath·olic and Protestant that you lose sight
of them altogether.
Q: Did Whitman believe that God was
in a state of evolutionary process, and did
he think of himself as having come to a
completion?
A: Whitman had the advantage of stating his philosophy in poetry, which does
not attempt to be precise. But he and other
pantheists think that God is coming to what
corresponds to a larger conception.
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ute my already much restored health ? That
I have been almost two years, off and on,
without drugs and medicines, and daily in
the open air. Last summer I found a particularly secluded little dell off one side by
my creek, originally a large ·dug-out marlpit, now abandoned, filled with bushes,
trees, grass a group of willows, a straggling
bank, and a spring of delicious water running right through the middle of it, with
two or three little cascades.
Here I retreated every h·ot day, and follow it up this
summer. . . Never before did I get so close
to Nature; never before did she come so
close to me . . . Sweet, sane, still Nakedness in Nature !-ah, if poor sick, prurient
humanity in cities might really know you
once more!
Is not nakedness then indecent?
No, not inherently.
It is your
thought, your sophistication, your fear,
your respectability, that is indecent. There
come moods when these clothes of ours are
not only too irksome to wear, but are them-.
selves indecent. Perhaps indeed he or she
to whom the free exhilarating ecstasy of
nakedness in Nature has never been eligible ( and how many thousands there are!)
has not really known what purity is-nor
what faith or art of health really is."
" The expression of a well made man appears not only in his face: it is in his limbs
and joints also ; it is curiously in the joints
of his hips and wrists; it is in his walk, the
carriage of his neck, the flex of h is waist,
and knees: dress does not hide him ; the
strong sweet supple quality he has strikes
through the cotton and fiannel~ o see him
pass conveys as much as tha best poem,
perhaps more. You linger to see his back,
and the back of his neck and shoulder-side."
Now, of course, you don't linger to look
at a man going by, as you would if he were
a woman.
But next summer go down to
Revere or Nantasket and look at the
guards, after they have got to a fine mahogany finish. You can go there day after
day and not see a woman so beautiful.
Th~ human body was sacred to Whitman.
"A man's body at auction (for before the
war I often go and watch the sale),
I help the auctioneer, the sloven does not
half know his business.
(Continued on Page 4.)
in every commumty one centra1 _
gauH!J
place for all the people that would n
every requirement and be free from
objectional bias or associations.· In n
cities this great need of the people
been left to the haphazard chance of prh
enterprise. In a few of the more enter:.
ing cities all over the_country the munic
authorities have taken the matter in h~
and the result is a number of munic:
auditoriums that are a delight to the (
a pride to the citizens, and a great bl,
ing to the whole municipality.
And I am just finding out that this n
for an adequate common meeting-place
keenly felt in the rural districts also. 'I
week a letter came to me from my
friend, Mr. C. P. Jameson, who is liv
in Ashland, N. H., and was formerly a "'
known Boston business man. Let me qu
him:
•·one of the great needs of our sn
country towns and villages · is a so,
hall or general building, suitable for h,
ing meetings, socials, free entertainmei
lectures, banquets, etc., to be controlled
a carefully selected local board of trusu
Such a · building would be a great boon
the young and the old who have little
no opportunity for social intercourse s1
as pertains to our cities.
"The small country church edifice is of
old stereotyped structure with the fi:
box-like pew, no vestry or basement,
therefore unfitted for above purposes, ~
naturally operated and governed along z:
row lines.
"Such a building as suggested would ti
to bring the non-church people in to1
with church along social lines, and at
same time give the church an opportun
of broadening and brightening hers
Sometime (who can tell?) some new cult
worthy and ambitious purpose might
seeking a 'manger' (when there is no ro
at the inn) and such a building would h
serve a unique purpose."
*
*
*
One of our regular attendants, Mr. M:
rice Gertlin, is down in Panama at work
the Canal. He has written a very interE
ing letter to the readers of this magazi
Which I am turning over to Editor Dre
for publication as soon as space perm:
You will not want to miss it. He sees
ir'
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\ITMAN, PROPHET AND DEM-
OCRAT.
:ontinued from Page 1.)
the Church to identity with the
[f you stop to think how you got
look at all your antecendents,
must have been mapped out in
you should be h·e re today. Such
!eption of this poetic evolutionist.
nature, of course, the exposition
5m that r eveals itself to us is that
!\nd what has most embarrassed
connection is his thought of sex.
always thought of sex, not a:;;
.1t as man and woman coincident1ored eternal O love! 0 woman I
,!
0 wife! more resistless than 1
tell, the thought of you!
arate, as disembodied or another
n.
the last athletic reality, my conLtion,
I float in the regions of your love,
nan,
of my roving life."
ierstanding of sex was like the unng of the Greek sculptor. We do
the sculpture of ancient days be, do not know the human body so
b.itman knew the human body, and
his own body.
I tell you, reader, to what I a:-ttribL
lready much restored health? That
,een almost two years, off and on,
drugs and medicines, and daily in
. air. Last summer I found a parsecluded little dell off one side by
k, originally a large dug-out rµarl. abandoned, filled with bushes,
ass a group of willows, a straggling
1d a spring of delicious water run;ht through the middle of it, with
three little cascades.
Here I reevery h·ot day, and follow it up this
Never before did I get so close
re; never before did she come so
me . . . Sweet, sane, still NakedNature !-ah, if poor sick, prurient
-:y in cities might really know you
ore!
Is not nakedness then indeNo, not inherently.
It is your
. your sophistication, your fear,
,pectability, that is indecent. There
oods when these clothes of ours are
.r too irksome to wear, but are them7dPC!'l)-t. Perhaps indeed he or __sh~
,....
-
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE TO
CUSSED HERE.
AS IT LOOKS TO ME
By GEORGE W. COLEMAN, Director of the Ford Hall Meetings
iVIr. Hogan in his chat with Miss Crawford, as set forth on . another pa;ge, strikes
a most interesting note. If men had to
qualify for public office by examination as
· to technical knowledge it would greatly reduce the numbers who clamor for preferment, and also materially assist the voters
( on the appointing powers) in making their
choice of rival candidates. It is a novel
suggestion that provokes good thinking.
Strangely enough the day before at the
Twentieth Century Club, Mrs. Margaret Orland, the popular author, in favoring a limited woman suffrage argued in favor of a
form of examination of all would-be citizens, whereby intelligence rather than :i.
bare literacy should be the requisite demanded. Her discussion of the whole subject of qualifications for citizenship was the
ablest I ever heard. In thinking alorng a
similar line, Mr. Hogan can well congratulate himself on finding himself in such good
company.
*
:J=
*
I am deeply interested in the subject of
municipal auditoriums. There ought to be
in every community one central gathering
place fo r all the people that would meet
every requirement and be free from any
objectional bias or associations. In most
cities this great need of the people has
been left to the haphazard chance of private
enterprise. In a few of the more enterprising cities all over the country the municipal
authorities have taken the matter in hand,
and the result is a number of municipal
auditoriums that are a delight to the eye,
a pride to the citizens, and a great blessing to the whole municipality .
And I am just finding out that this need
!or an adequate common meeting-place is
keenly felt in the rural districts also. This
week a letter came to me from my old
~riend._ :\-Ir. C. P. Jameson, who is living
in Ashland, N. H., and was formerly a wellknown Boston business man. Let me quote
him:
""One of the great needs of our small
country towns and villages is a social
hall or general building, suitable for hold(ng meetin!!:s. socials. free entertainments.
ne w environment from our point of view
and draws a good picture of it.
*
*
*
More than fifty of our own number have
already registered to~ become "first citizens" of the Ford Hall Town Meeting.
Thursday, Jan. S, is the date selected for
the opening night, and the meetings will be
held thereafter every Thursday night. The
place is Kingsle y Hall in t he Ford Building, at 7.45. I have strong hopes that this
may be the beginning of a big thing. As
chairman of the Educational Committee,
:\-Ir. Foster will continue to give his assistance in every possible way to make the
thing a success. Mr. Allen of the City
History Club is the expert upon whom we
shall lean heavily, and Miss Grout of the
School of Social Science will bring to it
those qualities of good judgment and
steady persistence which have made her
own work such a great success.
*
*
*
BE
DIS-
11
!
;E- 1
(
No man could present more strikingly on
our platform "The Ethics of Marriage and
Divorce" than Dr. Stanton Coit, of London.
Dr. Coit i1:, a man of the finest . personal
standards, and is at the head of the wellknown Ethical Church in his home city. He
is a brilliant orator, and has besides a res
markable power of infusing with· spiritual
truth every topic which he touches. -He
will be worth coming early to hear.
\.
A BLIND MAN TO ADDRESS THE FOLKS
John D. W. Bodfish, an honor student in
the Boston University Law School and a
constant attendant at our meetings-though
totally blind-is to address us at the Folks
gathering downstairs in Kingsley Hall next
Sunday afternoon. The 15-minute talks we
are getting in the lower hall · have so far
seemed to be in the line of appreciat-ion of
good work now being done by establisl:.·ed
social agencies.
ivlr. . Bodfish will tell us
what the Massachusetts Commission for the
Blind is doing to better conditions. Everybody is welcome to this meeting, but if you
expect to stay and have supper with us (25
cents) drop a line to Miss Crawford, Room
707, Ford Building before Thursday.
The
meetings begin at 3.30.
