Chicago's cultural life had also grown apace; among its other prides, the city boasted the beginnings of a symphony orchestra, a stock of masterpiece paintings, purchased in Europe for the new Art Institute Building (where the Parliament of Religions was held), a university, endowed by John D. Rockefeller in 1892, a literary magazine of national interest, a literary club¬the Fortnightly, where Swamiji lectured in 1893-and the Auditorium, opened in 1889, where the New York Metropolitan opera company gave annual performances. Furthermore, Chicago had long been on the itineraries of many famous artists and lecturers, among them, Adelina Patti, Ole Bull, Sarah Bernhardt, and Oscar Wilde. To its pride, and sometimes to its astonishment, the trading post had become a metropolis. Most wonderful of all, Chicago, only a scant twenty years out of its ashes, decided to put on a mammoth World's Fair, together with an imposing and unprecedented World's Parliament of Religions, both of which turned out to be enormously successful.

During the last three months of 1893, after his astounding appearance at the Parliament in September, and during the first three months of 1894, Swamiji had been in and out of Chicago, staying, when in the city, primarily with the Hale family on Dearborn Avenue. After March of 1894, he had returned only once, when he had held a series of classes in the first three weeks of January, 1895. Now in 1896, he had come to hold classes once again in the city before leaving America. Outside of the Hale family and the John B. Lyon family, with the latter of whom Swamiji had stayed during the Parliament of Religions, the names of only a few of his Chicago friends are known to us, and of these, most are only names-such as Mrs. Pratt, Miss Stockham, Mrs. Mills. Of Miss Josephine C. Locke, who enters now and then into Swamiji's correspondence with the Hales and who arranged a class for him at Chicago's Plaza Hotel in January of 1895, a little is known: she was the Director of Art in the Public Schools of Chicago, and at the World's Fair held the position of Chairman of the Women's Committee in charge of the Congress on Manual and Art Education. She was, moreover, a dynamo of energy and, as Swamiji wrote to Isabelle McKindley in March of 1895, "apt to be carried away by enthusiasm." "Sister Josephine is very fiery," he added. A few years later Nivedita, meeting Miss Locke, would write of her (not unkindly) as being "like twenty storms in one tea cup. "Sister Josephine" was instrumental in arranging classes for Swamiji during this last visit, and surely went about it with zest. But even more instrumental was Mrs. Florence J. Adams, whom Swamiji had first met not in Chicago but in Cambridge in December of 1894, when they had both been guests of Mrs. Ole Bull.

On March 17, 1896, Swamiji's last day in Detroit, he had received an alarming letter from his English friend, Mr. Edward T. Sturdy, and had at once answered it. A crisis had arisen regarding the publication of his New York lectures and classes, particularly the publication of Raja-yoga.

In the last week of February, before leaving New York, Swamiji had completed his editing of his raja yoga classes. He had done so in a rush and had turned the transcript over to Miss Sarah Ellen Waldo.* Somewhat distraught, Miss Waldo wrote to Mrs. Bull on March 6:_x000d_ _x000d_ I am hard at work on the Raja matter, and have nearly finished it. The last part was corrected in such a hurry by the Swami, that I find it very difficult to bring it into a satisfactory shape. I wish you were here, that I could submit it to you, before publication. I feel it almost too much responsibility to decide on it alone._x000d_ _x000d_ * For the part Miss S. Ellen Waldo played in the editing of Swamiji’s New York lectures and classes, see World Teacher-1, chapter six., page 433, note **.

