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Peterson conference call transcript!
Peterson conference call transcript!
The amazing Peterson brothers, who long ago won their toughest fight – growing up homeless in Washington, D.C. – will co-headline on "ShoBox: The New Generation" on SHOWTIME on Friday, April 28 (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast). In a 10-round bout, older brother Lamont (16-0, seven KOs) faces southpaw Jose "The Baby Faced Assassin" Ramos (16-2-1, three KOs). In an eight-rounder, Anthony (16-0, 13 KOs) take on undefeated Jermaine White (12-0, 7 KOs). Brian Young's Prizefight Boxing will promote the doubleheader from the 4 Bears Casino & Lodge in New Town, N.D.
Opening Comments
Hall: We are really pleased to have Lamont and Anthony on the show. They are a great example of what "ShoBox: The New Generation" is about. "ShoBox'' showcases young, talented fighters in tough match-ups which we believe helps to give young fighters the national exposure that they may not necessarily get, and it helps to escalate their career at a faster pace, and is good for the sport of boxing. We have our unique definition and purpose, and certainly we would not be doing this series justice without showcasing two of the brightest prospects in the junior welterweight division in Anthony and Lamont. Certainly, Anthony and Lamont are a great story, which a lot of people are familiar with, which is one small part of their life, overcoming adversity when they were younger. But to attain what they have as amateurs is remarkable and to take that and move it on to the pro ranks where now cumulatively they are 32-0 with 20 KO's is also remarkable. We are fortunate to have them on the series because, as I said, we certainly believe that they are two of the brightest prospects in the junior welterweight division today.
Question: Lamont, what are your thoughts on fighting on SHOWTIME, on "ShoBox,'' and meeting Jose Ramos?
Lamont P.: Well, it is funny because I was just watching him fight Demetrius Hopkins a couple weeks ago on TV and I recorded it, and I am glad I did. I am just happy to be able to fight on SHOWTIME. I always wanted to fight on SHOWTIME and "ShoBox'' ever since I turned pro. Now it is my time to do all the stuff that I wanted to do. I am going to do it April 28. I am just training hard and just hope everybody is ready for a good fight.
Question: Anthony, what are your thoughts going into your fight April 28 on "ShoBox''?
Anthony P: It is a pleasure. Just like my brother said, it is a dream come true to fight on ShoBox and SHOWTIME. It is a dream come true. Fighting an undisputed fighter, which is another one of my dreams. I always wanted to fight an undefeated fighter because someone's 0 has got to go. It is not going to be mine. If you never saw me and my brother fight, tune in on April 28th.
Begin Press Questions.
Question: Lamont and Anthony: What do you think you would be doing if you were not boxing professionally?
Lamont: Well, it would not be too many things I could do. Before I got into boxing, there were not many things that we could do. My mind was set on mostly the street things and I thought that we were supposed to sell drugs. But when I got into boxing, everything changed. So it is hard to say what I would be doing, but it would not be anything good.
Anthony: Pretty much the same because whatever big brother did at the time, I was doing it too.
Question: Lamont, because of your well-documented background, do you feel extra pressure or something more to prove or that you are representing more people than just yourself?
Lamont: Not any extra pressure, I would not say that. But I do think about all the kids that – you know, we are not the only ones that are going through it. They come through the gym everyday. So it is not any added pressure, but I think about those kids going through the same thing when I step into the ring, when I train, when I run. I try to show them that it is another way out other than selling drugs or robbing people or things like that. Just show them there is another way. So I think about it, but I do not feel any extra pressure.
Question: What do you say to kids who are not going to be able to become professional fighters with undefeated records?
Lamont: We understand that everybody is not going to be given the gift to fight. But whatever you do, just try to be the best you can be at anything you do. Whether it is at school, anything you do, just try to be the best. Stick with it and try to be the best you can be at it.
Question: Boxing has saved a lot of people's lives and a lot feel that without boxing, who knows what would have happened to them. But you certainly would not have gotten as much success as you have now. What do you say to those that do not understand?
Lamont: I feel as though boxing saved my life, and my brother's and a whole lot of others who turned to it instead of doing other things. I think they should stop closing the gyms down and actually build more gyms for young guys to go to the gym.
Question: Anthony, can you add anything on that?
Anthony: To me, it has saved a whole lot of people's lives because this sport requires discipline. If you have discipline, you can go a long way. There are a lot of kids that do not have discipline and they end up in the streets. So I also feel that if they opened up more gyms and stopped closing them, a lot of kids would be better off. We have always been taught discipline from day one. It was never about getting in and throwing punches. It was always about discipline. And then my coach taught us a lot about life.
Question: Lamont, Hopkins could not miss Ramos with the right hand. How difficult is it for someone like you, who brings a multitude of different skills to the dance, not to get too right hand happy early in the fight?
Lamont: Well, of course, I am going to try to take from the Demetrius fight, but I am going to train for anything. I understand that he gets hit with a lot of right hands I might want to switch it up. So I am going to try to mix it up like I always do, throwing punches that I know how to throw, and if I get in there and he is susceptible to the right hand, then I am going to use it. But I am not going to go in there just trying to (land the right).
Question: Anthony, what does Jermaine White bring to the table?
Anthony: It really does not matter to me because I can adapt to any style that is out there. I am in the gym right now preparing. Come April 28, if he wants to slug, we can slug. If he wants to box, we will box.
Question: You guys are about a year and a half apart and fight at the same weight mostly. Do you guys spar together? Have you ever had any real fights against each other?
Lamont: We get along pretty good. Growing up, of course, we got into it. You know if two young guys are around each other long enough, they are going to start fighting. But now that we are older, we get along really good. We never get into it. But we spar everyday. We do not take it (go) light on each other. We understand each other and we are going to make each other better. So I know the next man is not going to take it light on him and he knows the next man is not going to take it light on me, so we go at each other like we are the other person.
Question: Barry, how much of an adjustment do you think Lamont and Anthony have had to
make since going from amateurs to pros?
Hunter: Not a lot because it used to get us in trouble a lot of time, especially when they were juniors in the amateurs, because I taught them how to fight like professionals at an early age. So we never really had a so-called amateur bout. We had to actually learn how to fight like an amateur to be effective in the amateurs. You have a lot of kids that do not really know the basic fundamentals of boxing and had never been taught them. So on the norm, they will get in there and just throw a whole lot of punches. When they turn pro, if you notice, like the Cubans, they master the computer system, but on average, when they turn pro, they stroke. So when the brothers actually turned pro, it was like just putting the fish in the bowl of water.
Question: In their maturation as a pro, where do you see them at this point, both having 16 fights apiece, yet really fighting sort of limited competition?
Hunter: Well, I am pretty pleased with where they are at this point in time in their careers. In his last fight, Lamont fought Jose Moreno, who was a pressure style fighter. He was confident we thought. He was not the same person that we scouted on the videotape. He brought a little bit of a different fight to the table. So it made us think a lot and I like that because I commended him a whole lot when they were in that adverse situation rather than seeing them in a situation where they were totally in control at all times.
Question: Is there anything in particular you are working with in the brothers' maturation?
Hunter: Well, in the adjustment state that we are in right now – and of course, you are fighting guys that are used to being hit by bigger guys. Some of the guys are coming down from weight to make a certain weight. In all fairness, in Lamont's case, we fought one guy who came in almost at a middleweight weight. You know, his skills were limited, but it kind of balanced out because he had experience. At that particular time, we virtually had none. And he was a bigger guy. And the brothers are used to fighting guys in the amateurs at the same weight that could not take that pop. But these guys that are used to being hit, a lot of them are professional. I would call them professional sparring partners almost. And they are used to being beat. So therefore, you are not going to get them out as much. So in Lamont's case, because he works on sitting down on more punches, he does pretty well as far as the defense is concerned and rolling punches, but sitting down and not moving back as much. Especially straight back. In Anthony's case, Anthony does not have that particular flow of pulling back. Every once in a while, when he is launching his hook, he will pull back on it. Or he intends to go to the hook, which is his primary punch in his arsenal, a little bit more than I would like him to. So therefore, just trying to build an all-around game for both of them.