The pressure on the editor to find space
in these pages for the things he wants to
print grows apace. Mr. Victorson has writ- · WHAT FORD HALL MEANS TO ONE OF
ten an article in answer to one of mine:
us.
which has been waiting for a chance to
One of the Ford Hall friends who has
appear. The full statement about the Ford
thought deeply on the great questions of
Hall Town Meeting, made by Mr. Foster,
had to be printed separately as a circular life, rose from a sick bed to hear Professor
last Sunday night, for lack of room in the Zueblin on Walt Whitman. Asked what she
paper. And I don't know how long we shall thought of the meeting she said:
"I find it a bit difficult to comply with
have ta wait to find room for the letter
from Panama. And Editor Dreier has very your request for the expression of the eflittle room in which to say his say. What fect upon me during my first attendance at
a Ford Hall
are we to do about it? More pages mean impressions. meeting. There were so many
more money. Where is it coming from?
"First, the poignant expectancy of the
crowd as it massed down the aisle appalled
Other Meetings
me. It seemed for a few moments that the
Wells Memorial Institute, 987 Washing- four quarters of the earth had converged
there and that the cries of all the ages
ton street, Tuesday, Dec. 30, at S P. M.,
were expressing in the eager faces of an
The Attitude of Working People Towards
audience more catholic than any I had ever
Socialism, by Fred J. Kneeland and John seen.
·weaver Sherman.
"Next , it seemed incredible that under the
Sunday Commons, Huntington Chambers
Hall, Sunday, Jan .. 4, a t 3.30 P. iVI., Dr. auzpices of an acknowledged church organization there should meet a body of men
Charles Fleischer, leader.
Public Library, Thursday, Jan. 1, at S and women so evidently diverse in belief,
P. M .. Savonarola. by Re-v. Thomas I. Gas- practice, life, as to embrace all gods-and
no God- and still nrorlnr<> ~,, "•~"~-'·"-~
,
;
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.
,
.,
·11
baiidoned, filled with bushes,
· a group of willows, a straggling
L spring of delicious water runthrough the middle of it, with
ee little cascades.
Here I rerY h·o t day, and follow it up this
: Never before did I get so close
[ never b·efore did she come so
~- . . Sweet, sane, still Nakedture !-ah, if pour sick, prurient
b.: cities might really know you
' Is not nakedness then indenot inherently.
It is your
>Ur sophistication, your fear,
tability, that is indecent. There
; when these clothes of ours are
, irksome to wear, but are them~ent. Perhaps indeed he or she
he free exhilarating ecstasy of
in Nature has never been eligow many thousands there are!)
ally known what purity is-nor
or art of health really is."
ression of a well made man apb.lY in his· face: it is in his limbs
ilso; it is curiously in the joints
and wrists; it is in his walk, the
'. his neck, the flex of his waist,
t dress does not hide him; the
~t supple quality he has strikes
i cotton and flannel; to see him
ys as much as the best poem,
a-e. You linger to see his back,
:k of his neck and shoulder-side."
course, you don't linger to look
oing by, as you would if he were
l But next summer go down to
. Nantasket and look at the
er they have got to a fine mash. You can go there day after
t see a woman so beautiful.
an body was sacred to 'Whitman.
'
t
)Ody at auction (for before the
[ often go and watch the sale),
auctioneer, the sloven does not
know · is business.'
h
Jontinued on Page 4.)
paper. Ana 1 aon't know how long we shall
have to wait to find room for the letter
from Panama. And Editor Dreier has very
little room in which to say his say. What
are we to do about it? More pages mean
more money: Where is it coming from?
enterprise. ln a rew or tlle more enterprising cities all over the country the ~unicipal
authorities have taken the matter In hand,
and the result is a number of municipal
auditoriums that are a delight to the eye,
a pride to the citizens, and a great blessing to the whole municipality.
And I am just finding out that this need
for an adequate common meeting-place is
keenly felt in the rural districts also. This
week a letter came to me from my old
friend, Mr. C. P. Jameson, who is living
in Ashland, N. H ., and was formerly a wellknown Boston business man. Let me quote
him:
"One of the great needs of our small
country towns and villages is a social
hall or general building, suitable for holding meetings, socials, free entertainments,
lectures, banquets, etc., to be controlled by
a carefully selected local board of trustees.
such a building would be a great boon for
the young and the old who have little or
no opportunity for social intercourse such
as pertains to our cities.
"The small country church edifice is of the
old stereotyped structure with the fixed
box-like pew, no vestry or basement, and
therefore unfitted for above purposes, and
naturally operated and governed along narrow lines.
"Such a building as suggested would tend
to bring the non-church people in touch
with church along social lines, and at the
same time give the ch1xrch an opportunity
of broadening and brightening herself.
Sometime (who can tell?) some new cult of
worthy and ambitious purpose might be
seeking a 'manger' (when there is no room
at the inn) and such a building would here
serve a unique purpose."
*
*
Other Meetings
Wells Memorial Institute, 987 Washington street, Tuesday, Dec. 30, at 8 P . M.,
The Attitude of Working People Towards
Socialism, by Fred J. Kneeland and John
Weaver Sherman.
Sunday Commons, Huntington Chambers
Hall, Sunday, Jan .. 4, at 3.30 P . M., Dr.
Charles Fleischer, leader.
Public Library, Thursday, Jan. 1, at 8
P. M., Savonarola, by Rev. Thomas I. Gasson, S.J .
Sunday, Jan. 4, at 3.30 P . M.,
How to Listen to Music, by Arthur M.
Curry.
Ford Hall Folks
Edited by Thomas Dreier.
UBLISHED weekly by the Ford
Hall Associates, whose work
is to create, assemble, and
'listribute ideas that will help
men and institutions grow more
helpful in serving society, and which
will promote "peace on earth, good
will toward men." It is the official
publication of the Ford Hall Meetings, which are held, under the direction of George W. Coleman, every
Sunday i;vening during the months of
October to May, in Ford Hall, Ash. burton Place, Boston, Massachusetts.
All buriness communications should
be sent to Miss Mary C. Crawford,
Treasurer Ford Building, Boston,
and all comm uni ~ations intended for
the editor to The Thomas Dreier Service, University Press, Cambrid·ge,
Mass. Subscription Price: $1.50 for
26 numbers.
P
*
One of our regular attendants, Mr. Maurice Gertlin, is down in Panama at work on
the Canal. He has written a very interesting letter to the readers of this magazine,
which I am turning over to Editor Dreier
for publication as soon as space permits.
You will not want to miss it. He sees his
uwu g nc or the meeting she said:
" I find it a bit difficult to comply with
your request for the expression of the effect upon me during my first attendance at
a Ford Hall meeting. There were so many
impressions.
"First, the poignant expectancy of the
crowd as it massed down the aisle appalled
me. It seemed for a few moments that the
four quarters of the earth had conve_rged
there and that the cries of all the ages
were expressing in the eager faces of an
audience more catholic than any I had ever
seen.
"Next, it seemed incredible that under the
auspices of an acknowledged church organization there should meet a body of men
and women so evidently diverse in belief,
practice, life, as to embrace all gods-and
no God-and still produce an atmosphere
not lacking harmony.
"It was, to me a purposeful audience;
men and women with well-defined aims.
Many of the faces reflected the vision of
the goal set far ahead, mayhap too far for
its acquisition.
What matter? I thought,,
'
so long as the inspiration fires the intelli- · , ·
. gence of their minds, so long will the quest
of their Grail fulfil itself.
"It was good to feel when the speaker of"
the evening arose that he was to address
those who, in the main, would lend to him
a concentration of intelligent attention and
that many would be en rapport with the
message from Walt.
"Many who, as the individual expression
in the wonderful apotheosis of friendship,
'Out of the rolling ocean came a drop
gently' became, even as the drop returned
to the ocean, universal-en masse."
Wilda L. Brown
'
.
,
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ADVERTISING
.bl,.
A space of this size-one inch high and
two and one-half inches wide--{:an be had
for advertising purposes for one dollar per
issue. For information regarding advertising apply to•·Jacob London, Room 707, Ford
Building:; Boston, Mass.
t
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.
A CHAT WITH CHRISTOPHER HOGAN.
By Mary C. Crawford.
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Economics should be taught in the public
schools, contends Christopher Hogan.
I
agree with him. It is simply astounding
that I, for instance,-who was educated at
the Boston Latin School for girls, at Radcliffe College and at the professional school
for Social Workers fathered by Harvard Col·
lege and mothered by Simmons College,should n ever have been taught any economics. For . a long time I have felt this lack,
but I never felt it quite so keenly as during
my recent chat with this earnest Ford Hall
Socialist, who is a sheet-metal worker by
trade.
Possibly, Mr. Hogan has had too much
economics-even as I have had too little.
Certainly it seemed exceedingly difficult for
this Marxian, whose interpretation of current, as well as past, history is the economic
one, to establish any kind of satisfactory
basis of understanding with a totally uneconomic mind. Mr. H<fgan and I cannot be
said to have "got on" at all in our chat!
But at least I caught some ·distant glimmer
as we talked of his point of view. And I
learned several things I did not previously
know about Socialists and I. W. W.'s.
For instance, I did not previously know
that "the only people who are Socialists are
those who -accept t he platform of the Socialist Labor Party, the oldest Socialist group in
this country.;'
For these Socialists are
Marxians, it appe.::.rs, and nence the real
Simon Pure arti::le. Then there is a Detroit brand of I. W. W. and a Chicago brand.
