text:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 963

Adopted by the Security Council at its 3469th meeting, on 29 November 1994

The Security Council,

Having examined the application of the Republic of Palau for admission to the United Nations (S/1994/1315),

Recommends to the General Assembly that the Republic of Palau be admitted to membership in the United Nations.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 848

Adopted by the Security Council at its 3251st meeting, on 8 July 1993

The Security Council,

Having examined the application of the Principality of Andorra for admission to the United Nations (S/26039),

Recommends to the General Assembly that the Principality of Andorra be admitted to membership in the United Nations.


text:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 828

Adopted by the Security Council at its 3218th meeting, on 26 May 1993

The Security Council,

Having examined the application of Eritrea for admission to the United Nations (S/25793),

Recommends to the General Assembly that Eritrea be admitted to membership in the United Nations.


text:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 829

Adopted by the Security Council at its 3219th meeting on 26 May 1993

The Security Council,

Having examined the application of the Principality of Monaco for admission to the United Nations (S/25796),

Recommends to the General Assembly that the Principality of Monaco be admitted to membership in the United Nations.


text:
The Return (Coates)

 * Coates, Florence Earle (1902), as "Who Knocks?" in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (September 1902).
 * Coates, Florence Earle (1904), "The Return" in Mine and Thine (1904).
 * Coates, Florence Earle (1916), "The Return" in Poems I.

title: The Return (Coates)


text:
To Helen Keller

 * Coates, Florence Earle (1903), "To Helen Keller" in Scribner's Magazine (September 1903).
 * Coates, Florence Earle (1904), "To Helen Keller" in Mine and Thine (1904).
 * Coates, Florence Earle (1916), "To Helen Keller" in Poems I.

See also by Mrs. Coates

 * "Helen Keller with a Rose" (1909)
 * "Against the Gate of Life—To Helen Keller" (1912)

title: To Helen Keller


text:
Wikisource:Peer review verification/Average weight of a conventional teaspoon made of metal

Abstract
To estimate the average weight of a conventional teaspoon made of metal, 19 teaspoons were weighted, and the results were used to estimate an average weight of approximately 25 grams (confidence interval: 22 to 28 grams).

Objective
To estimate the average weight of a conventional teaspoon made of metal.

Method
19 teaspoons were gathered. The inclusion criterion was to be considered to be a conventional teaspoon made of metal by both the provider and author of the study. Teaspoons with handles partially made of plastic were also accepted. Each teaspoon was weighted with a digital scale of the model “AWS-100 Digital Pocket Scale”. Specifics of individual teaspoons are given in table in the “results” section.

Results
The average weight and its confidence interval was calculated by entering the resultant values above in an OpenOffice spreadsheet, with teaspoon description being entered in column A, corresponding weights in column B, formulas for the calculation of averages and confidence intervals in column E, and their designations in column D. Column F displays the formulas used in column E for clarity:

The spreadsheet gave the result that the sample mean was approximately 25 g, with a 95% confidence interval of approximately 22 g to 28 g.

Discussion
Considering that a majority of the teaspoons were imported, the result can be considered to be fairly generalizable in a global perspective.

Conclusion
A conventional teaspoon made of metal weights, on average, approximately 25 grams (95% confidence interval: 22 to 28 grams).

Conflict of interest
None declared by author.


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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011 TOP SECRET – Sensitive :"To date the Vietnam press and radio have not adopted an anti-American position. It is rather the French colonial press that has been strongly anti-American and has freely accused the U.S. of imperialism in Indochina to the point of approximating the official Moscow position. Although the Vietnam radio has been closely watched for a new position toward the U.S., no change has appeared so far. Nor does there seem to have been any split within the coalition government of Vietnam....

 * ". If there is a Moscow-directed conspiracy in Southeast Asia, Indochina is an anomoly so far. Possible explanations are:

 * No rigid directives have been issued by Moscow.The Vietnam government considers that it has no rightest elements that must be purged.The Vietnam Communists are not subservient to the foreign policies pursued by Moscow.A special dispensation for the Vietnam government has been arranged in Moscow.

 * Of these possibilities, the first and fourth seem most likely.

Rh

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text:
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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011

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text: User:BirgitteSB/A Wayfarer in China

title: User:BirgitteSB/A Wayfarer in China


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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011 TOP SECRET – Sensitive I.A.3

 * 3.
 * a.

Events in China of 1948 and 1949 brought the United States to a new awareness of the vigor of communism in Asia, and to a sense of urgency over its containment. U.S. policy instruments developed to meet unequivocal communist challenges in Europe were applied to the problem of the Far East. Concurrent with the development of NATO, a U.S. search began for collective security in Asia; economic and military assistance programs were inaugurated; and the Truman Doctrine acquired wholly new dimensions by extension into regions where the European empires were being dismantled. In March, 1947, President Truman had set forth the following policy guidelines:

 * "I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.

Rh

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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011 TOP SECRET – Sensitive :I believe we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way...."

The President went on to underscore the U.S. determination to commit its resources to contain communism. While he clearly subordinated military aid to economic and political means, he did assert the U.S. intent to assist in maintaining security:

 * "To insure the peaceful development of nations, free from coercion, the United States has taken a leading part in establishing the United Nations. The United Nations is designed to make possible freedom and independence for all its members. We shall not realize our objectives, however, unless we are willing to help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against aggressive movements that seek to impose upon them totalitarian regimes."

In the year 1947, while U.S. military assistance began to flow into Greece to ward off subversive aggression, the U.S. inaugurated the European Recovery Plan (ERP). ERP was aimed at economic recovery in Western Europe, especially in countries such as France and Italy where post-war depression was fostering marked leftward political trends. In one of the high level appraisals of the situation that the U.S. had to counter in 1947, the Harriman Committee on Foreign Aid has concluded that:

 * "The interest of the United States in Europe...cannot be measured simply in economic terms. It is also strategic and political. We all know that we are faced in the world today with two conflicting ideologies....Our position in the world has been based for at least a century on the existence in Europe of a number of strong states committed by tradition and inclination to the democratic concept...."

The fall of the Czechoslovakian Government in February 1948 brought about the Brussels Pact, a Western European collective defense and economic collaboration arrangement. The blockade of Berlin, which began on 1 April 1948, accelerated U.S. movement toward membership in the alliance. On June 11, 1948 the U.S. Senate adopted a resolution advising the Executive to undertake the:

 * "...Progressive development of regional and other collective arrangements for individual and collective self-defense in accordance with the purposes, principles, and provisions of the Charter [of the UN], association of

Rh

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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011 TOP SECRET – Sensitive  : the United States, by constitutional process, with such regional and other collective arrangements as are based on continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid, and as affect its national security."

That same month, Congress passed the Economic Cooperation Act, and in July, 1948, opened negotiations for a North Atlantic Alliance. The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in April, 1949, and entered into force in August of that year.

In the same omnibus foreign assistance legislation which had authorized ECA in June, 1948, Congress had provided for a China Aid Program. This measure met almost immediate failure, for Mao's armies spread unchecked over the China mainland, and by mid-1949 the position of the nationalists there was untenable. The "failure" of U.S. aid — which was termed such by Congressional critics — no less than the urgent situation in Europe and the exploding of the first Soviet nuclear device in September, 1949, figured in Congressional action on military assistance legislation.

On October 6, 1949, Congress passed the Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP) through which U.S. arms, military equipment and training assistance might be provided world-wide for collective defense. In the first appropriations under MDAP, NATO countries received 76% of the total, and Greece and Turkey (not yet NATO members), 16%. But Korea and the Philippines received modest aid, and the legislators clearly intended the law to underwrite subsequent appropriations for collective security in Asia. The opening paragraph of the law not only supported NATO, but foreshadowed the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty:

 * "An Act to Promote the Foreign Policy and Provide for the Defense and General Welfare of the United States by Furnishing Military Assistance to Foreign Nations, Approved October 6, 1949.

 * "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the 'Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949.'

