# "Goyescas" Brings Colored Man to Front in New Role

James Weldon Johnson Made English Version of Libretto

By R. G. Doggett.

A certain distinguished author, when asked to write upon the "Possibilities of the Negro," wrote the following interesting paragraph:

"When the average American rushes to his telephone there is nothing in the look of the transmitter to tell him that it is part product of a Negro brain; when the whiz of the engine weaves cloth, drags trains and does other deeds of magic, it does not tell the public that the oil which smooths its turning is the composition of a black man. If the medical student reads in Da Costa of the skilled surgeon who recently sewed up a hole in a living man's heart, he will not read that the surgeon was colored; the wanderer amid the beauties of the Luxemburg is not apt to know from the dark hues of the "Raising of Lazarus" the still darker hues of its painter, and it was a Texas girl who naively remarked "I used to read Dunbar a good deal until I found out he was a nigger."

And so I may add concerning the translation of "Goyescas" that all the New York papers gave James Weldon Johnson credit for his splendid work, but not one of them let the public know he was a Negro.

Scene.—James Weldon Johnson's study in his city house, on February 20, 1916. It is an attractive room, furnished with quiet luxury. At the right is a large doorway, flanked by portieres and showing the hall and balustrade of the stairs beyond. At the right are two large windows, looking upon the street. The house opposite can be seen. In the angle at the back, where the two walls meet, is a table with magazines and books. Between the windows is a large table-desk, with a chair back of a telephone on it, and the surface is strewn with papers, letters, memoranda, et cetera.

Near the window stands an official-looking letter-file and a small safe. The rest of the wall space is occupied with book-cases filled with works of the best authors. Above are busts of distinguished Negroes, etchings, etc.

Mr. Doggett.—How did it happen that the opera "Goyescas" was given to you to translate?

Mr. Johnson.—The impression made by some of my lyrics for the music of my brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, and Harry T. Burleigh, together with the

fact that it was known that I was familiar with the Spanish language, brought me the opportunity to do the work.

Mr. Doggett.—How did you gain your knowledge of Spanish?

Mr. Johnson.—I have spoken some Spanish from my earliest boyhood. Later in life I studied the language carefully; but, of course, my ability to speak Spanish with fluency I gained during the eight years I spent in South and Central America in the United States Consular Service.

Mr. Doggett.—Did you find the work of making the English version of "Goyescas" difficult?

Mr. Johnson.—Quite difficult. You see it was not like translating prose, a task which would require only one operation, but it was really a triple task. Not only was it necessary to convert the sense of the original Spanish text into English, but it was necessary to turn the English into verse; moreover, the stress and accents of the English words had to fall exactly where they did in the Spanish, because my contract called for me to make a singable translation. I do not need to say that the turning of Spanish prose into English prose is easy for anyone with a knowledge of both languages; the turning of Spanish verse into English verse is far from easy; and when it is also required that the stress and accents of the English verse shall correspond exactly to the stress and accents of the Spanish verse, you have a task which no one would be contradicted in calling difficult.

There was even a fourth operation added to the task of making a singable translation. Care had to be taken that on certain notes only words containing certain vowels should fall. For example; it would bring down curses of the artist upon the head of the librettist to give a tenor the word "but" or "did" or "gay" or "green" on a high C. So the English words had to be arranged in such an order that high notes and open vowels always fell together.

Mr. Doggett.—How long were you in making the translation?

Mr. Johnson.—That is hard to answer. On some days I would work steadily for twelve or fourteen hours. On other days I would work, perhaps, only an hour or two. Days passed on which I did not touch the work. Altogether I was about six weeks completing it.

Mr. Doggett.—What were your impressions on the opening night at the Metropolitan Opera House?

Mr. Johnson.—I have attended a great many performances at the Metropolitan, but as you must know, none made the same impression on me as the first performance of "Goyescas." It was with mixed feelings of pride and awe that I watched the vast audience, during the intermission after the first act, turning the leaves of an English libretto which was my work, in order to gain a clear understanding of what was being presented upon the greatest operatic stage in the world.

Mr. Doggett.—Do you feel that your work will have any racial effect?

Mr. Johnson.—Oh, I have no idea it will solve the Negro problem, but I am sure it will open a little wider the doors of opportunity for the race in the musical and literary world. I feel that what I have been able to do will make it easier for some other colored man to do even greater work.

Mr. Doggett.—Do you consider color a handicap in music and literature here in New York City?