Chicago advocates sabotage in the objectionable and violent manner .most of us know to
disapprove ; Detro-it doesn't. From a conscientious, but no ·doubt unintelligent, perusal of the organ of the Socialist , Labor
Party, Th e Weekly P.eople. a copy of which
Mr. Hogan kindly lent me, I gathered that
Detroit stands better than Chicago with
Marxian · ·Socialists. I also gathered that
Masonry and the ·Church of Rome are alike
regarded as the sworn enemies of true Socialism. It appears that these two bodies,
usually antagonistic to each other, have at
least this, in common: that they are both
'·capitalistic.''
I had not gone far in my chat with Mr.
Hogan before I got ·hopelessly lost,-by reason of my already confessed lack of economics. But I rallied when he asserted vigorously t ha t candid a t es. beforP. hPin!!" PlPrt Pn tr>
Flakes of breast-muscle, pliant backbone There isn' t anything but God, according to
and neck, flesh not flabby, good-sized pantheism.
arms and legs,
How do you explain evil in the ·universe
And wonders within there yet.
in terms of
righteous God? Whitman has
Within there runs blood,
two ideas-at one time he thinks evil is
The same old blood! the same red-running going to be transformed into good, at anblood!
other he just accepts it all as part of life .
There sw~lls and jets a heart, there al! pas~'Through me many long dumb voices;
sions, desires, reach-ings, aspirations,
(Do you think they are not there because "Voices of interminable generations of
slaves ;
they are not express'd in parlors and
Voices of prostitutes and of deformed perlecture-rooms?)
sons;
This is not only one man, this the father of
those who shall be fathers in their Voices of the diseased and the despairing,
and of thieves and dwarfs ;
turn::.
In him the start of populous states, and rich Voices of the cycles of preparation and accreticn,
·
republics,
Of him countless immortal lives with count- And of the threads that connect the stars-"
less embodiments and enjoyments.
The other baffling problem of theology is
How do you know who shall come from the the question of death. Whitman says:
offspring of his offspring through the
centuries?
" Prais 'd be the fathomless universe,
(Who might you find you have come from For life and joy, and fol' objects and knowlyourself, if you could trace back
edge curious ;
through the centuries?)"
And for love, sweet love,-but praise ! 0 ·,
praise and praise,
Whitman never fails to think of man or For the sure-enwinding arms of cool-enfoldwoman as potential parent.
ing Death !
"A woman's body at auction,
Dark mother, always gliding near, with soft
She too is not only herself, she is the teem-·
feet,
ing mother of mothers,
Have none chanted for thee a chant of
She is : the bearer of them that shall grow
fullest welcome?
and be mates to the mothers ..... .
Then I chant it for thee-I glorify thee
If anything is sacred the human body is
above all ;
sacred,
I bring thee a song that when thou must
And the glory and sweet of a man is the
indeed come, come unfalteringly."
token of manhood untainted.
And in man or woman a clean, strong, firm- Whitman is such a democrat that he will
fibred body is more beautiful than even be the friend of death!
Walt Wh·i tman can best be described as
.the most beautiful face.''
a social democrat-not necessarily a SocialWhen we get to the world of the future , •Demokrat. That term in its original mean-;
when people shall get rid of most of their . ing accurately describes him.
And he .
vulgar clothing, we shall change our ideas would not have his followers ·Whitmaniacs.
about modesty. A woman with a beautiful He would have them be-lovers.
figure does not object to being admired impersonally, if there is nothing implied or ·
All good work is done with abandon, with
involved ir, it. Whitman viewed this thing
d
c
impersonally, and there is nothing suggest- joyousness, with a certain • ivine - arelessive about him. Thoreau says, "Of course ness.
Whitman can communicate to us no experience, and if we are shocked, whose experience is it we are reminded of?" This in
Friends Who Are Coming ]. .
him is not in-difference, but actual searching
a fter the truth of everything.
Jan. 4-Dr. Stanton Coit of London, "The
"A man is a great thing upon the earth and
through eternity, but every jot of the Ethics of Marriage and Divorce."
Jan.
greatness of m a n is unfolded ant of ....... -- ·· ......11-S ymposiitm, .. -·· --· the Matter
- . . . - . "What Is -- ___.
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this country."
For these Socialists are
Marxians, it appe ... rs, and ·n ence the real
Simon Pure article. Then there is a Detroit brand of I. W. W. and a Chicago brand.
• Chicago advocates sabotage in the objectionable and violent manner .most of us know to
• disapprove ; Detroit doesn't. From a conscientious, but no -doubt unintelligent, perusal of the organ of the Socialist Labor
t Party, Th e Weekly P,eople. a copy of which
Mr. Hogan kindly lent me, I gathered that
Detroit stands better than Chicago with
Marxian · Socialists. I also gathered that
Masonry and the Church of Rome are alike
regarded as the sworn enemies of true Socia !ism. It appears that these two bodies,
usually antagonistic to each other, have at
least this, in common: that they are both
'·capitalistic."
I had not gone far in my chat with Mr.
Hogan - efore I got hopelessly lost,-by reab
son of my already confessed lack of economics. But I rallied when he asserted vigorously that candidates, before being elected to
any public office, should pass an examination
on matters connected with the exercise of
their new duties. I'm not sure that be
didn't, also, advocate putting a man through
an examination as to the meaning of citizenship before permitting him to cast a ballot.
I'd be particularly in favor of this last
measure, for the reason that it would oblige
· men now-and women soon-to study economics.
If anything is sacred the human body is
above all ;
I bring thee a song that when thou must
indeed come, come unfalteringly."'
sacred,
And the glory and sweet of a man is the
token of manhood untainted,
And in man or woman a clean, strong, firmfibred body is more beautiful than
the most beautiful face. "
·Whitman is such a democrat that he Will
even be the friend of death!
Walt Wh-itman can best be described as
a social democrat-not necessarily a SocialDemokrat. That term in its original mean.
ing accurately describes him.
And he
would not have his followers Whitmaniacs.
He would have them be-lovers.
When we get to the world of the future,
when people shall get rid of most of their
vulgar clothing, we shall change our ideas
about modesty. A woman with a beautiful
figure does not object to being admired impersonally, if there is nothing implied or
involved .ill it. Whitman viewed this thing
impersonally, and there is noth-ing suggestive about him. Thoreau says, "Of course
Whitman can communicate to us no experience, and if we are shocked, whose experience is it we are reminded of?" 'T his in
him is not indifference, but actual searching
after the truth of everything.
"A man is a great thing upon the earth and
through eternity, but every jot of the
greatness of man is unfolded out of
woman.
First the man is shaped in the woman, he
can then be shaped in himself."
Motherhood was to him the summit of all
the significance of sex. When he was serving as a nurse in Washington he brought
women to minister to the soldiers, and was
particularly anxious that they should all be
mothers.
·
Perhaps the very name of pantheism suggests the pantheistic idea of God, but Whitman's terms in which he speaks of God are
WALT WHITMAN : FROPHET AND DEMrather anthropomorphic.
OCRAT.
"I hear and behold God in every object, yet
(Continued from Page 3.),
understand God not in the least,
Gentlemen, look on this wonder,
Nor do I understand who there can be more
Whatever the bid of the bidders they canwonderful than myself.
not be high enough for it.
Why should I wish to see God better than
For it the globe Jay preparing quintillions
this day?
of ~ears without one animal or plant, I see something of God each hour of the
For it the revolving cycles truly and steadtwenty-four, and each moment then,
ily roll'd.
In the faces of men and women I see God,
In this head th:e all-baffling brain,
and in my own face in the glass,
In it and below it the makings of heroes.
I find letters from God dropt in the street,
Examine these limbs, red, black, or white,
and every one is signed by God's
they are cunning in tendon and
name,
nerve,
And I leave them where they are, for I
They shall be stript that you may see them.
know that wheresoever I go
Exquisite senses, life-lit eyes, plifck;l,.!:~voli- . Qthers wm 'lJUnctually come · for ever and
'
All good work is done with abandon, with
joyousness, with a certain divine carelessness.
I
Jan. 4-Dr. Stanton Coit of London,
Ethics of Marriage and Divorce."
Jan. 11-Symposium, "What Is the Matter
With Our Public Schools?" Miss Margaret
Slattery of Fitchburg and others to be announced.
Jan. 18-Bishop Charles Williams of Michigan, "Why I Work for the Single Tax,"
Jan. 25-Dr. Albion Woodbury Small
Chicago University.
Feb. 1-Alexander Irvine of New York.
Feb. 8-Prof. Edward A. Steiner, "The
Inter-National Mind and the Inter-Racial
Heart."
Feb. 15-Symposiurn, •"Breeding
Speakers to be announced.
Feb. 22-Charles Brandon Booth,
Case for the Prisoner."
March 1-Leslie Willis Sprague of Chi-
.}
... ,t
March 8-Symposium, on "Journalism."
A. J. Philpott of the Boston Globe and others
to be announced.
March 15-Rev. Harry Ward, "The Challenge of Socialism to Christianity."
·
March 22-Rev. Frank 0. Hall of
York, "The Moral Law."
March 29-John Cowper Powys
land, "The Economic Aspects of
Suffrage."
April 5-Mary Church Terrell,
Sam and the Sons of Ham."