 * "FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY

 * "The Congress of the United States reaffirms the policy of the United States to achieve international peace and security through the United Nations so that armed force shall not be

Rh

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text:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2028

Adopted by the Security Council at its 6693rd meeting, on 21 December 2011

The Security Council,

Noting with concern that the situation in the Middle East is tense and is likely to remain so, unless and until a comprehensive settlement covering all aspects of the Middle East problem can be reached,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force of 30 November 2011 (S/2011/748), and also reaffirming its resolution 1308 (2000) of 17 July 2000,

Expressing grave concern at the serious events that occurred in UNDOF’s area of operations on 15 May and 5 June that put the long-held ceasefire in jeopardy,

Noting that evolving conditions in the region could have an impact on the functioning of the Force,

1. Calls upon the parties concerned to implement immediately its resolution 338 (1973) of 22 October 1973;

2. Calls on all parties to cooperate fully with the operations of UNDOF and to ensure the security of as well as unhindered and immediate access for the United Nations personnel carrying out their mandate, in conformity with existing agreements;

3. Recalls the obligation on both parties to fully respect the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, and calls on the parties to exercise maximum restraint and prevent any breaches of the ceasefire and the area of separation;

4. Welcomes the efforts being undertaken by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force to implement the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to ensure full compliance of its personnel with the United Nations code of conduct, requests the Secretary-General to continue to take all necessary action in this regard and to keep the Security Council informed, and urges troop-contributing countries to take preventive and disciplinary action to ensure that such acts are properly investigated and punished in cases involving their personnel;

5. Welcomes the Secretary-General’s assessment of the operational capacity of UNDOF and requests that he take steps to immediately implement the recommendations as outlined in paragraph 12 of S/2011/748;

6. Decides to renew the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force for a period of six months, that is, until 30 June 2012;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to submit, at the end of this period, a report on developments in the situation and the measures taken to implement resolution 338 (1973).


text:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2029

Adopted by the Security Council at its 6694th meeting, on 21 December 2011

The Security Council,

Taking note of the letters to the President of the Council from the Secretary-General dated 16 December 2011 (S/2011/780) and 20 December 2011 (S/2011/781) attaching letters from the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (“the International Tribunal”) dated 26 November 2011 and 13 December 2011, respectively,

Recalling its resolutions 955 (1994) of 8 November 1994, 1503 (2003) of 28 August 2003 and 1534 (2004) of 26 March 2004, and its previous resolutions concerning the International Tribunal,

Recalling also its resolution 1966 (2010) of 22 December 2010, establishing the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (“the Mechanism”) and requesting the International Tribunal to take all possible measures to expeditiously complete all its remaining work no later than 31 December 2014, prepare its closure and ensure a smooth transition to the Mechanism,

Recalling further that the branch of the Mechanism for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda shall commence functioning on 1 July 2012,

Taking note of the assessments by the International Tribunal in its Completion Strategy Report (S/2011/731), and the updated trial and appeals schedule,

Noting that, upon the completion of the cases to which they are assigned, three permanent judges will be redeployed from the Trial Chamber to the Appeals Chamber, and two ad litem judges will leave the International Tribunal,

Noting the concerns expressed by the President and Prosecutor of the International Tribunal about staffing, and reaffirming that staff retention is essential for the timely completion of the International Tribunal’s work,

Noting with concern that the International Tribunal continues to face problems in the relocation of acquitted persons and convicted persons who have completed serving their sentences,

Urging the International Tribunal to take all possible measures to complete its work expeditiously as requested in resolution 1966 (2010),

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

1. Decides to extend the term of office of the following permanent judges at the International Tribunal, who are members of the Trial Chamber, until 30 June 2012 or until the completion of the trials to which they are assigned, if sooner:

 * – Charles Michael Dennis Byron (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
 * – Khalida Rachid Khan (Pakistan)
 * – William H. Sekule (United Republic of Tanzania)
 * – Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov (Russian Federation);

2. Decides to extend the term of office of the following ad litem judges at the International Tribunal, who are members of the Trial Chamber, until 30 June 2012 or until the completion of the trials to which they are assigned, if sooner:

 * – Florence Rita Arrey (Cameroon)
 * – Solomy Balungi Bossa (Uganda)
 * – Robert Fremr (Czech Republic)
 * – Vagn Joensen (Denmark)
 * – Gberdao Gustave Kam (Burkina Faso)
 * – Lee Gacugia Muthoga (Kenya)
 * – Seon Ki Park (Republic of Korea)
 * – Mparany Mamy Richard Rajohnson (Madagascar);

3. Reiterates the importance of the International Tribunal being adequately staffed to complete its work expeditiously and calls upon relevant United Nations bodies to intensify cooperation with the Secretariat and the Registrar of the International Tribunal and to take a flexible approach in order to find practicable solutions to address this issue as the International Tribunal approaches the completion of its work, and at the same time calls upon the International Tribunal to renew its efforts to focus on its core functions;

4. Urges all States, especially States where fugitives are suspected to be at large, to intensify further their cooperation with and render all necessary assistance to the International Tribunal, in particular to achieve the arrest and surrender of all remaining fugitives as soon as possible;

5. Commends States that have accepted the relocation of acquitted persons or convicted persons who have completed serving their sentences to their territories, and reiterates its call upon other States in a position to do so to cooperate with and render all necessary assistance to the International Tribunal in the relocation of acquitted persons and convicted persons who have completed serving their sentences;

6. Decides to remain seized of the matter.


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154 hearth), and, to our horror, thrust the handsome borrowed book into the flames, and held it there with the tongs until it was entirely consumed. Oh, how we did cry! It seemed such a terrible thing to burn a book—a precious book—of which we had so few. And then our honour was touched to the quick, for we had borrowed it. But for those very reasons the lesson cut deep, and made the impression that was intended. I for one would gladly have taken a whipping instead, to be allowed to return the book uninjured.

Another punishment that was never forgotten was this. Finding I had quite a taste for natural science, my dear father had given me a fine microscope, of which I was very fond, and one day some instrument-maker sent an elegant brass-mounted telescope about twice my length, and of sufficient power to show the rings of Saturn, and the moons of Jupiter. Papa told me if I would learn how to handle the big telescope at the Observatory, and how to find any star I wanted by obtaining the right ascension and declination from the Nautical Almanac, and how to make and record an accurate observation thereon, he would give me this beauty in its handsome mahogany box for my own.

I joyfully acceded to these terms, and in less than a month I came into possession. Oh, how proud I was when, on a clear night, I would mount my prize on its polished tripod, on a big stone pillar in the garden, and show my little friends anything they called for that was then within our horizon! But one sad Saturday Satan entered into me, and I neglected to do my task of mending in the time allotted to it, being occupied with my dear telescope. I was called up, reprimanded, and told to have my task done in an hour and a half. Going back upstairs to the library, I went sky-scraping, through the big north window, with my


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Rh instrument, with the coloured lens screwed in for day observations. I thought, "I'll take one more look and then hurry up my task;" but that look took longer than I expected, and very little of the task was done when the time was up. The case was referred to Papa, who, without a word spoken, boxed up my telescope and shipped it off—I never knew where to this day. For years I could not speak of it without tears.

When Betty and myself were almost grown up, and he began to travel about the country to address the agricultural societies of the different States about "Meteorology for the Farmers," and "Crop and Weather Reports," he said, as we had been so faithful in teaching the little ones, he would take first one of us and then the other wherever he went. So we made two trips with him, and then came the Brussels Conference, "to propose a uniform plan of observations at sea, and to adopt a meteorological log." He said such a chance might never occur again, and, if he could "raise the wind," he would take us both that time. "The wind" was raised somehow, and we both went, accompanied by our two cousins, Ellen Herndon and Ellen Maury. Betty, the eldest of the party, was not seventeen when we sailed. Ellen Herndon was a lovely blonde, Ellen Maury a very handsome brunette. Sure such a merry party never sailed the broad ocean before! We were dubbed "The Magpie Club" by acclamation on board the steamer. When landed at Liverpool, we found awaiting us an invitation from Lord Wrottesley for us all to visit him at Wrottesley Hall near Wolverhampton. The house was in Cromwell's time the "Convent of White ladies," and in its park stood the "Royal Oak," in which Richard Penderill hid the fugitive prince after the disastrous battle of Worcester. So we were wild to go, and the invitation was accepted. Lord Wrottesley had been a correspondent of my father's for


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156 several years, being himself a learned man and President of the Boyal and Astronomical Societies.

On this trip we visited many cities in England, France, Holland, Belgium, and Germany with my father, and we were fêted and entertained everywhere. We were so proud to be introduced by him to such men as Baron Humboldt, Erenburg, Jansen, Quetelet, Le Verrier, Lieber, FitzRoy, and others.


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Rh

the years immediately preceding the breaking out of the war between North and South, Maury delivered a number of popular lectures in various cities of the North and West, and his correspondence during that period, both private and official, is full of interest. In making a selection from numerous letters, it is with intent to illustrate his character and the direction his thoughts and opinions took, from more than one point of view. In the present chapter we introduce a letter on the harmony between science and revealed religion, another on the labours of General Smith of the Virginia Military Academy, and two letters of advice to his young married daughters. Then follow some letters and notices relating to his course of lectures. The letters to Bishop Otey are memorials of a warm and lifelong friendship; while Maury's address on the study of physical geography, when he laid the corner-stone of the University of the South in East Tennessee, is a fitting conclusion to the period of peaceful work.


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158 From the Southern Churchman:—

2em

Your letter revived pleasant remembrances. Your questions are themes. It would require volumes to contain the answers to them.

You ask about the "harmony of science and revelation," and wish to know if I find distinct traces in the Old Testament of scientific knowledge, and in the Bible any knowledge of the winds and ocean currents. Yes, knowledge the most correct and reliable.

Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades? It is a curious fact, that the revelations of science have led astronomers of our own day to the discovery, that the sun is not the dead centre of motion around which comets sweep and planets whirl, but that it, with its splendid retinue of worlds and satellites, is revolving through space at the rate of millions of miles in a year, and in obedience to some influence situated precisely in the direction of the star Alcyon, one of the Pleiades. We do not know how far off in the immensities of space that centre of revolving cycles and epicycles may be, nor have our oldest observers or nicest instruments been able to tell us how far off in the skies that beautiful cluster of stars is hung "whose influences man can never bind." In this question alone, and the answer to it, are involved both the recognition and the exposition of the whole theory of gravitation.