Plans for publishing the book were already well under way. On Saturday, February 29, Mr. Walter Goodyear, who, together with his wife, Frances, was agency manager for Swamiji's pamphlets and books, had written to Mrs. Bull, giving her his report on the progress that had been made to date. His letter read in full:_x000d_ My dear Mrs. Bull_x000d_ Mr Goodwin has consulted Mr. Gestefeld who is now with the Metaphysical Pub. Co. as to the best means of bringing out the Rajah book. One way is to handle it ourselves as we have the ones [pamphlets and Karma-Yoga] already in print. Goodwin thinks it would cost about $280 for first thousand. Another way would be to print it, and give the handling of it to them, for which they would give us 40c and take 60c (supposing it to be a $1 book.) The third way-and the one which, all things considered, we all favor, is to give the whole affair into their hands and take a royalty of about 20 % of selling price-they to pay all expenses &c. While the percentage may seem small, it seems to us that considering their facilities for distribution and adv'g, this would be the most advantageous way -especially considering that the meetings [lectures and classes] are over and we cannot any longer avail ourselves of them. The manuscript will be ready Mon. [March 2] and if you approve of the above or will leave it to me on seeing Mr. Whipple (Mr. Goodwin's information was only advisory not official) please wire me Mon. at 115 Nassau Str. In any event the copyrights will be in Swami's name as heretofore._x000d_ Power of Atty and first two copyrights [for the pamphlets "The Ideal of a Universal Religion" and "The Cosmos"] to follow later._x000d_ Your kind note of Thurs record and noted-many thanks With kindest regards from each of us_x000d_ Most sincerely yours_x000d_ Walter Goodyear

As Miss Waldo had informed Mrs. Bull, the manuscript was not ready on Monday, March 2, but would be so about a week later. The haste in getting the book into print may have been due in some measure to the hints of trouble that had come from London. Toward the end of February it had become apparent to the officers of the New York Vedanta Society that while the Publication Committee was busy producing Swamiji's lectures in pamphlet and book form,* Mr. Sturdy in England had been pursuing plans of his own._x000d_ * For the formation of the Publication Committee of the New York Vedanta Society, see World Teacher – 1, Cpater seven, section seven.

On December 23, 1895, before the Publication Committee had been established, Swamiji had written to Sturdy:_x000d_ We have got up a very nice idea here. We have got a stenographer to take down the talks as they are delivered to the class-these are then typewritten. I will send you a copy of each as it is finished. Perhaps you may find in them some suggestions for your classes there._x000d_ A few days later (on December 29) Swamiji again wrote to Sturdy: "By this time the copies of the lectures must have reached you:. Hope they may be of some use. In January he sent more typed manuscripts to Mr. Sturdy and also a copy of the first pamphlet, "The Ideal of a Universal Religion." "They may suggest to you some ideas, he wrote on January 16. They did indeed. Swamiji's next letter, however, should have served to nip those ideas in the bud.

Some friends here are publishing my Sunday lectures [he wrote in the first week of February].* have sent you a few copies of the first one. I shall send you next mail a few of the next two lectures ["The Cosmos-the Macrocosm" and "The Cosmos - the Microcosm," printed in one pamphlet] and if you like them I shall ask them to send you a number. Can you manage to get a few hundred copies sold in England? That will encourage them in publishing the subsequent ones:_x000d_ * In the Complete Works (8:363) the date given to this letter is December 16, 1895, but on the evidence of the letter’s contents, Swamiji must have written it in early February of 1896.

It would seem clear enough from this that Swamiji wanted the American pamphlets to be sold in England. But Mr. Sturdy either failed to understand or, understanding, felt that the publication efforts of Swamiji's American friends were not to be taken seriously. It is not improbable that he tended to look upon the American work as a colonial branch of the London work and to feel that if anyone was to undertake the publication of Swamiji's lectures, it should be he. In any; case toward the end of February Mr. Sturdy sent Swamiji a pamphlet that he had had printed in London from some of the material Swamiji had sent to him very probably the New York lecture "The Ideal of a Universal Religion." This coup must have caused no little consternation in the New York Vedanta Society. Swamiji hastened to advise Mr, Sturdy that in the eyes of the now established Publication Committee the material belonged to the Committee and to no one else. "The pamphlet was beautiful," he wrote on February 29, and went on to explain the situation.

