Chapter I: Front Matter

LORD'S LECTURES

BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME XIV

THE NEW ERA

A Supplementary Volume, by Recent Writers, as Set Forth in the Preface and Table of Contents.

BY JOHN LORD, LL.D.,

AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN EUROPE," ETC., ETC.

PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.

In preparing the new edition of Dr. Lord's great work, it has been thought desirable to do what the venerable author's death in 1894 did not permit him to accomplish, and add a volume summarizing certain broad aspects of achievement in the last fifty years. It were manifestly impossible to cover in any single volume--except in the dry, cyclopaedic style of chronicling multitudinous facts, so different from the vivid, personal method of Dr. Lord--all the growths of the wonderful period just closed. The only practicable way has been to follow our author's principle of portraying _selected historic forces_,--to take, as representative or typical of the various departments, certain great characters whose services have signalized them as "Beacon Lights" along the path of progress, and to secure adequate portrayal of these by men known to be competent for interesting exposition of the several themes.

Thus the volume opens with a paper on "Richard Wagner: Modern Music," by Henry T. Finck, the musical critic of the _New York Evening Post_, and author of various works on music, travel, etc.; and then follow in order these: "John Ruskin: Modern Art," by G. Mercer Adam, author of "A Précis of English History," recently editor of the _Self-Culture Magazine_ and of the Werner Supplements to the Encyclopaedia Britannica; "Herbert Spencer: The Evolutionary Philosophy," and "Charles Darwin: His Place in Modern Science," both by Mayo W. Hazeltine, literary editor of the _New York Sun_, whose book reviews over the signature "M.W.H." have for years made the _Sun's_ book-page notable; "John Ericsson: Navies of War and Commerce," by Prof. W.F. Durand, of the School of Marine Engineering and the Mechanic Arts in Cornell University; "Li Hung Chang: The Far East," by Dr. William A. P. Martin, the distinguished missionary, diplomat, and author, recently president of the Imperial University, Peking, China; "David Livingstone: African Exploration," by Cyrus C. Adams, geographical and historical expert, and a member of the editorial staff of the _New York Sun_; "Sir Austen H. Layard: Modern Archaeology," by Rev. William Hayes Ward, D.D., editor of _The Independent_, New York, himself eminent in Oriental exploration and decipherment; "Michael Faraday: Electricity and Magnetism," by Prof. Edwin J. Houston of Philadelphia, an accepted authority in electrical engineering; and, "Rudolf Virchow: Modern Medicine and Surgery," by Dr. Frank P. Foster, physician, author, and editor of the _New York Medical Journal_.

The selection of themes must be arbitrary, amid the numberless lines of development during the "New Era" of the Nineteenth Century, in which every mental, moral, and physical science and art has grown and diversified and fructified with a rapidity seen in no other five centuries. It is hoped, however, that the choice will be justified by the interest of the separate papers, and that their result will be such a view of the main features as to leave a distinct impression of the general life and advancement, especially of the last half of the century.

It is proper to say that the preparation and issuance of Dr. Lord's "Beacon Lights of History" were under the editorial care of Mr. John E. Howard of Messrs. Fords, Howard, and Hulbert, the original publishers of the work, while the proof-sheets also received the critical attention of Mr. Abram W. Stevens, one of the accomplished readers of the University Press in Cambridge, Mass. Mr. Howard has also supervised the new edition, including this final volume, which issues from the same choice typographical source.

NEW YORK, September, 1902.

CONTENTS.

RICHARD WAGNER.

MODERN Music.

BY HENRY T. FINCK.

Youth-time; early ambitions as a composer.

Weber, his fascinator and first inspirer.

"Der Freischütz" and "Euryanthe" prototypes of his operas.

Their supernatural, mythical, and romantic elements.

What he owed to his predecessors acknowledged in his essay on "The Music of the Future" (1860).

Marriage and early vicissitudes.

"Rienzi," "The Novice of Palermo," and "The Flying Dutchman".

Writes stories and essays for musical publications.

After many disappointments wins success at Dresden.

"Tannhäuser" and "Lohengrin".

Compromises himself in Revolution of 1849 and has to seek safety in Switzerland.

Here he conceives and partly writes the "Nibelung Tetralogy".

Discouragements at London and at Paris.

"Siegfried" and "Tristan and Isolde".

Finds a patron in Ludwig II. of Bavaria.

Nibelung Festival at Bayreuth.

"Parsifal" appears; death of Wagner at Vienna (1882).

Beethoven, Schubert, and Chopin.

Other eminent composers and pianists.

Liszt as a contributor to current of modern music.

Berlioz, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, Strauss, and Weber.

"The Music of the Future" the music of the present.

JOHN RUSKIN.

MODERN ART.

BY G. MERCER ADAM.

Passionate and luminous exponent of Nature's beauties.

His high if somewhat quixotic ideal of life.

Stimulating writings in ethics, education, and political economy.