Question: It has been a whole six months since the two of you have shared a card together. Have you been able to learn from each other in that time? Has it been easier to learn from each other while sitting in the crowd watching each other fight than it is to be fighting on the same card?
Anthony: Yeah, because when I watch Lamont fight, I relax. If he can do it, I can do it. So I see how relaxed he is in there. I try to be just as relaxed as he is too.
Lamont: I always learn from him. Even if we fight on the same card, I go back home and watch his tape to see what he is doing right and what he is doing wrong, so we can work on it. Or if he is doing something right and I like it, I will use it. I am pretty sure he does the same thing. Yeah, of course, we learn from each other. I try to learn from every fighter that I watch.
Question: Anthony, Lamont had his big showcase about a couple of months ago. He had a tough time, but still came out shining against Moreno. You, on the other hand, had a big disappointment. Is there any letdown that you are going into this fight without that showcase?
Anthony: No. To me, I try to block it out and do not even think about it. Just come April 28, I will be in shape physically and spiritually.
Question: Anthony, how satisfying is it knowing that even though there was a letdown with both of you being robbed in the Olympic Trials back in 2004 that you both remained on course with your goals?
Anthony: Well, it feels great. Right after the Olympic Trials, it hurt because you push for that. That was part of my dream. But after that happened, it kind of hurt and made me question whether I really wanted to do this. But I took some time off and my coach asked us both what we wanted to do and we both said we wanted to turn pro and we just gave it our all. I am satisfied where we are at now. Getting to 16-0, fighting on SHOWTIME. It feels real good.
Question: You guys fight in the same weight class; does that have an effect on your long term goals? Do one of you want to move to a different weight class or do you plan to stay and compete against the same competition for the duration of your careers?
Lamont: Well, actually, we are not the same weight. Sometimes Anthony will move up to my weight, but actually he is a lightweight (135), and I am 140.
Question: Is Anthony's contracted weight for this fight 138 max?
Hunter: Yes, 138 max.
Hall: That is why we are making it a junior welterweight, so they are both junior welterweight match-ups.
Hunter: Like Lamont said, Anthony generally fights lightweight, but as we go up this ladder it is becoming harder and harder to find quality opponents to go up against. Before the guys started fighting on television, it was easy to get a fight. But now it is not easy to hide them anymore. And then you do not want to push them out too fast. So it is becoming kind of difficult. So we have to move up and drop down sometimes.
Hall: It is funny because you are in a bit of a dilemma because being involved and trying to make these matches and get the fighters, when you come out of the amateurs with the credentials that you have, people know about you. Then they start to see you and they know about you, and then they find out where you were and where you are. It does make it difficult for you at an early age to try to get those tougher fights because there are a lot more reasons for people not to fight you.
Hunter: That is right. As of late, like I said, before we used to get phone calls or they would call the promoter about bouts with the boys, but it became a point in time where there were no calls and we had to do all the calling and then once we lock in on someone, then for whatever reason, they would find an excuse. Just like what happened with Anthony. The guy did make the weight and we took the higher weight, and then just before we got to the ring, he discovered his hand was broken. So you are going to get that sometimes. It comes along with the program. We just have to stick to our goals and our path and try to make it happen as best we can.
Question: Barry, where do you think Lamont and Anthony are at in terms of when they could start fighting some of the top 10 guys? Both the junior welterweight and welterweight are really some of the very toughest divisions today in boxing.
Hunter: I think, realistically, we are a few fights out. If a knockout comes, it comes, that is great. If not, that is even better because it gives us a chance to really learn and kind of get our teeth sunk into what it is we are doing. They grew up sparring pros around the DC area, so it is not something that we are not real familiar with. I know sparring is a little, if not a lot different from the actual bout, but I do believe in my soul that because of the way they have been raised in this game that they would have a real hard time making adjustments to a person who is a little bit more deeper as far as skills are concerned. In fact, we just left camp with Zab Judah. So I think they will do fine. And I actually think toward the end of this year we should be ready for that type of competition.
Question: So you think that despite the brothers are still young and pretty early in their careers, they are going to be able to start to challenge some of the top guys?
Hunter: Yeah, I definitely think pretty early in their careers that they should be able to challenge some of these guys. What can I say? Some babies walk and run faster than the others and I think they will be one of the ones that kind of get it a little bit faster than the norm.
Question: Is there anything about the story behind what you have been doing with the young people in DC that you want people to talk about or emphasize more?
Hunter: Yeah, like something Lamont said earlier. He referred to some of the other kids that are in the area or around the United States -- because this is really a war. And I think this war is more spiritual than it is physical. But we see it daily through this gym alone. You have a lot of kids that come through. We have some that are in the shelter right now. We have some that if they were home, they are just fine at home. A lot of times, what they do not talk about in these papers and magazines is any given Saturday or Sunday, Anthony and Lamont will have at least 10-15 kids over to their house, taking them to the movies, to the stores. It is real deep. I think it is a time now that the average person that is out there needs to not sit on the sidelines and talk about the problems. We need to get to it and address the problems and come up with a solution because it is getting worse and worse out there everyday. The problem is huge and it is many. We have to combat this thing right there in the front or we are going to lose.
Question: Anything you want the fans in particular to do in terms of taking action? Is it working with kids? Working in gyms or projects with young people?
Hunter: Yeah, I definitely think you need to be hands on because you have a lot of kids out there. Some of them just need an arm around their shoulder and to have someone point them in the right direction, and that can make all the difference in the world. I would like to see a lot more mentoring programs. I would like to see a lot more of these programs that they came through – boxing programs – if it is mentoring the kids to school, in school or helping them out on these corners that they are standing on. And I am not talking about just riding past and saying what they should do. I mean, actually get out there. Go to these spots that you know they are struggling in and snatch these kids up off the corner and point them into a direction that would be a good direction for them and for all.
Hunter: You guys really had Barry come into your lives at a critical time and used boxing to help really get you guys on a path towards the great careers that you are having so far. Do you guys see yourselves continuing to do for youngsters what Barry has done for you?
Anthony: Yeah, it has been put into us from day one. Once we saw him do it and how it turned out and then we see those that did not get it, that did not have the same teachers that we had, and how they end up. We do not want that for the kids right now because they are all sweet kids, all of them. So we try to do our best and try to keep them straight, and at the same time keep ourselves straight.
Closing Comments.
Anthony: I just hope everybody will tune in on April 28 because it is going to be a blast. I am going to have fun. I know that for sure.
Lamont: I just want to thank SHOWTIME for having us on. We are going to try our best to give it our all. I hope everybody will come out or watch it on SHOWTIME. You are going to see a great show on April 28.
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text:
Player Interaction
Component Quality
You Might Like
- A great theme.
- Lots of choices in engine building.
- Superb production quality.
Might Not Like
- Playtime increases with player count.
- Amount of choices count induce analysis paralysis.
Related Products
Scythe is a game by Stonemaier Games, designed by renowned auteur Jamey Stegmaier. Set in an alternate reality 1920's Europe, the game focuses on expanding your faction's dominance across territory whilst harvesting resources, creating upgrades and battling your enemies. Whilst not exclusively a game about conflict, Scythe rewards players for conducting many different types of engine-building, leading to a great variety in play styles.
Each of the five factions in the box has different special abilities and these are paired each game with a different economic player board. During the turn, each player chooses one of four unique actions from the player board, which also gives a secondary bonus action. These actions move the faction workers, launch mechs and leader across the board, adding buildings and even upgrade their own options by manipulating the player board. The game is surprisingly swift, even at higher play counts due to the pairing down of actions per turn.
As players complete goals, such as bringing all four of their mechs onto the board, they begin to collect stars. After a faction has laid down their sixth star, this triggers the end game. The winner of the game is the faction with the most coins.
