556 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



social function of art. He well com- 

 pares science and art in their rela- 

 tions to one another with the lungs 

 and the heart in the human organ- 

 ism. Neither organ can work per- 

 fectly unless the other works per- 

 fectly also. A defective science 

 makes a defective art, and vice versa. 

 This is an interesting point and one 

 that deserves careful attention. We 

 have said enough to show that the 

 great Russian has produced a work 

 which the civilized world of to-day 

 can not afford to ignore, and which, 

 when it has drawn the fii'e of all who 

 are offended by the positions it takes, 

 will be recognized as a strong and 

 irrecusable plea for the rights of hu- 

 manity in the judgment of works of 

 art and of all other works whatso- 

 ever. 



A GEE AT COUNTRY. 



What is " a great country " ? The 

 schoolboy idea is that it is one that 

 can thrash other countries ; and, ac- 

 cording to this notion, the greatest 

 country of all is one that can " whip 

 all creation." This idea might not 

 do much harm if it were coniiued to 

 schoolboys, but when it is shared by 

 gi'own men the case is more serious. 

 " When I was a child, I spake as 

 a child, I understood as a child, I 

 thought as a child; but when I be- 

 came a man, I put away childish 

 things." Here is a childish thing, 

 however, which thousands who have 

 reached man's estate find it very dif- 

 ficult to put away, and have not in 

 point of fact put away. They still 

 think that a couuti'y's greatness con- 

 sists in its military strength — in other 

 words, in the power it could bring to 

 bear for the destruction of rival na- 

 tions; and, if that country is their 

 own, they exult to think of the havoc 

 it could create among its enemies in 

 the event of a conflict. That a coun- 

 try should be strong for defense is 

 not enough, in the opinion of such 



persons; it must be strong for of- 

 fense also ; it must be strong enough 

 to swagger. 



tlow very different this is from 

 the spirit of true patriotism hardly 

 needs pointing out. Take that pas- 

 sage in Shakespeare in which the spir- 

 it of patriotism receives perhaps the 

 strongest expression ever given to it 

 in literature, and how little do we 

 find of mere exultation in military 

 strength ! We refer to the words in 

 which the dying John of Gaunt la- 

 ments over the evils which the new 

 king, Richard II, is bringing on the 

 state : 



"This royal throne of kings, this sceptered 



isle. 

 This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, 

 This other Eden, deiui-paradise. 

 This fortress built by Nature for herself 

 Against infection and the hand of war. 

 This happy breed of men, this little world, 

 This precious stone set in the silver sea. 

 Which serves it in the office of a wall 

 Or as a moat defensive to a house 

 Against the envy of less happier lands, 

 This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this 



England, 

 This nurse, this teeming womb of royal 



kings, 

 Feared by their breed and famous by tl;eir 



birth. 

 Renowned for their deeds as far from home, 

 For Christian service and true chivalry, 

 This land of such dear souls, this dear, dear 



land ! " 



There is some reference here to mili- 

 tary power — not unnatural when we 

 consider that the date of the play is 

 within eight or ten years of the Span- 

 ish Armada — but how little in com- 

 parison with the heartfelt expression 

 of love for a land that was the home 

 of a happy and pi'osperous i^eople— 

 " this land of such dear souls, this 

 dear, dear land"! Moreover, in so 

 far as the poet exulted in the strength 

 of his country, it was the quality of 

 its inhabitants he thought of and 

 dwelt upon— not the engines of war 

 that it possessed or the vastness of 

 its pecuniary resources, A great 



