To Thee! to Thee! Thou Sire of all, Our prayers in faith ascend. All things that breathe, both great and small, On Thee alone depend. Thy bounteous hand thou dost unclose, And happiness unstinted flows In streams that know no end. Scotland, about 1836. He says, at the end of his Four in-Hand in Britain (1880), page 333: "We landed at the Broonilaw (Glasgow), whither father and mother and Tom and I sailed thirty odd years ago to the land of promise, poor emigrants in quest of fortune; but, mark you, not without thoughts in the radical breasts of our parents that it was advisable to leave a land which tolerated class distinctions for the government of the people." After the family had drifted to Pittsburg, where his father died two years afterwards, Andrew was employed in the Ohio Telegraph Company's office, and, being a bright lad, gradually worked his way upwards into a position of great importance in the Pennsylvania WHEN THE SWALLOWS HOME- Railroad Company's employ, which he resigned to WARD FLY. [Karl Herrlossohn, originally Herloss, was born 1804, at Prague, and died 1849, at Leipzig. Herrlossohn is the author of many hastily written historical and satirical novels, and of a great many lyrics, of which several are directed against religious and political despotism.] When the swallows homeward fly, Hush, my heart! why thus complain? Tr. Anonymous. MARRIAGE CUSTOMS IN CHINA AND JAPAN. [Andrew Carnegie, author, philanthropist, millionaire and lecturer, was born at Dunfermline, enter the business of iron manufacturer, in which he associated his younger brother Tom, and together they made a large fortune. Andrew showed no particular promise as a literary man till he published his Voyage Round the World (1878–79), which immediately stamped him as an original thinker and writer of brilliancy and force. This work was followed by his American Fourin-Hand in Great Britain in 1880 (published 1883), which showed him in a lighter vein, and of descriptive powers of the first order-often touched with the most exquisite humor and pathos. These two books had the disadvantage of being written by an amateur; but when in 1885 appeared his more ambitious work, Triumphant Democracy, the reading public awoke to the fact that they had among them a new author, whose statement of facts about America in particular and civilization in general was true to the core, though pitched in a high note of patriotic pride. Yet the spirit of tender thankfulness for emancipation runs through the whole narrative, ranking him among the foremost thinkers of the age. Scott never more patriotically wrote, "This is my own, my native land," than Mr. Carnegie in his pithy prose, backed by facts and figures unanswerable, says: "This broad American Republic, which has in a hundred years accomplished those grand results which place it now in the van of civilization, is the land of my adoption." In Triumphant Democracy Americans generally, for the first time, may clearly learn the plain reasons WHY they should prize their great country above all others; and, as Franklin's pamphlets, and Burns' poems, and Rousseau's essays, and Paine's Rights of Man had much to do with the march of liberty inaugurated at the end of the last and the beginning of the present century, so we predict that Carnegie's Triumphant Democracy will strike deep, in disturbance, to the rotten roots of systems of monarchy and despotism, in all Europe, and first of all, in England. Already some of our cities have shown their appreciation of its value by making it a text-book for study in the public schools. Carnegie is a man to push the car of progress forward. Wealthy beyond the fabled riches of Croesus, and all won by his own enterprise and thrift: the poetic temperament marked by his appreciative sympathies with the poet in all his writings, he completely reverses our ideas of the shiftless, thriftless literary man. He endows libraries of from $80,000 to half a million-witness Braddock, Dunfermline, Allegheny City, Pittsburg, and Edinburgh, all free libraries—with less parade than some men bestow a drinking fountain. A busy business man, of heavy re sponsibilities, wielding immense enterprises, he yet finds time to devote to lectures and to literature, with a success that would earn him independent means, were he not quote from three of his books.] she renders implicit obedience. This obedience to parents is the most conspicuous duty in their religion. Should the daughter-in-law be disrespectful, even to her husband's parents, these would be upheld in putting her away, even against the already abundantly blessed in that particular. We wish of her husband, and unless the son happened to have an independent income or means of support, which is very rarely the case, his parents would select for him another wife who knew her duty better. The deference exacted and bestowed not only by children but by grown men and women to their parents, is wholly inconceivable by