Mr. Johnson.—Yes and no. Color is a handicap to the intrepretor, to the performer. I do not believe that a colored actor, were he the equal of Edwin Booth, would at present be given free opportunity on the New York stage. On the other hand, color is no handicap to the creative artist. If a colored man writes a great play or a great opera or a great book, his chances for getting it before the public and gaining recognition and success are as good as a white man's chances.

As to interpreters and performers, I believe the first great opportunity will come at the top, namely, the grand opera stage. The day will surely come, and, perhaps, it is not far off, when the dark-hued characters in such operas as "Otello," "Aida," "Salambo" and "La Africaine" will be portrayed by great colored singers, both in Europe and upon our own American stage. It is simply a question of colored artists with the requisite talent being willing to undergo the long, hard work which is necessary to reach the highest proficiency in their art, and of their ability to put up a tenacious fight against obstacles. It is our fault, as a race, to be content to run along on mere talent. It is common for one of us with a good natural voice and a little training to pose as a great singer.

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Talent is only the foundation. It takes talent plus long years of hard study and work to make an artist. I mention singers because good natural voices are our greatest racial talent.

*Mr. Doggett.*—Then you think there is a chance at the top for really great colored singers?

*Mr. Johnson.*—I do. And not only for singers, but authors, composers and creative artists of all kinds. There is very little prejudice in art, and the higher you go, the less there is.

*Mr. Doggett.*—Have you any word of advice to offer to colored aspiring artists?

*Mr. Johnson.*—None that I feel would be worth your space and their time.

*Mr. Doggett.*—It may interest many of my readers to learn a few facts concerning your life and work, so may I ask you to please give me the name of your parents.

*Mr. Johnson.*—James and Helen (Dil-litti) Johnson.

*Mr. Doggett.*—When and where were you born Mr. Johnson?

*Mr. Johnson.*—Jacksonville, Fla., June 17, 1871.

*Mr. Doggett.*—What school and college did you attend?

*Mr. Johnson.*—Public school of Jacksonville, Fla., Atlanta University, and Columbia University, New York.

The following are the facts of Mr. Johnson's life as given in "Who's Who in the Colored Race."

Married Grace Elizabeth Nail, of New York, Feb. 3, 1910. Began work as principal of the Colored Public High School, Jacksonville, 1894, continuing to 1901. Admitted to the Florida bar 1899, removed to New York 1901; collaborated with my brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, in writing light operas for the New York stage. Co-author "Humpty Dumpty," "In Newport;" first was produced at the New Amsterdam Theatre, 1904; the other at the Liberty Theatre, 1906, in New York. Have collaborated on many musical plays and written words for a number of classic and simi-classic and popular songs. Author of the "Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, 1912;" contributed poems to the Century, Independent and other magazines; now contributing editor to the New York Age; was United States Consul to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, 1906-9; Nicaragua, 1909-12; to the Azores 1912-13; member of the American Society of Authors and Composers, Sigma Phi, 32nd degree Mason.

Mr. Johnson's translation of this new Spanish opera is masterly in every particular. Often in a few words he creates a picture which a Scott would require a page to express.

From Left to Right—Fernando Periquet, Librettist; Jules Speck, Stage Manager; Enriques Granados, Composer; Gaetano Bavagnoli, Conductor; Guilio Setti, Chorus Director. In the Panels—Left, James Weldon Johnson, Translator; right, Anna Fitziu, Prima Donna.

### Extracts from New York Newspaper Reviews of "Goyescas"

The following tributes were paid to the success of "Goyescas," the new Spanish opera by Granados and Periquet, the English translation of which was made by James Weldon Johnson:

*From the New York Tribune.*

The most interesting parts, musically, are the choruses and the dances in the second tableau. Here the composer is at home; here, forgetting opera and all its trappings, he writes for the crowd and for the dance; writes in the idiom of the crowd, freely, spontaneously.

Before Rosario's farewell there is much pretty music, music which at times hovers close on the borders of drama.

*From the New York Press.*

Whether the music of "Goyescas" is essentially Spanish cannot be discussed at this time. The score is made up in large measure of characteristic dance rhythms, yet there are distinct remind-

ers of composers from various northern lands. It is melodious music.

*From the New York Sun.*

One thing must not be forgotten. Mr. Granados's music is unceasingly melodious. The Spanish rhythms are not all; there is also Spanish melody, which is captivating and which has the advantage of being fresh and unworn in the opera house. His orchestration is good. It is rich and sonorous without being loud. It does not aim at too many special effects and it is never cheap. The intermezzo between the first and second scenes is charming.

*From the New York Times.*

Mr. Granados has a rich and unconventional harmonic feeling, though he does not follow those who are most conspicuous in the exploitation of "modern" harmony. His harmonic scheme is elaborate, and gives a peculiar distinction, warmth and brilliancy to his style. This music has a haunting power.

