ment is believed often to have comprised 300 huts, containing about 1,000 inhabitants. We read that the village of Wangen, on the Baden side of the Boden See, covered twenty-five acres, and rested upon 40,000 piles; and it is reckoned that no less than 100,000 piles supported the little town on Lake Pfäffikon, at Robenhausen, near Zurich.

And there is a proof which is perhaps the most conclusive of all in favor of the high antiquity of the Swiss lake-dwellers, viz., that indisputably they lived in at warmer climate than their present countrymen experience. For, associated with their memorials are remains of the waterchestnut, which is now indigenous to lakes on the south side of the Alps only; and the plants they cultivated show a connection with those that flourish in the countries of the Mediterranean. It seems likely that this difference in climate was caused by Switzerland having been less elevated during the Stone and Bronze Ages than it is now. To some extent we are all acquainted with statements referring to the subsidence and elevation of land. The whole of Denmark, we are told, is being upheaved at the rate of two or three inches in a century. And apparently men of science are agreed that a climatic change, through any reason, is almost invariably brought about by exceedingly slow processes.

Nor is it only what we read of long-ago physiographical alterations in Switzerland. The tourist, with but limited scientific knowledge, can see for himself that this enchanting country has had a checkered career, in common with other and more prosaic regions of our planet. Pieces of shale that we procured near Chamounix bear the impress of the Neuropteris, a fern of the Carboniferous period, and belonging to our coal measures. Therefore it seems to tell of a time when semi-tropical heat reigned in this nowadays glacial mountain-valley of Savoy. And while sojourning in the Oberland, the proprietor of one of the wayside stalls-that so disfigure the most frequented parts of Switzerland-importuned us to purchase some fossil sea-shells that appeared to be the self-same species which a few weeks previously we had found in the blue gault on

Our

own Kentish coast. The gault is stated to occur in the Swiss Alps, and its

presence there not only reveals the former dominion of the ocean, but, being a rock of recent formation, it emphasizes the teaching of geologists that these loftiest European mountains are young in the world's history. Thus, geologically speaking, even the carliest lake-dwellers are comparatively modern, albeit, from a human point of view, they lived in a far-removed vanished past. The latest conclusions of naturalists and archæologists seem to assign an antiquity of 5,000 to 7,000 years to the lake-dwellings of Switzerland's Stone Age, and to those of its Bronze Age an antiquity of 3,000 to 4,000 years. These computations, the result of much patient investigation, demand our respectful attention, but not of necessity our unquestioning credence, for the date of prehistoric man waxes and wanes, and is a decidedly movable epoch with scientists. There is every reason, however, to conclude that even the oldest Swiss lakedwellers are greatly nearer to these times than to the age when their cave-dwelling Paleolithic predecessors hunted the reindeer and extinct species of animals from the Pyrenees to our own country, which was then probably ice-coated and formed part of the Continent, or was separated from it only by frozen straits.

To many of us living in this somewhat undiversified sea girt country the name of Switzerland alone conjures up entrancing visions of hoary riven peaks and snow-clad heights; of gleaming glaciers; of lakes, mountain-encompassed and clear as crystal; and of mighty rushing torrents and eddying streams. Were all the first inhabitants of this beautiful land insensible to the loveliness that surrounded them? Was there no seeing eye to note the mountains bathed in radiant noontide sunshine, or smitten with the roseate hues of the dawning or the close of day? And in the stillness of the night, watching the solemn march of the stars, did no poetspirit seem to hear the music of the spheres? Who can tell now? The history of the Swiss lake-dwellers is to be deciphered only from the long-entombed simple relics of their household. They have left behind them no majestic monuments to speak of mental culture or of hopes and aspirations.-Gentleman's Magazine.

DEMOCRACY, 80 we have been told, again and yet again, is "the manifest destiny of the civilized world." That may prove true, or it may not. I myself believe, as do many wiser than I, in a destiny beyond" Democracy" as we know it; and regard "Popular Government, so-called, as simply a phase in the ceaseless progress of humanity. But "democracy," it is said, is not only the manifest, and proximate, destiny of civilization, but also the "final end of ill," political, social, industrial. It is to banish poverty, inequality, injustice, to accomplish all those benefits for which men yearn so eagerly, so vainly hitherto.

