, 1885-06-28
JOHN SMITH, MONAD.

khhlAn VI "a nAtNhAOonh ply u buC
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 the
bank OF the river; you observe also a hole
or cavity in the cliff. Well. now. take
away all the rock around the hole and
cave nothing but the hole-that Is tran
scendentalism
Dressed in the garb Of philosophical lan.
guage. the ordinary human mind is not
prepared to take In the ideas OF tran
scendcntal philosophy. but when brought
before the mental vision in a plain man
ner it is by no means inexplicable,
Were 10 undertake TO talk TO one un.
acquainted with technical language upon
the sub ect OF chemistry. | should not be
understood Neither would | be under
stood II | talked Of atoms. Of molecules. of
isomorphism. .of acidulous and basilous
rad Gals, together with the whole nomen-
claturc Of the science, This, indeed,
would be mysticism. and such | take IL 10
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-
wildcrment when Kant and Licbwitz and
Hcgel talk Of the agreement Of the sub
1octive with the oh. %ecti.e. Of the know
able with the ~unknowable. of the Ego and
the non Ego. OF the monad and the
noumenon.
John Smith was a bachelor. and. living
alone, he consequently slept alone. He
sat up late one night reading the "Critique
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 a robe de chambre. and
then took a seat in his arm chair. not neg
lecting, however, to pay his respects to
the bottle that bore that strange device. "
As he tool his scat, he CHANGED 10 glance
toward the bed he had just left. and was
not a little surprised at seeing a man ~
ing where n moment before he had lain.
and wearing a robe de chambre so identi.
cally like his own. which was Of n 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 your"
49, 80 - 11RlR'6 NIoA
thunder was not the word he used. but it
is always difficult TO report ones exact
language, especially If 1t be irreverent.
Who am II" said the subject in bed.
We'll. to be sure. | am John Smith. "
well" said the interrogator, "how's
that3 | am John Smith. " Certainly, "
was the reply. Il am perfectly aware
your name is John Smith. and as you and
/ are the sam person. IL follows that my
mama lqo IL John Smith
~What?' said the i%nterrogating John
Smith. you and | the same person7
That's all CANNON.
you can just believe what you please
about 1t, v was the reply, but I'm your
double.
The original John Smith had a sus
picion this was true. for he felt as il
somethi 3 belonging to him was missing.
So he said.
Are you me. or am | your
Both, " was the reply. you and /
are both OF us l am the non ego and you
are the ego. l am the OBJ ective. and you
are the subjective, | am the ideal. and
you are the material. | am the heteron-
omy Of will. and you are the autonomy
Of Will am the and you are
the phenomenon. ! am the uncondi-
tioual, aud you arc the conditional con
s~tituting the non identity and the identity,
H' f"S tHNNt oHN - nv fht AVAnb
and henceforlh you shall be known as
John smith. the monad.
wen said John smith, the monad,
that rather beats anything ! ever heard
OF; upon my word l never thought there
were two OF us Perhaps now there are
three of us "Oh no, " said John Smith.
the Quad. that can not be, the triad only
belongs to deity. You and | in ourselves
constitute absolute totality. o are the
I QNuhEfQnRn am the uHRtdnnf AAuN
are the cause. l am the effect We to-
gether constitute the dogmatic realism,
and the dogmatic idealism
is there anything, inquired the
monad, "%categoric about usy" "Ah you
refer 10 Aristotle. " said the Quad. "Aris-
totle, who was he, " asked the monad.
Aristotle. y said the Quad, was one Of
the greatest philosophers and naturalists
that ever lived Dr. Johann Muller
says he was the clearest intellect tina, ever
Illuminated the world; Campanella styles
him Nature genius. the genius of nature;
and ST Jerome. the Christian. wIote of
him.. as Miraculum mundi. the miracle Of
the world. lie was born at Stagira In the
days of Grecian grandeur. was brought
up at the court of Macedon. his father
being the physician Of King Philip
He was the tutor OF Alexander
the Great, and for twenty years
had every advantage of study.
and according to Strabo was the first man
who ever formed a library. SO great was
his genius that he controlled the opinions
Of the enlightened portions of the human
race for 1000 years. lie wrote many
books-one called the %Categories. 10
which | thought you referred When
Alexander was born. Philip wrote TO the
Stngirite inform you have a son l