["Scene from \"Goyescas,\" Presented at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.", "ENRIQUE\nGRANADOS", "La Maja y el Ruiseñor\n(The Maja and the Nightingale)", "FROM THE OPERA", "GOYESCAS", "The Music by", "ENRIQUE GRANADOS", "The Libretto by", "FERNANDO PERIQUET", "English version by", "JAMES WELDON JOHNSON", "Price, 35 cents", "G. Schirmer", "New York : 3 East 42nd Street • New York, N.Y. 13, New York 42nd Street • The Music Department Co.", "CUADRO TERCERO", "\"El Amor y la Muerte\"", "Jardin de los palos en Madrid. Vea en el\nlado, con portezuela principal. Es el alhama\ntormentado, jombón wheel, Rovers de pe-\ndes, con reyvalle y borros, en primer re-\nveso, en la raya derecha. Lona espírituosa, de\nmama en la raya izquierda.", "Apenas contada. Bovinart, apagada en leña\nen el reyvalle del hato. Descansando\nahor lo va leyendo, y en el rey, addi-\nto Ateneo. El vencedor contará los jombos", "ESCENA 1", "Rosario", "(Porgund vela subir al pizarra\nentonces el arco esmeril cintura\ny al arro del que gira el girovinaur\ny de la opera al que agarras vino-\nque en la madera esparcida en el kallar\ny el arro del que vino al arco de la\ntraballada del pizarra", "y el arro del que vino al pizarra\ny el arro del que vino al arco de la\ntraballada del pizarra", "y el arro del que vino al pizarra\ny el arro del que vino al arco de la\ntraballada del pizarra\nAh, abo, abo, abo, abo,

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had received degrees from some of the greatest institutions in the country, although he had been entertained by the Queen of England, and although he had been gladly heard by great audiences, through all his life he maintained the greatest humility.

"After he had received an especial honor, he went back to Tuskegee and called for his oldest suit of clothes. When asked why he did this he used to say, "I am going down into the town of Tuskegee to see my old friends. By my very dress I want them to know that I have not been raised above them."

"It is said in the Bible that 'the meek shall inherit the earth.' Booker Washington's meekness brought a great inheritance. Perhaps no single man was possessed of more devoted friends—friends from all races—than he. Men of wealth placed at his disposal large sums of money to help build his great institution. Men of high position recognized the sanity of his judgment in regard to Southern conditions. Because of his modesty, his sanity of judgment was recognized. Perhaps no other man had such a clear insight into the character of white men and black men as Booker Washington.

"It was said of General Armstrong at his death by a distinguished man, that more than any other man he had known it could be said 'this one thing I do.' The same was true of General Armstrong's great disciple—Booker Washington—who was great in service.

"With almost no regard for money, with absolute *abandon*, with little regard for health, his life was one continual sacrifice for the upbuilding of his race.

"Booker Washington not only built up a great institution, one which is among the greatest in this country—unique in its character, with wonderful ability to help in the education of an ignorant race—but he did much to educate the whole country. His long trips through the South, where day after day, night after night, he spoke to hundreds of thousands of white and black people, helped them to understand each other in a way that could hardly have been otherwise possible.

"Booker Washington was a wonderful interpreter. He helped his own people understand their needs and their excellencies. He helped the North to understand the South, white men to understand colored men, men of every race to live together in harmony and mutual helpfulness."

The quartette from Fiske University sang several negro folk songs that were far-reaching and timely for the occasion. The Hon. Wm. H. Lewis (Ex-United States Attorney-General, and who figured in the famous Mohr murder case of

Providence, R. I. as a lawyer of marked ability) then spoke with deep conviction and wonderful effect on how Dr. Washington's work had impressed him, his race and the country at large. The Hon. William W. Wilcox, president-elect for the Board of Education for the City of New York, spoke on the needs of such an institution as Tuskegee for the white boy and girl, both in the North and South. Following the remarks of the Hon. W. G. Wilcox, the Tuskegee Quintette sang, "I Want to Walk in Jerusalem, Just Like John." Then the remarks of Dr. James H. Dillard gave the audience a keen conception of the Southern white man's view concerning the life and works of Dr. Washington. Major Robert R. Moton spoke as follows:

### Major Moton's Speech.

"It is entirely fitting that on the eve of the birthday of the great Emancipator, we should gather here reverently to pay our respects to the one who stands so pre-eminently as the most unique individual product of Emancipation. Booker T. Washington's life and work alone would have justified Abraham Lincoln's ideas and actions regarding Emancipation.