Scythe also contains a fully realised single-player module, where the player competes against an 'Automa' A.I. In a single-player game, a deck of cards controls the A.I. player faction and offers a compelling experience as an alternative to the multiplayer game.
Visually, Scythe looks stunning on the table. From the sweeping lands on the board to the faction leaders design, all the artwork is dramatically evocative. The leaders and mechs are all unique sculpts for each faction. Workers and materials are made up of wooden markers.
Whilst this is a complete game, Scythe is upgradable with expansions that increase the player count, add more game modules, event cards and most recently a legacy campaign mechanic.
Player count: 1-5
Time: 115 minutes
Age rating: 14+
$1.8 million on Kickstarter emphasises the sheer hype and hysteria surrounding Scythe. If you haven't played it before, you almost certainly have heard of it in one way or another. Scythe sees players enter an alternate history where they are each creating their own empire of monstrous mechs and industrious workers.
The aim of this 4x game (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) is to control areas of the board, gather resources, earn coins, and build an efficient engine. Once a player completes six achievements, the game end is triggered and final scoring is calculated.
Scythe is designed by Jamey Stegmaier, published by Stonemaier Games, and plays 1-5 players in around two hours. There is an expansion available that extends the player count to 6-7, but that will add to the playtime (you've been warned). I've played the game with 2-5 players and, from my experience, the game takes around thirty minutes per player.
Don't let the potential length of a higher player count deter you though! Scythe immerses you into its world delightfully, through beautiful artwork from Jakub Rozalski.
Scythe Gameplay
At the start of the game, each player chooses a faction and player mat. Each of these mats is completely unique, and can be combined in many different ways! The faction mats provide players with a special ability, four mechs (that also add a unique special ability once built), and their starting power and combat cards.
On your player mat is where your engine-building plans take shape. Each board is separated into four sections, each with a top row action and a bottom row action. The actions are mixed and matched on each player board, making play styles varied each time you play. Players have a leader miniature at their home base to start, with a worker on each of the two adjacent spaces.
On a turn, you may select one of the four sections on your player mat and execute the top row action, followed by the bottom row action. Top row actions include:
- Move – players move any of their pieces around the board following movement rules.
- Produce – workers on particular hexes may gain a resource of that respective hex.
- Trade – pay a coin to gain two resources of the player's choice.
- Bolster – pay a coin to gain power.
After completing a top row action, players may activate the bottom row action of the same section. This is where the real engine building begins. The upgrade action allows players to move a cube that is covering a benefit on a top row action, and place it on a red payment space on a bottom row action. Thus making the top row action more beneficial and the bottom row action cheaper next time. Lovely.
The deploy action allows players to build a mech and place it with a worker on the board. The mechs can be built in any order from their faction board and add a special ability to every mech currently out there in the world, as well as your leader.
When activating the build action, players chose a building from their player mat to place out onto the board with a worker. Once a building is removed from the player mat, it will uncover a new benefit for that action.
The enlist action allows the player to pick up a recruit token from the player mat and place it in any available one-time bonus space on your faction mat, immediately gaining that depicted bonus. When the Recruit token is moved it will show an ongoing bonus. For the rest of the game, whenever you or the players on either side of you use this bottom row action, you gain the specified bonus. The management of the player mats is key to success and enjoyment in a game of Scythe.
As players take their actions and move around the board, they will be having encounters with the locals, visiting the factory, and taking part in combat to determine control of a territory. Encounters cause players to draw a card from the encounter deck, which contains a visual scene of what can be seen in that hex. The player then decides what to do in that situation, which could influence their popularity with the locals. Some of the encounters do seem a bit unbalanced, but the excellent imagery and humour used in some of the choices just add to the theme of the game.
Visiting the factory allows players to acquire a whole new action that can only be used by them, and is unique from every other action. Each game has one more factory card than the player count to choose from. The actions can be very powerful and can reward the player who gets to the factory first. However, upgraded actions on your player mat can prove more beneficial as time goes by.
Combat occurs when two players have their pieces in the same hex. Players choose how much power they would like to use in the battle (using the power dial) as well as any combat cards that they choose to use. The player with the highest total power wins and forces the opposing player to retreat to the home base.
In my experience combat can be few and far between, particularly with lower player counts (2-3 players). It's the intimidation factor of seeing how much power a player has, the number of combat cards, and the number of mechs nearby that can force players to simply stay out of each other's way!
Players who win their first two battles acquire an achievement star for doing so. These are two of the 10 possible ways to achieve an achievement star. They are also awarded for players who deploy all their mechs, build all of their structures, upgrade all of their actions, activate all of their enlist actions, max out the popularity or power tracks, or complete an objective card.
The game continues until one player completes six achievements. The achievement stars are worth many points at the end of the game but are not the be-all and end-all. If your engine is efficient, you've got decent control of the board, and high popularity, you should be in with a shout of winning even if you didn't get six achievement stars out.
Stonemaier Games have an ever-growing reputation for producing some very beautiful games, and Scythe is no exception. In fact, it can be argued it's the pick of the bunch. The artwork is second to none and does a fantastic job of immersing players into the world.
The board is extremely detailed and well thought out, but it can be overwhelming at first glance. However, after a few rounds, players can see the necessity for each track, deck, and hex. Players are never too far away from one another either. The board implements a tunnel system that all players are free to use. This allows players to move quickly about the board to gain territory and then back to the factory hex in the centre of the board if they choose.
Scythe's wooden tokens, card stock, and plastic miniatures are great. Each faction has its own mould for its leader, mechs, and workers, which is a nice touch that most game publishers don't tend to do. It adds another differing factor between the factions on the board (as well as aiding colour blind players).
I was fortunate enough to back the Kickstarter and chose to go with the Collector's Edition as it added the metal coins, Stonemaier realistic resource tokens, and a larger board. All of which are available as add-ons to the game if you're that way inclined like I am!
Final Thoughts
Scythe is an excellent game that smashes together great euro-style mechanisms and superb thematic gameplay. I was worried when I heard the 4x game label being attached to this one. I think it does a good job, but it's not the best 4x game out there. Labels aside, this is an outstanding engine-building game that keeps players engaged, throwing up some interesting choices and memorable moments.
It's the management of the player mat that dragged me into the game. The choices and decisions a player needs to make are interesting and important. There are so many avenues to explore and so many combinations of faction and player mats to combine, that tactics and strategies need to adapt for different combinations.
However, I will stress the importance of the popularity track. Low popularity can prove damaging, as it acts as a multiplier for end game scoring. In my plays of Scythe, that seems to be the only consistent strategy that I use.
I've read in forums online that the game can suffer from players taking too long on turns, which has disengaged and distracted players. I'm lucky enough to be in an analysis paralysis-free game group so I haven't been a victim of this, but I can see how this can be a problem. If you or a member of your game group has a tendency to overthink a game when too many choices are offered, then the playtime can take a bit longer than previously mentioned.
I have not played the solo game of Scythe so I can't comment on how it plays, or if it's any good. The two-player game is fine but is a lot less confrontational. In fact, there is rarely a combat situation at all! I think the sweet spot for the game is at four players. Having five or more players would result in too many combats in my opinion. If you're looking for combat in an area control game I suggest taking a look at Kemet.
All in all, Scythe's ability to drag me into its theme and core mechanisms has seen it become my favourite game I've ever played. I enjoy the engine building, intimidation before the war, and the sheer amount of choices available to players. The production value is through the roof and it's a game that will be in my collection for a very long time.
Editors note: This blog was originally published on November 12th, 2018. Updated on November 23rd, 2021 to improve the information available.
The Great War is over, but the consequences are still there, even during the 1920's. In Scythe, created by Stonemaier Games, it's up to you to lead your faction, earn resources, gain fame and fortune, establish a new empire, and become a new leader of the devastated Eastern Europa.