Science taught that the world was round; but potentates pronounced the belief heretical, notwithstanding the Psalmist, while apostrophizing the works of creation in one of his sublime moods of inspiration, "when prophets spake as they were moved," had called the world "the round world," and "bade it rejoice."

You remember when Galileo was in prison a pump-maker came to him with his difficulties, because his pump would not lift water higher than thirty-two feet. The old philosopher thought it was because the atmosphere would


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Rh not press the water up any higher; but the hand of persecution was upon him, and he was afraid to say the air had weight. Now, had he looked to the science of the Bible, he would have discovered that the "perfect man of Uz," moved by inspiration, had proclaimed the fact thousands of years before—"He maketh weight for the wind," Job is very learned, and his speeches abound in scientific lore. The persecutors of the old astronomers would also have been wiser and far more just had they paid more attention to this wonderful book, for there they would have learned that He "stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing."

Here is another proof that Job was familiar with the laws of gravitation, for he knew how the world was held in its place; and as for "the empty place" in the sky. Sir John Herschel has been sounding the heavens with his powerful telescope, and gauging the stars; and where do you think he found the most barren part—"the empty places" of the sky? In the north, precisely where Job told Bildad, the Shuhite, the empty place was stretched out. It is there where comets most delight to roam and hide themselves in emptiness.

I pass by the history of creation as it is written on the tablets of the rocks and in the Book of Revelation, because the question has been discussed so much and so often, that you, no doubt, are familiar with the whole subject. In both the order of creation is the same. First, the plants to afford subsistence, and then the animals, the chief point of apparent difference being as to the duration of the period between "the evening and the morning." "A thousand years are in His sight as one day," and the Mosaic account affords evidence itself that the term "day," as there used, is not that which comprehends our twenty-four hours. It was a day that had its "evening and morning" before the sun was made.

I will, however, before proceeding further, ask pardon for mentioning a rule of conduct which I have adopted in order to make progress with these physical researches, which have occupied so much of my time and so many of my thoughts. The rule is, never to forget who is the^ Author of the great volume which Nature spreads out before us, and always


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160 to remember that the same Being is the Author of the book which revelation holds up to us, and though the two works are entirely different, their records are equally true, and when they bear upon the same point, as now and then they do, it is as impossible that they should contradict each other as it is that either should contradict itself. If the two cannot be reconciled, the fault is ours, and is because, in our blindness and weakness, we have not been able to interpret aright either the one or the other, or both.

Solomon, in a single verse, describes the circulation of the atmosphere as actual observation is now showing it to be. That it has its laws, and is obedient to order as the heavenly host in their movements, we infer from the facts announced by him, and which contain the essence of volumes by other men. "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full;" "Into the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again."

To investigate the laws which govern the winds and rule the sea is one of the most profitable and beautiful occupations that a man—an improving, progressive man—can have. Decked with stars as the sky is, the field of astronomy affords no subjects of contemplation more ennobling, more sublime, or more profitable than those which we may find in the air and the sea. When we regard these from certain points of view, they present the appearance of wayward things, obedient to no law, but fickle in their movements, and subject only to chance.

Yet, when we go as truth-loving, knowledge-seeking explorers, and knock at their secret chambers, and devoutly ask what are the laws which govern them, we are taught, in terms the most impressive, that "when the morning stars sang together, the waves also lifted up their voice," and the winds, too, "joined in the mighty anthem."

And as the discovery advances, we find the mark of order in the sea and in the air that is in tune with the "music of the spheres," and the conviction is forced upon us that the laws of all are nothing else but perfect harmony.

Lieut. U.S. Navy.


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Rh

The chills have been treating me so badly, in spite of the sun-flowers, that I declined, yesterday, a most inviting invitation to accompany the directors of the Atlantic Submarine Telegraph Company in a nice steamer, on a tour of inspection as far as Newfoundland, to select the terminus there, and other matters. They are to set off on the 1st of August.

What you say about Colonel Smith illustrates my doctrine about great men, for all useful men are great; it's the talent of industry that makes a man. I don't think that so much depends upon intellect as is generally supposed; but industry and steadiness of purpose, they are the things. . . . By the way, Smith invites Major Mordecai and myself, in the name of the State, to visit Lexington next June as a Board of Examiners. Before answering, I wanted to know what would be expected of us—to examine the boys, and show ourselves off at their expense? If so, then I can't go; on the contrary, if it be to look on and form our own judgment of teachers, instruction, and pupils, then the case will be different.

My thoughts dwell with you, and my heart, brimful of the most tender and affectionate solicitude, clings to you. Alone in my room, there is something which keeps you ever present. The step you are about to take is the step of life—with a woman it certainly is such.

You have given your hand to a young man of irreproachable character, of an amiable disposition, and a cultivated mind, and were it not that he is of kin, the match would be as free from objection and quite as promising as need be.

That you are both poor is no ground of solicitude; happiness is above riches, and if you are not happy, being poor, wealth would not, I apprehend, make you happy. Poverty has its virtues, and my struggles with it are full of pleasant


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162 remembrances. I hope your experience will tally with mine. I do not say, strive to be content, for in that there is no progression; but be content to strive.

I told Will you ought to live to yourselves. It would be a high gratification to have him make my house his home; but I think, on your account, it would be better for you to betake yourselves to housekeeping. True, if you do, it must be in a very plain way. Your Mother and I commenced housekeeping when my pay was $40 a month, and we lived as happily then as we do now.

I attach great consequence to the manner and place of life for the first year or two after marriage: ft is then that the mould for domestic happiness is cast; it is then that true character and disposition develop themselves on both sides, and that is the time for assimilation to take place, each accommodating and moulding oneself to the other.

If you go to yourselves you will have time to familiarise yourself with your husband's affairs, which you will not do if you live in a crowd; and that, my daughter, should be your first duty; for thereby you fit yourself to become his counsellor, companion, and friend in the broadest sense of the term.

I found, when I arrived here this morning, a letter from your Mother. She tells me there is a talk of your being married before Lent. I am sure she is, as I am, entirely disposed to consult your own wishes in this matter.

27th, morning.—I was dreaming of you, the sweetest of the dreams of sweet sleep last night; I waked again and again to a consciousness of the pleasant visions, enjoyed them waking, and dozed off to enjoy them over again in sleep, bless your heart!

There was a great jam at the lecture last night. Before the doors were opened, the side-walks for three squares were blocked up by people going an hour before the time to make sure of a good seat. They tell me that 2 or 3000 were turned away. I have lectured two nights in the rain to well-filled halls; I am as bright as a lark this morning; they


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 have procured the largest church in the city for this evening.

My love and a kiss for Nannie. . . . Love to all hands. God bless you, my child, is daily the prayer of

Your affectionate father,

2em

How does Dick come on with the drawing? I am so afraid he is becoming too reserved. Perhaps the wish may be unreasonable, but it is a very earnest one! that my children should treat me not only as their father and as their friend, but as their companion too, in so far as companionship may not be inconsistent with difference of age. . ..

Good-bye, and may God bless you and make you happy, my child!

2em

First letter to his daughter after her marriage to  of Farleyvale (Virginia),

Yours was a sweet letter; it and Mr. Corbin's did our hearts much good. We miss you so much; the flowers look lonesome, and the songs of the birds sound loud.

This is little Lucy's birthday—seven years old. It will be ten years, I reckon, before she will be coming out. Her Mamma pitched into her and the boy (M. F., Jr.) last evening. She found a moss-rose in flower this morning. Davy Jones and the boy went in the waggon to fish at the Little Falls yesterday; they were gone all day, but didn't get a nibble.

As near as I can guess, it's just about seven years since you went away. I have not seen Betty since, and we have heard from Dick but once, and Glum twice. I went to the Capitol with cousin Ann and Mary yesterday. Mit and Ellen are with us.

Our hearts were touched by the conduct of those excellent people, who greeted you with so much kindness and affection on your arrival at Moss Neck. Such a welcome must have gone far towards making you feel completely at home right


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164 off the reel. Life is made up of trifles, and our greatest happiness often depends upon a word, the glance of an eye, the tone of the voice, or what is more expressive, but more indescribable still, the manner. What a boon, a pleasure, and a blessing are pleasant manners! They give grace and confer happiness, far more than pearls or precious stones. Cultivate day by day pleasantness of manner. Let us analyse it Of what, or in what does pleasantness of manner consist? That trait which gives elegance and grace to woman, comeliness, and the power of doing good.

After church "Davy Jones" (John), your Mamma, and I dined alone. The children staid down town to the Sunday School celebration. But I was speaking of the Christian graces and human virtues and those traits which you should cultivate, and which embellish and adorn the character. The one great point which, after duty to God, you are to keep constantly in view is, to identify yourself with your husband, and strive mutually each to make yourselves the companion of the other.

There is but one way to do this, and that is by teaching yourself, my dear, to take an intelligent interest in those affairs and occupations which are from time to time employing your husband's thoughts and life. The husband's affairs are, in the married life, the affairs of the State. He provides; and, to say the least, the wife who seeks to be posted up in everything that concerns him, especially in the ever}'-day affairs of life, does nothing more than render a grateful homage. Do you, my love, first set the example, and if you do not win tenfold, I have much mistaken the character of the man who has won your affections.

