524: 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (BELLAMY BENNETT.) 



tinction of style was a certain psychologic quality 

 akin to Hawthorne's, which attracted instant atten- 

 tion ; and, though the stories often turned on some 

 seemingly reasonable whimsicality, there was in- 

 variably a challenging boldness of idea. His first 

 novel was "Six to One: A Nantucket Idyl" (1878). 

 This was a lightsome summer story, faithful as to 

 local color, and with a marked atmosphere. In 1880 

 came " Dr. HeidenhofFs Process,' and in 1884 

 " Miss Ludington's Sister : A Romance of Immor- 

 tality." Both of the last two named were adven- 

 turous in their psychological motive ; both were 

 avowedly materialistic in the methods applied to 

 conscience in the one case, and to spiritism in the 

 other ; yet, by curious legerdemain, both suggested 

 much that was apparently contradicted. Up to 

 this time none of Mr. Bellamy's stories had attained 

 wide popularity, but each had made a disti^t im- 

 pression. The author's high rank as a story writer 

 was conceded by critics, and the eventual trend of 

 his versatility was watched with interest. His 

 short story " Pott's Painless Cure " gave promise of 

 a humorist. Another short story, "An Echo from 

 Antietam," evinced a power of sane melodrama and 

 tender sympathy ; while " Dr. Heidenhoff 's Pro- 

 cess " and " Mis's Ludington's Sister," as well as 

 several short stories of analogous interest, showed 

 an artist brooding over the occult. The publication 

 in 1888 of his next and greatest book, "Looking 

 Backward, or 2000-1887," was a surprise to critics, 

 as it revealed still another and a momentous bent 

 of the author's mind. It was perhaps no less a sur- 

 prise to himself, as it gave a permanent direction 

 to his thoughts and purposes for the rest of his life. 

 This book presented a forecast of a condition of 

 governmental socialism in the year 2000, into 

 which the world was supposed to "have passed by 

 economic evolution. It in no sense pretended to 

 present a Utopian state of affairs possible in the 

 present. It specifically described a condition into 

 which the author believed that present economic 

 forces are gradually carrying the world, and which 

 consequently could not be made to exist to-day. 

 The chief present force at work is the centraliza- 

 tion of industrial and commercial energy, which, 

 he believed, is destined eventually to lead to all 

 production and distribution being performed by 

 government through an industrial army of all the 

 people of the nation. In that system each would 

 be given his proper work ; all work would be noble ; 

 there would be enough work for all ; and because 

 all worked all could have leisure and liberty. The 

 author's story-telling art, while apparently subsid- 

 iary, gave buoyancy to the otherwise heavy prob- 

 lems of the book, and inspired such interest in the 

 new ideas as caused half a million copies to be sold 

 in three years. It was translated into French, Ger- 

 man, Russian, Arabic, and other languages, and 

 awakened as much attention in Europe as in Amer- 

 ica. The vogue of the book brought the tenets of 

 state socialism to the comprehension of every one. 

 The warmth of heart with which the author de- 

 scribed the suffering under the present industrial 

 system, and the glowing possibilities of equalized 

 comfort under the future system, appealed to a wide 

 sentiment. As once before, in the case of "Uncle 

 Tom's Cabin," the mind of almost the entire public 

 was interested by a novel which addressed itself to 

 the conscience. But while interest in the book and 

 in the questions it raised was universal, there were 

 varying degrees of opinion. Many persons argued 

 the impracticability and even the undesirability of 

 the system described ; others accepted the principle 

 in its entirety; perhaps the great majority were 

 quickened by the sincerity of its spirit and the at- 

 tractiveness of its idea, but were unconvinced of 

 the feasibility of its scheme. It is as yet too early 



to estimate the effects of the book, since it is still 

 extending its Circle of readers and is in certain 

 quarters an avowed political impulse. The aston- 

 ishing career of the book made the author's person- 

 ality a center of general and decided interest. In 

 response to numerous requests from editors, Mr. 

 Bellamy described how he came to write ' Looking 

 Backward," and its effect upon himself as its writ- 

 ing progressed. Though from his youth he had 

 resented the inequality of rich and poor, when he 

 began this book he had no further intention than 

 to write a romance of the future in which, inciden- 

 tally, human conditions should be greatly improved. 

 But as he went on what at first had seemed inci- 

 dental appeared to him to be of the foremost im- 

 portance, and he determined to let the romance 

 wait until he could work out a satisfactory solution 

 of the social problem. Not until he was able, after 

 many months of profound thought, to present to 

 himself what he considered an unimpeacnable eco- 

 nomic and social scheme did he again take up the 

 thread of the story. Then the story element took 

 almost secondary place as the means of presenting 

 to the world the scientific principles to which his 

 investigations had converted him. Consequently, 

 as he naively said, he was not surprised at the effect- 

 iveness of the book, because it had first wrought 

 such an effect upon himself. In 1891 Mr. Bellamy 

 became editor in Boston of " The New Nation," a 

 weekly periodical which he established as the organ 

 of the new nationalism. The brilliant editing of 

 this paper did not insure its life, and after about a 

 year he retired again to his home and resumed au- 

 thorship. No other book, however, came from him 

 until 1897, when he published " Equality." This 

 was conceived as a sequel to " Looking Backward." 

 In it the same characters of the twenty-first cen- 

 tury appeared again, and he made it the means of 

 developing in further detail the application of gov- 

 ernmental socialism to the happiness and liberty of 

 both men and women. In the previous book he had 

 unfolded the more obvious advantages of a system 

 of national production and distribution. In the 

 latter book, after ten years of deeper study, he pre- 

 sented the principle of equality in economic life as 

 the only basis for either liberty or brotherhood. 

 More thoughtful than popular, this book was de- 

 signed to establish fully before the thinking classes 

 what he held to be the rational foundation of the 

 principles of nationalism. Gradually failing health 

 led him to seek the benefit of the Colorado climate 

 in 1897, but with no lasting result. Edward Bella- 

 my is best known as a social reformer. Modest to 

 the point of shyness, and of extreme fineness .1 

 sensibility, he was neither in mind nor in tem- 

 perament the active philanthropist. With him hu- 

 man sympathy led to a creative speculation which 

 aimed at entire social reconstruction. Yet he was 

 more than theorist, for he was urgent of practical 

 methods for accelerating the economic evolution. 



Bennett, Edmund Hatch, jurist, born in Man- 

 chester, Vt, April 6, 1824; died in Boston, Ma-.. 

 Jan. 2, 1898. He was graduated at the University 

 of Vermont in 1843, and in 1847 was admitted to 

 the bar. He practiced his profession for many year? 

 in Taunton, Mass., being mayor of that city from 

 1865 to 1867 and judge of probate and insolvency 

 of Bristol County from 1858 to 1883. Prom 1865 to 

 1871 he was a lecturer at the Harvard law school, 

 and for the rest of his career was professor and dean 

 of the law school of Boston University. lie edited 



manv important legal works, including 30 volumes 

 of " English Law and Equity Reports," all the writ 

 ings of Judge Story, "Cushing's Massachusetts He 

 ports." Vols. IX, X, XI. and XII, " Massachusetts 

 nigest," " Brigham on Infantry," " Blackwell on 

 Tax Titles," two volumes of "Leading Criminal 