"These remarks are in no sense intended as an eulogy, for that would be absolutely out of harmony with the life and teachings, and wishes of this great leader. My hope is rather to call to attention a few of the great principles which controlled and guided his life and enabled him to perform so great and so beautiful service for the negro and for the nation, with the desire that we may learn therefrom some lessons and gain some inspiration that may help and encourage us for the great work which he left us all, mutually to carry on.

"Dr. Washington found a mass of unorganized, unconnected people; untrained in self-direction, with little knowledge of self-support and citizenship, as yet more or less ignorant and poverty-stricken, but with a strong desire for education and the possession of property; more or less demoralized and discouraged, as suspicious and distrustful of their own race as of the white race, and, in the main, following no specially constructive leadership with the relations between the races, to all appearances, growing daily less cordial and friendly, and more cold and business-like.

"He found his people, like their more progressive white exemplars, looking with grave suspicion upon any system of education not in accordance with what had previously been in vogue, having a feeling that a farm, a shop, or

a kitchen, should have no place or part in a well-regulated educational institution, and believing that the life of the pupil should be adjusted to the life of the school.

### Constructive Program.

"Few men in the world's history have been able to accomplish in so short a period for so large a mass of people what Dr. Washington was able to accomplish. He organized and enheartened a race, giving them a new idea of education and of life. He taught the dignity, grandeur, beauty, and necessity of industry and morality as fundamental in the development of any people. He led them to a belief in and a respect for their own race. He deepened their race pride, their race consciousness, and their race integrity. He gave the negro people a definite place in the thought and life of the times. It was a difficult, embarrassing, foreboding race problem which he found. He left a clear, definite, hopeful race program, the letter and spirit of which, if wisely and unselfishly followed, will without doubt, bring in the long run, a happy, wholesome, and satisfactory solution, and an adjustment mutually acceptable to all of those who are vitally concerned.

### Weapon of Commonsense.

"He often said, No man, either white or black, from North or South, shall drag me down so low as to make me hate him. This, my friends, was his life's motto, and yet, few men were more sensitive to unfairness or injustice. The effect of misunderstanding and prejudice is apt to appeal strongly to most people, especially to those who are keenly stung; but with Dr. Washington, the underlying cause of prejudice and unfairness was of far more fundamental interest to him. He set himself with all energy and with all patience to dispel ignorance, poverty, inefficiency, and immorality wherever found. Not by force and violence of words or of conduct but by an affectionate, though persistent, courageous, and indomitable commsense, or rather uncommonsense.

"The press and the platform have emphasized, and justly so, Dr. Washington's great wisdom, his rare tact, his remarkable poise, diplomacy, and self-control. The world has known few men with greater poise and self-control than he possessed. These were important elements in his character.

### Love for Humanity.

"The underlying, fundamental, dominating, controlling principle and characteristic of Dr. Washington's life, that which enabled him to render such a great service to this nation, was his belief in and his love for mankind. All

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of his other qualities, important as they were, were secondary to the great principle which always guided him. He believed in and respected, and loved humanity, and this could not be circum-scribed by race, or limited by section, or bounded by race or by color lines. North and South, black and white, were on his heart and in his program.

"Where ignorance and poverty were strongest, where a human need was most apparent, there his interest was deepest, his words strongest, his great eloquence most convincing, and his energy and force most deeply vitalized and spiritualized.

"Because Dr. Washington believed in, respected, and loved the Southern white man, he interpreted with wisdom, with patience, and with kindness, the feelings and sentiments of the Southern white people to his own race.

## Working for A Race.

"Because of his absolute faith in the possibilities of his race, because of his pride in his race, because he loved his race, Dr. Washington analyzed and frankly interpreted the negro to himself. He told him in unvarnished fashion of his shortcomings and failings. He taught him what right education should mean and should do for the individual and the race, working out in concrete form his ideas of education in the great Tuskegee Institute, as well as outside of the institution. In the North and in the South he linked education in a very definite, practical, and necessary way to life, not as life ought to be—the ideal life—but as life really is, in the cabin, on the farm, in the church, in the school, in the alley, in disease, in crime. He taught men that education whether professional, academic, technical, or industrial, should touch and influence the common every-day vocations by which men live, and move, and have their existence.

"He interpreted with kindness, and patience, and wisdom, the North to the South—the South to the North—the negro to both and both to the negro. He helped tremendously to make peace between races and between sections—North and South, black and white. He used every opportunity to allay factual strife and bickerings between groups of negroes. He was truly a peacemaker.

