Caesars Column

Caesar's Column

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Caesar's Column, by Ignatius Donnelly (#2 in our series by Ignatius Donnelly)
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Title: Caesar's Column
Author: Ignatius Donnelly
Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5155] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on May 17, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, CAESAR'S COLUMN ***

This eBook was created by Norm Wolcott.

Caesar's Column by Ignatius Donnelly
Redactor's note: In this one of his last books Donnelly presages later futurist works such as "Brave New World" and "1984". The original scans and OCR were provided by Mr. J.B. Hare; for further information about Donnelly and this book see http://www.sacred-texts.com/utopia/cc/index.htm. There is only one footnote marked {fn1. ]
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C?SAR'S COLUMN
A Story of the Twentieth Century.
BY IGNATIUS DONNELLY.
writing as
EDMUND BOISGILBERT, M.D.
Chicago, F.J. Shulte & Co.
[1890]
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
To the Public
I THE GREAT CITY
II. MY ADVENTURE
III. THE BEGGAR'S HOME
IV. THE UNDER-WORLD
V. ESTELLA WASHINGTON
VI. THE INTERVIEW
VII. THE HIDING-PLACE
VIII. THE BROTHERHOOD
IX. THE POISONED KNIFE
X. PREPARATIONS FOR TO-NIGHT
XI. HOW THE WORLD CAME TO BE RUINED
XII. GABRIEL'S UTOPIA
XIII. THE COUNCIL OF THE OLIGARCHY
XIV. THE SPY'S STORY
XV. THE MASTER OF "THE DEMONS"
XVI. GABRIEL'S FOLLY
XVII. THE FLIGHT AND PURSUIT
XVIII. THE EXECUTION
XIX. THE MAMELUKES OF THE AIR
XX. THE WORKINGMEN'S MEETING
XXI. A SERMON OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
XXII. ESTELLA AND I
XXIII. MAX'S STORY-THE SONGSTRESS
XXIV. MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE JOURNEYMAN PRINTER
XXV. MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE DARK SHADOW
XXVI. MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE WIDOW AND HER SON
XXVII. MAX'S STORY CONTINUED--THE BLACKSMITH SHOP
XXVIII. MAX'S STORY CONCLUDED--THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS
XXIX. ELYSIUM
XXX. UPON THE HOUSE-TOP
XXXI. "SHEOL"
XXXII. THE RAT-TRAP
XXXIII. "THE OCEAN OVERPEERS ITS LIST"
XXXIV. THE PRINCE GIVES HIS LAST BRIBE
XXXV. THE LIBERATED PRISONER
XXXVI. C?SAR ERECTS HIS MONUMENT
XXXVII. THE SECOND DAY
XXXVIII. THE FLIGHT
XXXIX. EUROPE
XL. THE GARDEN IN THE MOUNTAINS
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_"The true poet is only a masked father-confessor, whose special function it is to exhibit what is dangerous in sentiment and pernicious in action, by a vivid picture of the consequences."--Goethe._
To the Public
It is to you, O thoughtful and considerate public, that I dedicate this book. May it, under the providence of God, do good to this generation and posterity!
I earnestly hope my meaning, in the writing thereof, may not be misapprehended.
It must not be thought, because I am constrained to describe the overthrow of civilization, that I desire it. The prophet is not responsible for the event he foretells. He may contemplate it with profoundest sorrow. Christ wept over the doom of Jerusalem.
Neither am I an anarchist: for I paint a dreadful picture of the world-wreck which successful anarchism would produce.
I seek to preach into the ears of the able and rich and powerful the great truth that neglect of the sufferings of their fellows, indifference to the great bond of brotherhood which lies at the base of Christianity, and blind, brutal and degrading worship of mere wealth, must--given time and pressure enough--eventuate in the overthrow of society and the destruction of civilization.
I come to the churches with my heart filled with the profoundest respect for the essentials of religion; I seek to show them why they have lost their hold upon the poor,--upon that vast multitude, the best-beloved of God's kingdom,--and I point out to them how they may regain it. I tell them that if Religion is to reassume her ancient station, as crowned mistress of the souls of men, she must stand, in shining armor bright, with the serpent beneath her feet, the champion and defender of mankind against all its oppressors.
The world, to-day, clamors for deeds, not creeds; for bread, not dogma; for charity, not ceremony; for love, not intellect.
Some will say the events herein described are absurdly impossible.
Who is it that is satisfied with the present unhappy condition of society? It is conceded that life is a dark and wretched failure for the great mass of mankind. The many are plundered to enrich the few. Vast combinations depress the price of labor and increase the cost of the necessaries of existence. The rich, as a rule, despise the poor; and the poor are coming to hate the rich. The face of labor grows