Will it do so! Are all these blessings "possibilities of democracy"? They may be, for aught I know; so far, they have not proved so in the greatest republic the world has ever seen; the only one, as I consider it, worthy of the name. On the contrary, democracy" has there developed, in one century, "possibilities" widely different from those so confidently prophesied by eager "reformers." It is to some of these that I wish to draw attention.

Democracy has endured, democracy has triumphed, and yet there may be, even here, a future beyond this enduring and triumphant democracy." There are, even here, limits to what it can accomplish.

It is strong, popular, united. It has outlived the most terrible civil war the world has ever seen, it has crushed anarchy, so far, with the strong hand of the "sovereign people;" it has absorbed, and is absorbing, thousands of foreigners every month. But the "negro problem' remains unsolved,* in spite of citizenship and "Constitutional Amendments." The House of Representatives by a large majority (April 4, 1892) has decreed the exclusion of the Chinese, as an impossible" element in American civilization. But swarms of foreigners land almost unchecked, and bring poverty, disease, and a lowering of wages in their train.

The "Sovereign People" may be strong to crush anarchy as it crushed civil war, but it cannot crush poverty; cannot check its cruel tyranny. It stands between the starving mob and the irresponsible bines," with the negro waiting till his turn shall come. Truly, there are limits to the possibilities of Democracy."

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Unlimited immigration is a pressing, if not a dangerous, problem in the United States to-day. It is one with which "Democracy" seems unable to cope successfully and effectually. It is also one which interests ourselves very closely, seeing we too are "progressing" toward "Popular Government. The employer" demands "cheap labor," the workman" a 66 fair day's wage. former opposes-by his agents-" restric

The

*The possible solution is given in the Arena for April-The Vital Statistics of the Negro. Arena Publishing Company, Boston, U. S. A.

The question merits closer study. The manufacturer-who is the principal ployer''-enters, as a rule, into a bine" with others like himself, thereby controlling enormous wealth. Professional politicians," the "d-d necessity" of Democracy," are poorly paid; ergo, they can hardly be blamed for becoming paid advocates of party measures. One party passes "Protection" in the

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interests of American industries," the other party endeavors to secure "free silver" for the " masses of the people." But neither party attempts seriously to limit the excessive immigration which lowers wages far more than it cheapens production--except to the manufacturer -and brings in so many more to share the "free silver"-when they can get it.

But immigration means more than this. A large percentage of immigrants are utterly ignorant, and still more are fearfully poor. The ignorant ones become the powerful agents of the "professional politicians" and their "manufacturer" employers, the poor ones swell the mass of poverty in New York and other large cities, and help to lower wages. How awful that poverty is, few have any conception. In 1891, 23,895 warrants of eviction were issued in the City of New York; in 1889, over 7000* persons died in the workhouses, insane asylums, and hospitals of that city. (Arena, Boston, March 1892.)†

This is only the borderland, as it were, of poverty in the Great Republic. The farmers of the United States, the class on whom, of all others, the true prosperity of the country depends, are practically ruined. With land of their own, climate of all kinds, railways, and Protection, they have been clamoring for sweeping changes in their favor. The Farmers' Alliance" is not dead yet; so long as the trouble endures, there will always be

* Out of a population of under 2,000,000. See also The Social Cellar-Arena, April 1892.

50 to 300 acres, on an average.
From Maine to California.

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found men to fight against it. There is an Alliance Wedge" of nine members in Congress, besides fifty Congressmen of "Alliance leanings. (Arena, March 1892.) This is, surely, not the "utter extinction" of which we have heard so much. The mortgage indebtedness of the American farmers was, in 1890, £690,000,000. This can never be paid, and is so hopeless that no honest broker would invest any one's money in Western mortgages. (Arena, August 1890, p. 292.) So that, in the matter of immigration and of farms and farming, the capabilities of Democracy would seem to be limited. Of unrestricted immigration, England has enough and to spare. It is at the root of all questions of overcrowding and excessive poverty in large cities, of underpaid labor, and of "sweating.' "Free trade" may, possibly, involve free immigration; but this last appears in the States to be perfectly consistent with the "Protection of American Industries." Also, in the Great Republic, free immigration is a fruitful-if not the principal-source of political corruption. If Democracy" be, indeed, the "manifest destiny" of English civilization, will like causes produce like effects?

