IMA GIN A TION. 4 5 5 



civilized peoples with others that are less militant ; we see it on com- 

 paring the early militant states of existing nations with their later 

 more industrial states ; we see it on comparing nations that are now 

 relatively militant with those that are now relatively industrial. And 

 we are especially shown it by the fact that in primitive uncultured 

 societies which are exceptionally peaceful the status of children is 

 exceptionally high. 



Most conclusively, however, is this connection shown on grouping 

 the facts antithetically thus: On the one hand, savage tribes in gen- 

 eral, chronically militant, have, in common with the predominantly 

 militant great nations of antiquity, the trait that a father has life and 

 death power over his children. On the other hand, the few uncivil- 

 ized tribes which are peaceful and industrial have, in common with 

 the most advanced civilized nations, the trait that children's lives are 

 sacred, and that large measures of freedom are accorded to both boys 

 and girls. 



-- 



IMAGINATION.' 



Bt Dr. ELLIOTT COUES, U. S. A. 



LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : Amid the asperities of the great 

 political crisis which has convulsed a nation, it is pleasant to 

 find the elegant repose of a salon where culture and refinement stand 

 like sleepless sentinels on guard against dissension ; and in the Len- 

 ten season when the fugitive madrigal of society is hushed in the 

 measured cadence of the penitential psalm, and the brilliant poppies 

 of fashion grow pale in the shadow of the palm it is meet that 

 thought should turn from outward things to the contemplation of 

 those within. 



The few moments during which an unworthy member of the 

 Society is indulged to-night will be devoted to the consideration of 

 Imagination as one of the intellectual faculties which, if common in 

 some degree to all, is nevertheless, in its highest development, the 

 rarest, most precious, and most splendid, of human endowments. I 

 need not I shall not be coldly critical now, nor seek to bend your 

 judgment to my will ; for I must speak my aspirations, not my per- 

 sonal experiences, and move you from the heart, or not at all. The 

 subject bids defiance to the trammels of custom or precedent, and 

 will be bound by no conventionality. 



ov facts, as simply such, I dare say I have a great and growing 

 contempt, perhaps less due to any familiarity I may have acquired, 

 than to my habitual contemplation of structures without reference to 



' Read before the Literary Society of Washington, D. C, March IV, ISVY. 