## Influence of Armstrong and Hampton.

"General Armstrong, through Hampton Institute, responded the best he knew—and he was a wise, far-seeing man—to the earnest, urgent appeal of this untrained, poverty-stricken, black boy for a chance. He gave him, not

money, not even charity as such, but he did give Booker Washington what every American, in the last analysis, deep down in his heart, believes that every human being should have, an opportunity to make the most of himself—a chance equal to that of every other man.

"Booker T. Washington used this chance in developing in every possible way, opportunities and chances for other people, whether in Alabama and the South, the Isles of the Sea, or in Africa. He struggled that men might have a chance through Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute which he founded and for which he labored and sacrificed and to which he gave his life. He struggled, not only through Tuskegee Institute, but also through other educational institutions of a different character as well; in the North as well as in the South, in city and in country, through the press and from the platform, through the National Negro Business League, with rare eloquence, as well as rare earnestness and devotion. He plead in and out of season, often with much discomfiture, and frequently against the advice of his best friends and his physician. He plead for his race, the Negro than whom there is no more loyal group of American citizens, loyal to the flag and all for which it stands, and they, my friends, would die for that flag if necessary."

## Plea for More Race Pride.

"I hope I may be forgiven if I say a few words more directly to my own people, inasmuch as they form so large a part of the audience. I hope no one will believe that I for a moment think that I can fill Dr. Washington's place. I am earnestly and humbly aware that this is well-nigh impossible. It will require the combined energy and efforts of all the Negroes in America and they will then need the cooperation and backing of the white people to carry on Dr. Washington's work, and I doubt even then whether it would be done as effectively as he did it.

"If any of us, because of weakness and failings within our race, or because of unfairness, injustice, and inconvenience without, or because of the color of our faces and the texture of our hair, have been hitherto lacking in appreciation of our race, or have been afriad to be unmistakably identified with the negro race, let us in the name of the God who made us forever dispel any such foolish, childish, disastrous notions.

"Let us remember, once and for always, that no race that is ashamed of itself, no race that despises itself, that tries to get away from itself, no race that does not respect, honor, and love itself, can gain the confidence and re-

spect of other races, or will ever be truly great and useful.

"Let us remember also, that we are not an accursed people; that races with whiter faces have and are still going through difficulties infinitely more trying and embarrassing than much that faces us; that we have in this country vast opportunities for growth and development as well as for usefulness and service. We are creatures of God's most perfect handiwork, and any lack of appreciation on our part is a reflection on the great Creator.

"Though negroes and black, and though living under hampering difficulties and inconveniences, God meant that we should be just as honest, just as industrious, just as skillful, just as intelligent, just as God-like, as any human beings that walk on the face of God's earth.

"I hope and I believe that because of the life that has so recently gone out from among us that we as a people will henceforward, as never before, unselfishly work together—not thinking, not feeling, and not acting always alike, but always in perfect harmony and mutual helpfulness for a great race, and for a great nation.

## South Honored Washington.

"At the very simple but very impressive funeral service in November, more than eight thousand people, rich and poor, from city and from country, educated and uneducated, from North and from South, black and white, gathered reverently to pay their last tribute of respect and devotion to the man they loved. The beautiful City of Tuskegee, by special request of its honored mayor, closed all business during the funeral hour. Practically every business house and organization, together with hundreds of individuals in Tuskegee and in Macon County, as well as through the State of Alabama, Southern white people, to say nothing about the colored people, sent floral offerings—and to a negro, mind you. And this, my friends, was almost in the shadow of the old Confederate Capital of Montgomery. But, my friends, Alabama and the South loved Booker Washington: Booker Washington loved Alabama and the South where he lived, labored and died, and where he wanted to be buried.

"The principal of Hampton Institute, Dr. Hollis B. Frissell, former teacher of Dr. Washington, as well as myself, at Hampton, and a life-long friend, in a very beautiful and impressive prayer at the funeral service, began with these fitting words from the Apostle Paul, 'Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory.'

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Dr. Washington's life, Dr. Washington's work, Dr. Washington's death were truly a victory—a victory in unselfishness, a victory in patience, a victory in simplicity, a victory in faith, a victory in a love that suffered long and was kind, was not puffed up, and rejoiced in truth and in service.

"I congratulate the negro race most heartily and earnestly, and I congratulate myself, and I congratulate the nation, too, because we are prouder, richer and happier and better because this man lived, labored, and triumphantly died. He died too, a poor man, as far as this world's goods are concerned, but rich in achievement and in service.

