Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-21

least was the general drift of her address at the
Universalist Church last evening.
Dangers Menacing Society" was the subject
chosen for her talk. and an audience that fairly
filed the church gathered to hear
what this much-talked-of disciple of Madame
Blavatsky, theosophist, reformer and advanced
thinker would have to say on a subject that
offered such a splendid opportunity for radical
expression There was nothing so very radical
about her remarks, however. She took but a
few OF the more imminent dangers and while
ventional 1t was hardly so to the extent that
some OF her auditors seemed to be prepared
for.
MRS BEsANT's PERSONALITY.
Mrs Besant herself is decidedly an interest
ing parsonage, whether one agrees with her
theories Of life or not. In appearance she is
decidedly pleasing without being particularly
striking or handsome. Her face is refined and
intellectual to a degree and her hair, slightly
hinged with gray, makes for it a very effective
setting As a speaker she is interesting, clear
and logical, and beginning quietly and in a low
voice she soon warns up TO her subject and
commands the closest attention of her hearers
by the very earnestness of her words. Last
night she spoke without notes. Her voice is
musical and clear and her command of Ian
Suage is remarkably good.
Man As A SOCIAL ANIMAL.
In discussing the dangers menacing society
Mrs Besant began at the very beginning with
the biologists definition of man as a social ami
NAL. This she characterized as being part of
the truth, but not the whole of it, In the case
of a hive of bees all work together for the COM
mon good, according to the rule. from each
according to his ability, to each according to
his needs. The queen bee is queen not because
she rides about her realm in coach drawn by six
horses, but because she is the working mother
of them all.
I'm the case Of man" continued Mrs Besant.
I'VE see lot of animals not working together
Tor the greatest veal of ALL but rather as a con-
tending, struggling mass, each one striving for
his personal gain. Such is the society of today.
Such will not be the society of tomorrow.
There are many dangers undermining the
honeycomb of human society. OF these some
lie upon the surface, while some lie beneath,
and OF these those that lie upon the surface are
sometimes less dangerous than the unseen that
menace the welfare of man. OF the former the
first and most striking is the class distinction
of wealth and social standing that is not gov
erned by relative efforts nor is dependent upon
individual merit. There is the wealth of the
millionaire and the poverty of the pauper. The
one begets ldleness, the other despair, and the
union Of idleness and despair begets social
decay.
INFANT MORTALITY OF THE PAUPER CLASS.
''In the vast population of London" Mrs
Besant went on. earnestly and feelingiy, lone
in every five dies in prison, in Jail or in the
work house. OF the two classes, the well-to-do
and the pauper, the average age at the time
of death Of the former is fifty-tve of the latter
twenty-nine. You ask me why this difference
and L answer you that ii is on account of the
frightful infant mortality in the latter class
or the poor tfty-tve out of 100 die before five
years have passed over their baby heads. OF
he rela a,
same period. This difference is caused by the
fact that the poor have been starved for gen.
erations- Can the civilization live that muir
ders its members by the thousand? Murders,
1 say, because preventable death is murder.
WHAT RICHES DID AND DOES REPRESENT
''This is one of the dangers that threaten So
ciety. 1t is more apparent among us in
England, i will admit, than it is In America.
but the tendencies are in your midst as we'll.
All this trouble has arisen in the transition
stage from the old form Of things to the
new In the old form riches did represent that
which was Of service to the community In
those days riches. mounting not to the millions
of today. represented labor, fort frugalitv and
other manly virtues. Today it may represent
but success in gambling-not that vulgar form
of gambling that you punish by imprisonment
IN jail. but gambling nevertheless. In your
system Of today you are raising up brute class
that can only be kept in subsection by fear and
do you think society can exist that is based
upon fear!
DANGER OF EDUCATION.
'1nto this society you introduce another
danger that should really be mans salvation.
If You want to keep helot class you should
keep them ignorant, for thus only can YOU
keep them safe. The pauper member of that
class knows no way of spending his leisure time
save in the beer saloon and the gin palace.
But you take the children Of that class. place
them in schools that offer the greatest con-
trast to their homes, you educate their minds
and bodies to knowledge Of better things to
a sense of the beauty of harmony and of color
and to much that is best and noblest in life.
and do you think that they are GO
ing to be satisfied then with the
methods Of life in the state whence YOU have
brought them? You have educated them to be
dissatisfied with the life they are forced to
lead, and an educated proletariat is being
raised up in your midst Much of the growing
dissatisfaction comes from this sort of educa-
would SO alter society that every
educated man will find that which will
satisfy his longings and his needs. In
the recent strike in London when
a general strike on all the railroads was talked
Of it was seen that London was within measur-
able distance Of actual famine. / can imagine
an educated proletariat saying to the leisure
class: Who are you that we should toll and
slave all the days Of our life to bring you food
and clothing and fuel and minister to your
every want? Do you wonder that there were
whisperings of an uprising and q trial of
strength between the classes?
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RELIGION AND THOUGHT.
These are some of the dangers that lie upon
the surface. One of those that lie below is the
your religion and what you call YOUR thought
In England they buried Darwin in Westmin-