April 12-Dr. Thomas C. Hall of New
York.
April 19-Prof. Walter Rauschenbusch.
ever." "'#
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NUMBER
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DECEMBER 28, 1913
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PRICE FIVE CENTS
WALT WHITMAN PROPHET AND DEMOCRAT*
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T was my misfortune not to become acquainted with the poetry of Walt Whitman until the year of his death, and
then to be introduced to it and him by
an Englishman at Oxford, who told me he
was our greatest American poet. I went to
England to study, as I went to Germany,
with the idea
that Walt Wl.·itman and Richard
Wagner
were makers of
noise.
I discovered in Germany that cultivated
people
preferred Richard Wagner to
the Italian composers, and I
discovered,
when • I made
th e
acquaintance of Walt
Whitman, that
it did not matter so much whether ·people were cultivated
or not from the point of view of Walt Whitman and the larger life. He is our greatest exponent of democracy.
There are three periods in Walt Whitman's life.
He served thirty years' apprenticeship for life; and then he · underwent a transformation that made him a
new man. and he had twenty years of productiYity; and after that twenty years of
quiescence. He was educated in the Brooklyn public schools. and began his career as
an office boy, in a lawyer's and then in a
doctor's office. Then he became a printer's
apprentice. and wrote sentimental bits, as
we all have done-and not more merito;ious than ours. At eighteen he was teaching school in . Long Island. In 1846 he was
n rl:.__
_
CHARLES ZUEBLIN
help reminding you of a great-a greaterprototype, who spent thirty years In preparing for three brief years of life.
When
you · consider the probable effect on the
world of living the kind of life that Whitman taught us to live, you can see so many
points of contact that you cannot help comparing the preparation of Jesus and the
preparation of Whitman-tb:e chaste ascetic
and the sensuous Bohemian:-. Whitman
came forth a man preaching a religion. He
states it in terms that absolutely .fit him:
"I, too, following many and follow'd by
many, inaugurate a religion, I descend into the arena,
(It may be I am destin'd to utter the loudest cries there, the winner's pealing
shouts,
Who knows? they may rise !ram me yet,
and soar above everything.)
Each is not for its own sake,
I say the whole earth and all th:e stars in
the sky are for religion' s sake."
It is a little shocking to have the •'barbaric yawp" preaching the tenderest religion. But you must take him as he is if
you would understand him.
"Swiftly arose and spread around me the
peace and knowledge that pass all
the argument of the earth,
And I know that the hand of God is tl:::e
promise of my own,
And I know that the spirit of God is the
brother of my own,
And that all the men ever born are also my
brothers, and the women my sisters,
and lovers,
And that a kelson of the creation is love,
And limitless ·are leaves stiff' or drooping
in the fields ,
And brown ants in the little wells beneath
them,
'For several years after his return to
Brooklyn we find him w-0rking as a carpenter-a significant point-and also writing,
speech-making, preaching. In 1855 the first
edition of "Leaves of Grass" appeared, the
same year his father died. When you go to
"Leaves of Grass," you do not find a book,
you find a man revealed. " A feeling or ambition to articulate and faithfully express in
literary or poetic form , and uncompromisingly, my own physical, emotional, moral,
intellectual, and aesthetic Personality, in
th·e midst of, and tallying, the momentous
spirit and facts of its Immediate days, and
of current America-and to exploit that
Personality, in a far more candid and comprehensive sense than any hitherto poem or
book."
If you are perfectly: in tune with the universe, if you are a conscious participant in
all elements of the cosmos, why should you
apologize, why should you be called egotistic?
The explanation of all this is that Whitman was a pantheist. All things were one
to Whitman. Nature was the first of the
elements which gave Whitman that consciousness.
Thoreau was a nature-lover,
but Whitman was more than that: he was
nature.
He saw and felt no distinctions.
Here is the profoundest expression of the
truth of evolution of which I know:
"I am an acme of things accomplished, and
I am an en closer of things .to be.
My feet srrike an apex of th·e apices of the
stairs,
On every step bunches of ages, and larger
bunches between the steps,
All below duly travell'd, and still I mount
and mount.
Rise after rise bow tlie phantoms behind
me.
Afar down I see the huge first Nothing, I
know I was even there,
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It is a little shocking to have the "barit did not mat- baric yawp" preaching the tenderest reter so much whether ·people were cultivated ligion. But you must take him as he is if
or not from the point of view of Walt Whit- you would understand him.
man and tbe larger life. He is our great"Swiftly arose and spread around me the
est ex ponent of democracy.
peace and knowledge that pass all
There are three periods in Walt Whitthe argument of the earth,
man's life.
He served thirty years' · apprenticeship for life; and th·en he under- And I know that the hand of God is tl:.·e
promise of my own,
went a transformation that made him a
And I know that the spirit of God is the
new man, and he had twenty years of probrother bf my own, .
ductivity ; and after that twenty years of
quiescence. He was educated in the Brook- And that all the men ever born are also my
brothers, and the women my sisters,
lyn public schools, and began his career as
an office boy, in a lawyer's and then in a
and lovers,
doctor's office. Then he became a printer's And that a kelson of the creation is love,
apprentice, and wrote sentimental bits, as- And limitless ·are leaves stiff or drooping
in the fields,
we all h ave done-and not more meritoAnd br·o wn ants in the little wells beneath
·rious than ours. At eighteen he was teaching school in Long Island. In 1846 be was
them,
editor of the Brooklyn Eagle, having And mossy scabs of the worn fence, heap'd
climbed tbe ladder of the newspaper prostones, elder, mullein and poke weed."
fession.
Then he began his Wanderjahre
That is a ratl:.·er large philosophy-from
as a journeyman printer. He went to the
God to poke-weed-and there is nothing
South and the Far West. In 1848 he was
left out of it ; he dodges no issue and no
on the editorial staff of the New Orleans
Crescent. Here there is a shadow on his element of life, here, hitherto, or hereafter.
life.
In New Orleans he had a wife or
wives.
vVe do not know anything of the
domestic affairs of Whitman except tl::.at in
MY CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO YOU
later years, in Camden. he was visited by
grandchildren. It is only fair to make your
HE keenest joys, the great est
own estima te of the meanin!I> of this obscure passage of his life.
satisfactions, the richest treasures we find in each other. Our
But there came within a year a complete
mut ual intimacies are the coin
transforma.tion of this man, such as takes
of the kingdom of life. He is ricl:.est
place in the life of every person who finds
who knows best the most people. W e
himself.
Walt Whitman was born again ;
only know each other when we share
and no man or woman finds his place in the
the best there is in us. Material posworld until he is · born again. (Applause.)
sessions are worth while only as they
You may state this in any terms you like,
help us to know people. They become
but if you don't undergo a transformation
a deadly poison when they get between
and come into a consciousness of your reus and folks.
lation to the infinite you do not really live.
In addition to exchanging friendli(Applause.) In 1850 he was back in Brookness one day in the year, let us give
lyn. It was still several years before l::.-e
ourselves to each other every day in
produced the volume that was to startle
the year. That is the meaning back
the literary and thinking world. I cannot
of this whole Christmas business. ·,
-George W. ·Coleman.
*The speeches and the questions and answ~rs
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Tile explanation of all this is that '\Vhitman was a pantheist. All things were one
to vVhitman. Nature was the first of th·e
elements which gave Whitman that consciousness.
Thoreau was a nature-lover,
but ·whitman was more than that: he was
nature.
He saw and felt no distinctions.
Here is the profoundest expression of the
truth of evolution of which I know:
. "I am an acme of things accomplished, and
I am an encloser of things to be.
My feet srrike_ an apex of th-e apices of the
stairs,
On every step bunches of ages, and larger
bunches between the steps,
All below duly travell'd, -and still I mount
and mount.
Rise after rise bow the phantoms behind
me,
Afar down I see the huge first Nothing, I
know I was even there,
I waited unseen and always, and slept
through the letl.-argic mist, and took
m y time, and took no hurt from the
fetid carbon.
Long I was hugged close-long and long.
Immense have been the preparations for
me,
Faithful and friendly the arms that have
helped me.
Cycles ferried my cradle, rowing and rowing like · cheerful boatmen,
.
For room to me stars kept aside in their
own rings,
They s ent influences to look after what was
to hold me,
Before I was born out of my mother generations guided me,
My embryo has never been torpid, nothing .'
could overlay it.
·
For it the nebula cohered to an orb,
The long slow strata piled to rest it on,
Vast vegetables gave it s ustenance,
Monstrous ·sll:uroids transported it in their
mou th-s ·and deposited it with· care.
All force·s .·.hav.-e..been steadily em ployed to
co~lete~·and delight me.
Ngw ,o.11.,.t1£s.'":spot I stand with my robust
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Y{)u·:-remeniber Martin Luther's "Here I
stand; ·r can do no otherwise." What was
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WALT WHITMAN, PROPHET AND DEMOCRAT.
(Continued from Page 1.)
defiance of the Church to identity with the
universe? If you stop to think how you got
here, and look at all your antecendents,
everything must have been mapped out in
order that you should be here today. Such
is the conception of this poetic evolutionist.
Next to nature, of course, the exposition
of pantheism that reveals itself to us is that
of man. And what has most embarrassed
us in this connection is his thought of sex.
"Whitman always thought of sex, not as
woman, but as man and woman coincidently.
