Humanly Speaking | Page 9

with the whole
programme of their party. It is all or nothing. When it is presented in
that way you are likely to become discouraged and fall back on
nothing.
Now, if we had a circulating medium you would express the exact state
of your desires somewhat in this way: "Here is my moral dollar. I think
I will take a quarter's worth of Socialism, and twelve and a half cents'
worth of old-time Republicanism, and twelve and a half cents of

genuine Jeffersonian democracy, if there is any left, and a quarter's
worth of miscellaneous insurgency. Let me see, I have a quarter left.
Perhaps I may drop in to-morrow and see if you have anything more
that I want."
The sad state of my good friend Bagster arises from the fact that he
can't do one good thing without being confused by a dozen other things
which are equally good. He feels that he is a miserable sinner because
his moral dollar is not enough to pay the national debt.
But though we have not yet been able adequately to extend the notion
of money to the affairs of the higher life, there have been those who
have worked on the problem.
That was what Socrates had in mind. The Sophists talked eloquently
about the Good, the True, and the Beautiful; but they dealt in these
things in the bulk. They had no way of dividing them into sizable
pieces for everyday use. Socrates set up in Athens as a broker in ideas.
He dealt on the curb. He measured one thing in terms of another, and
tried to supply a sufficient amount of change for those who were not
ashamed to engage in retail trade.
Socrates draws the attention of Phædrus to the fact that when we talk of
iron and silver the same objects are present to our minds, "but when
any one speaks of justice and goodness, there is every sort of
disagreement, and we are at odds with one another and with ourselves."
What we need to do he says is to have an idea that is big enough to
include all the particular actions or facts. Then, in order to do business,
we must be able to divide this so that it may serve our convenience.
This is what Socrates called Philosophy.
"I am a great lover," he said, "of the processes of division and
generalization; they help me to speak and think. And if I find any man
who is able to see unity and plurality in nature, him I follow, and walk
in his steps as if he were a god."
Even in the Forest of Arden life was not so simple as at first it seemed.

The shepherd's life which "in respect of itself was a good life" was in
other respects quite otherwise. Its unity seemed to break up into a
confusing plurality. Honest Touchstone, in trying to reconcile the
different points of view, blurted out the test question, "Hast any
philosophy in thee, Shepherd?" After Bagster has communed with
Chocorua for six months, I shall put that question to him.
THE CONTEMPORANEOUSNESS OF ROME
I
"You here, Bagster?" I exclaimed, as in the Sistine Chapel I saw an
anxious face gazing down into a mirror in which were reflected the
dimmed glories of the ceiling. There was an anxiety as of one who was
seeking the Truth of Art at the bottom of the well.
One who is in the habit of giving unsolicited advice is likely to take for
granted that his advice has been acted upon, even though experience
should teach him that this is seldom the case. I had sagely counseled
Bagster to go to the New Hampshire woods, in order to recuperate after
his multifarious labors. I was therefore surprised to find him playing
truant in Rome.
My salutation did not at first cause him to look up. He only made a
mysterious sign with his hand. It was evidently a gesture which he had
recently learned, and was practiced as a sort of exorcism.
"I am not going to sell you cameos or post cards," I explained.
When he recognized a familiar face, Bagster forgot all about the Last
Judgment, and we were soon out-of-doors and he was telling me about
himself.
"I meant to go to Chocorua as you suggested, but the congregation
advised otherwise, so I came over here. It seemed the better thing to do.
Up in New Hampshire you can't do much but rest, but here you can
improve your taste and collect a good deal of homiletic material. So
I've settled down in Rome. I want to have time to take it all in."

"Do you begin to feel rested?" I asked.
"Not yet. It's harder work than I thought it