The books and pamphlets here have been got up this way. A committee was formed in New York. They paid all the expenses of stenographing and printing on condition the books will belong to them. So these pamphlets and books are theirs. . . . The books are the property of this Committee of which Mrs. Ole Bull is the principal backer, also Mr. Leggett. It is only just that they should have the books as they paid all the expenses. There is no fear of the publishers meddling with them as they are the publishers themselves._x000d_ On March 5 Mrs. Bull also Wrote to Mr. Sturdy in what was no doubt her charming and often confusing way. But Mr. Sturdy evidently received neither Swamiji's letter nor hers in time to prevent him from setting forth at some length his publication plans in a letter to Mrs. Frances Goodyear. In the same mail he sent to Mrs. Goodyear a copy of each of the pamphlets, or small books, that' he had so far printed. There were five of these: The Ideal of a Universal Religion, The Cosmos, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Raja Yoga.* The first two had been printed from the New York pamphlets, and the remainder from the typed transcripts of Swamiji's New York class talks.Sturdy's letter to Mrs. Goodyear, dated March 11, read in part: _x000d_ I have printed 500 copies of each of these subjects which have been for distribution gratis. Of course that cannot go on for long as it would exhaust resources needed for other things. What I should like to do would be to publish the series as a series to be called the "Viveka Series". We would keep it continually going and each volume would help those to follow. In that way we should make a public around our work. Now Longmans Green & Co. are important & also nice people and they have a house in New York, London & Bombay. I think they would be the best people for our purpose. The series should be sold just to cover the expenses and so be put in everybody's power to procure. Longmans Green & Co. are bringing out a little book for me, a translation of the Narada Sutras or "Inquiry into Love (Bhakti)". I shall have it published in New York also and shall call it Viveka Series.No 1.* On the fly page I have dedicated the work to Swami. In an appendix there is an explanation of who he is. I shall be following with other little translations and this is why I think it would be well to keep all the work in one series._x000d_ * The full titles of Mr. Stury’s publications as finally brought out were: Addresses on the Vedanta Philosophy: Volume I, Karma Yoga, Volume II, Bhakti Yoga, Volume III, (I) The ideal of a Universal Religion, (2) The Cosmos and Microcosm._x000d_ _x000d_ * See World Teacher – 1, chapter four, section one. Mr. Sturdy dropped the idea of the “Viveka Series.” His Narada Sutra, published in March of 1896, was subtitled “Indian Ideals – No. 1,” which designation was also dropped in the next edition.

To judge from the fait accompli tone of Mr. Sturdy's letter, it did dot seriously occur to him, if it occurred at all, that anyone might object to this plan. It was, one feels, only as a last minute courtesy that he asked the approval of Swamiji and his American friends. "I should like to hear soon," he continued in his letter to Mrs. Goodyear, "whether this plan is approved by Swamiji and his friends on your side. I think the sooner we go ahead the better. If I hear from Swami that he approves I shall immediately put all the work, of which I am sending you copies by this mail, into Longmans' hands with instructions to publish in New York and London._x000d_ It did occur to Mr. Sturdy, however, that the class talks Swamiji had edited might be considered better than those he himself had edited. In this event, the solution would he simple: _x000d_ "The only difference that it would be necessary to make to my proposal," he wrote, "is that his [Swamiji's] copy should take the place of that which I am sending & of which I have some¬thing under 400 copies left, this balance can be given away gratis as always intended & Swami's copy go to Longmans._x000d_ In a later paragraph of this same letter to Mrs. Goodyear Sturdy suggested that it would "probably economise our fund if you can run off 200/500 copies of the pamphlet[s] in New York instead of my posting them. This latter plan would run me out of them."_x000d_ All in all, it is clear that Mr. Sturdy intended to handle the publication of Swamiji's lectures for both New York and London. The work already done in New York does not seem to have made any impression upon him at all._x000d_ This, then, was the way matters stood when on March 17, just as he finished his work in Detroit, Swamiji received a letter from Mr. Sturdy which no doubt outlined the same plan he had set before Mrs. Goodyear.

