A Psalm of Montreal
[The City of Montreal is one of the most rising and, in many respects, most agreeable on the American continent, but its inhabitants are as yet too busy with commerce to care greatly about the masterpieces of old Greek Art. A cast of one of these masterpieces—the finest of the several statues of Discoboli, or Quoit-throwers—was found by the present writer in the Montreal Museum of Natural History; it was, however, banished from public view, to a room where were all manner of skins, plants, snakes, insects, &c., and in the middle of these, an old man, stuffing an owl. The dialogue—perhaps true, perhaps imaginary, perhaps a little of one and a little of the other—between the writer and this old man gave rise to the lines that follow.]
Stowed away in a Montreal lumber-room,
The Discobolus standeth, and turneth his face to the wall;
Dusty, cobweb-covered, maimed, and set at naught,
Beauty crieth in an attic, and no man regardeth.
O God! O Montreal!
Beautiful by night and day, beautiful in summer and winter,
Whole or maimed, always and alike beautiful,—
He preacheth gospel of grace to the skins of owls,
And to one who seasoneth the skins of Canadian owls.
O God! O Montreal!
When I saw him, I was wroth, and I said, “O Discobolus!
Beautiful Discobolus, a Prince both among gods and men,
What doest thou here, how camest thou here, Discobolus,
Preaching gospel in vain to the skins of owls?”
O God! O Montreal!
And I turned to the man of skins, and said unto him, “Oh! thou man of skins,
Wherefore hast thou done thus, to shame the beauty of the Discobolus?”
But the Lord had hardened the heart of the man of skins,
And he answered, “My brother-in-law is haberdasher to Mr. Spurgeon.”
O God! O Montreal!
“The Discobolus is put here because he is vulgar,—
He hath neither vest nor pants with which to cover his limbs;
I, sir, am a person of most respectable connections,—
My brother-in-law is haberdasher to Mr. Spurgeon.”
O God! O Montreal!
Then I said, “O brother-in law to Mr. Spurgeon’s haberdasher!
Who seasonest also the skins of Canadian owls,
Thou callest ‘trousers’ ‘pants,’ whereas I call them ‘trousers,’
Therefore thou art in hell-fire, and may the Lord pity thee!
O God! O Montreal!
“Preferrest thou the gospel of Montreal to the gospel of Hellas,
The gospel of thy connection with Mr. Spurgeon’s haberdashery to the gospel of the Discobolus?”
Yet none the less blasphemed he beauty, saying, “The Discobolus hath no gospel,—
But my brother-in-law is haberdasher to Mr. Spurgeon.”
O God! O Montreal!
Footnotes
[iii] See page 234 of this book.
1 The first edition of Erewhon was published in the spring of 1872.
47 The myth above alluded to exists in Erewhon with changed names and considerable modifications. I have taken the liberty of referring to the story as familiar to ourselves.
48 The first edition of the Fair Haven was published April 1873.
68 The first edition of Life and Habit was published in December, 1877.
96 See page 228 of this book, “Remarks on Mr. Romanes’ ‘Mental Evolution in Animals.’”
119 Kegan Paul, 1875.
125 It is now (January 1884) more than six years since Life and Habit was published, but I have come across nothing which makes me wish to alter it to any material extent.
127 It must be remembered that the late Mr. C. Darwin expressly denied that instinct and inherited habit are generally to be connected.—See Mr. Darwin’s “Origin of Species,” end of chapter viii., where he expresses his surprise that no one has hitherto adduced the instincts of neuter insects “against the well-known doctrine of inherited habit as advanced by Lamarck.”
Mr. Romanes, in his “Mental Evolution in Animals” (November, 1883), refers to this passage of Mr. Darwin’s, and endorses it with approbation (p. 297).
131 Evolution, Old and New, was published in May, 1879.
134a Quatrefages, “Metamorphoses de l’Homme et des Animaux,” 1862, p. 42; G. H. Lewes, “Physical Basis of Mind,” 1877, p. 83.
134b I have been unable, through want of space, to give this chapter here.
141 Page 210, first edition.
144 1878.
148 “Nat. Theol.” ch. xxiii.
153a 1878.
153b “Oiseaux,” vol. i. p. 5.
162 “Discours de Réception à l’Académie Française.”
163 I Cor. xiii. 8, 13.
164a Tom. i. p. 24, 1749.
164b Tom. i. p. 40, 1749.
165 Vol. i. p. 34, 1749.
166a Tom. i. p. 36.
166b See p. 173.
166c Tom. i. p. 33.
168 The Naturalist’s Library, vol. ii. p. 23. Edinburgh, 1843.
174 Tom. iv. p. 381, 1753.
176 Tom. iv. p. 383, 1753 (this was the first volume on the lower animals).
177a Tom xiii. p. 1765.
177b Sup. tom. v. p. 27, 1778.
180 Tom. i. p. 28, 1749.
181a Unconscious Memory was published December, 1880.
181b See Unconscious Memory, chap. vi.
181c The Spirit of Nature, p. 39. J. A. Churchill & Co. 1880.
184 I have put these words into the mouth of my supposed objector, and shall put others like them, because they are characteristic; but nothing can become so well known as to escape being an inference.
189 Erewhon, chap, xxiii.
198a It must be remembered that this passage is put as if in the mouth of an objector.