What is the use of philosophizing
Q: Would you say that Whitman beabout health and a strong body when we lieved in reincarnation?
don't get ::.. chance to develop ourselves?
A: No, because there was no cessation.
A: The main use is to make us insist
Q : Whom do you consider the greatest
on getting a chance.
American poet, and why?
Q (Mr. Sagerman): What is the use of
A: Wale Whitman, for reasons I spent
about an hour in explaning!
praying to an impersonal God?
Q: How would Miller and Bret Harte
A: The expression of prayer to tl:.·e modern mind is designed to get the person who stand, from Whitman's point of view?
A: I don't believe they ought to be menputs forth the petition to go and answer it
They were
himself, and he feels a little more sure of tioned in the same breath·.
doing this if he prays to an impersonal splendid men who gave us a beautiful spirit "Fast-anchored eternal O love! 0 woman I
love!
of the West but they were essentially local.
God.
0 bride! 0 wife! more resistless than I
Q : Would it be possible to find enough
Q: Was Wart Whitman a member of the
can tell, th·e thought of you!
Whitman admirers here to start a sub- Then separate, as disembodied or another
Baptist denomination?
A: He was never a member of any scription for the purchase of Whitman's
born.
Long Island home?
church.
Ethereal, the last athletic reality, my conA (Mr . Coleman) : If any here wish to
Q: What was Walt Whitman's definition
' solation,
do that, let them give their names to Miss I ascend, I float in the regions of your love,
of God, and what is yours?
Crawford.
A: Walt Whitman taught that God was
0 man,
Q: Why was Whitman appreciated in
O. sharer of my roving life."
everything, that there was no distinction England and Germany before America?
between the material and the spiritual, the
A: In
the people
His understanding of sex was like the unfinite and the infinite-it was all one great wh·o read the first place, becaus~ in England
are more democratic
Life-Force.
I see no reason to disagree and Germany, and, second, because they are derstanding of the Greek sculptor. We do
not have the sculpture of ancient days bewith that definition.
more appreciative of good literature.
cause we do not know the human body so
Q (Mr. Victorson): Wasn't Edgar Allan
Q: Walt Whitman looked upon death as
well. Whitman knew the human body, and
Poe a greater American poet than Walt beautiful. Would he think that capital pun- he knew his own body.
Whitman; and did Whitman invent his own ishment was a beautiful death?
"Shall I tell you, reader, to what I attribphilosophy, or was he a follower of SpiA: Whitman did not believe we should ute my already much restored health? That
noza?
hasten to death in order to enjoy the bene- I have been almost two years, off and on,
A : Poe is our greatest poet in form, but fits that fellow, which is the orthodox view. without drugs and medicines, and daily in
he had no such things to express as Whit- He believE:d we should live here as long as the open air. Last summer I found a parman had. Spinoza and Whitman are very possible, to qualify.
ticularly secluded little dell off one side by
similar, but I see no indication that WhitQ: What was Whitman' s conception of
my creek, originally a large dug-out marlman had read Spinoza.
the origin of God and the universe ?
pit, now abandoned, filled with bushes,
Q: Isn't Whitman's poem, "Captain, My
A: I do not know that he anywhere
trees, grass a group of willows, a straggling
Captain." one of the best in th·e English gives that; I do not think he ever tried to, bank, and a spring of delicious water runlanguage?
though he does speak of "universal noth- ning right through the middle of it, with
A: That is a question of taste; I think - ingness" as a beginning.
two or three little cascades.
Here I reit is. (Applause.)
Q: Would Whitman distinguish between
treated every h·ot day, and follow it up this
God and the world?
summer. .. Never before did I get so close
Q: What is the difference between WhitA: No. We are living in a world of mat- to Nature; never before did she come so
man's idea of pantheism, as expressed toter. When we make the transition from close to me . . . Sweet, sane, still Nakednight, and Haeckel's monism?
A: Whitman felt that we had a respon- matter to water, air or ether, when you see ness in Nature!-ah, if poor sick, prurient
there is no dividing line between organic humanity in cities might really know you
sibility fo1• the carrying on of the universe,
and ignoranic life, it seems easier to con- once more!
Is not nakedness then indeand I do not find that in Haeckel.
ceive of th:e material and the spiritual as cent?
No, not inherently.
It is your
Q: Did Whitman attempt to live the
all one. (Applause.)
thought, your sophistication, your fear,
life he preached or not?
Q (Same): Is reality spacial?
your respectability, that is indecent. There
A: He preached what he lived.
(ApA: I do not· think the human mind can
come moods when these clothes of ours are
plause ..)
project itself beyond time and space.
not only too irksome to wear, but are them-.
Q: Wh:v should we strive for the beauQ (M r. Mills): Is not Edward Carpenter
s elves indecent. Perhaps indeed he or she
Q:
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By
,
1
GEORG
l\ilr. Hogan in ;
ford, as set fort]
a most interesti
qualify _or publi
f
to technical kno,
duce the number
ment, and also n
( on the appointin
choice of rival <
suggestion that
Strangely enougl:
Twentieth Centur
land, the popular
ited woman suffr
form of examina
zens, whereby ir
bare literacy she
manded. Her dii
ject of qualificatic
ablest I ever he~
similar line, Mr.
late himself on fir
company.
*
I am deeply in1
municipal auditori
in every commun
place for all the_
every. requiremen
objectional bias <
cities this great
been left to the ha
enterprise. In a f
ing cities all over
authorities have t:
and the result is
auditoriums that :
a pride to the cit
ing to the whole
And I am just f
for an adequate <
keenly felt in the '
week a letter cai
friend.. :\fr. C. P.
In Ashland, N. H .,
known Boston busi
him:
"One of the gr
country towns an,
hall or general bu
Ing mP P t inac
--~
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i
Poe a greater Amer1eau 1,ue: c cu~u . . -·v\Thitman ; and did Whitman invent his own
philosophy, or was he a follower of Spinoza?
A: Poe is our greatest poet in form, but
ae had no such things to express as Whitman had. Spinoza and Wh:itman are very
similar, but I see no indication that Whitman had read Spinoza.
• Q : Isn't Whitman's poem, "Captain, My
Captain ," one of the best in th·e English
language?
A: That is a question of taste; I think
it is. (Applause.)
Q: What is the difference between Whitman's idea of pantheism, as expressed tonight, and Haeckel's monism?
A: Whitman felt that we had a responsibility for the carrying on of the universe,
and I do not find that in Haeckel.
Q : Did Whitman attempt to live the
life he preached or not?
A : He preached what he lived.
(Applause ..)
Q: ·why should we strive for the beautiful and good if God is everything and
everything is godly?
A: Why not? The pantheistic idea involves a process.
We are moving· toward
the fullness of life, and it puts a responsibility upon each individual to leave the
world richer th,m h~ found it.
Q (Mr. Brown) : Since we do not know
the exact circumstances of Whitman's life
in New Orleans, should we not call it a
blank, instead of a blot, in his life?
A: I did not say it was a blot, but a
shadow. It was not a blau,k.
From our
present conventional standpoint we must
neither gloss over nor glorify it.
Q: You said Whitman was a Socialist
but did not belong to the party.
I have
known other gentlemen who did the same
thing-for a reason.
,
A: I d.j_d not say he was a Socialist.
Q: What generation guided Whitman
before he was born?
A: If you press this poetic language too
literally you will lose th~ meaning.
Q (Mrs. Sargent): Would you give Whitman to youth to read without guidance?
A: No; until young people have nearly
finished their adolescent stage, give them a
book like Oscar Triggs' Selections from
Whitman.
·
Ut:::O.Ul,J..L.u..i..
ishment was a beautiful death ?
A: Whitman did not believe we should
hasten to death in order to enjoy the benefits that fellow . which is the orthodox view.
He believed we should live here as long as
possible, to qualify_
Q : What was Whitman's conception of
the origin of God and the universe ?
· A: I do not know that he anywhere
gives that ; I do not think he ever tried to,
though he does speak of " universal nothingness" as a beginning.
Q: Would Whitman distinguish between
God and the world?
A : No_ We are living in a world of matter. ·when we make the transition from
matter to water, air or ether, when you see
there is no dividing line between organic
and ignoranic life, it seems easier to conceive of th:e material and the spiritual as
all one. (Applause.)
Q (Same): Is reality spacial?
A: I do not' think the human mind can
project itself beyond time and space.
Q (Mr. Mills):, Is not Edward Carpenter
as far beyond Whitman as the 20th century
is beyond the 19th, and would not Whitman
in this century be a syndicalist, as Carpenter is?
A: I do not think Edward Carpenter is
in · any sense beyond Whitman.
As for
Whitman's being something today, it is
none of our business, and very unprofitable
besides, to ask that.
He has a universal
and timeless philosophy. which we st.ould
apply with the same kind of universality
that he did.
Q (Mr. Frazier) : Isn't it surprising that
John Boyle O'Reilly was in favor of raising
money to build a cottage in New England
for Whitman?
A: I think that when you get to the cosmic philosophy of Whitman it is so far beyond such little differences as those of
Cath·olic and Protestant that you lose sight
of them altogether.
Q: Did Whitman believe that God was
in a state of evolutionary process, and did
he think of himself as having come to a
completion?
A: Whitman had the advantage of stating his philosophy in poetry, which does
not attempt to be precise. But he and other
pantheists think that God is coming to what
corresponds to a larger conception.