### Tuskegee Graduates Make Good.

"He found a most trying, embarrassing, discouraging race problem, and left us a clear, definite, hopeful, unselfish race program. Whether this program is being worked out through Edwards at Snow Hill, Cornelia Bowen at Mt. Meigs, Alabama, Long at Christiansburg, Virginia, Holtzclaw at Utica, Mississippi—whether through a Jeans school or a Rosenwald school—whether at Baldwin Farms or through the Negro Organization Society, or whether it be through the great National Negro Business League—whether through the lives and characters and earnest work of thousands of graduates and former students of Tuskegee Institute—it is the same vitalizing, courageous, unselfish spirit of Booker T. Washington, the same wise, unselfish program, working earnestly for the good of men and the glory of God.

### Washington's Work Must Go On.

"I believe, my friends, that you who are heirs of the opportunities of the culture and of the wealth of the ages; you who love humanity and justice; you who love our glorious country; I believe truly that you will see to it that the great institution through which he worked, and for which he died, will be maintained and operated to its fullest capacity, and with greatest possible efficiency that these black boys and girls, who are sometimes called the despised and rejected children may continue to have a chance—a chance to be trained—a chance to be educated—a chance to be efficient—a chance to be useful, to their race and to their country—a chance to be decent—a chance to serve."

Such a gathering showed that Tuskegee will ever have the support and interest of its many friends in the North and that in spite of the many necessary changes brought about by time, Tuskegee will move on, a living institution for good.

## Dissertation on Man

By Rufus Lewis Perry

There is a contradiction between Moses and certain modern scientists as to the origin of the material universe, but the scientific contradictions of Genesis are based on unsatisfactory hypothesis and inferences, and are, therefore, less trustworthy than that most ancient and blessed book, the Talmud, that gives a direct answer to the question that presents itself to every reflective man: "Whence is this great and wonderful universe of which I am a part?"

Moses does not undertake to prove that there is a God, unlike and greater than Jupiter-Amnon, or Osiris and Isis of the celebrated Ethopians and wise Egyptian Cushites, but assumes it as and intuitive truth not be be questioned, and begins at once to tell, in terms sublimeline what God did "in the beginning." Here we find man, a treatise on whose place in nature is properly called Anthropology.

Man is an original conception of Deity, materialized and placed at the head of the Animal Kingdom, of which, and of the entire world his Creator made him monarch, excluding nothing on earth from his absolute dominion but his fellow man.

Darwinism and other Atheisticisms of modern science may find plausibility and set forth some truth when treating on subordinate animal and vegetable life, but they cannot reasonably dispute the facts of psychology peculiar to the genus homo. Darwin, Huxley, and others, have scientific disquisitions on "the origin of species" natural selection, or "survival of the fittest," in support of the doctrine of evolution, but they have proved nothing more clearly than that "the fool hath said in his heart there is no God." Ps. 14:1. Or as David says to the chief musician on Neginoth: "Ye sons of men how long shall my glory become shame? Ye will love vanity and diligently seek after falsehood."

That there is a close alliance between mind and body, and laws more or less discoverable by the light of physical science, by which this alliance is maintained and regulated, no one of scientific knowledge and philosophic perception will positively deny; but that does not lessen the breadth and depth of the gulf in natural history between man and

the next highest order of the animal kingdom. So, natural history will never find for Huxley the missing link that would connect his favorite monkey tribe with the God-like race of man.

Physical causes and final causes belong to two distinct spheres—one to the sphere of physics, the other to the far removed domain of metaphysics.

The fact that we find in man an universally acknowledged *basis* for sociological and psychological principia, for natural religion and consequent consciousness of moral accountability, removes him in nature as far from all other creatures of earth as earth is from heaven, and heaven is from hell.

Man's material organism and that of the highest orders of apes have some striking zoological resemblances; but the still more striking anatomical differences claim for man a genesis peculiar to himself; attesting the Mosaic statement that he is a creation and not an evolution from a protoplasm or nerve cell.

The fundamental ideas or notions of time, space and number, of church and state, of right and wrong, good and bad, of heaven and hell, are unthinkable by any terrestrial creature but the dualistic race of Adam; otherwise the Talmud is false, religion a fraud and moral science an imposition.

The fact that the material substances of man and beast are the same in kind, never for a moment suggests to the chemist that man is a beast; then, why should the naturalist class man with the gorilla because of resemblances in zoological structure and functions? No scientist can make them bedfellows, for at this even the gorilla would protest and beg to be excused.

In studying the origin of man and his place in nature, the best text-book is the Talmud. There, in the original, is found four distinct words translated "man," and presenting as many different phases of his nature. They are Adam, Ish, Enosh and Geber.

These different terms are used by the inspired writers of blessed memory with noticeable precision to indicate man's nature, and the various respects in which he stands related to his Creator, his fellowman, and to physical nature.