You must learn the servants on the plantation by name, the cattle and the fields too; you must learn of Wellford, in the morning, what he is going to do during the day, and take the same lively interest in his occupations as you would do were they your own. The Farm Book will help you to do this, and if its dry details be mastered for the first year they will be dry no longer, for then you can tell him when to sow and when to reap, how the signs and seasons are. Then


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Rh hospitalities and good-neighbourhood, a smile of welcome from mine hostess and a gentle voice make a sauce that is savoury for anything; and the poor—I do not mean more especially objects of charity, but those who are in a more humble sphere of life than it has pleased God to place you—never lack, as in your sweet little heart I am sure you never do, in consideration for them. I must not caution you against the bad taste of patronizing, for your manner of life and good-breeding secure you against that. What I meant was merely to caution you against the foolish habit of waiting to be spoken to; speak to everybody without waiting.

There is no trait perhaps more winning than that of a generous confidence. Self-examination—constant, close self-examinations—are indispensable; there are some that may be made all the better with the assistance of your husband—make them. Confidence begets confidence.

I would have you both bear in mind that this is the time for you to accommodate and adjust yourselves to each other, and with two such comely dispositions to work upon, this may be soon accomplished, and that so thoroughly that all your future life will abound in the good results.

Then, too, my dear, you must not forget to treat with affection all Mr. Corbin's friends and relations. They are disposed to be kind and good to you—meet them a little more than half-way. As for reading, with your good taste you cannot go well amiss; only, in selecting authors, do not select merely for amusement—select for profit also.

I am writing you a very disjointed letter, my love, but I have been thinking so much of you, and missing you so sorely, and loving you so tenderly, since you went away, and my heart was so full, and my head so empty, that I hardly know what I have said. Did you plant the yellow jasmine at Farleyvale? 'Tis the grand scion of the one I courted your Mother under, and I wish it, or a slip from it, to be planted over my grave.

The boy will go down to see you on his own hook next Tuesday—great boy that! You and Wellford should write by every mail to us. Good-bye, and God bless you both!

Your affectionate Dad,


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 To the same.

2em

. . . . I am to go lecturing in Ohio from Nov. 22nd to Dec. 3rd. I want to deliver six lectures a week, and raise money enough to keep Dick at the University, pay off bills, and have some shots in the locker. . . . M. F.

Of these lectures the Cleveland Plain Dealer said, on Nov. 22nd, 1858:—

"They have all the thrilling interest of romance, all the charming simplicity of narrative, and yet the grandest and most sublime principles of science are grappled with, and discussed with the erudition and ability of a master mind. In securing this truly distinguished scholar, the Cleveland Library Association has reflected credit, not only upon their organization, but upon the taste and culture of our citizens.

"Lieutenant Maury's opening lecture was on the * Atlantic Telegraph,' with which great achievement his name is so honourably connected. His other three lectures will be 'On the Highways and Byways of the Sea,' on extending to the lakes ' A System of Meteorological Observations,' and 'The Workshops and Harmonies of the Sea.'

"Lieutenant Maury is particularly anxious that our business men should listen to his third lecture, as he is most desirous of carrying out for our lake commerce the system that has proved so valuable to the ocean marine."

To

Here I am in the midst of a great snowstorm. This is my lecture evening; I am afraid of empty benches. I am to sleep at Colonel Graham's; but, as I have things to attend to, I shall not go there until after the lecture.

There was a great crowd at the Lecture Hall in Rochester.


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Rh I got through, and left on the cars at 3.45 Travelled all day; reached Ann Arbor at 8  found an audience waiting for me; hopped out, went straight to lecturing, delighted the audience, rode a mile to a party, took a hot supper, and so back to the cars at 10; travelled all night in a sleeping-car, and reached this place at 9 this morning; so here I am. Have just had dinner, and am going to try for a nap presently. I told M., of the Rural New Yorker, to send you a cheque; write your name across the back of it, send it to the General, and ask him to get the money for you.

Where's my Betty, and where's my Nannie? I hope, if the latter went, the former came. On the 22nd I lecture here; 23rd in Kalamaso; 24th, no place fixed—perhaps Indianapolis; 25th, Cleveland; 26th, Laporte, Indiana, I reckon; 27th, here; 29th, Cincinnati. The weather is very cold. Kiss all my children, and tell me you are all well and happy. I want to astonish you with a present: tell Tots and Glum and Lucy and the boy to put their heads together and tell me what to bring. This is a furious storm! Give my love to Mary and sister E.; I hope the latter continues to mend. God bless us every one! I am mighty tired of staying away from home.

Yours, M. F.

I had a time of it in Chicago. Last night it rained worse than it rained Saturday night, and the attendance was slim. I stopped at Colonel Graham's, you know; he gave me a nice party last night. He was a soldier; he would have me waked up in time for the cars at 6; he never got left behind. He would have breakfast for me—at least, the cook would; but, bless your heart, honey! not a soul waked up till the cook came; so I was up and dressed and off in about ten minutes. When I arrived here, Senator Stuart, with a committee, was at the cars to escort me to the hotel. He and his wife leave for Washington Saturday; they will stop at the St. Charles. I wish you and Betty would call on her: I want to invite them up to spend the day when I get back.


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168 You must make a heap of calls, and leave my cards everywhere. Get a nice hack, and don't overdo the thing by breaking yourself down. Take several days. . ..

Since last I wrote, I have lectured in Kalamaso, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Laporte; make the children find the places on the map. To-night I lecture here. It is now 10 and raining. I go to Colonel Graham's directly; hope to find there a letter from you. I am very well except a cold. I do long to get over this task; it has been gloomy weather ever since I've been in the lake country—for more than a week. It is now snowing and storming furiously; but I don't lecture on my own hook, that's a comfort!

I had a packed house in Cleveland: they had to stop selling tickets and turn off the people—house full.

I have travelled since I left home 1844 miles, have been from home 12 days—10 days on my lecture ground—and have lectured nine times. I am dying to be with you all!

Your affectionate M. F.

The following account of the lectures is from the Chicago Press and Tribune of November 23rd, 1858:—

"The subject of Lieutenant Maury's lecture was the importance of a 'Careful Meteorological Survey' of the great North-American Lakes. It was delivered before the Chicago Mechanics' Institute.

"The subject is one of the highest interest and importance. In Chicago, the great metropolis of the lakes, this distinguished savant and lecturer had a crowded house on the occasion of his treating of a theme so important as the navigation and commerce of these great inland seas, and the benefits accruing to all from their complete and perfect meteorological survey.

"The lecturer commenced by referring to the magnitude of this chain of lakes, containing as they do one-third of the


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Rh fresh water on the surface of the globe. . . . 'This great chain of lakes has been estimated to contain 11,000 cubic miles of fresh water.' To give an idea of the amount of this vast body of water, after explaining his mode of careful measurement of the Mississippi river at Memphis, the lecturer said, 'that the lakes contained more water than the Mississippi discharges into the Gulf of Mexico in one hundred years.' In other words, were all the waste from the lakes by evaporation and other causes to be cut off, and a sluice to be opened, the size of the Mississippi channel, it would flow a century in draining these vast inland seas.

"The lakes themselves contain a surface of 2000 square miles, and they drain a territory, or their water-shed, of 50,000 square miles.

"From the above figures it may well be imagined that this vast extent of fresh water maintains and subserves most important influences and purposes, as pertaining to the climate, temperature, and hygiene of their vast surrounding or tributary region.

"There is a difference, not universally well understood, between the effects on climate incident to their being fresh or salt. Were the lakes salt, like the Caspian, they would give to their region a warmer temperature; the winters, latitude remaining the same, would be milder, the summers more sultry. This arises simply from the effects of evaporation: fresh water, according to the observations of Professor Chapman at Montreal, evaporates fester than salt, carrying off more heat.

"The amount of the evaporation of the lakes was illustrated as follows. The Cataract of Niagara represents the excess of the precipitation, by rains upon the lakes and their watershed, over the evaporation.

"Thus in the lakes the evaporation may be represented as five or six times the water at Niagara, and to produce this


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170 evaporation requires the same amount of heat that would suffice to raise Niagara to boiling-point, if such a thing may be imagined; and imagining this, we may conceive of what is actually going on. The loss of this amount of heat, parted with by the lakes, leaves them and their region colder in the winter and summer.

"In salt lakes the water enters warmer than does fresh water, from this loss of heat to the latter, and in winter there is a further difference. When fresh water is exposed to a change of temperature, it grows denser until it reaches 30 degrees, or near freezing, when it expands, thus rising to the surface. These lakes in winter have their coldest water at the surface; with salt water the reverse is true, and the water, continuing to grow denser with a lower temperature, sinks and leaves the surface-water the warmest; were the lakes salt water, navigation would continue the entire year round.

"These preliminaries passed, the speaker connected them with the interests of the lake region, of which he proceeded to speak. Quoting fully, and with honourable mention of their author, the full and clear reports of Colonel Graham of this city, he reviewed fully the perils to which lake fleets are exposed.

"According to Colonel Graham's report for 1855 to the department at Washington, the value of the shipping and commerce interested in the construction of a single breakwater at Michigan city was $218,000,000.