Board Set-Up
Before you can call yourself a leader, you'll need to know the rules for Scythe (designed by Jamey Stegmaier). First of all, go ahead and get information about the game board. The map is divided into territories, and each one has its own resources and/or objects you can use if you have Mechs and/or Workers there.
You'll notice a bunch of other things all over the map, and here are some basic instructions:
- Encounter Tokens (Green compass) – There are 11 tokens, and each of them should be placed on the designated place in the map.
- Resources and Coins – There are four different resources available (food, oil, wood, and metal), there are coins and multipliers tokens. Take all of them and place them near the board in a supply area.
- Combat Cards (Yellow) – Shuffle these cards and put them on the board. Once you're out of combat cards, reshuffle the deck and start over.
- Factory Cards (Purple) – Shuffle these cards and place them face-down on the board. You should place one card more than there are players in the game (if there are three players, put down four cards). Put the rest of the cards back to the box.
- Objective Cards (Beige) – Shuffle the deck and put it on the board.
- Encounter Cards (Green) – Shuffle the deck an put it on the board.
- Structure Bonus Tile: Randomly pick one of the structure bonus tiles and face it up below Popularity Track.
Faction Selection
Every player in Scythe will randomly receive a Faction mat and Player mat, and sit near their home base. These mats will indicate their starting cards and track positions on the far right of each mat.
Faction Mat
- Power Token – Put your power token on the indicated level of the Power Track. You spend power during the combat.
- Combat Cards – Draw the indicated number of combat cards. Their number is public information, but the content should be kept as a secret.
Player Mat
- Objective Cards – Draw the indicated number of these cards and keep their content secret. Once everyone took their card, put the deck back in the box.
- Popularity Token – Place this token on the indicated level of Popularity Track.
- Coins – Gain the indicated number of coins and put them on your Faction Mat. These will be important at the end of the game, so keep earning them.
Continue the set-up by placing your Character on your faction's home base, and two workers on the territories that are connected to your base by land. Workers can't move across the river, only Mechs that are carrying them can.
You'll notice there is more information on your Faction and Player mats, so go ahead and read the Quick-start Card, so you can finally begin your conquest.
How to Win?
Your goal in Scythe is to make your faction the wealthiest and most powerful in Eastern Europa. You'll do this by exploring and conquering new territories, producing workers and resources, deploying Mechs and engaging in combats with other players.
Once you manage to accomplish an achievement, go ahead and place the star on the designated space. The game will end when a player places the sixth star on the Triumph Track. One star will be earned for any of the following:
- Have 16 power.
- Have 18 popularity.
- Win two different combats (earn start for each).
- Reveal one completed objective card.
- Engage all four recruits.
- Build all four structures.
- Deploy all four Mechs.
- Complete all six upgrades.
The main goal in Scythe is to generate the greatest wealth at the end of the game. Coins can be accumulated during the game, but the majority of them will be received once the game ends, during the end-game scoring.
There are three scoring categories:
- For every star token placed.
- For every territory controlled.
- For every two resources controlled area.
Keep in mind that the number of coins will depend on your level on the Popularity Track, so try and be nice to your workers.
Closing Comments on Scythe
If you think that this is complex, wait until you open the box and start reading the rulebook. Luckily, it is well written and illustrated, so you'll be playing Scythe in no time. This game is probably one of the best board games ever made, and you and your friends will enjoy it for a long time.
We were fortunate enough this week to interview Jamey Stegmaier, the creator of the hugely successful board game Scythe! We spoke to him about the unparalleled success of the original game, as well as the (was upcoming) Invaders From Afar expansion.
Here is what Jamey had to say to Zatu Games:
First of all congratulations on the overwhelming success of Scythe. What is your reaction to the amount of success the game had had?
"Thank you! It's been an exciting couple of years, really—it started with people being excited/curious about Scythe, then the resulting $1.8 million Kickstarter campaign, then the reception after backers (and some retail customers) received their copies. At each state I've been elated that people have found joy in Scythe—that's what's important to me."
Scythe is quite a big game. How many people were involved in the development of the game?
"In total, somewhere between 600 and 700 people, ranging from the lead designer (me) and the illustrator/worldbuilder (Jakub Rozalski) to lead playtesters to all of the other playtesters and proofreaders who helped both with the multiplayer and solo versions of the game."
How many changes were made during the blind playtesting stage of the development? Can you share some examples with Zatu Games?
"A lot of little things changed during the three waves of blind playtesting, but here are the big three:
- Combat: The balance of combat was really hard to figure out, especially since Scythe is an engine-building Euro game. The rules for combat need to give players a reason to attack sometimes, but not all of the time, and there are complementary rules/abilities (like Riverwalk) that factor into that balance. Blind playtesting really helped us figure out the right balance through a series of small changes.
- Structures: The role of structures changed a lot over the course of blind playtesting. Originally, each structure had a spatially-driven ability, but they required a separate reference card, and it was hard to keep track of their abilities (yours and other players). They were often forgotten or unused So eventually I moved structures to the player mats and got rid of any spatial aspects to them – other than end-game territorial control. But playtesters kept asking for some sort of spatial aspect to them and although I resisted at first I then came up with the end-game structure bonus tile system which places value on exactly where you build your structures.
- Faction abilities: For the first wave of blind playtesting, factions had mech abilities but no overarching, faction specific, asymmetric abilities. Playtesters kept asking for them so eventually I came up with some ideas. We tested them and tweaked them and I'm very glad we added them.
In Invaders From Afar we welcome the Togawa and Albion factions to the game. Can you explain a little bit more about these new additions?
" Thematically, Albion and Togawa have heard about all of this activity happening in the lands surrounding the Factory, so they send some heroes to check it out. Albion comes from the north (England/Scotland) and Togawa comes from the far east (Japan/China). Each comes with a unique set of mech abilities as well as completely new faction abilities. Albion's character has these Flag tokens they place that are worth a territory for end-game scoring and that allow them (when combined with a specific mech ability) to jump across the board to rally their troops.
"Togawa's character has Trap tokens to place face down on various territories. When an opponent's unit moves onto a Trap, the trap triggers, causing that player to incur a penalty. All unarmed Traps grant control of the territory they're on to Togawa at the end of the game."
Aside from the new factions, what other new features can Scythe fans expect to see in Invaders From Afar?
"The main focus of the expansion is on the two new factions, but we also included two new player mats. Originally we intended for Scythe to be played with no more than 5 players, but I realised that with the new mats, some people would inevitably play with 6-7 players. So I included two tokens to replace Crimea's Wayfare ability and Polania's faction ability, as both of them would have been significantly less useful with higher player counts.
"Also, one of the Automa designers, David Studley, designed a few cards to ensure the expansion integrates well with the original solo variant."
Invaders From Afar is an interesting title. Where did this name come from?
" I wish I had an interesting answer, but the name just came from a brainstorming session with Jakub!"
You mention Jakub Rozalski. We are huge fans of Scythe's artwork here at Zatu Game, what has it been like working with him?
"It's a real pleasure. He has such a vivid imagination, and he pairs that with his incredible artist talent. Working with him has made me (a) want to work with him more in the future and (b) work with more world-building artists."
Going forward, can we expect to see any more expansions of the Scythe universe?
"We're in the process of brainstorming a new expansion. As a company, my typical strategy isn't to plan ahead for expansions—I like to put everything in the original game box if it'll fit. But if I get excited by a new idea and it turns out to be fun, I'll give it a try."
Don't forget that you can get Invaders From Afar right now at Zatu Games as well as the original game and the brand new, The Wind Gambit!
*Credit for the images go to Jakub Rozalski
There are many types of democracy. Jacksonian. Westminster. Liberal. And now Zatu. To exercise it like a well-toned pair of thighs, we asked gamers on the web for their opinions on Scythe, arguably this year's most successful and sought-after title.