Frederic Harrison on Ruskin's stirring thoughts and melodious speech.

Birth and youth-time; Collingwood's "Life" and his own "Praeterita".

Defence of Turner and what it grew into.

Architectural writings, lectures, and early publications.

Interest in Pre-Raphaelitism and its disciples.

Growing fame; with admiring friends and correspondents.

On the public platform; personal appearance of the man.

Economic and socialistic vagaries.

F. Harrison on "Ruskin as Prophet" and teacher.

Inspiring lay sermons and minor writings.

Reformer and would-be regenerator of modern society.

Attitude towards industrial problems of his time.

Founds the communal "Guild of St. George".

Philanthropies, and lecturings in "Working Men's College".

Death and epoch-making influence, in modern art.

HERBERT SPENCER.

THE EVOLUTIONARY PHILOSOPHY.

BY MAYO W. HAZELTINE.

Constructs a philosophical system in harmony with the theory of evolution.

Birth, parentage, and early career.

Scheme of his system of Synthetic Philosophy.

His "Facts and Comments;" views on party government, patriotism, and style.

His religious attitude that of an agnostic.

The doctrine of the Unknowable and the knowable.

"First Principles;" progress of evolution in life, mind, society, and morality.

The relations of matter, motion, and force.

"Principles of Biology;" the data of; the development hypothesis.

The evolutionary hypothesis _versus_ the special creation hypothesis; arguments.

Causes and interpretation of the evolution phenomena.

Development as displayed in the structures and functions of individual organisms.

"Principles of Psychology;" the evolution of mind and analysis of mental states.

"Principles of Sociology;" the adaptation of human nature to the social state.

Evolution of governments, political and ecclesiastical; industrial organizations.

Qualifications; Nature's plan an advance, and again a retrogression.

Social evolution; equilibriums between constitution and conditions.

Assisted by others in the collection, but not the systemization, of his illustrative material.

"Principles of Ethics;" natural basis for; secularization of morals.

General inductions; his "Social Statics".

Relations of Mr. Spencer and Mr. Darwin to the thought of the Nineteenth Century.

CHARLES DARWIN.

HIS PLACE IN MODERN SCIENCE.

BY MAYO W. HAZELTINE.

The Darwinian hypothesis a rational and widely accepted explanation of the genesis of organic life on the earth.

Darwin; birth, parentage, and education.

Naturalist on the voyage of the "Beagle".

His work on "Coral Reefs" and the "Geology of South America".

Observations and experiments on the transmutation of species.

Contemporaneous work on the same lines by Alfred R. Wallace.

"The Origin of Species" (1859).

His "Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication" (1868).

"The Descent of Man" (1871).

On the "Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals" (1872).

"Fertilization of Orchids" (1862), "The Effects of Cross and Self-Fertilization" (1876), and "The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms" (1881).

Ill-health, death, and burial.

Personality, tastes, and mental characteristics.

His beliefs and agnostic attitude toward religion.

His prime postulate, that species have been modified during a long course of descent.

Antagonistic views on the immutability of species.

His theory of natural selection: that all animal and plant life has a common progenitor, difference in their forms arising primarily from beneficial variations.

Enunciates in the "Descent of Man" the great principle of Evolution, and the common kinship of man and the lower animals.

Biological evidence to sustain this view.

Man's moral qualities, and the social instinct of animals.

Religious beliefs not innate, nor instinctive.

Bearing of this on belief in the immortality of the soul.

As a scientist Darwin concerned only with truth; general acceptance of his theory of the origin of species.

JOHN ERICSSON.

NAVIES OF WAR AND COMMERCE.

BY PROF. W. F. DUKAND.

Ericsson's life-work little foreseen in his youth and early surroundings.

His impress on the engineering practice of his time.

Dependence, in our modern civilization, on the utilization of the great natural forces and energies of the world.

Life-periods in Sweden, England, and the United States.

Birth, parentage, and early engineering career.

An officer in the Swedish army, and topographical surveyor for his native government.

Astonishing insight into mechanical and scientific questions.

His work, 1827 to 1839, when he came to the United States.

"A spendthrift in invention;" versatility and daring.

The screw-propeller _vs_. the paddle-wheel for marine propulsion.

Designs and constructs the steam-frigate "Princeton" and the hot-air ship "Ericsson".

The Civil War and his services in the art of naval construction.

His new model of a floating battery and warship, "The Monitor".

The battle between it and the "Merrimac" a turning-point in naval aspect of the war.

"The Destroyer," built in connection with Mr. Delamater.

Improves the character and reduces friction in the use of heavy ordnance.

Work on the improvement of steam-engines for warships.

Death, and international honors paid at his funeral.

His work in improving the motive-power of ships.

Special contributions to the art of naval war.

Ships of low freeboard equipped with revolving turrets.

Influence of his work lives in the modern battleship.

Other features of work which he did for his age.

Personality and professional traits.

Essentially a designer rather than a constructing engineer.