EDITOR'S TABLE. 



553 



question, and said to her he was very sorry 

 to hear that her husband had been run into 

 by a bicycle, and hoped it was nothing seri- 

 ous. " Why, no," said she, "he was not 

 actually run into, but you know he is quite 

 infirm, and a bicycle came very near him 

 and he was a good deal alarmed lest it 

 might hit him." This was the residuum 

 from the analysis of the two accidents. A 

 list of burlesque " escapes " was posted from 

 day to day by the side of that of the so- 

 called " accidents" and about equal credence 

 was given to each. Both were worthy of 

 " Patience," or the " Belle ffilene." To the 

 annoyance of both parties, the selectmen at 

 last impartially took down both sets of no- 

 tices, not because of any improper motives 

 as charged, but because of the crowd which 

 gathered daily in front of the post-office so 

 thickly as to become a nuisance. The pro- 

 fessor was laughed out of court; and we 

 villagers, while all conceding his excellence 

 and genius, think him daft on the bicycle 

 question. The real bullying was all done 

 by him, though unconsciously ; and the real 

 " cowards " were those who, like the writer, 

 under the glare of those wonderful eyes, had 

 not dared to refuse to sign his pieced and 

 patched compromise petition. 



In sooth, this particular charge of moral 

 cowardice in the Stockbridge people is un- 

 founded and ridiculous. Not only were 

 there no accidents deserving the name, but 

 none were likely to occur on the sidewalk, 

 which might not be avoided by that reason- 

 able circumspection which the law expects 

 from every one, and the want of which 

 would precipitate a misfortune from a post 

 or a wheelbarrow equally with a bicycle. 

 The names attached to the bicycle-petition 

 were signed because of the deliberate con- 

 viction that the danger from frightened 

 horses was greater than from bicycles on 

 the sidewalks. .Horses in the country do 

 not all get accustomed to these Centaur-like 

 appearances, as those in the city do to cor- 

 responding monsters, such as the elevated 

 trains, because different horses come into 

 the village daily from the surrounding re- 

 gion. These animals standing on their hind 

 legs, or rushing and shying, were frequent 

 occurrences, whereas an unskilled bicycle- 

 rider on the sidewalk can be avoided, and a 

 skilled one can always avoid the pedestrian. 



It is now, we hope, made apparent that 

 Stockbridge barbarism has been premature- 

 ly assumed on ex parte testimony. Until a 

 law should be passed to the contrary, the 

 wide sidewalks away from the crowded part 

 of the town were rightfully free to baby- 

 carriages, children's wagons, wheelbarrows, 

 and bicycles, and in the present state of the 

 population there seem to have been good 

 reasons why there should be no such law. 

 At least, enough has been said to show that 

 "the community" does not "acknowledge 

 the outrage," and that the reason why the 

 gentleman in question was " not supported 

 but was condemned for his action" was, 

 that it was reasonably regarded as an un- 

 wise and unnecessary attempt to curtail 

 those rural privileges which citizens com- 

 morant in the country as well as the villa- 

 gers themselves regard as a great charm of 

 their summer. 



Inaccurate "data" and the proposal of 

 unnecessary legislation come strangely from 

 the disciples of Herbert Spencer. Strange, 

 too, would it be if they were nearer the 

 " barbarism " of their master's code than 

 the orderly lovers of freedom whom they 

 denounce. "Infinite presumption is dis- 

 cernible in this attempt at regulating the 

 doings of men by law. . . . The desire 

 to command is essentially a barbarous de- 

 sire" (Spencer's "Social Statics," pp. 321, 

 80). . 



The length of this communication may 

 seem monstrous. But the writer has been 

 long-suffering. As a lover of peace, he had 

 allowed the printed circular distributed 

 throughout the village, which contained the 

 same one-sided version of facts on which 

 your article is based, as well as the imperti- 

 nent and libelous attack iu the " Springfield 

 Republican," to go unanswered. For the 

 good fame of Stockbridge, at which the pro- 

 fessor, while leaving it for some years, it is 

 understood, as a residence, aims through 

 the editor of " The Popular Science Month- 

 ly " this Parthian shot, I could hardly say 

 less. But, unless some astonishing twisting 

 or suppression of material facts compel a 

 further statement, I shall not again ask 

 permission to trespass on your interesting 

 columns. 



Vermicclus Obtritus. 

 New \~ork, December 22, 18S2. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



machine education: 



TTTE hear much of the bad effects 



VV of machine politics, but it is 



questionable if the evils of machine 



education are not far worse. By ma- 



chine education, we mean the rigid, 

 mechanical, law-established routine ap- 

 plied to great multitudes of children of 

 all conceivable sorts who are got to- 

 gether in large establishments and sub- 