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Farming, under Democracy, has proved a failure in the United States. Whether "in consequence of" or "in spite of" I am not prepared to say. The one word "mortgage" is a sufficient explanation, without seeking for any "ultimate cause. But if Democracy" cannot ensure success, Democracy'' which is the summum bonum of political institutions, the panacea for all the (political) "ills that Hlesh is heir to," what is there that can do so? At least, my contention as to the limits of what it can accomplish would seem to be sufficiently proved.

But for these limitations, as for all things human, there must be adequate causes. What cause can there be under the sway of "Popular Government," strong, lasting, and enduring, for excessive poverty in large cities, excessive mortgages on farms and farm industries, a fall of wages, discontent, distress, possible danger? For "race problems" and "labor difficulties" unsolved as yet, apparently insoluble? For all these in effete Europe" the eager reformer' points at once to "hereditary privileges," to aristocracies," to "monarchies."

And here, lest I should be accused of exaggeration, if not of falsehood, let me say that what follows, is not the mere expression of my individual opinion. For every statement to be inade I shall have the authority of the readers of "advanced" American thought; of men who are Democrats' in the truest sense, firm believers in the "Divine right of the sovereign People.

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For all the evils existent in American Democracy-apart from those inevitable to humanity-there is one prime cause, efficient, adequate, far-reaching, possibly insurmountable" Plutocracy,' "the unlimited power of irresponsible, corporate wealth. If the powers of democracy are limited, and clearly defined, that of plutocracy is limitless and indefinite, and therefore, all the more formidable.

"The history of the United States during the past twenty-eight years is a history of repeated injuries, tyranny and usurpation, unparalleled in the history of the world, and all laws enacted having a direct object-viz., to establish a landed and moneyed aristocracy on the ruins of once free America." (Winfield [Kansas] Nonconformist, May 1, 1890.)

It is easy, of course, to make light of such language as the mere inflated ut terances" of " Radical journalism;" but there must be some grievances, real or imaginary, affecting the readers of such a journal to account for such statements. The journal is one of the "organs" of the Kansas farmers. Their grievances are, first, their mortgages; secondly, the action of the railroads. For the first, they themselves may be held responsible; the second is a different matter. What the tyranny-there is no milder word-exercised by the great railroads is like would be difficult to describe, unless in a separate article; but for this tyranny the Federal Government is held responsible. The wealth of the great railroad companies is simply boundless; campaign funds' for the subservient party, or judicious "lobbying," will accomplish all their purposes. NEW SERIES.-VOL. LVI., No. 2.

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What else can result from a combination of short legislative terms, poorly paid "professional politicians," and immense corporate wealth in unscrupulous hands? For a full account of the matter those interested in the subject can refer to a pamphlet-The Farmer, the Investor, and the Railway. By C. Wood Davis. [Arena Publishing Company, Boston, Mass.]:

"The financial managers of our politics do not realize what a vast multitude do now believe, most earnestly and angrily, that the legislation of financiers and politicians has destroyed the prosperity, has robbed the people of several thousand millions, and furnished the major part of the princely fortunes which tower above the plane of humanity, and threaten the stability of the Republic.' Professor J. R. Buchanan, Arena, August 1890. A serious charge, if true-certainly one well worth examining as a possibility" of "popular government. The Republican party is the party of protection.' It has been in office, almost continuously, since the Civil War. It must, therefore,

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held chiefly responsible for the "twenty-eight years" of "injuries, tyranny, and usurpation," for the "legislation of financiers and politicians." What are the facts? "Protection" benefits the manufacturer at the expense of the consumer therefore the manufacturers support the party of protection.' Is robbery" too strong a word to express the effect of a high tariff on the mass of the nation? Vast grants of public land have been given to the railroads, the land has increased in value by the exertions of others, and the railroads use their corporate wealth to control legislation, to crush opposition, and to ruin the farmer. If this be not robbery, it would be hard to find a more suitable name for such methods of action.

