when he had another year's supply -- a hundred and
twenty-five dollars. That was the nearest approach to in~
dependence a man could make "under capitalism," he ex~
plained; he would never marry, for no sane man would
allow himself to fall in love until after the revolution.

He sat in a big arm-chair, with his legs crossed, and his
head so far in the shadow that one saw only two glowing
lights, reflected from the fire on the hearth. He spoke
simply, and utterly without emotion; with the manner of
a teacher setting forth to a group of scholars an axiom in
geometry, he would enunciate such propositions as made
the hair of an ordinary person rise on end. And when the
auditor had asserted his non-comprehension, he would pro~
ceed to elucidate by some new proposition, yet more appall~
ing. To Jurgis the Herr Dr. Schliemann assumed the
proportions of a thunder-storm or an earthquake. And yet,
strange as it might seem, there was a subtle bond between
them, and he could follow the argument nearly all the
time. He was carried over the difficult places in spite of
himself; and he went plunging away in mad career -- a
very Mazeppa-ride upon the wild horse Speculation.

Nicholas Schliemann was familiar with all the universe,
and with man as a small part of it. He understood human
institutions, and blew them about like soap-bubbles. It
was surprising that so much destructiveness could be con~
tained in one human mind. Was it government? The
purpose of government was the guarding of property-rights,
the perpetuation of ancient force and modern fraud. Or
was it marriage? Marriage and prostitution were two
sides of one shield, the predatory man's exploitation of the
sex-pleasure. The difference between them was a differ~
ence of class. If a woman had money she might dictate
her own terms: equality, a life-contract, and the legitimacy
-- that is, the property-rights -- of her children. If she had
no money, she was a proletarian, and sold herself for an
existence. And then the subject became Religion, which was
the Arch-fiend's deadliest weapon. Government oppressed
the body of the wage-slave, but Religion oppressed his
mind, and poisoned the stream of progress at its source.

[[397]]

p396 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p397w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p398

v?