198b Mr. Herbert Spencer denies that there can be memory without a “tolerably deliberate succession of psychical states.” 198c So that practically he denies that there can be any such thing as “unconscious memory.” Nevertheless a few pages later on he says that “conscious memory passes into unconscious or organic memory.” 198d It is plain, therefore, that he could after all find no expression better suited for his purpose.
Mr. Romanes is, I think, right in setting aside Mr. Spencer’s limitation of memory to conscious memory. He writes, “Because I have so often seen the sun shine that my memory of it as shining has become automatic, I see no reason why my memory of this fact, simply on account of its perfection, should be called no memory.” 198e
198c Principles of Psychology, I., 447.
198d Ibid, p. 452.
198e Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 130
217 Nineteenth Century, Nov. 1878, p. 826.
218 Encyclopedia Britannica, Art. Biology, 9th ed., Vol. 3, p. 689.
220a Professor Huxley, Encycl. Brit., 9th ed., Art. Evolution, p. 750.
220b “Hume,” by Professor Huxley, p. 45.
220c “The Philosophy of Crayfishes,” by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Carlisle. Nineteenth Century for October 1880, p. 636.
221 Les Amours des Plantes, p. 360. Paris, 1800.
222a Philosophie Zoologique, tom. i. p. 231. Ed. M. Martin. Paris, 1873.
222b Those who read the three following chapters will see that these words, written in 1880, have come out near the truth in 1884.
223a Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society. Williams & Norgate. 1858, p. 61.
223b Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection, 2d ed., 1871, p. 41.
223c Origin of Species, p. I, ed. 1872.
223d Origin of Species, 6th ed., p. 206. I ought in fairness to Mr Darwin to say that he does not hold the error to be quite as serious as he once did. It is now “a serious error” only; in 1859 it was “most serious error.”—Origin of Species, 1st ed., p. 209.
224 Origin of Species, 1st ed., p. 242; 6th ed., p. 233.
225a I never could find what these particular points were.
225b Isidore Geoffrey, Hist. Nat. Gen., tom. ii. p. 407, 1859.
225c M. Martin’s edition of the Philosophie Zoologique (Paris, 1873), Introduction, p. vi.
225d Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., p. 750.
228a Kegan Paul & Co., 1883.
228b Principles of Psychology, Vol. I. p. 445.
228c Ibid. I. 456.
228d Problems of Life and Mind, first series, Vol. I., 3rd ed. 1874, p. 141, and Problem I. 21.
228e p. 33.
228f p. 77.
228g p. 115.
229 Translation of Professor Hering’s address on “Memory as an Organised Function of Matter,” Unconscious Memory, p. 116.
230 See Zoonomia, Vol. I. p. 484.
231a Problems of Life and Mind, I. pp. 239, 240: 1874.
231b Kegan Paul. November, 1883.
232a Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 113.
232b Ibid. p. 115.
232c Ibid. p. 116. Kegan Paul. Nov. 1883.
233a Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 131. Kegan Paul. Nov. 1883.
233b Vol. I., 3rd ed. 1874, p. 141, and Problem I. 21.
233c Mental Evolution in Animals, pp. 177, 178. Nov. 1883.
234a Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 193.
234b Ibid, p. 195.
234c Ibid, p. 296. Nov. 1883.
234d Ibid. p. 192. Nov. 1883.
235 Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 296. Nov. 1883.
236a See page 228.
236b Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 33. Nov. 1883.
236c Ibid, p. 116.
236d Ibid. p. 178.
239 Evolution, Old and New, pp. 357, 358.
240 Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 159. Kegan Paul & Co., 1883.
241 Zoonomia, Vol. I. p. 484.
242a Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 297. Kegan Paul & Co., 1883.
242b Ibid. p. 201.
243a Mental Evolution in Animals, p. 301. November, 1883.
243b Origin of Species, Ed. I. p. 209.
243c Ibid, Ed. VI. 1876, p. 206.
243d Formation of Vegetable Mould, &c., p. 98.
244a Quoted by Mr. Romanes as written in the last year of Mr. Darwin’s life.
244b Macmillan, 1883.
247 Nature, Jan. 27, 1881.
248a Nature, Jan. 27, 1881.
248b Ibid., Feb. 3, 1881.
249 Nature, Jan. 27, 1881.
250 Mind, October, 1883.
252a Mind for October 1883, p. 498.
252b Ibid, p. 505, October 1883.
254a Principles of Psychology, I. 422.
254b Ibid. I. 424.
254c Ibid. I. 424.
255 The first edition of Alps and Sanctuaries was published Dec. 1882.
265 Princ. of Psych., ed. 3, Vol. I., p. 136, 1880.
269 Curiosities of Literature, Lond. 1866, Routledge & Co., p. 272.
275 See p. 87 of this vol.
[276] Ivanhoe, chap xxiii., near the beginning.
287 “Well, my dear sir, I am sorry you do not think as I do, but in these days we cannot all of us start with the same principles.”
294 For these I must refer the reader to Alps and Sanctuaries itself.
311 “Dalle meraviglie finalmente che sono inerenti al simulacro stesso.”—Cenni storico artistici intorno al santuario di Oropa. (Prof. Maurizio, Marocco. Turin, Milan, 1866, p. 329.)
313 Marocco, p. 331.