·· .::,ua11 J.
l.t:11 _yvu, " ........... ..... ... _,
--
ute my already much restored health ? That
I have been almost two years, off and on,
without drugs and medicines, and daily in
the open air. Last summer I found a particularly secluded little dell off one side by
my creek, originally a large ·dug-out marlpit, now abandoned, filled with bushes,
trees, grass a group of willows, a straggling
bank, and a spring of delicious water running right through the middle of it, with
two or three little cascades.
Here I retreated every h·ot day, and follow it up this
summer. . . Never before did I get so close
to Nature; never before did she come so
close to me . . . Sweet, sane, still Nakedness in Nature !-ah, if poor sick, prurient
humanity in cities might really know you
once more!
Is not nakedness then indecent?
No, not inherently.
It is your
thought, your sophistication, your fear,
your respectability, that is indecent. There
come moods when these clothes of ours are
not only too irksome to wear, but are them-.
selves indecent. Perhaps indeed he or she
to whom the free exhilarating ecstasy of
nakedness in Nature has never been eligible ( and how many thousands there are!)
has not really known what purity is-nor
what faith or art of health really is."
" The expression of a well made man appears not only in his face: it is in his limbs
and joints also ; it is curiously in the joints
of his hips and wrists; it is in his walk, the
carriage of his neck, the flex of h is waist,
and knees: dress does not hide him ; the
strong sweet supple quality he has strikes
through the cotton and fiannel~ o see him
pass conveys as much as tha best poem,
perhaps more. You linger to see his back,
and the back of his neck and shoulder-side."
Now, of course, you don't linger to look
at a man going by, as you would if he were
a woman.
But next summer go down to
Revere or Nantasket and look at the
guards, after they have got to a fine mahogany finish. You can go there day after
day and not see a woman so beautiful.
Th~ human body was sacred to Whitman.
"A man's body at auction (for before the
war I often go and watch the sale),
I help the auctioneer, the sloven does not
half know his business.
(Continued on Page 4.)
in every commumty one centra1 _
gauH!J
place for all the people that would n
every requirement and be free from
objectional bias or associations.· In n
cities this great need of the people
been left to the haphazard chance of prh
enterprise. In a few of the more enter:.
ing cities all over the_country the munic
authorities have taken the matter in h~
and the result is a number of munic:
auditoriums that are a delight to the (
a pride to the citizens, and a great bl,
ing to the whole municipality.
And I am just finding out that this n
for an adequate common meeting-place
keenly felt in the rural districts also. 'I
week a letter came to me from my
friend, Mr. C. P. Jameson, who is liv
in Ashland, N. H., and was formerly a "'
known Boston business man. Let me qu
him:
•·one of the great needs of our sn
country towns and villages · is a so,
hall or general building, suitable for h,
ing meetings, socials, free entertainmei
lectures, banquets, etc., to be controlled
a carefully selected local board of trusu
Such a · building would be a great boon
the young and the old who have little
no opportunity for social intercourse s1
as pertains to our cities.
"The small country church edifice is of
old stereotyped structure with the fi:
box-like pew, no vestry or basement,
therefore unfitted for above purposes, ~
naturally operated and governed along z:
row lines.
"Such a building as suggested would ti
to bring the non-church people in to1
with church along social lines, and at
same time give the church an opportun
of broadening and brightening hers
Sometime (who can tell?) some new cult
worthy and ambitious purpose might
seeking a 'manger' (when there is no ro
at the inn) and such a building would h
serve a unique purpose."
*
*
*
One of our regular attendants, Mr. M:
rice Gertlin, is down in Panama at work
the Canal. He has written a very interE
ing letter to the readers of this magazi
Which I am turning over to Editor Dre
for publication as soon as space perm:
You will not want to miss it. He sees
ir'
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\ITMAN, PROPHET AND DEM-
OCRAT.
:ontinued from Page 1.)
the Church to identity with the
[f you stop to think how you got
look at all your antecendents,
must have been mapped out in
you should be h·e re today. Such
!eption of this poetic evolutionist.
nature, of course, the exposition
5m that r eveals itself to us is that
!\nd what has most embarrassed
connection is his thought of sex.
always thought of sex, not a:;;
.1t as man and woman coincident1ored eternal O love! 0 woman I
,!
0 wife! more resistless than 1
tell, the thought of you!
arate, as disembodied or another
n.
the last athletic reality, my conLtion,
I float in the regions of your love,
nan,
of my roving life."
ierstanding of sex was like the unng of the Greek sculptor. We do
the sculpture of ancient days be, do not know the human body so
b.itman knew the human body, and
his own body.
I tell you, reader, to what I a:-ttribL
lready much restored health? That
,een almost two years, off and on,
drugs and medicines, and daily in
. air. Last summer I found a parsecluded little dell off one side by
k, originally a large dug-out rµarl. abandoned, filled with bushes,
ass a group of willows, a straggling
1d a spring of delicious water run;ht through the middle of it, with
three little cascades.
Here I reevery h·ot day, and follow it up this
Never before did I get so close
re; never before did she come so
me . . . Sweet, sane, still NakedNature !-ah, if poor sick, prurient
-:y in cities might really know you
ore!
Is not nakedness then indeNo, not inherently.
It is your
. your sophistication, your fear,
,pectability, that is indecent. There
oods when these clothes of ours are
.r too irksome to wear, but are them7dPC!'l)-t. Perhaps indeed he or __sh~
,....
-
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE TO
CUSSED HERE.
AS IT LOOKS TO ME
By GEORGE W. COLEMAN, Director of the Ford Hall Meetings
iVIr. Hogan in his chat with Miss Crawford, as set forth on . another pa;ge, strikes
a most interesting note. If men had to
qualify for public office by examination as
· to technical knowledge it would greatly reduce the numbers who clamor for preferment, and also materially assist the voters
( on the appointing powers) in making their
choice of rival candidates. It is a novel
suggestion that provokes good thinking.
Strangely enough the day before at the
Twentieth Century Club, Mrs. Margaret Orland, the popular author, in favoring a limited woman suffrage argued in favor of a
form of examination of all would-be citizens, whereby intelligence rather than :i.
bare literacy should be the requisite demanded. Her discussion of the whole subject of qualifications for citizenship was the
ablest I ever heard. In thinking alorng a
similar line, Mr. Hogan can well congratulate himself on finding himself in such good
company.
*
:J=
*
I am deeply interested in the subject of
municipal auditoriums. There ought to be
in every community one central gathering
place fo r all the people that would meet
every requirement and be free from any
objectional bias or associations. In most
cities this great need of the people has
been left to the haphazard chance of private
enterprise. In a few of the more enterprising cities all over the country the municipal
authorities have taken the matter in hand,
and the result is a number of municipal
auditoriums that are a delight to the eye,
a pride to the citizens, and a great blessing to the whole municipality .
And I am just finding out that this need
!or an adequate common meeting-place is
keenly felt in the rural districts also. This
week a letter came to me from my old
~riend._ :\-Ir. C. P. Jameson, who is living
in Ashland, N. H., and was formerly a wellknown Boston business man. Let me quote
him:
""One of the great needs of our small
country towns and villages is a social
hall or general building, suitable for hold(ng meetin!!:s. socials. free entertainments.
ne w environment from our point of view
and draws a good picture of it.
*
*
*
More than fifty of our own number have
already registered to~ become "first citizens" of the Ford Hall Town Meeting.
Thursday, Jan. S, is the date selected for
the opening night, and the meetings will be
held thereafter every Thursday night. The
place is Kingsle y Hall in t he Ford Building, at 7.45. I have strong hopes that this
may be the beginning of a big thing. As
chairman of the Educational Committee,
:\-Ir. Foster will continue to give his assistance in every possible way to make the
thing a success. Mr. Allen of the City
History Club is the expert upon whom we
shall lean heavily, and Miss Grout of the
School of Social Science will bring to it
those qualities of good judgment and
steady persistence which have made her
own work such a great success.
*
*
*
BE
DIS-
11
!
;E- 1
(
No man could present more strikingly on
our platform "The Ethics of Marriage and
Divorce" than Dr. Stanton Coit, of London.
Dr. Coit i1:, a man of the finest . personal
standards, and is at the head of the wellknown Ethical Church in his home city. He
is a brilliant orator, and has besides a res
markable power of infusing with· spiritual
truth every topic which he touches. -He
will be worth coming early to hear.
\.
A BLIND MAN TO ADDRESS THE FOLKS
John D. W. Bodfish, an honor student in
the Boston University Law School and a
constant attendant at our meetings-though
totally blind-is to address us at the Folks
gathering downstairs in Kingsley Hall next
Sunday afternoon. The 15-minute talks we
are getting in the lower hall · have so far
seemed to be in the line of appreciat-ion of
good work now being done by establisl:.·ed
social agencies.
ivlr. . Bodfish will tell us
what the Massachusetts Commission for the
Blind is doing to better conditions. Everybody is welcome to this meeting, but if you
expect to stay and have supper with us (25
cents) drop a line to Miss Crawford, Room
707, Ford Building before Thursday.
The
meetings begin at 3.30.