"According to observations taken, the value of shipping and commerce passing the flats of the St. Clair, on an average of 230 days for the busy season, reached the daily average of $1,029,223. The entire value of the lake commerce was $200,000,000 to each lake, ranging more to Lakes Michigan and Huron, less to Lake Superior; and, as Erie is an outlet to the others, the amount on that lake was $300,000,000.


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Rh "And it is not the shipper, the vessel-owner, and the mariner who are alone interested, but it is the producer, the farmers of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and their sister States, and the consumers of the Eastern States.

"The effect of the commerce of the lakes and their improvement even thus far has turned the Mississippi upside down. It has actually placed one of its mouths at Sandy Hook, so that the people along the Mississippi Valley have no slight interest in the lake improvements.

"Study the rates of lake insurance: their figures should have spoken in tones that should command attention—the losses have been in millions of money. The shrieks of victims by disaster should have been heard, and should have produced the required system of improvements to the lake navigation long ago.

"This nation is enlightened, our rulers never object to appropriations for scientific purposes on scientific grounds solely. . . . He then said the Government employés, the lighthouse-keepers, &c., stationed throughout the entire chains should be instructed to take observations and report them to Colonel Graham of this city; the Lake Board of Underwriters can instruct their agents in lake towns and cities to do the same.

"He then eloquently referred to the aid to science furnished by the electric telegraph, which had well-nigh given to the meteorologist omnipresence. It will tell of the barometric changes at distant points, foretell the coming storm. Then the associated press is another agent: it will take up and bear the news to the bulletin boards in distant cities, and to the press, which with steam press and steam-driven car will strike off and diffuse the intelligence to all quarters with a speed 'Rhoderic Dhu' and Malise never dreamed of; and thus all will know of the coming storm while yet a thousand miles away.


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title: Talk:Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society


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Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society

CHAPTER 1. uncle John's Duty

2. a Question of "Pull"

3. Diana

4. The Three Nieces

5. Preparing for the Plunge

6. The Fly in the Broth

7. The Hero Enters and Trouble Begins

8. Opening the Campaign

9. The Von Taer Pearls

10. Misled

11. Limousine

12. Fogerty

13. Diana Revolts

14. A Cool Encounter

15. A Bewildering Experience

16. Madame Cerise, Custodian

17. The Mystery Deepens

18. A Rift In The Clouds

19. Politic Repentance

20. A Telephone Call

21. The Unexpected Happens

22. Gone

23. The Crisis

24. A Matter of Course

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CHAPTER IV ALWAYS THE “INJURED INNOCENT”! what we have termed Political Feminism vehemently asserts its favourite dogma, the intellectual and moral equality of the sexes—that the woman is as good as the man if not better—Sentimental Feminism as vehemently seeks to exonerate every female criminal, and protests against any punishment being meted out to her approaching in severity that which would be awarded a man in a similar case. It does so on grounds which presuppose the old theory of the immeasurable inferiority, mental and moral, of woman, which are so indignantly spurned by every Political Feminist—i.e. in his or her capacity as such. We might suppose, therefore, that Political Feminism, with its theory of sex equality based on the assumption of equal sex capacity, would be in strong opposition in this matter with Sentimental Feminism, which seeks, as its name implies, to attenuate female responsibility on grounds which are not distinguishable from the old-fashioned assumption of inferiority. But does Political 80

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Rh Feminism consistently adopt this logical position? Not one whit. It is quite true that some Feminists, when hard pressed, may grudgingly concede the untenability on rational grounds of the Sentimental Feminists' claims. But taken as a whole, and in their practical dealings, the Political Feminists are in accord with the Sentimental Feminists in claiming female immunity on the ground of sex. This is shown in every case where a female criminal receives more than a nominal sentence.

We have already given examples of the fact in question, and they could be indefinitely extended. At the end of the year 1911, at Birmingham, in the case of a woman convicted of the murder of her paramour by deliberately pouring inflammable oil over him while he was asleep, and then setting it afire, and afterwards not only exulting in the action but saying she was ready to do it again, the jury brought in recommendation to mercy with their verdict. And, needless to say, the influence of Political and Sentimental Feminism was too strong to allow the capital sentence to be carried out, even with such a fiendish wretch as this. In the case of the Italian woman in Canada, Napolitano, before mentioned, the female franchise societies issued a petition to Mr Borden, the Premier of Canada, in favour of the commutation of sentence. The usual course was adopted in this case, as in most others in which a woman murders a man—to wit, the truly

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82 “chivalrous” one of trying to blacken the character of the dead victim in defence of the action of the murderess. In other cases, more especially, of course, where the man is guilty of a crime against a woman, when mercy is asked for the offender, we are pitifully adjured to “think of the poor victim.” As we have seen, Lord Haldane trotted out this exhortation in a case where it was absurdly inappropriate, since the much-commiserated “victim” had only herself to thank for being a “victim,” and still more for remaining a “victim.” We never hear this plea for the “victim” urged where the “victim” happens to be a man and the offender a woman. Compare this with the case of the boy of nineteen, Beal, whom Mr M'Kenna hanged for the murder of his sweetheart, and that in the teeth of an explanation given in the defence which was at least possible, if not probable, and which certainly, putting it at the very lowest, introduced an element of doubt into the case. Fancy a girl of nineteen being convicted, whatever the evidence, of having poisoned her paramour or even if, per impossibile, she were convicted, fancy her being given more than a short term of imprisonment! A man murdered by a woman is always the horrid brute, while the woman murdered by the man is just as surely the angelic victim. Anyone who reads reports of cases with an unbiassed mind must admit the absolute accuracy of this statement.

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Rh Divine woman is always the “injured innocent,” not only in the graver crimes, such as murder, but also in the minor offences coming under the cognisance of the law. At the Ledbury Petty Sessions a woman in the employment of a draper, who had purloined goods to the amount of £150, was acquitted on the ground of “kleptomania,” and this notwithstanding the fact that she had been in the employment of the prosecutor for over five years, had never complained of illness and had never been absent from business; also that her landlady gave evidence showing that she was sound in mind and body. At the very same sessions two men were sentenced respectively to eight and twelve months' imprisonment for stealing goods to the value of £5! (John Bull, 12th November 1910).

At this point I may be permitted to quote from the article formerly alluded to (Fortnightly Review, November 1911, case taken from a report in The News of the World of 28th February 1909): “A young woman shot at the local postman with a revolver; the bullet grazed his face, she having fired point blank at his head. Jury returned a verdict of not guilty, although the revolver was found on her when arrested, and the facts were admitted and were as follows:—At noon she left her house, crossing three fields to the house of the victim, who was at home and alone; upon his

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84 appearing she fired point blank at his head; he banged to the door, and thus turned off the bullet, which grazed his face and 'ploughed a furrow through his hair.' She had by her when arrested a revolver cocked and with four chambers undischarged.”

Let us now take the crime of violent assault with attempt to do bodily injury. The following cases will serve as illustrative examples:—From The News of the World, 9th May 1909: A nurse in Belfast sued her lost swain for breach of promise. She obtained £100 damages although it was admitted by her counsel that she had thrown vitriol over the defendant, thereby injuring him, and the defendant had not prosecuted her! Also it was admitted that she had been “carrying on” with another man. From The Morning Leader of 8th July 1905 I have taken the following extraordinary facts as to the varied punishment awarded in cases of vitriol-throwing: That of a woman who threw vitriol over a sergeant at Aldershot, and was sentenced to six months' imprisonment without hard labour while a man who threw it over a woman at Portsmouth was tried and convicted at the Hants Assizes, on 7th July 1905, and sentenced by Mr Justice Bigham to twelve years' penal servitude! As regards the first case it will be observed that, (notwithstanding a crime, which in the case of a man was described by the judge as “cowardly

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Rh and vile” and meriting twelve years' penal servitude) the woman was rewarded by damages for £100, to be obtained from the very victim whom she had done her best to maim for life (besides being unfaithful to him) and who had generously abstained from prosecuting.

But it is not merely in cases of murder, attempted murder or serious assault that justice is mocked by the present state of our law and its administration in the interests of the female sex. The same attitude is observed, the same farcical sentences on women, whether the crime be theft, fraud, common assault, criminal slander or other minor offences. We have the same preposterous excuses admitted, the same preposterous pleas allowed, and the same farcical sentences passed—if, indeed, any sentence be passed at all. The following examples I have culled at random:—From John Bull, 26th February 1910: At the London Sessions, Mr Robert Wallace had to deal with the case of a well-dressed woman living at Hampstead, who pleaded guilty to obtaining goods to the amount of £50 by false pretences. In explanation of her crime it was stated that she was under a mistaken impression that her engagement would not lead to marriage, that she became depressed, and that she “did not know what she said or did,” while in mitigation of punishment it was urged that the money had been repaid, that

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Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society/Chapter 2

John Merrick's face was not so cheery as usual as he made his way into the city. This suggestion of Martha Merrick's regarding his inattention to duty to his beloved nieces was no easy nut to crack.