In his reply, Swamiji did not mince words:_x000d_ I received your last just now and it frightened me immensely. The lectures were delivered under the auspices of certain friends who paid for the stenography and all other expenses on condition they alone will have the right to publish them. As such they have already published the Sunday lectures as well as three books on "Karma-Yoga," "Raja-Yoga" and "Jnana-Yoga."* " The Raja-Yoga especially has been much altered and rearranged along with the translation of "Yoga Sutras of Patanjali". The Raja-Yoga is in the hands of Longmans. The friends are furious at the idea of these books being published in England; and as they have been made over to them by me legally, I am at a loss what to do. The publication of the pamphlets was not so serious, but the books have been so much rearranged and changed that the American edition will not recognise the English one. Now pray don't publish these books, as they will place me in a very false position and create endless quarrel and destroy my American work. . . ._x000d_ I pray you again to think about this publishing business and write some letters to Mrs. Ole Bull and through her ask the opinion of the American friends of the Vedanta, remembering "ours is the Gospel of oneness of all beings", and all national feelings are but wicked superstitions. Moreover I am sure that the person who is always ready to give way to others' opinions finds at last that his opinion has triumphed. Yielding always conquers at last._x000d_ * When Swamiji wrote to Mr. Sturdy on March 17, 1896, that his American friends had “as such … already published the Sunday lectures as well as three books on `Karma-Yoga,’ `Raja-Yoga’ and `Jnana-Yoga,’” he must have meant in regard to the last two that the New York Committee possessed the absolute right to publish them and fully intended to do so.

On March 23 we find Miss Waldo in Boston with the manuscript of Raja-Yoga, which Mrs. Bull had now read. Negotiations in America with the Metaphysical Publishing Company as well as with Longmans for its publication had in both cases come to nothing. The Arena Company in Boston was now being consulted, as one learns from the following letter Miss Waldo wrote to Mrs. Bull on March 23 from the Boston home other cousin, Dr. William H. Prescott._x000d_ I received the parcel of manuscript all right this morning, & noticing your suggestion of a title page for thc Aphorisms, I went at once to Mr Goodwin & got him to type me one. I then went to Helen Gardiner's (Mrs Smart) to leave the manuscript for an estimate. I found her quite ill with "grip" so she passed me on to her husband who took me to the Arena office & gave me the estimate, a copy of which I enclose. Col Smart wants a "catching" title for the cover, as Yoga Philosophy would appeal only to the initiated, and he thinks that the book will be certain of a large sale, as anything occult is the rage just at present. He would also copyright it in Eng. & bring it out there. He says books of this class have a large & ready sale there. The contract provides for mistake in estimating no. of pages, also other details. The Eng. Cop. Rght would be $5.25. _x000d_ The book can be got out in good shape in about six weeks. The Arena Co. would advertize, review, push & sell the book & estimate their expenses in so doing at an equal amount. Of course their prestige & position in the trade count for a good deal. The charge for Ed. Correction would be taken out, should the book be found not to require it.