Here's what they had to say, divvied by tone of response:
The Positive
Codeshark says:
Scythe is a masterpiece. It combines beautiful artwork and great mechanics. I enjoy the tense anticipation of combat that is missing from a lot of Euros. It strikes that perfect balance between a dice chucking luck fest and a low conflict Euro. Combat is possible, but potentially expensive.
nucleomancer says:
Despite its intimidating appearance, Scythe is VERY easy to learn. After your first game you will have a firm grasp of the things you can do, and you are ready to try different strategies for your next game.
It allows for a great deal of flexibility in achieving victory. Combat is certainly not a requirement for that.
The game is well balanced and victory usually hinges on a difference of less than 10 points (about 10% of the winner's final score.)
automator3000 says:
It's a smooth, accessible game. I do like that it rewards a balanced style of play – it'd be difficult to have a win by focusing on a single goal and chasing that to the end. You need some popularity, you need some territory. You need to at least present the threat of military strength. But of course you can't do everything – so you need, but not too much, and focus, but not too much.
Visually it's the greatest game (especially with the upgraded resource bits and coins). Gorgeous art on the cards, nice minis, beautiful map that is also clear in presentation.
It's light. Compared to its looks, it's light. With all the various decks of cards and minis and map hexes, you can forgive folks for expecting a deep deep game. That's not a bad thing, it's just as neutral as saying "this thai food is not very spicy."
The Negative
Zugare says:
I'll be a dissenter and say it's not great. I don't find the decisions in the game very interesting. It plays longer than it feels satisfying. There are a lot of neat mechanics that end up feeling like you aren't doing anything exciting. The star system means everyone kind of does the same thing every game. The combat is pretty rare and boring.
beatspores is on board:
I agree. I really, really, wanted to love Scythe but it felt absolutely dead to me. I love upgrades in games and while the top-bottom upgrade mechanism is kind of cool and novel, to me at least, the action doesn't change the game at all really.
In my opinion, Scythe lacks any kind of satisfaction found in other games from say making a really powerful move yourself or correctly anticipating an opponent's move. People were saying that there is a kind of Cold War suspense in the looming possibility of war breaking out, which I very much looked forward to. In reality there is little to nothing to carefully consider ahead of or during the fights.
The experience of playing Scythe has neither colour nor contrast.
dispatch134711 has brought some nails for this coffin:
And the relatively neutral
dispatch134711 (again) says:
The factions require different strategies and therefore a few games are required before this is truly possible. I'm only three games in, in my second game I was confused but ultimately relatively successful with Germany but I struggled badly knowing what to do with the Nords in my third game. The clearest path to even starting the game is pretty opaque sometimes.
So there you have it: beautiful artwork, masterpiece, mild thai cuisine, absolutely dead. A comprehensive overview of Scythe.
Zatu Score
- Artwork
- Complexity
- Replayability
- Player Interaction
- Component Quality
You might like
- A great theme.
- Lots of choices in engine building.
- Superb production quality.
Might not like
- Playtime increases with player count.
- Amount of choices count induce analysis paralysis.


text:
As we approach the end of another fiscal year the Office of Research: Grants and Contracts (RGC) wanted to remind the research community of our sponsored award closeout timeline. Our office has seen an increase in the number of projected and unreconciled awards being submitted for final invoicing/financial reporting. In keeping with 45 CFR 75.381 […]
Recent Articles for Emory's Research Administrator
- Research Compliance News and Updates (January 2024)
- HHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM)
- NIH Workplace Conduct Requirements
- ORCiD IDs @ Emory
- Dual Use of Research Concern
- An Interview with the Visionaries Behind the New FORT Focus Group
- The New Research Administration Operations RACI: A Guide for Enhanced Collaboration Between Central and Non-Central Research Administration
- Introducing OKRs: A New Chapter in the Office of Research Administration at Emory
- Research Week 2023 in Review
- The Office of Research Administration (ORA) Announces the Launch of the Office of Research Administration Optimization (ORAO) to Advance Research Services and Support
New from NIH
- Seeking Ideas on Using Common Data Elements for NIH-Supported Clinical Research February 28, 2024Do you have thoughts on how common data elements (CDEs) may be used in NIH-supported clinical research? If so, please share them in response to a recently released Request for Information.Mike Lauer
- Seeking Ideas on Using Common Data Elements for NIH-Supported Clinical Research February 28, 2024
News from the Office of Technology Transfer
Emails from EHSO


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The story of Jonathan Swift and of the two women who gave their
lives for love of him is familiar to every student of English
literature. Swift himself, both in letters and in politics, stands
out a conspicuous figure in the reigns of King William III and
Queen Anne. By writing Gulliver's Travels he made himself
immortal. The external facts of his singular relations with two
charming women are sufficiently well known;
ut a definite
explanation of these facts has never yet been given. Swift held
his tongue with a repellent taciturnity. No one ever dared to
question him. Whether the true solution belongs to the sphere of
psychology or of physiology is a question that remains unanswered.
But, as the case is one of the most puzzling in the annals of
love, it may be well to set forth the circumstances very briefly,
to weigh the theories that have already been advanced, and to
suggest another.
Jonathan Swift was of Yorkshire stock, though he happened to be
born in Dublin, and thus is often spoken of as "the great Irish
satirist," or "the Irish dean." It was, in truth, his fate to
spend much of his life in Ireland, and to die there, near the
cathedral where his remains now rest; but in truth he hated
Ireland and everything connected with it, just as he hated
Scotland and everything that was Scottish. He was an Englishman to
the core.
High-stomached, proud, obstinate, and over-mastering, independence
was the dream of his life. He would accept no favors, lest he
should put himself under obligation; and although he could give
generously, and even lavishly, he lived for the most part a
miser's life, hoarding every penny and halfpenny that he could.
Whatever one may think of him, there is no doubt that he was a
very manly man. Too many of his portraits give the impression of a
sour, supercilious pedant; but the finest of them all--that by
Jervas--shows him as he must have been at his very prime, with a
face that was almost handsome, and a look of attractive humor
which strengthens rather than lessens the power of his brows and
of the large, lambent eyes beneath them.
At fifteen he entered Trinity College, in Dublin, where he read
widely but studied little, so that his degree was finally granted
him only as a special favor. At twenty-one he first visited
England, and became secretary to Sir William Temple, at Moor Park.
Temple, after a distinguished career in diplomacy, had retired to
his fine country estate in Surrey. He is remembered now for
several things--for having entertained Peter the Great of Russia;
for having, while young, won the affections of Dorothy Osborne,
whose letters to him are charming in their grace and archness; for
having been the patron of Jonathan Swift; and for fathering the
young girl named Esther Johnson, a waif, born out of wedlock, to
whom Temple gave a place in his household.
When Swift first met her, Esther Johnson was only eight years old;
and part of his duties at Moor Park consisted in giving her what
was then an unusual education for a girl. She was, however, still
a child, and nothing serious could have passed between the raw
youth and this little girl who learned the lessons that he imposed
upon her.
Such acquaintance as they had was rudely broken off. Temple, a man
of high position, treated Swift with an urbane condescension which
drove the young man's independent soul into a frenzy. He returned
to Ireland, where he was ordained a clergyman, and received a
small parish at Kilroot, near Belfast.
It was here that the love-note was first seriously heard in the
discordant music of Swift's career. A college friend of his named
Waring had a sister who was about the age of Swift, and whom he
met quite frequently at Kilroot. Not very much is known of this
episode, but there is evidence that Swift fell in love with the
girl, whom he rather romantically called "Varina."
This cannot be called a serious love-affair. Swift was lonely, and
Jane Waring was probably the only girl of refinement who lived
near Kilroot. Furthermore, she had inherited a small fortune,
while Swift was miserably poor, and had nothing to offer except
the shadowy prospect of future advancement in England. He was
definitely refused by her; and it was this, perhaps, that led him
to resolve on going back to England and making his peace with Sir
William Temple.
On leaving, Swift wrote a passionate letter to Miss Waring--the
only true love-letter that remains to us of their correspondence.