He knew his sister-in-law to be a wordly-minded, frivolous woman, with many trivial ambitions; but in this instance he had misgivings that she might be right. What did he, John Merrick, know of select society? A poor man, of humble origin, he had wandered into the infantile, embryo West years ago and there amassed a fortune. When he retired and returned to "civilization" he found his greatest reward In the discovery of three charming nieces, all "as poor as Job's turkey" but struggling along bravely, each in her individual characteristic way, and well worthy their doting uncle's affectionate admiration. Mrs. Merrick had recited some of the advantages they had derived from the advent of this rich relative; but even she could not guess how devoted the man was to the welfare of these three fortunate girls, nor how his kindly, simple heart resented the insinuation that he was neglecting anything that might contribute to their happiness.

Possession of money had never altered John Merrick's native simplicity. He had no extravagant tastes, dressed quietly and lived the life of the people. On this eventful morning the man of millions took a cross-town car to the elevated station and climbed the stairs to his train. Once seated and headed cityward he took out his memorandum book to see what engagements he had for the day. There were three for the afternoon. At twelve o'clock he had promised to meet Von Taer.

"H-m-m. Von Taer."

Gazing reflectively from the window he remembered a conversation with a prominent banker some month or so before. "Von Taer," the banker had said, "is an aristocrat with an independent fortune, who clings to the brokerage business because he inherited it from his father and grandfather. I hold that such a man has no moral right to continue in business. He should retire and give the other fellow a chance."

"Why do you call him an aristocrat?" Mr. Merrick had enquired.

"Because his family is so ancient that it shames the ark itself. I imagine his ancestors might have furnished Noah the lumber to build his ship. In New York the '400' all kowtow to Von Taer."

"Seems to me he has the right to be a broker if he wants to," asserted Mr. Merrick.

"The right; yes. But, between us, Mr. Merrick, this society swell has no mental capacity to handle such an uncertain business. He's noted for doing unwarranted things. To me it's a marvel that Von Taer hasn't shipwrecked the family fortunes long ago. Luck has saved him, not foresight."

That speech of a few weeks ago now seemed prophetic to John Merrick. Within a few days the aristocratic broker had encountered financial difficulties and been forced to appeal to Mr. Merrick, to whom he obtained an introduction through a mutual friend. Von Taer was doubtless solvent, for he controlled large means; but unless a saving hand was extended at this juncture his losses were sure to be severe, and might even cripple him seriously.

All this Mr. Merrick shrewdly considered in the space of a few moments. As he left the train he looked at his watch and found it was barely eleven. He decided not to await the hour of appointment. With his usual brisk stride he walked to Von Taer's offices and was promptly admitted to the broker's sanctum.

Hedrik Von Taer was a fine looking man, tall, grave, of dignified demeanor and courteous manners. He stood until his visitor was seated and with a gesture of deference invited him to open the conversation.

"I've decided to make you the loan, Von Taer," began Mr. Merrick, in his practical, matter-of-fact way. "Three hundred thousand, wasn't it? Call on Major Doyle at my office this afternoon and he'll arrange it for you."

An expression of relief crossed the broker's face.

"You are very kind, sir," he answered. "I assure you I fully appreciate the accommodation."

"Glad to help you," responded the millionaire, briskly. Then he paused with marked abruptness. It occurred to him he had a difficult proposition to make to this man. To avoid the cold, enquiring eyes now fixed upon him he pulled out a cigar and deliberately cut the end. Von Taer furnished him a match. He smoked a while in silence.

"This loan, sir," he finally began, "is freely made. There are no strings tied to it. I don't want you to feel I'm demanding any sort of return. But the truth is, you have it in your power to grant me a favor."

Von Taer bowed.

"Mr. Merrick has generously placed me under an obligation it will afford me pleasure to repay," said he. But his eyes held an uneasy look, nevertheless.

"It's this way," explained the other: "I've three nieces—fine girls, Von Taer—who will some day inherit my money. They are already independent, financially, and they're educated, well-bred and amiable young women. Take my word for it."

"I am sure your statements are justified, Mr. Merrick." Yet Hedrik Von Taer's face, usually unexpressive, denoted blank mystification. What connection could these girls have with the favor to be demanded?

"Got any girls yourself, Von Taer?"

"A daughter, sir. My only child.

"Grown up?"

"A young lady now, sir."

"Then you'll understand. I'm a plain uneducated man myself. Never been any nearer swell society than a Fifth Avenue stage. My money has given me commercial position, but no social one worth mentioning. Your '400's' a bunch I can't break into, nohow."

A slight smile hovered over the other's lips, but he quickly controlled it.

"They tell me, though," continued the speaker, "that your family has long ago climbed into the top notch of society. You're one o' the big guns in the battery, an' hold the fort against all comers."

Von Taer merely bowed. It was scarcely necessary to either admit or contradict the statement. Uncle John was a little indignant that his companion showed no disposition to assist him in his explanation, which a clear head might now easily comprehend. So, with his usual frankness, he went directly to the point.

"I'd like my girls to get into the best—the most select—circles," he announced. "They're good and pretty and well-mannered, so it strikes me they're entitled to the best there is a-going. I don't want to mix with your swell crowd myself, because I ain't fit; likewise the outfit ain't much to my taste, askin' your pardon; but with women it's different. They need to stand high an' shine bright to make 'em really happy, and if any special lot is particularly ex-clusive an' high-falutin', that's the crowd they long to swarm with. It's human nature—female human nature, anyhow. You catch my idea, Von Taer, don't you?"

"I think so, Mr. Merrick. Yet I fail to see how I can be of service to you in gratifying the ambition of your charming nieces."

"Then I'll go, and you may forget what I've said." The visitor arose and took his hat from the table. "It was only a fool notion, anyway; just a thought, badly expressed, to help my girls to a toy that money can't buy."

Hedrik Von Taer gazed steadily into the man's face. There was something in the simple, honest self-abnegation of this wealthy and important person that won the respect of all he met. The broker's stern eyes softened a bit as he gazed and he allowed a fugitive smile, due to his own change of attitude, to wreathe his thin lips again—just for an instant.

"Sit down, please, Mr. Merrick," he requested, and rather reluctantly Uncle John resumed his seat. "You may not have an especially clear idea of New York society, and I want to explain my recent remark so that you will understand it. What is called 'the 400' may or may not exist; but certainly it is no distinct league or association. It may perhaps be regarded as a figure of speech, to indicate how few are really admitted to the most exclusive circles. Moreover, there can be no dominant 'leader of society' here, for the reason that not all grades of society would recognize the supremacy of any one set, or clique. These cliques exist for various reasons. They fraternize generally, but keep well within their own circles. Kindred tastes attract some; ancient lineage others. There is an ultra-fashionable set, a sporting set, a literary set, an aristocratic set, a rather 'fast' set, a theatrical set—and so on. These may all lay claim with certain justice to membership in good society. Their circles are to an extent exclusive, because some distinction must mark the eligibility of members. And outside each luminous sphere hovers a multitude eager to pass the charmed circle and so acquire recognition. Often it is hard to separate the initiate from the uninitiate, even by those most expert. Is it difficult to comprehend such a condition as I have described, Mr. Merrick?"

"Somewhat, Mr. Von Taer. The wonder to me is why people waste time in such foolishness."

"It is the legitimate occupation of many; the folly of unwise ambition impels others. There is a fascination about social life that appeals to the majority of natures. Let us compare society to a mountain whose sides are a steep incline, difficult to mount. To stand upon the summit, to become the cynosure of all eyes, is a desire inherent, seemingly, in all humanity; for humanity loves distinction. In the scramble toward the peak many fall by the wayside; others deceive themselves by imagining they have attained the apex when they are far from it. It is a game, Mr. Merrick, just as business is a game, politics a game, and war a game. You know how few really win."

"Here," said Uncle John, musingly, "is a philosophy I did not expect from you, Von Taer. They tell me you're one who stands on top the peak. And you were born that way, and didn't have to climb. Seems to me you rather scorn the crowd that's trying to climb to an eminence you never had to win. That wouldn't be my way. And I suspect that if the crowd wasn't trying to climb to you, your own position wouldn't be worth a cotton hat."

Von Taer had no answer to this criticism. Perhaps he scarcely heard it, for he appeared lost in a brown study. Finally he said:

"Will you permit my daughter to call upon your nieces, Mr. Merrick?"

"Of course, sir."

"Then kindly give me their addresses."

Uncle John wrote them on a slip of paper.

"You may now dismiss the subject from your mind, sir, as you lately advised me to do. Whatever may be accomplished in the direction you have suggested I will gladly undertake. If I succeed it will be exceedingly gratifying to us all, I am sure."

Mr. Merrick left the office in a rather humbled and testy mood. He disliked to ask favors at any time and now felt that he had confided himself to the mercy of this callous aristocrat and met with a distinct rebuff.

But he had done it for the sake of his beloved nieces—and they would never know what humiliation this unsatisfactory interview had cost him.

title: Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society/Chapter 2


text:
Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society/Chapter 1

"You're not doing your duty by those girls, John Merrick!"

The gentleman at whom this assertion was flung in a rather angry tone did not answer his sister-in-law. He sat gazing reflectively at the pattern in the rug and seemed neither startled nor annoyed. Mrs. Merrick, a pink-cheeked middle-aged lady attired in an elaborate morning gown, knitted her brows severely as she regarded the chubby little man opposite; then, suddenly remembering that the wrinkles might leave their dreadful mark on her carefully rolled and massaged features, she banished them with a pass of her ringed hand and sighed dismally.