I am writing by this mail to Mr Goodyear for a report as to our financial standing. I think any money put into this would be sure to come back from sales, & I'think it very possible that Mr Flagg would help us.'* " I would do what I can & perhaps the Leggetts would let their advance stand over for this book too. I thought I had better write you this in advance, so that you could think it over before I see you tomorrow. I wrote it, in case there should be no opportunity to talk about it this evening, & then I could just hand you the note._x000d_ _x000d_ * For information about Mr. William Flagg see Prophetic Mission – 2, chapter nine, section two._x000d_ _x000d_ [At the close of her letter Miss Waldo quoted the following estimate:] ,_x000d_ No of pages (estimate) 288 _x000d_ Size of book page 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 _x000d_ Size " type " pages 5 1/2 x 3 No of copies 2000 _x000d_ Retail price (cloth) $I.25 _x000d_ small pica type double leaded, _x000d_ Aphorisms-Pica _x000d_ Cost of composition & electrotyping 205.92 _x000d_ Editorial corrections 30.00 _x000d_ Cost paper & printing 136.25 _x000d_ Cost binding 2000 _x000d_ copies-cloth including dies 323.00 Copyright (Am. only) 1.00_x000d_ ________x000d_ 696.17_x000d_ (Here we find an estimate of nearly $700 for two thousand copies, which was considerably more than Mr. Goodwin's guess of $280 for the first thousand.)_x000d_ In the meanwhile, Mr. Sturdy had received Mrs. Bull's letter of March 5. His reply, dated March 17, must have reached Cambridge during the last days of Swamiji's stay there. It read in part:_x000d_ I have your letter of Mar 5th from Cambridge Mass._x000d_ The, Jnana Yoga typed copy has already been edited by_x000d_ me but on learning that a syndicate had been formed in America to publish & look after all Swami Vivekananda's work there I put it on one side and have not printed it.*_x000d_ * Th Jnana Yoga that Mr. Sturdy mentions in his letter of March 17 to Mrs. Bull was not the Jnana Yoga we know today, which contains many lectures Swamiji had not delivered. (See World Teacher – 1, chapter six, section six.)_x000d_ I am waiting to hear further as to what should be done. The 500 copies of several of the American typed lectures & addresses I received I have given away for the most part, especially to Swamis classes &c here, but the remainder I am about to advertise for sale altho' I shall not publish them & thus not interfere with your book or books if you bring them out._x000d_ I thought it as well to make a charge because I can thus husband my resources which would otherwise give out._x000d_ As might be expected, Mr. Sturdy was much put out by the American interference with his publishing project.

On March 29, however, he replied to Swamiji's letter of March 17 with restraint:_x000d_ My dear Swamiji_x000d_ Your letter of the 17th March has reached me in good time to prevent the books being sold._x000d_ I shall now do nothing further with them unless I hear to the contrary from your American Committee._x000d_ It is a pity because it has wasted some £90 of my resources._x000d_ This was brought about by the first letter that came with the original type-written reports telling me to make what use I thought best of them. [Swamiji had referred only to their use in Sturdy's classes.]_x000d_ However we can only regret the waste of energy & money & let the matter drop._x000d_ For the satisfaction of your American Committee kindly show them these figures._x000d_ I printed Ideal Cosmos Raja Karma Bhakti _x000d_ of Un. Yoga Yoga Yoga_x000d_ Religion_x000d_ _x000d_ 500 500 500 500 500 _x000d_ _x000d_ Gaveaway 125 75 41 29 20_x000d_ _x000d_ Still on_x000d_ my hands 375 425 459 471 480_x000d_ So you see very little harm has been done._x000d_ These books would has [sic] been sold on the book stalls at 1s/ld whereas the bound copy of Karma Yoga sent me from America is published at 4/2 [$1.00]. They will never cell in London at such a price, except to a mere handful of people._x000d_ The Theosophists are selling a scholarly edition of the first 5 or 6 Upanishads at 6d and the Gita also at 6d both of them as good as any Edition published anywhere heretofor [sic]._x000d_ I have a note from Naples from Saradananda and I see by the mail news his steamer has now passed Gibraltar: he expects to be here about April 2nd._x000d_ Many letters only make confusion so will you kindly place this before your American Publishing Committee._x000d_ I am telling friends you will be here in the beginning of May, which I presume is correct._x000d_ Yours always in [Sat]_x000d_ E. T. Sturdy