He protests that he does not want Varina's fortune, and that he
will wait until he is in a position to marry her on equal terms.
There is a smoldering flame of jealousy running through the
letter. Swift charges her with being cold, affected, and willing
to flirt with persons who are quite beneath her.
Varina played no important part in Swift's larger life thereafter;
but something must be said of this affair in order to show, first
of all, that Swift's love for her was due only to proximity, and
that when he ceased to feel it he could be not only hard, but
harsh. His fiery spirit must have made a deep impression on Miss
Waring; for though she at the time refused him, she afterward
remembered him, and tried to renew their old relations. Indeed, no
sooner had Swift been made rector of a larger parish, than Varina
let him know that she had changed her mind, and was ready to marry
him; but by this time Swift had lost all interest in her. He wrote
an answer which even his truest admirers have called brutal.
"Yes," he said in substance, "I will marry you, though you have
treated me vilely, and though you are living in a sort of social
sink. I am still poor, though you probably think otherwise.
However, I will marry you on certain conditions. First, you must
be educated, so that you can entertain me. Next, you must put up
with all my whims and likes and dislikes. Then you must live
wherever I please. On these terms I will take you, without
reference to your looks or to your income. As to the first,
cleanliness is all that I require; as to the second, I only ask
that it be enough."
Such a letter as this was like a blow from a bludgeon. The
insolence, the contempt, and the hardness of it were such as no
self-respecting woman could endure. It put an end to their
acquaintance, as Swift undoubtedly intended it should do. He would
have been less censurable had he struck Varina with his fist or
kicked her.
The true reason for Swift's utter change of heart is found, no
doubt, in the beginning of what was destined to be his long
intimacy with Esther Johnson. When Swift left Sir William Temple's
in a huff, Esther had been a mere schoolgirl. Now, on his return,
she was fifteen years of age, and seemed older. She had blossomed
out into a very comely girl, vivacious, clever, and physically
well developed, with dark hair, sparkling eyes, and features that
were unusually regular and lovely.
For three years the two were close friends and intimate
associates, though it cannot he said that Swift ever made open
love to her. To the outward eye they were no more than fellow
workers. Yet love does not need the spoken word and the formal
declaration to give it life and make it deep and strong. Esther
Johnson, to whom Swift gave the pet name of "Stella," grew into
the existence of this fiery, hold, and independent genius. All
that he did she knew. She was his confidante. As to his writings,
his hopes, and his enmities, she was the mistress of all his
secrets. For her, at last, no other man existed.
On Sir William Temple's death, Esther John son came into a small
fortune, though she now lost her home at Moor Park. Swift returned
to Ireland, and soon afterward he invited Stella to join him
Swift was now thirty-four years of age, and Stella a very
attractive girl of twenty. One might have expected that the two
would marry, and yet they did not do so. Every precaution was
taken to avoid anything like scandal. Stella was accompanied by a
friend--a widow named Mrs. Dingley--without whose presence, or
that of some third person, Swift never saw Esther Johnson. When
Swift was absent, how ever, the two ladies occupied his
apartments; and Stella became more than ever essential to his
When they were separated for any length of time Swift wrote to
Stella in a sort of baby-talk, which they called "the little
language." It was made up of curious abbreviations and childish
words, growing more and more complicated as the years went on. It
is interesting to think of this stern and often savage genius, who
loved to hate, and whose hate was almost less terrible than his
love, babbling and prattling in little half caressing sentences,
as a mother might babble over her first child. Pedantic writers
have professed to find in Swift's use of this "little language"
the coming shadow of that insanity which struck him down in his
old age.
As it is, these letters are among the curiosities of amatory
correspondence. When Swift writes "oo" for "you," and "deelest"
for "dearest," and "vely" for "very," there is no need of an
interpreter; but "rettle" for "let ter," "dallars" for "girls,"
and "givar" for "devil," are at first rather difficult to guess.
Then there is a system of abbreviating. "Md" means "my dear,"
"Ppt" means "poppet," and "Pdfr," with which Swift sometimes
signed his epistles, "poor, dear, foolish rogue."
The letters reveal how very closely the two were bound together,
yet still there was no talk of marriage. On one occasion, after
they had been together for three years in Ireland, Stella might
have married another man. This was a friend of Swift's, one Dr.
Tisdall, who made energetic love to the sweet-faced English girl.
Tisdall accused Swift of poisoning Stella's mind against him.
Swift replied that such was not the case. He said that no feelings
of his own would ever lead him to influence the girl if she
preferred another.
It is quite sure, then, that Stella clung wholly to Swift, and
cared nothing for the proffered love of any other man. Thus
through the years the relations of the two remained unchanged,
until in 1710 Swift left Ireland and appeared as a very brilliant
figure in the London drawing-rooms of the great Tory leaders of
the day.
He was now a man of mark, because of his ability as a
controversialist. He had learned the manners of the world, and he
carried him self with an air of power which impressed all those
who met him. Among these persons was a Miss Hester--or Esther--
Vanhomrigh, the daughter of a rather wealthy widow who was living
in London at that time. Miss Vanhomrigh--a name which she and her
mother pronounced "Vanmeury"--was then seventeen years of age, or
twelve years younger than the patient Stella.
Esther Johnson, through her long acquaintance with Swift, and from
his confidence in her, had come to treat him almost as an
intellectual equal. She knew all his moods, some of which were
very difficult, and she bore them all; though when he was most
tyrannous she became only passive, waiting, with a woman's wisdom,
for the tempest to blow over.
Miss Vanhomrigh, on the other hand, was one of those girls who,
though they have high spirit, take an almost voluptuous delight in
yielding to a spirit that is stronger still. This beautiful
creature felt a positive fascination in Swift's presence and his
imperious manner. When his eyes flashed, and his voice thundered
out words of anger, she looked at him with adoration, and bowed in
a sort of ecstasy before him. If he chose to accost a great lady
with "Well, madam, are you as ill-natured and disagreeable as when
I met you last?" Esther Vanhomrigh thrilled at the insolent
audacity of the man. Her evident fondness for him exercised a
seductive influence over Swift.
As the two were thrown more and more together, the girl lost all
her self-control. Swift did not in any sense make love to her,
though he gave her the somewhat fanciful name of "Vanessa"; but
she, driven on by a high-strung, unbridled temperament, made open
love to him. When he was about to return to Ireland, there came
one startling moment when Vanessa flung herself into the arms of
Swift, and amazed him by pouring out a torrent of passionate
Swift seems to have been surprised. He did what he could to quiet
her. He told her that they were too unequal in years and fortune
for anything but friendship, and he offered to give her as much
friendship as she desired.
Doubtless he thought that, after returning to Ireland, he would
not see Vanessa any more. In this, however, he was mistaken. An
ardent girl, with a fortune of her own, was not to be kept from
the man whom absence only made her love the more. In addition,
Swift carried on his correspondence with her, which served to fan
the flame and to increase the sway that Swift had already
Vanessa wrote, and with every letter she burned and pined. Swift
replied, and each reply enhanced her yearning for him. Ere long,
Vanessa's mother died, and Vanessa herself hastened to Ireland and
took up her residence near Dublin. There, for years, was enacted
this tragic comedy--Esther Johnson was near Swift, and had all his
confidence; Esther Vanhomrigh was kept apart from him, while still
receiving missives from him, and, later, even visits.
It was at this time, after he had become dean of St. Patrick's
Cathedral, in Dublin, that Swift was married to Esther Johnson--
for it seems probable that the ceremony took place, though it was
nothing more than a form. They still saw each other only in the
presence of a third person. Nevertheless, some knowledge of their
close relationship leaked out. Stella had been jealous of her
rival during the years that Swift spent in London. Vanessa was now
told that Swift was married to the other woman, or that she was
his mistress. Writhing with jealousy, she wrote directly to
Stella, and asked whether she was Dean Swift's wife. In answer
Stella replied that she was, and then she sent Vanessa's letter to
Swift himself.