"It would not have mattered especially had the poor children been left in their original condition of friendless poverty," she said. "They were then like a million other girls, content to struggle for a respectable livelihood and a doubtful position in the lower stratas of social communion. But you interfered. You came into their lives abruptly, appearing from those horrid Western wilds with an amazing accumulation of money and a demand that your three nieces become your special protégées. And what is the result?"

The little man looked up with a charming smile of good humored raillery. His keen gray eyes sparkled as mischievously as a schoolboy's. Softly he rubbed the palms of his hands together, as if enjoying the situation.

"What is it, Martha, my dear? What is the result?" he asked.

"You've raised them from their lowly condition to a sphere in which they reign as queens, the envy of all who know them. You've lavished your millions upon them unsparingly; they are not only presumptive heiresses but already possessed of independent fortunes. Ah, you think you've been generous to these girls; don't you, John Merrick?"

"Go on, Martha; go on."

"You've taken them abroad—you took my own daughter, John Merrick, and left me at home!—you've lugged your three nieces to the mountains and carried them to the seashore. You even encouraged them to enlist in an unseemly campaign to elect that young imbecile, Kenneth Forbes, and—"

"Oh, Martha, Martha! Get to the point, if you can. I'm going, presently."

"Not until you've heard me out. You've given your nieces every advantage in your power save one, and the neglect of that one thing renders futile all else you have accomplished."

Now, indeed, her listener seemed perplexed. He passed a hand over his shiny bald head as if to stimulate thought and exorcise bewilderment.

"What is it, then? What have I neglected?" was his mild enquiry.

"To give those girls their proper standing in society."

He started; smiled; then looked grave.

"You're talking foolishly," he said. "Why, confound it, Martha, they're as good girls as ever lived! They're highly respected, and—"

"Sir, I refer to Fashionable Society." The capitals indicate the impressive manner in which Mrs. Merrick pronounced those words.

"I guess money makes folks fashionable; don't it, Martha?"

"No, indeed. How ignorant you are, John. Can you not understand that there is a cultured, aristocratic and exclusive Society in New York that millions will not enable one to gain entrée to?"

"Oh, is there? Then I'm helpless."

"You are not, sir."

"Eh? I thought you said—"

"Listen, John; and for heaven's sake try for once to be receptive. I am speaking not only for the welfare of my daughter Louise but for Beth and Patricia. Your nieces are charming girls, all three. With the advantages you have given them they may well become social celebrities."

"H-m-m. Would they be happier so?"

"Of course. Every true woman longs for social distinction, especially if it seems difficult to acquire. Nothing is dearer to a girl's heart than to win acceptance by the right social set. And New York society is the most exclusive in America."

"I'm afraid it will continue to exclude our girls, Martha."

"Not if you do your duty, John."

"That reminds me. What is your idea of my duty, Martha? You've been talking in riddles, so far," he protested, shifting uneasily in his chair.

"Let me explain more concisely, then. Your millions, John Merrick, have made you really famous, even in this wealthy metropolis. In the city and at your club you must meet with men who have the entrée to the most desirable social circles: men who might be induced to introduce your nieces to their families, whose endorsement would effect their proper presentation."

"Nonsense."

"It isn't nonsense at all."

"Then blamed if I know what you're driving at."

"You're very obtuse."

"I won't agree to that till I know what 'obtuse' means. See here, Martha; you say this social position, that the girls are so crazy for—but they've never said anything to me about it—can't be bought. In the next breath you urge me to buy it. Phoo! You're a thoughtless, silly woman, Martha, and let your wild ambitions run away with your common sense."

Mrs. Merrick sighed, but stubbornly maintained her position.

"I don't suggest 'buying' such people; not at all, John. It's what is called—ah—ah—'influence'; or, or—"

"Or 'pull.' 'Pull' is a better word, Martha. Do you imagine there's any value in social position that can be acquired by 'pull'?"

"Of course. It has to be acquired some way—if one is not born to it. As a matter of fact, Louise is entitled, through her connection with my family—"

"Pshaw, I knew your family, Martha," he interrupted. "An arrant lot of humbugs."

"John Merrick!"

"Don't get riled. It's the truth. I knew 'em. On her father's side Louise has just as much to brag about—an' no more. We Merricks never amounted to much, an' didn't hanker to in swell society. Once, though, when I was a boy, I had a cousin who spelled down the whole crowd at a spellin'-bee. We were quite proud of him then; but he went wrong after his triumph, poor fellow! and became a book agent. Now, Martha, I imagine this talk of yours is all hot air, and worked off on me not because the girls want society, but because you want it for 'em. It's all your ambition, I'll bet a peanut."

"You misjudge me, as usual, John. I am urging a matter of simple justice. Your nieces are lovely girls, fitted to shine in any sphere of life," she continued, knowing his weak point and diplomatically fostering it. "Our girls have youth, accomplishments, money—everything to fit them for social triumphs. The winter season is now approaching; the people are flocking back to town from their country homes; fashionable gaieties and notable events will soon hold full sway. The dear girls are surely entitled to enjoy these things, don't you think? Aren't they worthy the best that life has to offer? And why shouldn't they enter society, if you do your full duty? Once get them properly introduced and they will be able to hold their own with perfect ease. Give me the credit for knowing these things, John, and try to help your nieces to attain their ambition."

"But is it their ambition?" he asked, doubtfully.

"They have not said so in words; but I can assure you it is their ambition, because all three are sensible, spirited, young women, who live in this age and not the one you yourself knew a half century or so ago."

Mr. Merrick sighed and rubbed his head again. Then he slowly rose.

"Mornin', Martha," he said, with a somewhat abstracted nod at his sister-in-law. "This is a new idea to me. I'll think it over."

title: Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society/Chapter 1


text:
Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society/Chapter 3

Diana Von Taer can not be called a type. She was individual. Aristocratic to her finger tips, she was unlike all other aristocrats. An admitted queen of society, her subjects were few and indifferent. She possessed ancient lineage, was highly accomplished, had been born to the purple, as the saying is; but none of these things conspired to make her the curious creature she was.

As we make her acquaintance she is twenty-three years of age—and looks eighteen. She is tall and slender and carries her handsome form with exquisite grace. Diana is never abrupt; her voice is ever modulated to soft, even tones; she rises from a chair or couch with the lithe, sinuous motion of a serpent uncoiling.

Her face, critically regarded, is not so admirable as her form. The features are a trifle too elongated, and their delicacy is marred by a nose a bit broad and unshapely and a mouth with thin lips primly set. Her dark eyes might be magnificent if wide open: but through the narrow slits of their lids, half hidden by long curling lashes, the eyes peer at you with a cold, watchful, intent gaze that carries a certain uncanny and disconcerting fascination.

Yet the girl is essentially feminine. If you refrain from meeting that discomfiting gaze—and her familiars have learned to avoid it—Diana impresses you as being graceful, dainty and possessed of charming manners. Her taste in dress is perfect. She converses fluently on many topics. It is her custom to rise at ten o'clock, whatever time she may have retired the night before; to read until luncheon; to devote the remainder of her day to the requirements of society.

Eligible young men of admitted social standing call upon Diana at such intervals as the proprieties require. They chatter "small talk" and are careful to address her with deference. With an exception to be referred to later these young men have no more thought of "flirting" with Miss Von Taer than they would with the statue of the goddess, her namesake. Her dinner parties and entertainments are very successful. She is greatly admired, per se, but has no intimate friends.

When her mother died, some years before, an aunt had come to live with Diana, and now posed as her chaperon. Mrs. Cameron was a stolid, corpulent lady, with a countenance perpetually placid and an habitual aversion to displaying intellect. Her presence in the establishment, although necessary, was frankly ignored. Fortunately she never obtruded herself.

Hedrik Von Taer was passionately devoted to his daughter. He alone, perhaps, of all the world, thoroughly understood her and appreciated her talents. She may have frightened him at times, but that only added to his admiration. In return Diana displayed a calm, but affectionate regard for her father.

Often after dinner these two would pass an hour together in a corner of the drawing-room, where the cold gray eyes of the man met the intent, half-veiled glance of the girl with perfect understanding. They talked of many things, including business. Hedrik had no secrets from his daughter.

The desperate condition of his finances, when he had been caught in a "corner" on wheat and nearly crushed, had not dismayed her in the least. It was she who had counseled him to appeal to John Merrick, since the name and fame of the eccentric millionaire were familiar to her as to him.

He related to Diana his interview with Mr. Merrick on his return home. He was saved. The three hundred thousand were now in the bank to his credit and he could weather the coming storm easily—perhaps with profit. In a tone half amused, half serious, he told her of the little millionaire's desire to secure entrée into good society for his three nieces.

Diana laughed with her lips; her eyes never laughed. Then she took in her hand the paper containing the addresses of the three girls and regarded it thoughtfully.

"It is a curious request, mon pere," she said, In her soft, even tones; "but one we cannot diplomatically disregard. Provided, however—"

"Yes, Diana;" as she paused.

