274 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



The enterprise was never fully successful be- 

 cause the soil had been much depleted and the rota- 

 tion was such, necessarily, that recovery crops 

 could not be grown in a large way to restore the 

 power of the land; and because of the compulsory 

 change in the kind of agriculture pursued. In 

 1900 my son sold the whole place and moved to 

 California. 



TRAVEL IN EUROPE 



I have often wondered why many educated 

 travellers who have visited the Orient and the Art 

 Centers of Europe have apparently not seen any- 

 thing except beautiful cathedrals built by the toil 

 of half-starved workmen, picture galleries and 

 fine scenery. I suppose I must be too practical 

 too just to " the ox that treadeth out the corn " 

 to rave over these lovely things while human 

 beings suffer. American travellers cannot but see 

 the enforced and grinding thrift and the terrible 

 effects of ages of drudgery upon the peasant 

 classes. Look as I may, the dark background of 

 these works of art and nature blur my vision and 

 rob me of much of the pleasure that others seem 

 to gain from them. I do not see the use of labo- 

 riously building spires that the unlettered throng 

 may believe they reach in some mysterious way 