All the fury of his nature was roused in him; and he was a man who
could be very terrible when angry. He might have remembered the
intense love which Vanessa bore for him, the humility with which
she had accepted his conditions, and, finally, the loneliness of
this girl.
But Swift was utterly unsparing. No gleam of pity entered his
heart as he leaped upon a horse and galloped out to Marley Abbey,
where she was living--"his prominent eyes arched by jet-black
brows and glaring with the green fury of a cat's." Reaching the
house, he dashed into it, with something awful in his looks, made
his way to Vanessa, threw her letter down upon the table and,
after giving her one frightful glare, turned on his heel, and in a
moment more was galloping back to Dublin.
The girl fell to the floor in an agony of terror and remorse. She
was taken to her room, and only three weeks afterward was carried
forth, having died literally of a broken heart.
Five years later, Stella also died, withering away a sacrifice to
what the world has called Swift's cruel heartlessness and egotism.
His greatest public triumphs came to him in his final years of
melancholy isolation; but in spite of the applause that greeted
The Drapier Letters and Gulliver's Travels, he brooded morbidly
over his past life. At last his powerful mind gave way, so that he
died a victim to senile dementia. By his directions his body was
interred in the same coffin with Stella's, in the cathedral of
which he had been dean.
Such is the story of Dean Swift, and it has always suggested
several curious questions. Why, if he loved Stella, did he not
marry her long before? Why, when he married her, did he treat her
still as if she were not his wife? Why did he allow Vanessa's love
to run like a scarlet thread across the fabric of the other
affection, which must have been so strong?
Many answers have been given to these questions. That which was
formulated by Sir Walter Scott is a simple one, and has been
generally accepted. Scott believed that Swift was physically
incapacitated for marriage, and that he needed feminine sympathy,
which he took where he could get it, without feeling bound to give
anything in return.
If Scott's explanation be the true one, it still leaves Swift
exposed to ignominy as a monster of ingratitude. Therefore, many
of his biographers have sought other explanations. No one can
palliate his conduct toward Vanessa; but Sir Leslie Stephen makes
a plea for him with reference to Stella. Sir Leslie points out
that until Swift became dean of St. Patrick's his income was far
too small to marry on, and that after his brilliant but
disappointing three years in London, when his prospects of
advancement were ruined, he felt himself a broken man.
Furthermore, his health was always precarious, since he suffered
from a distressing illness which attacked him at intervals,
rendering him both deaf and giddy. The disease is now known as
Meniere's disease, from its classification by the French
physician, Meniere, in 1861. Swift felt that he lived in constant
danger of some sudden stroke that would deprive him either of life
or reason; and his ultimate insanity makes it appear that his
forebodings were not wholly futile. Therefore, though he married
Stella, he kept the marriage secret, thus leaving her free, in
case of his demise, to marry as a maiden, and not to be regarded
as a widow.
Sir Leslie offers the further plea that, after all, Stella's life
was what she chose to make it. She enjoyed Swift's friendship,
which she preferred to the love of any other man.
Another view is that of Dr. Richard Garnett, who has discussed the
question with some subtlety. "Swift," says Dr. Garnett, "was by
nature devoid of passion. He was fully capable of friendship, but
not of love. The spiritual realm, whether of divine or earthly
things, was a region closed to him, where he never set foot." On
the side of friendship he must greatly have preferred Stella to
Vanessa, and yet the latter assailed him on his weakest side--on
the side of his love of imperious domination.
Vanessa hugged the fetters to which Stella merely submitted.
Flattered to excess by her surrender, yet conscious of his
obligations and his real preference, he could neither discard the
one beauty nor desert the other.
Therefore, he temporized with both of them, and when the choice
was forced upon him he madly struck down the woman for whom he
cared the less.
One may accept Dr. Garnett's theory with a somewhat altered
conclusion. It is not true, as a matter of recorded fact, that
Swift was incapable of passion, for when a boy at college he was
sought out by various young women, and he sought them out in turn.
His fiery letter to Miss Waring points to the same conclusion.
When Esther Johnson began to love him he was heart-free, yet
unable, because of his straitened means, to marry. But Esther
Johnson always appealed more to his reason, his friendship, and
his comfort, than to his love, using the word in its material,
physical sense. This love was stirred in him by Vanessa. Yet when
he met Vanessa he had already gone too far with Esther Johnson to
break the bond which had so long united them, nor could he think
of a life without her, for she was to him his other self.
At the same time, his more romantic association with Vanessa
roused those instincts which he had scarcely known himself to be
possessed of. His position was, therefore, most embarrassing. He
hoped to end it when he left London and returned to Ireland; but
fate was unkind to him in this, because Vanessa followed him. He
lacked the will to be frank with her, and thus he stood a
wretched, halting victim of his own dual nature.
He was a clergyman, and at heart religious. He had also a sense of
honor, and both of these traits compelled him to remain true to
Esther Johnson. The terrible outbreak which brought about
Vanessa's death was probably the wild frenzy of a tortured soul.
It recalls the picture of some fierce animal brought at last to
bay, and venting its own anguish upon any object that is within
reach of its fangs and claws.
No matter how the story may be told, it makes one shiver, for it
is a tragedy in which the three participants all meet their doom--
one crushed by a lightning-bolt of unreasoning anger, the other
wasting away through hope deferred; while the man whom the world
will always hold responsible was himself destined to end his years
blind and sleepless, bequeathing his fortune to a madhouse, and
saying, with his last muttered breath:
"I am a fool!"
David Glasgow Farragut
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On the steamship "Germanic" I played chess with the great civil engineer, Captain Eads, stimulated by the thought that to beat him was to defeat the man who had twice conquered the Mississippi. But I didn't defeat him. The building of a ship-ca...
Carl Linnaeus
It was on the 24th of July that we left Stockholm, the Venice of the North, built on her nine islands, for the famous university town of Upsala, Sweden. The ride, of about two hours by rail, lay along fine fields of wheat, blue with corn-flower...
King from 768-814 A.D. Pepin had two sons Charles and Carloman. After the death of their father they ruled together, but in a few years Carloman died, and then Charles became sole king. This Charles was the most famous of the kings o...
Charles Martel
714-741 A.D. and Pepin, 741-768 A.D. After the death of Mohammed the Saracens, as Mohammedans are also called, became great warriors. They conquered many countries and established the Mohammedan religion in them. In 711 the Saracens invaded and...
The instances of distinguished men, or of notable women, who have broken through convention in order to find a fitting mate, are very numerous. A few of these instances may, perhaps, represent what is usually called a Platonic union. But the evide...
Charles Robert Darwin
On Wednesday, April 26, 1882, sitting in the North Transept of Westminster Abbey, I looked upon a sad and impressive scene. Under the dome stood an oaken coffin, quite covered with white wreaths; close by were seated the distinguished pall-bear...
Perhaps some readers will consider this story inconsistent with those that have preceded it. Yet, as it is little known to most readers and as it is perhaps unique in the history of romantic love, I cannot forbear relating it; for I believe that i...
King from 481-511 A.D. While the power of the Roman Empire was declining there dwelt on the banks of the River Rhine a number of savage Teuton tribes called Franks. The word Frank means FREE, and those tribes took pride in being known as F...
Count Rumford
Benjamin Thompson, like Franklin, was a native of Massachusetts, his ancestors for several generations having been yeomen in that province, and descendants of the first colonists of the Bay. In the diploma of arms granted him when he was knighted ...
David Glasgow Farragut
The possibilities of American life are strikingly illustrated by the fact that the two names at the head of the army and navy, Grant and Farragut, represent self-made men. The latter was born on a farm near Knoxville, Tennessee, July 5, 1801. His ...
The story of Jonathan Swift and of the two women who gave their lives for love of him is familiar to every student of English literature. Swift himself, both in letters and in politics, stands out a conspicuous figure in the reigns of King William...