But the vast wealth accumulated from "watered stock," "railroad concessions," and " land grants," the first source fradulent, the last two national property, has other uses.

"Ten thousand people own nearly the whole of New York City, with its 2,000,000 population (Edward Bellamy, New York World, March 2, 1890.)

And the results of this ownership? "35,000 front tenements, 2300 rear tenements, 276,000 families, 1,225,000 inhabitants, 7000 adult home-workers, 250 child home-workers.' (Census New York Board of Health, Sept. 1891. Quoted from Arena, March 1892.)

"A combination of plutocrats bought up the farm lands at Spring Valley, Illinois, sold them out as city lots under the promise of opening coal mines and building up a great city, giving steady employment to over 2000 miners. After over 2000 miners, with their families, had settled there, and bought a large number of lots, and were working at low

wages; suddenly, in 1889, the combination closed the mines without notice or explanation, or any promises for the future, reducing the great mass of the population in a few months to such pitiful destitution and suffering, that the whole country was compelled to exert itself to prevent starvation. The only motive of the cruel proceeding appears in the subsequent proposition of the coal company, after the miners were starved into humility, to take them back, singly, at about half their former low wages." (Arena, Aug. 1890, p. 302.)

The power of the "Plutocracy," like that of the "professional politicians" who serve them so faithfully-for adequate pay—rests, ultimately, upon unrestricted immigration.

These then are 66 possibilities of Democracy,'' and some, at least, of its limits. It is strong, popular, united, and enduring, it has had a full century of experience. Plutocracy, poverty, political corruption, race problem, and labor difficulties, are the darker tendencies of American Democracy. Which will prevail, who can tell?

We, in England, are "marching toward Democracy;" the solution of all the diffi

wrongs, which is to banish all poverty, inequalities, privileges. Will it? Or will it bring for "Aristocracy" with its traditional obligations, heartless, irresponsible "Plutocracy"; for inherited privileges the tyranny of boundless wealth? It has not banished poverty in America; it has not raised wages nor cheapened living for the toiling masses who are supposed to long for "Democracy" as prisoners long for freedom. Wealth buys

Protection of American Industries" from eager and party politicians,' "Protection" increases wealth, a beautiful example of the "true inwardness of things. Wealth buys legislation to crush opposition legally-that is "Popular Government."

Yet I believe firmly in Democracy as a phase of human progress, in American Democracy, as the best, so far, in spite of its limits, its possibilities, and its faults. That it has endured so long is an earnest of continuance-until superseded by something better. If we must pass through the phase known as "Democracy," it is well to know something of its possibilities and its limits, as exemplified in the case of our kindred. This, after studying American Democracy for years, I have attempted to do. It can accomplish many things; with many others it is powerless to cope. If we know, approximately, what it can do, and what it cannot, we shall neither expect too much, nor shall we be disappointed. Westminster Review.

Six or seven years ago English men of letters, who had hitherto been a timid and unassuming class, made a bold resolve. Prompted by Mr. Walter Besant, they realized that they should rank as a recognized profession. It did not require much thought to justify this idea. The authors felt that what Mr. Besant suggested was the natural result of social evolution. Literature was no longer merely a criticism of life indulged in for the honor and glory of the critics. Life had become so used to being criticised that criticism had become a necessity of life. Society had

been so long inured to books, magazines, reviews, and newspapers, that it could not do without them. The men and women who took part in the work of producing literature had been placed in a new relationship to the public. They had ceased to be bohemians like gypsies and strolling players. The most genteel millionaire who ever clad himself from neck to paunch in a table-napkin, and fed himself with a knife, could no longer thank God and his soap-factory that he was not as the literary gents were. The literary gents had beas respectable as the industrious

come