CHAPTER III.
I expressed my astonishment at her revelation. Their social life existedunder conditions that were incredible to me. Would it be an impertinenceto ask for an explanation that I might comprehend? Or was it really theone secret they possessed and guarded from discovery, a mystery thatmust forever surround them with a halo of doubt, the suggestion ofuncanny power? I spoke as deprecatingly as I could. The Preceptressturned upon me a calm but penetrating gaze.
"Have we impressed you as a mysterious people?" she asked.
"Very, very much!" I exclaimed. "I have at times been oppressed by it."
"You never mentioned it," she said, kindly.
"I could not find an opportunity to," I said.
"It is the custom in Mizora, as you have no doubt observed, never tomake domestic affairs a topic of conversation outside of the family, theonly ones who would be interested in them; and this refinement has keptyou from the solution of our social system. I have no hesitancy ingratifying your wish to comprehend it. The best way to do it is to lethistory lead up to it, if you have the patience to listen."
I assured her that I was anxious to hear all she chose to tell. She thenresumed:
"The prosperity of the country rapidly increased under the rule of thefemale Presidents. The majority of them were in favor of a high state ofmorality, and they enforced it by law and practice. The arts andsciences were liberally encouraged and made rapid advancement. Collegesand schools flourished vigorously, and every branch of education was nowopen to women.
"During the Republic of men, the government had founded and sustained amilitary and naval academy, where a limited number of the youth of thecountry were educated at government expense. The female governmentre-organized the institutions, substituting the youth of their own sex.They also founded an academy of science, which was supplied with everyfacility for investigation and progress. None but those having a markedpredilection for scientific research could obtain admission, and then itwas accorded to demonstrated ability only. This drew to the college thebest female talent in the country. The number of applicants was notlimited.
"Science had hitherto been, save by a _very_ few, an untrodden field towomen, but the encouragement and rare facilities offered soon revealedlatent talent that developed rapidly. Scarcely half a century hadelapsed before the pupils of the college had effected by theirdiscoveries some remarkable changes in living, especially in theprevention and cure of diseases.
"However prosperous they might become, they could not dwell in politicalsecurity with a portion of the citizens disfranchised. The men wereresolved to secure their former power. Intrigues and plots against thegovernment were constantly in force among them. In order to avertanother civil war, it was finally decided to amend the constitution, andgive them an equal share in the ballot. They had no sooner obtained thatthan the old practices of the former Republic were resorted to to securetheir supremacy in government affairs. The women looked forward to theirformer subjugation as only a matter of time, and bitterly regrettedtheir inability to prevent it. But at the crisis, a prominent scientistproposed to let the race die out. Science had revealed the Secret ofLife."
She ceased speaking, as though I fully understood her.
"I am more bewildered than ever," I exclaimed. "I cannot comprehendyou."
"Come with me," she said.
I followed her into the Chemist's Laboratory. She bade me look into amicroscope that she designated, and tell her what I saw.
"An exquisitely minute cell in violent motion," I answered.
"Daughter," she said, solemnly, "you are now looking upon the germ of_all_ Life, be it animal or vegetable, a flower or a human being, it hasthat one common beginning. We have advanced far enough in Science tocontrol its development. Know that the MOTHER is the only important partof all life. In the lowest organisms no other sex is apparent."
I sat down and looked at my companion in a frame of mind not easilydescribed. There was an intellectual grandeur in her look and mien thatwas impressive. Truth sat, like a coronet, upon her brow. The revelationI had so longed for, I now almost regretted. It separated me so far fromthese beautiful, companionable beings.
"Science has instructed you how to supercede Nature," I said, finally.
"By no means. It has only taught us how to make her obey us. We cannot_create_ Life. We cannot develop it. But we can control Nature'sprocesses of development as we will. Can you deprecate such a power?Would not your own land be happier without idiots, without lunatics,without deformity and disease?"
"You will give me little hope of any radical change in my own lifetimewhen I inform you that deformity, if extraordinary, becomes a source ofrevenue to its possessor."
"All reforms are of slow growth," she said. "The moral life is thehighest development of Nature. It is evolved by the same slow processes,and like the lower life, its succeeding forms are always higher ones.Its ultimate perfection will be mind, where all happiness shall dwell,where pleasure shall find fruition, and desire its ecstasy.
"It is the duty of every generation to prepare the way for a higherdevelopment of the next, as we see demonstrated by Nature in thefossilized remains of long extinct animal life, a preparatory conditionfor a higher form in the next evolution. If you do not enjoy the fruitof your labor in your own lifetime, the generation that follows you willbe the happier for it. Be not so selfish as to think only of your ownnarrow span of life."
"By what means have you reached so grand a development?" I asked.
"By the careful study of, and adherence to, Nature's laws. It was longyears--I should say centuries--before the influence of the coarsernature of men was eliminated from the present race.
"We devote the most careful attention to the Mothers of our race. Noretarding mental or moral influences are ever permitted to reach her. Onthe contrary, the most agreeable contacts with nature, all that cancheer and ennoble in art or music surround her. She is an object ofinterest and tenderness to all who meet her. Guarded from unwholesomeagitation, furnished with nourishing and proper diet--both mental andphysical--the child of a Mizora mother is always an improvement uponherself. With us, childhood has no sorrows. We believe, and the presentcondition of our race proves, that a being environed from its birth withnone but elevating influences, will grow up amiable and intelligentthough inheriting unfavorable tendencies.
"On this principle we have ennobled our race and discovered the means ofprolonging life and youthful loveliness far beyond the limits known byour ancestors.
"Temptation and necessity will often degrade a nature naturally inclinedand desirous to be noble. We early recognized this fact, and that anature once debased by crime would transmit it to posterity. For thisreason we never permitted a convict to have posterity."
"But how have you become so beautiful?" I asked. "For, in all myjourneys, I have not met an uncomely face or form. On the contrary, allthe Mizora women have perfect bodies and lovely features."
"We follow the gentle guidance of our mother, Nature. Good air andjudicious exercise for generations and generations before us havehelped. Our ancestors knew the influence of art, sculpture, painting andmusic, which they were trained to appreciate."
"But has not nature been a little generous to you?" I inquired.
"Not more so than she will be to any people who follow her laws. Whenyou first came here you had an idea that you could improve nature bycrowding your lungs and digestive organs into a smaller space than she,the maker of them, intended them to occupy.
"If you construct an engine, and then cram it into a box so narrow andtight that it cannot move, and then crowd on the motive power, whatwould you expect?
"Beautiful as you think my people, and as they really are, yet, bydisregarding nature's laws, or trying to thwart her intentions, in a fewgenerations to come, perhaps even in the next, we could have coarsefeatures and complexions, stoop shoulders and deformity.
"It has required patience, observation and care on the part of ourancestors to secure to
us the priceless heritage of health and perfectbodies. Your people can acquire them by the same means."