The Washington herald., 1908-03-01
TAXING OF BACHELORS
LAWYER HowARDs PLEA IN THEIR DEFENSE


By HAMILTON GAY HOWARD.
The virulent slUrs and attacks 1pon
that periodically appear in the
columns Of a portion Of the public press
the occasional feeble legislative efforts in
some States 70 tax them into matrimony,
and the terrifying cry Of race suicide"
all combine 10 prompt the writer OF this
article TO offer a few animadversions
anent thereto in general
Verify. is the chief object in life to be-
get physical offspring? Is that the high
est mode Of 'giorifying God?" Lord High
Francis Bacon. the founder OF
the inductive system Of philosophy, a
and childless man. the greatest
intellect this earth has yet contained.
thought not, ne was satisfied with chill
dren OF the BRAIN
Is married Hfe or rather, the rearing
Of a family. conducive to. or compatible
with profound Intellectual or spiritual de-
Have the worlds greatest
thinkers or benefactors been men OF sin
gle or married lives. childless or with
The writer has made a somewhat eX-
tended examination Of the biographies OF
the worlds leading men, and from his
notes collated list OF bachelors and
chlldless men whose services TO their
fenow-men in their respective fields OF
mental activities. he claims. are unrival-
ed in results.
Who was Descartes? a bachelor; one
OF the greatest metaphyslcians. mathe-
maticians. and natural philosophers this
world has ever seen. He lived IN the
seventeenth century. While lying in bed
occupied with the thought OF having dis
covered the foundation Of true science.
he had three consecutive dreams. in
which he thought that God had pointed
out 20 him the line Of life which he should
follow and the real method OF investigat-
ing truth. Descartes. believing that these
dreams were OF heavenly inspiration.
prayed 70 God 20 assist him In his inves-
LEGATIONS First A soldier, he soon after be-
came a profound student, a great travel
er. and finally, although mitch sought for
by society. a reclpse. His studies We're
ology, ,meteoroIogy, dioptrics, chemistry,
astronomy. in which he riyaled Calico.
and mechanics. He left France, his na-
tive country. and resided in Holland-ever
the land of religious liberty. His opin-
ions were received with great avidity In
England. He incurred the active and bit
ter hostility OF the Jesuit Order-chief
enemy OF the freedom of thought He
died in Sweden. the invited guest OF the
illustriOus Queen Christiana. in the year
1850. I'm the nfty-f0urth year Of his life.
Here is a partial list Of some Of his in
tellectual offspring. to-wit: "A Treatise
on Men. Light. - Engines. Algebra. -
Metals" Plants and Animals The
Soul" Nature" Construction OF the
Universe" and a large number OF other
learned writings He was the author or
what is known 20 scholars as the Car
tesian Philosophy which ] shall not
stop &c elucidate. He was occupied IN
rearing children Of the brain" not Of
his loins
Next I present SpinOZa. a bachelor. a
Dutch jew, born IN Holland. and who
lived at the same period as Descsrtes. al
most equaiing him in profound researches
Sir Isaac Newton. q bachelor. needs no
introduction 70 the educated public: nor
does Emanuel Swedenborg. the seer. also
a bachelor whose spiritual illumination
was most marvellous.
Emmanuel Kant. a bachelor with
Scotch-GerInan blood in his veins. one Of
the few great philosophers OF this world.
lived and taught in the middle OF the
eighteenth century He was OF very hum
bic birth. At thirty years Of age he had
distinguished himself in logic. meta
physics. mathematics. natural and moral
philosophy. natural theology. and physi-
cal geography. as professor OF the Uni
versity of kOnigSberg. Riches and hon
ors had to ettractions for him. nor had
matrimony. He was satisfied with chill
dren Of the brain"-his literary work in
print. He died in his eightieth year In
1894. His moral character, Ike that Of
most eminent scholars. was irreproach-
able
II. Franeoise Arout de Voltaire, one Of
the most celebrated and voluminous writ
ers Of any age or country. was a bach
elor. lie was born in Paris. France. in
1884 His father was a lawyer. Like Ed
ward Gibbon. the great historian (also a
bachelor. in his childhood and youth. he
was remarkable for the weakness Of his
constitution. and for bad health. But the
activity OF his mind. the readiness Of his
Wit and sarcasm. or the vividness OF his
imagination. were unimpaired. He died
in the eighty-ffth year Of his age, in HIS
The children Of his brain" were miscel-
laneoVs and numerous. including poetry.
the drama history. philosophy. romance.
&c. and extending to some sixty actavO
volumes BY his attacks on the Christian
faith which have received great Censure,
he did much 10 purify its practice
But space or time VIII not permit me TO
give even the briefest biographies or
character sketches OF some OF the most
distinguished bachelors. ] must content
myself with presenting simply their
names and little else: Michael Angelo.
who united in his mentality almost every
art and science, was a bachelor. the chill
dren Of whose brain will live as long as
this earth lasts. Sir Francis Drake. one
Of the most distinguished naval com
manders and navigators in the reign OF
Queen Elizabeth. was a bachelor. In the
year 1858. having been appointed vice ad-
miral under Lord Howard Of bingham
he acted very prominent part in the at
tack and destruction OF the Spanish Ar
mada by the English navy under that lord
high admiral Beethoven. the musical
composer. whose sOnatas and superb
melodies approach the divine ideal. and
take one into the elySian heIds OF para
disc. was Of the prosecuted tribe Of judah
and bachelor
Cardinal Richelieu. prime minister OF
France, who fiourished IN the beginning
Of The Soyvonfaavfl oo,t,,-,- ,,.,- 4, E,.b