Dr Samuel Johnson
In a quaint old house in Lichfield, England, now used as a draper's shop, Samuel Johnson, son of a poor bookseller and bookbinder, was born. Here, as in Westminster Abbey, a statue is erected to his memory. Near by is the schoolhouse where Addison...
Dwight L Moody
"There's no chance to get in there. There's six thousand persons inside, and two thousand outside." This was said to Dr. Magoun, President of Iowa College, and myself, after we had waited for nearly an hour, outside of Spurgeon's Tabernacle, in...
Edward the Black Prince
Lived from 1330-1376 One of the most famous warriors of the Middle Ages was Edward the Black Prince. He was so called because he wore black armor in battle. The Black Prince was the son of Edward III who reigned over England from 1327 t...
Edward the Confessor
King from 1042-1066 The Danish kings who followed Canute were not like him. They were cruel, unjust rulers and all the people of England hated them. So when in the year 1042 the last of them died, Edward, the son of the Saxon Ethelred, wa...
King from 802-837 A.D. Egbert the Saxon lived at the same time as did Harun-al-Rashid and Charlemagne. He was the first king who ruled all England as one kingdom. Long before his birth the people who are known to us as Britons lived there...
Ezra Cornell
In the winter of 1819 might have been seen travelling from New Jersey to De Ruyter in New York, a distance of two hundred and fifty miles, some covered emigrant wagons, containing a wife and six children in the first, and household goods and farmi...
Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847) If you were to go into the woods and hear the rustling of the leaves, the singing of the birds, and the babbling of the brook over the stones, could you come home and describe these things by playing on the piano? Without saying any...
The middle part of the nineteenth century is a period which has become more or less obscure to most Americans and Englishmen. At one end the thunderous campaigns of Napoleon are dying away. In the latter part of the century we remember the gorgeou...
Francis Joseph Haydn
(1732-1809) THE CHOIR BOY Once upon a time there lived, in a tiny village in Austria, a wheelwright and his family. The wheelwright was poor, industrious, and God-fearing. He lived in a cottage which seemed almost too small for the large fam...
Francis Trevelyan Buckland
Most of those whose lives are sketched in this volume lived to be old men; but Frank Buckland, the pet and pride of thousands in England, died in his prime, almost at the beginning of his fame; a man of whose life our "Popular Science Monthly" say...
Franz Peter Schubert
(1797-1828) God sent his singers upon earth With songs of gladness and of mirth, That they might touch the hearts of men And bring them back to heaven again. --LONGFELLOW. [Music: (Hark, Hark! the Lark.) Hark, hark!...
Frederick Barbarossa
Emperor from 1152-1190 Frederick I was one of the most famous of German emperors. He was a tall, stalwart man of majestic appearance. He had a long red beard and so the people called him Barbarossa, or Red-Beard. He came to the throne in...
Frederick Chopin
(1809-1849) A POLISH LAD WHO BECAME FAMOUS Many famous men were born in the year 1809. We are proud to number among them several of our own countrymen. President Lincoln was born in that year and also Oliver Wendell Holmes, the genial America...
Galileo Galilei
"The same memorable day is marked by the setting of one of the most brilliant stars in the firmament of art and the rising of another in the sphere of science, which was to enlighten the world with beams of equal splendor. On the 18th of Februa...
Genseric the Vandal
King from 427-477 A.D. The Vandals were another wild and fierce tribe that came from the shores of the Baltic and invaded central and southern Europe in the later times of the Roman Empire. In the fifth century some of these people occupi...
George Frederick Handel
(1685-1759) THE WONDER CHILD [Music: (The Messiah.) He shall feed His flock like a shepherd.] It is a bright, sunshiny morning. In an old town in Germany a coach stands waiting before the door of a surgeon's house. The horses are impatient...
In the last decade of the eighteenth century England was perhaps the most brilliant nation of the world. Other countries had been humbled by the splendid armies of France and were destined to be still further humbled by the emperor who came from C...
George Peabody
If America had been asked who were to be her most munificent givers in the nineteenth century, she would scarcely have pointed to two grocer's boys, one in a little country store at Danvers, Mass., the other in Baltimore; both poor, both uneducate...
George W Childs
The "Public Ledger" of Philadelphia, and its owner, are known the world over. Would we see the large-hearted, hospitable millionaire, who has come to honor through his own industry, let us enter the elegant building occupied by his newspaper. E...
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Few men come to greatness. Most drift on with the current, having no special plan nor aim. They live where their fathers lived, taking no thought beyond their neighborhood or city, and die in their little round of social life. Not so a boy born...
Lived from 1400-1468 While Joan of Arc was busy rescuing France from the English, another wonderful worker was busy in Germany. This was John Gutenberg, who was born in Mainz. The Germans--and most other people--think that he was the inv...
Caliph from 786-809 A.D. The most celebrated of all Mohammedan caliphs was Harun-al-Rashid, which means, in English, Aaron the Just. Harun is the hero of several of the stories of the "Arabian Nights," a famous book, which perhaps you have...
Henry Cavendish
It would not be easy to mention two men between whom there was a greater contrast, both in respect of their characters and lives, than that which existed between Benjamin Franklin and the Honourable Henry Cavendish. The former of humble birth, but...
Henry the Fowler
King from 919-936 A.D. About a hundred years had passed since the death of Charlemagne, and his great empire had fallen to pieces. Seven kings ruled where he had once been sole emperor. West of the Rhine, where the Germans lived, the las...
Henry the Second
1154-1189 and His Sons 1189-1216 In 1154, while Barbarossa was reigning in Germany, Henry II, one of England's greatest monarchs, came to the throne. Henry was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet (Plan-tag'-e-net), Count of Anjou in France, and Mat...
Henry V
King from 1413-1422 Of all the kings that England ever had Henry V was perhaps the greatest favorite among the people. They liked him because he was handsome and brave and, above all, because he conquered France. In his youth, Prince Hal...
I remember once, when editing an elaborate work on literature, that the publisher called me into his private office. After the door was closed, he spoke in tones of suppressed emotion. "Why is it," said he, "that you have such a lack of proporti...
Horace Greeley
Among the hills of New Hampshire, in a lonely, unpainted house, Horace Greeley was born, Feb. 3, 1811, the third of seven children. His father was a plain farmer, hard-working, yet not very successful, but aided by a wife of uncommon energy and go...
James Clerk Maxwell
The story of the life of James Clerk Maxwell has been told so recently by the able pen of his lifelong friend, Professor Lewis Campbell, that it is unnecessary, in the few pages which now remain to us, to attempt to give a repetition of the tale w...
James Watt
The history of inventors is generally the same old struggle with poverty. Sir Richard Arkwright, the youngest of thirteen children, with no education, a barber, shaving in a cellar for a penny to each customer, dies worth two and one-half million ...
Jean Paul Richter
Vasari, who wrote the lives of the Italian painters, truly said, "It is not by sleeping, but by working, waking, and laboring continually, that proficiency is attained and reputation acquired." This was emphatically true of Richter, as it is of ev...
Joan of Arc
Lived from 1412-1431 In the long wars between the French and English not even the Black Prince or King Henry V gained such fame as did a young French peasant girl, Joan of Arc. She was born in the little village of Domrémy (dom-re-me'). ...
John James Audubon
The problem why certain men and women come to eminence, and why others, with apparently as much ability, remain forever in obscurity, is an interesting one to solve. Most persons desire fame; most persons desire wealth; but, for one reason or a...
John Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750) THE CHILD MUSICIAN Long ago, in a little German town, lived a jolly old miller. From morning till night he sang about his work, for he loved music dearly. He had learned to play upon the lute, which is an instrument with string...
Joseph Henry Lld
On Thursday evening, January 16, 1879, a large company gathered in the hall of the House of Representatives at Washington. They came to honor the memory of one of our greatest in science, since Franklin,--Joseph Henry, the Secretary of the Smit...