The first word, "Adam," is used both as the proper name of the first man, and

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Rufus Lewis Perry.

as a generic term like the Greek word "Anthropos," and the Latin word "Homo." Its etymological signification is said by some (the Rabbins) to be "the first red man," deriving it from a word that means red earth. The first letter, Aleph and Dum red. But a better and not over fanciful derivation of this Hebrew word is from one meaning "likeness," making it to signify "the first man in the likeness of God," that is, "the first Adam," in contradistinction to, and in anticipation of, the "second Adam," in both cases representing spiritual likeness of God, in whose image and likeness man was created.

Here we find a being with a soul; not like the instinct of the beasts, but a soul whose phenomena give rise to the profoundest thought in the domain of psychology, and of casuistry; where we

contemplate rational personality, the real ego or self, and investigate as best we can our spiritual affinities and the laws of the soul's attraction.

The second word, Ish, is like the Greek 'Anar, and the Latin "vir," signifying a man as distinguished from a woman, and implying dignity and power. It is the term used by Jeremiah (5:1) where he says: "Run ye to and fro the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man." The same idea is expressed by Shakespeare:

"I dare do all that becomes a man:
Who dares do more is none."

The third term, Enosh, regards man as a mortal being, reminding him that he is constantly advancing towards the limit of his terrestrial pilgrimage,

where soul and body will dissolve their union. The term suggests that man, wonderful as he is in constitution and faculties, must not become presumptuously proud; for that, the Gods will not tolerate, neither in the Pagan, Jew or Gentile. This is shown by the history of Lucifer; by the history of the proud Cushite Pharaoh who boastfully asked of Moses, "Who is God, that I should obey," and by the fabled story in Roman history of Romulus Sylvius, who undertook to vie with Jupiter in making thunder, and was struck by lightning and hurled into Lake Albanus. Hence, 'tis better to say with Job: "Thou hath clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews; (x. 11) "I have said to corruption, "Thou are my father; and to the worm, "Thou are my mother and my sister." (xvii. 14.)

The term Geber regards man as being strong, at the head, and having dominion; pointing, possibly to the rank given him "in the beginning" by his Creator.

## Physical Variations.

Time, environment, and innate potentiality for differentiation in the laws of descent, which science has not been able satisfactorily to explain, have produced in man such physical variations as to originate different classes of men, distinguished by ethnologists and different races.

These variations are now so great in conspicuity that some infidel naturalists question man's common origin and advocate different creations or origins. This is almost, if not quite, to question the wisdom and omnipotence of Deity.

Are any of such physical variations among men rationally preferable? Is any one of them extreme or intermediate, to be regarded by any branch or constituent element of society as a stigma? Jehovah forbid. The very ideas of nature, or nature's God creating or evolving a stigma in man's complexion, or otherwise, is absurd; the thought preposterous, and the expression akin to impious blasphemy.

Throughout the three great kingdoms of earth, there is variety in every genus; and if there were an exception in mankind, that exception would be more remarkable than is the conformity to the universal law of variety. The sameness of the human family, lies in the essential attributes of the genus, and the laws of development. Outside of these, there is conspicuous variety, constituting inimitable beauty.

Des Cartes, the great French philosopher, after long and close thinking, in search of a solid foundation for his philosophy, found satisfactory assurance in the pregnant apothegm: "Cog-

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ito; ergo sum”—I think; therefore I am. This any man of sound mind may affirm of himself. This “Cogito” is a lever which a man may lift himself to any height within the radius of human thoughts, and fly with the wings of imagination faster than lightning from place to place in the material universe.

The limit of man's cognitive powers is determined by and known only to his omniscient Creator, Jehovah. He can think on all things exterior to himself, and with equal ease can think on his own interior being, discover designs and observe the wonderful adaptation of means to end. His capacity for acquiring scientific and philosophic knowledge and applying it in useful arts, is indicative of the potentiality and mastery of his mind. He can calculate the distances, magnitude, density or specific gravity, courses and velocity of the distant planets; he can navigate the great seas, sail through the middle air, communicate with his Antipodes and beyond the oceans over electric wires; and with telephone converse with friends a thousand miles away. In fine, he can do anything essential for his highest development, for his needs and his comfort on earth.

Possessed of such knowledge and such power, man is justly amenable to Jehovah and to society for their proper use or abuse.

To be a man, rectus in curia, is a higher favor than to be an angel; for man, viewed according to his origin, nature and capacity, seems to be the next being below Jehovah within the range of human knowledge.