Americans; but, remember, their religion teaches them that those from whom they derive existence are entitled to their worship. No priest is required at a marriage. The ceremony always takes place at the man's house, the bride coming from her parents in grand procession through the streets in a sedan chair, with its blinds closely drawn, the presents being ostentatiously displayed by men carrying them in front. We saw several of these processions. I cannot give a tithe of all the customs observed; they would fill pages. But one is significant: the bride is required to kneel before the husband's family tablet, and to worship his ancestors, her own being from that moment apparently of no account to her, and her father gives her, as his parting injunction, the command to yield hereafter to her new parents the obedience and reverence hitherto his due. While bemoaning the absence of foreign young ladies here (in China) and in Japan, I may as well tell those at home something of the marriage customs of the East, for Japan, China, and India all have much in common here. First and foremost, then, please understand that the couple about to be married have nothing whatever to do with the affair. The match has been made by the parents, and as a rule neither has seen the other until after the contract has been closed; and, in many cases, it is thought advisable that they should meet for the first time when the ceremony begins. It is considered one of the most important duties of a mother to select a wife for each of her sons as he arrives at maturity, as a failure to do this might involve the fearful catastrophe of a break in the worship of the family's ancestors, and indeed, of her own and her husband's ashes, for there might be no men to perform the sacred rites over them. The parents of the young men take the initiative, but how to propose is said to be even more embarrassing than it would be to the son himself, as a refusal implies that the lady's parents consider the proposal much beneath them. There exists, therefore, a class of marriage brokers," who keep themselves informed of the eligible sons and daughters in their circle, and can sound the parents, name the dot to be given or required, and suggest and finally bring about a satisfactory alliance without wounding the family pride upon either side. The Chinese are very superstitious, and no union takes place without the astrologer's sanction. He must consult the stars, and see that there is proper conjunction. If all is favorable, the marriage takes place. แ But now, my lady friends, don't imagine that the happy pair set up a separate establishment, as you expect to do when you marry. No; the wife goes in every case to reside with her mother-in-law, to whom, as also to her husband's father, When the entire day has been spent in the ceremonies required, dinner for the couple is announced, and they are left alone with each other for the first time in their lives; but she may not partake one morsel of the feast, and, harder still, perhaps, not one syllable must she speak. Etiquette demands that she "sit in silence, grave and dignified," and she cannot break fast upon her wedding day. The woman's chief study is a book giving minute instructions for her guidance through life. In this are prescribed the three great duties of woman: (1) obedience when a child to her parents; (2) obedience when a wife to her husband; (3) obedience when a widow to her eldest son. The government of man is thus secured for the weaker vessel from the cradle to the grave. No Eastern man could be made to believe that the influence of the masculine intellect is not abso lutely essential for the well-being of the female; and so it undoubtedly will be in the East as long as woman is uneducated. It is in America we find woman in her highest development-higher even than the English standard-simply because in the best circles she receives an education nearer to that of man than is given her elsewhere. By many such curious customs is secured the entire absorption of the woman, her total eclipse as a separate individuality; there is nothing left of her as far as law and usage can destroy her rights. This is the Eastern idea. But she has her triumph later. As a wife, she knows there is little for her. Divorce is almost sure unless she bears a son; but when, in the language of Scripture, "a man-child is born," presto, change! she is a mother supreme-invested with a halo of sanctity which secures rank and reverence from all. She becomes by this the equal of her lord, and must be worshipped like him, and jointly with him, by succeeding generations, for Confucius enjoins upon every son the erection of the family tablets, to father and mother alike. Nor is her rule confined to her own children, but, as before stated, to their children as well to the latest day of her life, and the older she becomes the more she is reverenced, being nearer to heaven, dearer to the gods; and it is concluded of much moment