The pressure on the editor to find space
in these pages for the things he wants to
print grows apace. Mr. Victorson has writ- · WHAT FORD HALL MEANS TO ONE OF
ten an article in answer to one of mine:
us.
which has been waiting for a chance to
One of the Ford Hall friends who has
appear. The full statement about the Ford
thought deeply on the great questions of
Hall Town Meeting, made by Mr. Foster,
had to be printed separately as a circular life, rose from a sick bed to hear Professor
last Sunday night, for lack of room in the Zueblin on Walt Whitman. Asked what she
paper. And I don't know how long we shall thought of the meeting she said:
"I find it a bit difficult to comply with
have ta wait to find room for the letter
from Panama. And Editor Dreier has very your request for the expression of the eflittle room in which to say his say. What fect upon me during my first attendance at
a Ford Hall
are we to do about it? More pages mean impressions. meeting. There were so many
more money. Where is it coming from?
"First, the poignant expectancy of the
crowd as it massed down the aisle appalled
Other Meetings
me. It seemed for a few moments that the
Wells Memorial Institute, 987 Washing- four quarters of the earth had converged
there and that the cries of all the ages
ton street, Tuesday, Dec. 30, at S P. M.,
were expressing in the eager faces of an
The Attitude of Working People Towards
audience more catholic than any I had ever
Socialism, by Fred J. Kneeland and John seen.
·weaver Sherman.
"Next , it seemed incredible that under the
Sunday Commons, Huntington Chambers
Hall, Sunday, Jan .. 4, a t 3.30 P. iVI., Dr. auzpices of an acknowledged church organization there should meet a body of men
Charles Fleischer, leader.
Public Library, Thursday, Jan. 1, at S and women so evidently diverse in belief,
P. M .. Savonarola. by Re-v. Thomas I. Gas- practice, life, as to embrace all gods-and
no God- and still nrorlnr<> ~,, "•~"~-'·"-~
,
;
i
.
,
.,
·11
baiidoned, filled with bushes,
· a group of willows, a straggling
L spring of delicious water runthrough the middle of it, with
ee little cascades.
Here I rerY h·o t day, and follow it up this
: Never before did I get so close
[ never b·efore did she come so
~- . . Sweet, sane, still Nakedture !-ah, if pour sick, prurient
b.: cities might really know you
' Is not nakedness then indenot inherently.
It is your
>Ur sophistication, your fear,
tability, that is indecent. There
; when these clothes of ours are
, irksome to wear, but are them~ent. Perhaps indeed he or she
he free exhilarating ecstasy of
in Nature has never been eligow many thousands there are!)
ally known what purity is-nor
or art of health really is."
ression of a well made man apb.lY in his· face: it is in his limbs
ilso; it is curiously in the joints
and wrists; it is in his walk, the
'. his neck, the flex of his waist,
t dress does not hide him; the
~t supple quality he has strikes
i cotton and flannel; to see him
ys as much as the best poem,
a-e. You linger to see his back,
:k of his neck and shoulder-side."
course, you don't linger to look
oing by, as you would if he were
l But next summer go down to
. Nantasket and look at the
er they have got to a fine mash. You can go there day after
t see a woman so beautiful.
an body was sacred to 'Whitman.
'
t
)Ody at auction (for before the
[ often go and watch the sale),
auctioneer, the sloven does not
know · is business.'
h
Jontinued on Page 4.)
paper. Ana 1 aon't know how long we shall
have to wait to find room for the letter
from Panama. And Editor Dreier has very
little room in which to say his say. What
are we to do about it? More pages mean
more money: Where is it coming from?
enterprise. ln a rew or tlle more enterprising cities all over the country the ~unicipal
authorities have taken the matter In hand,
and the result is a number of municipal
auditoriums that are a delight to the eye,
a pride to the citizens, and a great blessing to the whole municipality.
And I am just finding out that this need
for an adequate common meeting-place is
keenly felt in the rural districts also. This
week a letter came to me from my old
friend, Mr. C. P. Jameson, who is living
in Ashland, N. H ., and was formerly a wellknown Boston business man. Let me quote
him:
"One of the great needs of our small
country towns and villages is a social
hall or general building, suitable for holding meetings, socials, free entertainments,
lectures, banquets, etc., to be controlled by
a carefully selected local board of trustees.
such a building would be a great boon for
the young and the old who have little or
no opportunity for social intercourse such
as pertains to our cities.
"The small country church edifice is of the
old stereotyped structure with the fixed
box-like pew, no vestry or basement, and
therefore unfitted for above purposes, and
naturally operated and governed along narrow lines.
"Such a building as suggested would tend
to bring the non-church people in touch
with church along social lines, and at the
same time give the ch1xrch an opportunity
of broadening and brightening herself.
Sometime (who can tell?) some new cult of
worthy and ambitious purpose might be
seeking a 'manger' (when there is no room
at the inn) and such a building would here
serve a unique purpose."
*
*
Other Meetings
Wells Memorial Institute, 987 Washington street, Tuesday, Dec. 30, at 8 P . M.,
The Attitude of Working People Towards
Socialism, by Fred J. Kneeland and John
Weaver Sherman.
Sunday Commons, Huntington Chambers
Hall, Sunday, Jan .. 4, at 3.30 P . M., Dr.
Charles Fleischer, leader.
Public Library, Thursday, Jan. 1, at 8
P. M., Savonarola, by Rev. Thomas I. Gasson, S.J .
Sunday, Jan. 4, at 3.30 P . M.,
How to Listen to Music, by Arthur M.
Curry.
Ford Hall Folks
Edited by Thomas Dreier.
UBLISHED weekly by the Ford
Hall Associates, whose work
is to create, assemble, and
'listribute ideas that will help
men and institutions grow more
helpful in serving society, and which
will promote "peace on earth, good
will toward men." It is the official
publication of the Ford Hall Meetings, which are held, under the direction of George W. Coleman, every
Sunday i;vening during the months of
October to May, in Ford Hall, Ash. burton Place, Boston, Massachusetts.
All buriness communications should
be sent to Miss Mary C. Crawford,
Treasurer Ford Building, Boston,
and all comm uni ~ations intended for
the editor to The Thomas Dreier Service, University Press, Cambrid·ge,
Mass. Subscription Price: $1.50 for
26 numbers.
P
*
One of our regular attendants, Mr. Maurice Gertlin, is down in Panama at work on
the Canal. He has written a very interesting letter to the readers of this magazine,
which I am turning over to Editor Dreier
for publication as soon as space permits.
You will not want to miss it. He sees his
uwu g nc or the meeting she said:
" I find it a bit difficult to comply with
your request for the expression of the effect upon me during my first attendance at
a Ford Hall meeting. There were so many
impressions.
"First, the poignant expectancy of the
crowd as it massed down the aisle appalled
me. It seemed for a few moments that the
four quarters of the earth had conve_rged
there and that the cries of all the ages
were expressing in the eager faces of an
audience more catholic than any I had ever
seen.
"Next, it seemed incredible that under the
auspices of an acknowledged church organization there should meet a body of men
and women so evidently diverse in belief,
practice, life, as to embrace all gods-and
no God-and still produce an atmosphere
not lacking harmony.
"It was, to me a purposeful audience;
men and women with well-defined aims.
Many of the faces reflected the vision of
the goal set far ahead, mayhap too far for
its acquisition.
What matter? I thought,,
'
so long as the inspiration fires the intelli- · , ·
. gence of their minds, so long will the quest
of their Grail fulfil itself.
"It was good to feel when the speaker of"
the evening arose that he was to address
those who, in the main, would lend to him
a concentration of intelligent attention and
that many would be en rapport with the
message from Walt.
"Many who, as the individual expression
in the wonderful apotheosis of friendship,
'Out of the rolling ocean came a drop
gently' became, even as the drop returned
to the ocean, universal-en masse."
Wilda L. Brown
'
.
,
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,
ADVERTISING
.bl,.
A space of this size-one inch high and
two and one-half inches wide--{:an be had
for advertising purposes for one dollar per
issue. For information regarding advertising apply to•·Jacob London, Room 707, Ford
Building:; Boston, Mass.
t
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A CHAT WITH CHRISTOPHER HOGAN.
By Mary C. Crawford.
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Economics should be taught in the public
schools, contends Christopher Hogan.
I
agree with him. It is simply astounding
that I, for instance,-who was educated at
the Boston Latin School for girls, at Radcliffe College and at the professional school
for Social Workers fathered by Harvard Col·
lege and mothered by Simmons College,should n ever have been taught any economics. For . a long time I have felt this lack,
but I never felt it quite so keenly as during
my recent chat with this earnest Ford Hall
Socialist, who is a sheet-metal worker by
trade.
Possibly, Mr. Hogan has had too much
economics-even as I have had too little.
Certainly it seemed exceedingly difficult for
this Marxian, whose interpretation of current, as well as past, history is the economic
one, to establish any kind of satisfactory
basis of understanding with a totally uneconomic mind. Mr. H<fgan and I cannot be
said to have "got on" at all in our chat!
But at least I caught some ·distant glimmer
as we talked of his point of view. And I
learned several things I did not previously
know about Socialists and I. W. W.'s.
For instance, I did not previously know
that "the only people who are Socialists are
those who -accept t he platform of the Socialist Labor Party, the oldest Socialist group in
this country.;'
For these Socialists are
Marxians, it appe.::.rs, and nence the real
Simon Pure arti::le. Then there is a Detroit brand of I. W. W. and a Chicago brand.