"Provided these prospective debutantes are not wholly impossible."

"I realize that," returned her father. "John Merrick is a great power in the city. He has been useful to me, and may be again. I have this chance to win him. But the man is very common clay, despite his wealth, and his three nieces are likely to be made of the same material. Should they prove impossible you cannot well descend to introducing them to our set."

"I am not certain of that, sir," said the girl, with a pretty shrug. "My position is too secure to be jeopardized by any error of this sort. I believe I may introduce these girls without risk. I shall not vouch for them too strongly, and after their debut they must stand or fall on their own merits."

"It is something a Von Taer has never yet done," remarked the man, gravely.

"To commercialize his social position? But, father dear, the age is fast commercializing everything. I think our especial set is as yet comparatively free from contamination by the 'lately rich'; but even among us money has glossed many offenses that a generation ago would have meant social ostracism."

He nodded.

"That is true, Diana."

"Life with me is a bit dull, as well. Everlasting routine, however admirable, is tiresome. I scent amusement in this adventure, which I have decided to undertake. With your permission I will see these girls and quickly decide their fate. Should they prove not too dreadfully outré you may look to see them my especial protégés."

"I leave all to your discretion, Diana," returned Von Taer, with a sigh. "If, in the end, some of the more particular venture to reproach you—"

"It will not matter," interrupted the daughter, lightly, as her dark eyes narrowed to a hair's breadth. "Any who dares reproach Diana Von Taer will afford her interesting occupation. And to offset that remote contingency we shall permanently enslave the powerful John Merrick. I understand he is hard as nails in financial matters; but to us the man has disclosed his one weakness —ambition to promote his three nieces. Since we have discovered this vulnerable point, let us take advantage of it. I am satisfied the loan of three hundred thousand was but a lure—and how cleverly the man gauged us!"

Von Taer scowled.

"Get your wraps, Diana. The carriage is waiting, and we are due at Mrs. Doldringham's crush."

title: Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society/Chapter 3


text:
Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society/Chapter 5

John Merrick lived with the Doyles at their Willing Square apartments. There were but two of the Doyles—Patricia and her father, Major Doyle, a tall, handsome, soldierly man with white moustache and hair. The Major was noted as a "character," a keen wit and a most agreeable type of the "old Irish gentleman." He fairly worshipped his daughter, and no one blamed him for it. His business, as special agent and manager for his brother-in-law's millions, kept the Major closely occupied and afforded John Merrick opportunity to spend his days as be pleased. The rich man was supposed to be "retired," yet the care of his investments and income was no light task, as the Major found.

We are accustomed to regard extreme wealth as the result of hard-headed shrewdness, not wholly divorced from unscrupulous methods, yet no one could accuse John Merrick or his representative with being other than kindly, simple-hearted and honest. Uncle John says that he never intended to "get rich"; it was all the result of carelessness. He had been so immersed in business that he failed to notice how fast his fortune was growing. When he awoke to a realization of his immense accumulation he promptly retired, appointing Major Doyle to look after his investments and seeking personal leisure after many years of hard work. He instructed his agent to keep his income from growing into more capital by rendering wise assistance to all worthy charities and individuals, and this, as you may suppose, the Major found a herculean task. Often he denounced Uncle John for refusing to advise him, claiming that the millionaire had selfishly thrust the burden of his wealth on the Major's broad shoulders. While there was an element of truth in this the burden it was not so heavy as to make the old soldier unhappy, and the two men loved and respected one another with manly cordiality.

Patricia was recognized as Uncle John's favorite niece and it was understood she was to inherit the bulk of his property, although some millions might be divided between Beth and Louise "if they married wisely." Neither Uncle John nor the Major ever seemed to consider Patsy's marrying; she was such a child that wedlock for her seemed a remote possibility.

The Sunday afternoon following Diana Von Taer's visit to the three nieces found the girls all congregated in Patsy's own room, where an earnest discussion was being conducted. That left Uncle John to take his after-dinner nap in the big Morris chair in the living room, where Major Doyle sat smoking-sulkily while he gazed from the window and begrudged the moments Patsy was being kept from him.

Finally the door opened and the three girls trooped out.

"Huh! Is the conspiracy all cut-an'-dried?" growled the Major.

Uncle John woke up with a final snort, removed the newspaper from his face and sat up. He smiled benignantly upon his nieces.

"It's all your fault, sor!" declared Major Doyle, selecting the little millionaire as the safest recipient of his displeasure. "Your foolishness has involved us all in this dreadful complication. Why on earth couldn't you leave well-enough alone?"

Uncle John received the broadside with tolerant equanimity.

"What's wrong; my dears?" he enquired, directing his mild glance toward the bevy of young girls.

"I am unaware that anything is wrong, Uncle," replied Louise gravely. "But since we are about to make our debut in society it is natural we should have many things to discuss that would prove quite uninteresting to men. Really, Uncle John, this is a great event—perhaps the most important event of our lives."

"Shucks an' shoestrings!" grunted the Major. "What's in this paper-shelled, painted, hollow thing ye call 'society' to interest three healthy, wide-awake girls? Tell me that!"

"You don't understand, dear," said Patsy, soothing him with a kiss.

"I think he does," remarked Beth, with meditative brows. "Modern society is a man-made—or woman-made—condition, to a large extent artificial, selfish and unwholesome."

"Oh, Beth!" protested Louise. "You're talking like a rank socialist. I can understand common people sneering at society, which is so far out of their reach; but a girl about to be accepted in the best circles has no right to rail at her own caste."

"There can be no caste in America," declared Beth, stubbornly.

"But there is caste in America, and will be so long as the exclusiveness of society is recognized by the people at large," continued Louise. "If it is a 'man-made condition' isn't it the most respected, most refined, most desirable condition that one may attain to?"

"There are plenty of honest and happy people in the world who ignore society altogether," answered Beth. "It strikes me that your social stars are mighty few in the broad firmament of humanity."

"But they're stars, for all that, dear," said Uncle John, smiling at her with a hint of approval in his glance, yet picking up the argument; "and they look mighty big and bright to the crowd below. It's quite natural. You can't keep individuals from gaining distinction, even in America. There are few generals in an army, for instance; and they're 'man-made'; but that's no reason the generals ain't entitled to our admiration."

"Let's admire 'em, then—from a distance," retorted the Major, realizing the military simile was employed to win his sympathy.

"Certain things, my dear Major, are naturally dear to a girl's heart," continued Uncle John, musingly; "and we who are not girls have no right to condemn their natural longings. Girls love dancing, pink teas and fudge-parties, and where can they find 'em in all their perfection but in high society? Girls love admiration and flirtations—you do, my dears; you can't deny it--and the male society swells have the most time to devote to such things. Girls love pretty dresses—"

"Oh, Uncle! you've hit the nail on the head now," exclaimed Patsy, laughing. "We must all have new gowns for this reception, and as we're to assist Miss Von Taer the dresses must harmonize, so to speak, and—and—"

"And be quite suited to the occasion," broke in Louise; "and—"

"And wear our lives out with innumerable fittings," concluded Beth, gloomily.

"But why new dresses?" demanded the Major. "You've plenty of old ones that are clean and pretty, I'm sure; and our Patsy had one from the dressmaker only last week that's fit for a queen."

"Oh, Daddy! you don't understand," laughed Patsy.

"This time, Major, I fear you don't," agreed Beth. "Your convictions regarding society may be admirable, but you're weak on the gown question."

"If the women would only listen to me," began the Major, dictatorially; but Uncle John cut him short.

"They won't, sir; they'll listen to no man when it comes to dressmaking."

"Don't they dress to captivate the men, then?" asked the Major, with fine sarcasm.

"Not at all," answered Louise, loftily. "Men seldom know what a woman has on, if she looks nice; but women take in every detail of dress and criticise it severely if anything happens to be out of date, ill fitting or in bad taste."

"Then they're in bad taste themselves!" retorted the Major, hotly.

"Tut-tut, sir; who are you to criticise woman's ways?" asked Uncle John, much amused. The Major was silenced, but he glared as if unconvinced.

"Dressmaking is a nuisance," remarked Beth, placidly; "but it's the penalty we pay for being women."

"You're nothing but slips o' girls, not out of your teens," grumbled the Major. And no one paid any attention to him.

"We want to do you credit, Uncle John," said Patsy, brightly. "Perhaps our names will be in the papers."

"They're there already," announced Mr. Merrick, picking up the Sunday paper that lay beside him.

A chorus of exclamations was followed by a dive for the paper, and even the Major smiled grimly as he observed the three girlish heads close together and three pair of eager eyes scanning swiftly the society columns.

"Here it is!" cried Patsy, dancing up and down like a school-girl; and Louise read in a dignified voice—which trembled slightly with excitement and pleasure—the following item:

 * "Miss Von Taer will receive next Thursday evening at the family mansion in honor of Miss Merrick, Miss Doyle and Miss De Graf. These three charming debutantes are nieces of John Merrick, the famous tin-plate magnate."

"Phoo!" growled the Major, during the impressive hush that followed; "that's it, exactly. Your names are printed because you're John Merrick's nieces. If it hadn't been for tin-plate, my dears, society never would 'a' known ye at all, at all!"

title: Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society/Chapter 5