to any family to be able to boast a greatgreat-grandmother living. as Do not mourn too much over the sad fate of a young Chinaman compelled to marry one whom he has never seen, for indeed there seems little difference between the young ladies of China. Thousands of years of seclusion, of unvarying customs, have at last moulded women into the same form, mentally and physically, and anything like individuality can exist only to a small degree, and in exceptional nature. They are as like as peas, and one may as well marry one as another. If the husband has not the joys of love, neither has he the anxieties pertaining to that super-sensitive condition; for she is not to be his constant companion, nor his companion at all if he has not drawn a prize. The position of woman would seem, therefore, to be almost entirely different from what it is with us: in youth she is nothing there, in old age everything; with us it is the opposite. The "just mean between the two would probably yield better results than either. In China a man may marry more than one woman, but the first only is recognized as his legal wife; all others are her servants, and bound to wait upon and obey her; and should there be children, these are considered as children of the legal wife only, and it is her they must worship, and not their real mother. Among the masses wives are invariably bought from the parents, about ninety dollars being a fair market price among the poor people. This sum is supposed to recompense them for the outlay involved in rearing the young girl. But this custom is valuable in this, that the possession of so large a sum by a young workingman is the best possible guarantee that the son-in-law has acquired steady habits, and is competent to provide for his family. If a test of this nature could be applied with us, I think paterfamilias would not regard it as the worst of institutions. These Chinese have ideas that are sometimes worth thinking over.-From Round the World. CASTLES IN SPAIN. [Mr. Carnegie thus moralises on starting on his tour through Great Britain to lay the foundation stone of a Free Library and Public Baths in Dun fermline. He no doubt had been for years dreaming of this his castle in Spain (and what a noble castle it was), and now on the eve of realization how naturally and kindly he discourses of "Castles in Spain," with a playful badinage reminding one of Thackeray—minus the vinegar.] The world, in my opinion, is all wrong on the subject of air-castles. People are forever complaining that their Chateaux en Espagne are never realized. But the trouble is with them-they fail to recog nize them when they come. "To-day, says Carlyle, "is a king in disguise," and most people are in possession of their aircastles, but lack the trick to see it. Look around you! See Vandy, for instance. When we were thus doing Merrie England on foot, he with a very modest letter of credit stowed away in a belt around his sacred person-for Vandy it was who always carried the bag (and a 46 faithful treasurer and a careful one too- | toys each one specially wants; and lo and good boy, Vandy!); he was a poor behold! before they can be delivered student then, and you should have heard (though she works with speed betimes) him philosophize and lord it over us two, the unreasonable mortals have lost conceit who had been somewhat fortunate in roll- of their prizes, and their coming is a ing mills, and were devoted to business. mockery: they are crying for something Great Cæsar! boys, if I ever get fifteen else. If the fates be malignant, as old hundred dollars a year income!" (This religions teach, how they must enjoy the was the fortune I was vaguely figured up folly of man! to be worth under ordinary conditions.) 'Great Cæsar! boys"-and here the fist would come down on the hard deal table, spilling a few drops of beer-"fifteen hundred dollars a year! Catch me working any more like a slave, as you and Harry do!" Well, well, Vandy's aircastle was fifteen hundred dollars a year; yet see him now when thousands roll in upon him every month. Hard at it still and see the goddess laughing in her sleeves at the good joke on Vandy. He has his air-castle, but doesn't recognize the structure. There is Miss Fashion. How fascinating she was when she descanted on her aircastle-then a pretty cottage with white and red roses clustering beside the door and twining over in a true-lover's knot, symbolizing the lover's ideal of mutual help and dependence the white upon the red. No large establishment for her, nor many servants. One horse (I admit it was always to be a big one), and an elegant little vehicle; plenty of garden and enough of pin money, On this point there was never to be the slightest doubt, so that she could really get the best magazines and one new book every month-any one she chose. A young hard-working husband, without too much income, so that she might experience the pleasure of planning to make their little go far. Behold her