Chicago advocates sabotage in the objectionable and violent manner .most of us know to
disapprove ; Detro-it doesn't. From a conscientious, but no ·doubt unintelligent, perusal of the organ of the Socialist , Labor
Party, Th e Weekly P.eople. a copy of which
Mr. Hogan kindly lent me, I gathered that
Detroit stands better than Chicago with
Marxian · ·Socialists. I also gathered that
Masonry and the ·Church of Rome are alike
regarded as the sworn enemies of true Socialism. It appears that these two bodies,
usually antagonistic to each other, have at
least this, in common: that they are both
'·capitalistic.''
I had not gone far in my chat with Mr.
Hogan before I got ·hopelessly lost,-by reason of my already confessed lack of economics. But I rallied when he asserted vigorously t ha t candid a t es. beforP. hPin!!" PlPrt Pn tr>
Flakes of breast-muscle, pliant backbone There isn' t anything but God, according to
and neck, flesh not flabby, good-sized pantheism.
arms and legs,
How do you explain evil in the ·universe
And wonders within there yet.
in terms of
righteous God? Whitman has
Within there runs blood,
two ideas-at one time he thinks evil is
The same old blood! the same red-running going to be transformed into good, at anblood!
other he just accepts it all as part of life .
There sw~lls and jets a heart, there al! pas~'Through me many long dumb voices;
sions, desires, reach-ings, aspirations,
(Do you think they are not there because "Voices of interminable generations of
slaves ;
they are not express'd in parlors and
Voices of prostitutes and of deformed perlecture-rooms?)
sons;
This is not only one man, this the father of
those who shall be fathers in their Voices of the diseased and the despairing,
and of thieves and dwarfs ;
turn::.
In him the start of populous states, and rich Voices of the cycles of preparation and accreticn,
·
republics,
Of him countless immortal lives with count- And of the threads that connect the stars-"
less embodiments and enjoyments.
The other baffling problem of theology is
How do you know who shall come from the the question of death. Whitman says:
offspring of his offspring through the
centuries?
" Prais 'd be the fathomless universe,
(Who might you find you have come from For life and joy, and fol' objects and knowlyourself, if you could trace back
edge curious ;
through the centuries?)"
And for love, sweet love,-but praise ! 0 ·,
praise and praise,
Whitman never fails to think of man or For the sure-enwinding arms of cool-enfoldwoman as potential parent.
ing Death !
"A woman's body at auction,
Dark mother, always gliding near, with soft
She too is not only herself, she is the teem-·
feet,
ing mother of mothers,
Have none chanted for thee a chant of
She is : the bearer of them that shall grow
fullest welcome?
and be mates to the mothers ..... .
Then I chant it for thee-I glorify thee
If anything is sacred the human body is
above all ;
sacred,
I bring thee a song that when thou must
And the glory and sweet of a man is the
indeed come, come unfalteringly."
token of manhood untainted.
And in man or woman a clean, strong, firm- Whitman is such a democrat that he will
fibred body is more beautiful than even be the friend of death!
Walt Wh·i tman can best be described as
.the most beautiful face.''
a social democrat-not necessarily a SocialWhen we get to the world of the future , •Demokrat. That term in its original mean-;
when people shall get rid of most of their . ing accurately describes him.
And he .
vulgar clothing, we shall change our ideas would not have his followers ·Whitmaniacs.
about modesty. A woman with a beautiful He would have them be-lovers.
figure does not object to being admired impersonally, if there is nothing implied or ·
All good work is done with abandon, with
involved ir, it. Whitman viewed this thing
d
c
impersonally, and there is nothing suggest- joyousness, with a certain • ivine - arelessive about him. Thoreau says, "Of course ness.
Whitman can communicate to us no experience, and if we are shocked, whose experience is it we are reminded of?" This in
Friends Who Are Coming ]. .
him is not in-difference, but actual searching
a fter the truth of everything.
Jan. 4-Dr. Stanton Coit of London, "The
"A man is a great thing upon the earth and
through eternity, but every jot of the Ethics of Marriage and Divorce."
Jan.
greatness of m a n is unfolded ant of ....... -- ·· ......11-S ymposiitm, .. -·· --· the Matter
- . . . - . "What Is -- ___.
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ist Labor Party, the oldest -Socialist group in
this country."
For these Socialists are
Marxians, it appe ... rs, and ·n ence the real
Simon Pure article. Then there is a Detroit brand of I. W. W. and a Chicago brand.
• Chicago advocates sabotage in the objectionable and violent manner .most of us know to
• disapprove ; Detroit doesn't. From a conscientious, but no -doubt unintelligent, perusal of the organ of the Socialist Labor
t Party, Th e Weekly P,eople. a copy of which
Mr. Hogan kindly lent me, I gathered that
Detroit stands better than Chicago with
Marxian · Socialists. I also gathered that
Masonry and the Church of Rome are alike
regarded as the sworn enemies of true Socia !ism. It appears that these two bodies,
usually antagonistic to each other, have at
least this, in common: that they are both
'·capitalistic."
I had not gone far in my chat with Mr.
Hogan - efore I got hopelessly lost,-by reab
son of my already confessed lack of economics. But I rallied when he asserted vigorously that candidates, before being elected to
any public office, should pass an examination
on matters connected with the exercise of
their new duties. I'm not sure that be
didn't, also, advocate putting a man through
an examination as to the meaning of citizenship before permitting him to cast a ballot.
I'd be particularly in favor of this last
measure, for the reason that it would oblige
· men now-and women soon-to study economics.
If anything is sacred the human body is
above all ;
I bring thee a song that when thou must
indeed come, come unfalteringly."'
sacred,
And the glory and sweet of a man is the
token of manhood untainted,
And in man or woman a clean, strong, firmfibred body is more beautiful than
the most beautiful face. "
·Whitman is such a democrat that he Will
even be the friend of death!
Walt Wh-itman can best be described as
a social democrat-not necessarily a SocialDemokrat. That term in its original mean.
ing accurately describes him.
And he
would not have his followers Whitmaniacs.
He would have them be-lovers.
When we get to the world of the future,
when people shall get rid of most of their
vulgar clothing, we shall change our ideas
about modesty. A woman with a beautiful
figure does not object to being admired impersonally, if there is nothing implied or
involved .ill it. Whitman viewed this thing
impersonally, and there is noth-ing suggestive about him. Thoreau says, "Of course
Whitman can communicate to us no experience, and if we are shocked, whose experience is it we are reminded of?" 'T his in
him is not indifference, but actual searching
after the truth of everything.
"A man is a great thing upon the earth and
through eternity, but every jot of the
greatness of man is unfolded out of
woman.
First the man is shaped in the woman, he
can then be shaped in himself."
Motherhood was to him the summit of all
the significance of sex. When he was serving as a nurse in Washington he brought
women to minister to the soldiers, and was
particularly anxious that they should all be
mothers.
·
Perhaps the very name of pantheism suggests the pantheistic idea of God, but Whitman's terms in which he speaks of God are
WALT WHITMAN : FROPHET AND DEMrather anthropomorphic.
OCRAT.
"I hear and behold God in every object, yet
(Continued from Page 3.),
understand God not in the least,
Gentlemen, look on this wonder,
Nor do I understand who there can be more
Whatever the bid of the bidders they canwonderful than myself.
not be high enough for it.
Why should I wish to see God better than
For it the globe Jay preparing quintillions
this day?
of ~ears without one animal or plant, I see something of God each hour of the
For it the revolving cycles truly and steadtwenty-four, and each moment then,
ily roll'd.
In the faces of men and women I see God,
In this head th:e all-baffling brain,
and in my own face in the glass,
In it and below it the makings of heroes.
I find letters from God dropt in the street,
Examine these limbs, red, black, or white,
and every one is signed by God's
they are cunning in tendon and
name,
nerve,
And I leave them where they are, for I
They shall be stript that you may see them.
know that wheresoever I go
Exquisite senses, life-lit eyes, plifck;l,.!:~voli- . Qthers wm 'lJUnctually come · for ever and
'
All good work is done with abandon, with
joyousness, with a certain divine carelessness.
I
Jan. 4-Dr. Stanton Coit of London,
Ethics of Marriage and Divorce."
Jan. 11-Symposium, "What Is the Matter
With Our Public Schools?" Miss Margaret
Slattery of Fitchburg and others to be announced.
Jan. 18-Bishop Charles Williams of Michigan, "Why I Work for the Single Tax,"
Jan. 25-Dr. Albion Woodbury Small
Chicago University.
Feb. 1-Alexander Irvine of New York.
Feb. 8-Prof. Edward A. Steiner, "The
Inter-National Mind and the Inter-Racial
Heart."
Feb. 15-Symposiurn, •"Breeding
Speakers to be announced.
Feb. 22-Charles Brandon Booth,
Case for the Prisoner."
March 1-Leslie Willis Sprague of Chi-
.}
... ,t
March 8-Symposium, on "Journalism."
A. J. Philpott of the Boston Globe and others
to be announced.
March 15-Rev. Harry Ward, "The Challenge of Socialism to Christianity."
·
March 22-Rev. Frank 0. Hall of
York, "The Moral Law."
March 29-John Cowper Powys
land, "The Economic Aspects of
Suffrage."
April 5-Mary Church Terrell,
Sam and the Sons of Ham."
April 12-Dr. Thomas C. Hall of New
York.
April 19-Prof. Walter Rauschenbusch.
ever." "'#
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E. L. Grimes Company, P~lntcrs,
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