The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-08-18
JOHN SMITH, MONAD.

gentleman who was sitting near tn
guards of steamboat plying the waters
Of the Hudson, asked an elder companion
to explain to him the meaning of tran
scendentalism.
Nothing is easier, " was the reply
%You see yon rock cliff, forming tn,
bank Of the river; you observe also hole
or cavity in the cliff. Well, now, take
away all the rock around the hole anC
leave nothing but the hole-thSt is tran
scendentalism.
Dressed in the garb of philosophical Ian
guage, the ordinary human mind is no
prepared to take in the ideas of tran
scendental philosophy, but when brought
before the mental vision in a plain man
ner it Is by no means ineXplicable.
Were l to undertake to talk to one un
acquainted with technical language upon
the subie of chemistry, should not be
understood Neither would / be under
stood if talked of atoms, of molecules, of
isomorphism, sof acidulous and basilous
clature of the science, This, indeed,
would be mysticism, and such take it to
be with transcendental philosophy, as
technically elucidated
l can easily understand the meaning of
Plato when he talks of ideas in the plain
est OF language, but who is not lost in be-
wilderment when Kant and Liebwitz and
Jective with the objective, of the know
able with the unknowable, of the Ego and
the nonEgo, of the monad and the
noumenon.
John Smith was bachelor, and, living
alone, he consequently slept alone He
sat up late one night reading the eCritique
of Pure Reason, by Emanuel Kant, and,
as he read, candor and truth requires the
statement that at intervals he partook
Of the contents of a black look
ing bottle on his sideboard, which
bore upon the label the legend
Eau de Vie, ;" and which, doubtless,
he drank in order to clear his mind of
gathering cobwebs
1t was late before he went to bed, and
consequently late when he got up AS he
did so he put on robe de chambre, and
then took seat in his arm-chair, not neg
lectlng, however, to pay his respects to
the bottle that bore that strange device.
As he took his seat, he CHANGED to glance
toward the bed he had just left, and was
not a little surprised at seeing a man "
ing where moment before he had lain,
and wearing robe de chambre so identi-
caHy like his own, which was Of a pecul-
lar pattern, that it struck him as singular
he was somewhat startled, and turning
toward the individual who occupied the
bed, he thus addressed him:
Who In the name of thunder are You?"
There are reasons for supposing that
thunder was not the word he used, but it
Is always difficult to report ones exact
Language, especially if it be irreverent.
Who am II" said the subject in bed.
: Well, to be sure, | am John Smith ("
that7 l am John Smith % Certainly. "
was the reply. 81 am perfectly aware
your name is John Smith, and as YOU and
are the same person, it follows that nv
name also is John Smith +"
"What?" said the ipterrogating John
smith, you and 1 the same person?
That's all CANNON.
You can just believe what you please
about it. was the reply, but I'm your
double.
The original John Smith had sus.
picion this was true, for he felt as if
something belonging to him was missing.
So ne said:
Are you me, or am your"
Both, was the reply. "You and |
ire both of US l am the non ego and you |
ire the ego / am the OBJ :ective and Won |
re the Subjective. I am the IDEAL and
rou are the material I am the heteron- |
my OF will, and you are the autonomy
I Will am the noumenon and you are
be phenomenon. l am the uncondi-
ional, and you are the conditional. con
tituting the non-identity and the identity.
am the Quad. and you are the monad,
nd henceforth you shall be known as
Ohm Smith, the monad
Well" said John Smith, the monad.
that rather beats anything I ever heard
I; upon my word l never thought there
Iere two of us. Perhaps now there are
lree OF US. oh no, " said John Smith.
1e Quad, that can not be, the triad only
elongs to deity. You and I in ourselves
onstitute absolute totality. You are the
distance. L am the accident You
re the cause. I am the effect We to-
ether constitute the dogmatic realism,
nd the dogmatic idealism. -
" Is there anything, inquired the
lonad, "categoric about us?" "Ah YOU
fer to Aristotle, said the Quad. "Aris-
tile, who was he, :" asked the monad.
Aristotle, said the Quad, "was one of
lie greatest philosophers and naturalists
lat ever lived DR.. Johann Muller
Us he was the clearest intellect that ever
Illuminated the world; Campanella STYLES
M Nature genius the genius of nature;
Id st. Jerome, the Christian, wrote of
m, as Miraculum mundi, the miracle of
e world He was born at Stagira in the
lys OF Grecian grandeur, was brought
? at the court of Macedon, his father
ing the physician of King. Philip
9 was the tutor of Alexander
e Great and for twenty years
q favorite pupil of Plato. He
I'd every advantage of study,
id according to Strabo was the first man
ho ever formed a library So great was
8 genius that he controlled the opinions
the enlightened portions of the human
ee for 1000 years. He wrote many
called the Categories. to
hich / thought you referred When
lexander was born, Philip wrote to the
agirite: i inform you l have a SON /
ank the gods, not so much for making
e father as for giving me son in an I
e when he can have an Aristotle for his
structor. hope you will make him a {
ccessor worthy of me, and a king
1rthy of Macedonia 9
Here the Quad ceased, and the monad t
en- remarked: Considering that you 1
: the other half of me, you seem to be a
city knowing. but I suspect that you i
I that out of some book But let me t
< you question that requires no learn Q
g. Do you eat or not2 for I assure you +
Is all can do TO keep myself supplied !,
III the necessities for supporting life, t
q now that there are two of US, / fear Q
that score there will be trouble "Be
y, said the Quad; whatever you eat I
eat in spiritualized condition; t