now! her husband a millionnaire, a brown-stone front, half a dozen horses, a country place, and a box at the opera! But, bless your heart! she is as unconscious of the arrival of her castle as she is that years creep upon her Imagine a good spirit taking Fortune to task for the misery and discontent of mortals, as she gazes with piteous eyes upon our disappointments, our troubles, and, saddest of all, our regrets, charging her with producing such unhappiness. "Why have you done this?" would be the inquiry. Listen to the sardonic chuckle of the Fate: "Hush! I've only given them what they asked (chuckle chuckle-chuckle)! Not my fault! See that unhappy wretch, sleeplessly and feverishly tossing on his pillow, and in his waking hours absorbing all his lofty faculties in gambling at the Stock Exchange-wife, children, home, music, art, culture, all forgotten. He was once a bright, promising, ingenuous youth. He was born among trees and green fields, spent the morn of life in the country, sensitive and responsive to all nature's whisperings; lay in cool, leafy shades, wandered in forest glades, and paddled in the 'complaining brooks which make the meadow green. Nay, not many years ago he returned at intervals to these scenes, and found their charm had still power over him-felt the truth of the poet's words, that "To him who in the love of nature holds A various language: for his gayer hours to him, if you like. He has no time to listen, nor ears to hear, nor eyes to see; no, nor soul to understand your language. He's 'short' on New Jersey Central or 'long' on Reading, and, bless you! he must strain every fibre if he would save himself from ruin. "He could commune with you in your youth, you say; he had your language then. No doubt! no doubt! so did he then know his Latin and whisper his prayers at his mother's knee. The Latin has gone; his praying continues-nay has increased, for his fears and selfish wants have multiplied since he was an innocent, ignorant child, and he has much more to ask from God for his own ends, now that he is a wise man, and is supposed to know much (chuckle-chuckle-chuckle). "There is another mortal," we hear the Fate saying to the Good Fairy. "Look at her, decked out in all the vagaries of changeable fashion; note her fixed-up look, her conventional air, her nervous, unmeaning, simpering smile, the same to day, yesterday, and forever-something to all men, much to none. See her at home in her chamber! Why mopes she, looking so haggard, with features expressionless and inane? What worm gnaws at her heart and makes her life so petty? She, too, came into the world a bright and happy thing, and grew up fond of music and of birds, and with a passion for flowers and all of Nature's sweets; so careful, too, of mother and of father, the very embodiment of love to all around her. You should have seen her in her teens, a glorious ray from heaven-'making a sunshine in a shady place'-so natural, so hearty, with a carolling laugh like the falling of waters. In her most secret prayers she asked only for a kind lover with a fair competence, that they might live modestly, without ostentation. She was a good girl and I granted her wish and more," says Fate. "Her aircastle was small, but I sent her a magnificent one. She is courted, flattered, has every gift in my power to bestow; yet she pines in the midst of them. The fruits of rare gardens have no flavor for her-Dead Sea fruits indeed, which fall to ashes on her lips. She has entered for the race of Fashion, and her soul is absorbed in its jealousies and disappointments. You may speak to her as of old; tell her there is something noble in that domain of human life where duties grow something not only beyond but different from Fashion, higher than dress or show. She understands you not. Hand her a bunch of violets. Does she learn their lesson with their odor (which her dog scents as well as she)? Comes there to her the inner meaning, the scent of the new-mown hay that speaks of past hours of purity, of the fresh breeze that fanned her cheek in childhood's halcyon days, the love of all things of the green earth and the sense of the goodness of God which his flowers ever hold within their petals for those who know their language? "They will decorate me to-night for the ball!' That is the be-all and the end-all of her ladyship's love for flowers. Show her a picture with more of heaven than earth in it, and glimpses of the light that never shone on sea or shore. If the artist be in fashion she will call it pretty,' when it is grand. Give her music. Is it the opera? Oh, yes, she will attend. It is the fashion. But place within her reach the soul-moving oratorio (with more religion in it than in twenty sermons) or the suggestive symphony. No, a previous engagement prevents. Why, just think of it-one can't talk there! Yet this woman could once play with feeling and sing with expression, delighting her young panions. Of her one could truly say: com |