## Man's Subjection to Moral Law.

All moral action is measured by the rule of perfection, at which point man attains his highest possible happiness. Such action is either upright, laudable and praiseworthy, or unrighteous and blameworthy; but the sin of one's delinquency may be estimated according to the circumstances that attain and influence it.

Man is obligated to conduct himself with right behavior towards Jehovah, towards himself, and towards his neighbor. This obligation is based on the supposition of his free agency; for where there is not freedom deliberately to act, one cannot be blamed and punished for wrong doing. Accountability for action can be justly demanded only where there is sufficient moral freedom. This is as clear and self-evident as any axiom of Euclid; and on the consciousness of its truth rests the construction of moral philosophy. Man then is obligated to love and obey God as his absolute sovereign, full of mercy and love for him. It is here that arise the principles and

claims of natural religion awakening in the heart the pleasant emotions of gratitude and benevolence.

He is obligated to regard the dignity of his manhood, love himself, develop himself by the use of proper means, to exercise rulership over, and require of himself just what Jehovah requires of him.

He is obligated, because kindred to, associated with, and because required by his Creator, to love his neighbor in like manner as himself. Here arises the science of sociology; but it is designed now and here to point only to what grows immediately out of the relationship of man and fellow man, as the reciprocal fruit of a mutual benevolence springing from gratitude to Jehovah; for such gratitude in man shows itself in benevolence and rectitude, justice, candor, and uprightness towards his fellow man. This obligation is opposed to every species of slavery, and race hatred and prejudice, whether Negro, Jew or Gentile, and stands in deadly hostility to every form of abuse of life, liberty or property.

On the observance of these obligations, a discharge of these duties—depends happiness, progress and length of days; for no human institution, whether social, political or religious, not founded on truth and reared in rightousness, can stand against the convulsions and consequent mutations brought about by the inevitable conflict of right and wrong. This fact is well attested by history. Proud Babylon, arrogant Persia, unrivaled Egypt, philosophic Greece, imperal Rome, and, alas! poor Ethopia, are all amongst the things that were but are not, because they did not gird their loins with truth, and did not wear the breastplate of righteousness.

So the conclusion of this is, that beginning with physiology, biology and comparative anatomy, Anthropology requires light from all the other learned sciences—physical and ethical—foot lights, side lights, and head lights; that to this combined blaze of scientific light must be added the light of history and superadded the calcium light of divine revelation in order to see man as he is and is to be, on earth, and in heaven, in time and in eternity.

### Melville Charlton, A. A. G. O.

It is with keen interest and pleasure that we have watched the gradual progress and rise of our well-known organist, Melville Charlton, who has recently added to his many laurels, a certificate entitling him to academic membership in the American Guild of Organists as an associate (A. A. G. O.).

As the name of the organization suggests, it is of national reputation, authorized by the Board of Regents of the University of New York, and having such men as Horatio Parker, Doctor of Music of Yale University, on its examining board. To this Guild of Organists belong the greatest organists and composers of which America proudly boasts. Some of these members are honorary through their artistic and meritorious work as musicians and composers, others are members through passing a most rigid examination in organ playing, harmony, counterpoint, fugue and general musical knowledge. This latter class of members is called The Academic and is ranked higher than the honoraries. We are proud to say Melville Charlton is an academic.

A. A. G. O. is the supreme hope of every ambitious organist, but, briefly, what are some of the achievements which helped Melville Charlton to this happy realization?

First, he is a graduate with honors from the National Conservatory of Music. Second, he composed a beautiful piano composition entitled "Poem Erotique," which Schirmer has published and of which Kramer has spoken most favorably. Another composition by him, a fugue for organ, a most intensely intellectual and emotional effort, was rendered by Clarence Dickinson in one of his recitals before one of New York's most cultured and critical audiences at the Union Theological Seminary of which he is choir master. Third, Melville Charlton is organist of America's leading theological seminary and of a prominent Jewish Synagogue. Fourth, meritorious and favorable criticisms of his organ playing have been won from such papers as the Musical Courier, New York Herald and Washington Post.

Mr. Charles Heinroth, the master organist, officiating at Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., has said: "Melville Charlton is a finished organist, theoretically and practically from every standpoint, playing the most difficult compositions authoritatively." Coleridge Taylor, our own beloved and noted composer, an Anglo-African, wrote as follows of Melville Charlton:

"In remembrance of the delightful visit to Pittsburgh, on which occasion I had the great pleasure of hearing his splendid playing on the organ in Carnegie Hall."

The above achievements, together with his many creditable recitals, given throughout the country, are the stepping stones by which our Melville Charlton gradually rose to the threshold of A. A. G. O. To-day the laurels are his—a title deservedly won.