This suppression of literature entirely cripples our prospect of making your coming well known. The books would have been travelled by four travellers all over the country & in the city of London._x000d_ Two days later, Mr. Sturdy wrote more crossly to Swamiji in regard to the suppression of literature by the "American Syndicate." This second letter, dated March 31, read in full:_x000d_ I wrote you at once on the receipt of your letter informing you that I had entirely suppressed the books I had printed at the wish of your American friends. Since writing I have refused various applications for them either on sale or as gifts._x000d_ I am writing now because the attitude of your Committee in America is inexplicable to me. Even supposing that the books have been enlarged, there could have been no harm in these books appearing in England as a preliminary edition in their original form, and of course, as you well know, I have eliminated anything that would seem indiscrete [sic] in print, altho' well enough spoken to friends. Is it that these people are only thinking of recuping [sic] their outlay, or is it national or personal jealousy, or what is the reason? I quite fail to understand them._x000d_ It is well however that they should know the result. It is this_x000d_ We are entirely disarmed here; we have nothing to send for review to the press; nothing to set before the people or refer to, and this valuable month, preceding your coming, will be entirely lost. We can only sit down and do nothing. When you come we shall be just where we were last year and all to begin over again. It is different in America where you have been now known for three years. I do not know what your American Syndicate intends to do in England. _x000d_ If they are going to bring out books here at any price much over 1/- they will be quite unread: people will not buy them. Books to be popular and tempt to purchase when the subject is new must be almost given away. Your friends here have had to be dissuaded from making a protest to the American Committee for having so entirely crippled your prospects for the coming season._x000d_ To bring out these books when you are already leaving the country for India will be to lose half or very much more than half the result of people seeing them whilst you could be referred to here. All this has made your friends here indignant. These people [the Americans] have neither produced for us any cheap literature here, nor have they given us a free hand to do so._x000d_ To produce it in the middle of next Summer when those people who would be your audience are all gone to the country is almost useless, if you adhere to your plan of going to the East in the late autumn._x000d_ If you bring your stenographer friend over or if we can engage one here I hope to bring out a series of your English Addresses._x000d_ I hope however to make your American friends a free gift of any such work and not to buck their enterprise or to prevent them utilizing this work, perfectly or imperfectly, as best they promptly may, in their country._x000d_ No news of Saradananda yet, but he must be nearing Plymouth now._x000d_ I had made arrangements with a large firm who employ 4 travellers to have your books offered everywhere in town & country. As nothing to make your coming efficiently known can now be done I propose to utilize the time with Saradananda in translating some little books quietly at home.

A few days thereafter, Mr. Sturdy informed all readers of the Brahmavadin that the London work was being obstructed by Swamiji's American followers. In a letter to that magazine he wrote the following easy-to-read-between lines:_x000d_ Constant applications are being made for literature which unfortunately cannot be supplied, the addresses and lectures given by Swami Vivekananda in America not being obtainable, so far, in this country._x000d_ We live in an age of cheap books and cheap printing and the only way in which a large number of people can be made quickly aware of any subject is through books and through reviews in the Press. We hope soon after Swami's return to remedy this absence of his lectures and addresses so that we may put them before everybody at as low a rate as possible. -E.T.S.

Mr. Sturdy may have had a point. In any case, the American Committee had become divided on the issue. Miss Waldo, to whom Swamiji had dictated his translation of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, who was closely involved with the actual editing of Raja-Yoga as a whole, and who had enthusiastically and energetically busied herself in making arrangements for its publication, was much upset by Sturdy's attitude. Indeed, it would seem that it was she who headed the American opposi¬ton to him. Mrs. Bull and Mr. Goodwin, on the other hand, were swinging around to Sturdy's side-and it was Mrs. Bull who had the authority in the matter, she being in charge of the Publication Committee, with power of attorney. A letter written by Mr. Goodwin to Mrs. Bull (after a ten-day visit with her) gives ample evidence that Swamiji's American workers were, to say the least, not of one accord. Dated April 10, Goodwin's letter read in part:_x000d_ Since I returned [to New York from Cambridge] this morning I have been rather discouraged by many things. To begin with, while I hold to my contention that Miss Waldo's manners are not advantageous to the work, & that she lacks consideration for what we who are trying in various ways to advance the Vedanta have a right to expect, I am afraid I have been too severe in my condemnation._x000d_ I really believe that, in great measure, if not wholly, these failings are due to lack of judgment, & Mrs Goodyear told me to-day that on her (Miss Waldo's] return (from Boston] she was almost heartbroken at the turn things had taken, & especially at the Swami's apparent forgetfulness of her work for him, into which he was responsible for pushing her, even to the point of being responsible for many of the ill judged things she has done¬_x000d_ In a way, this will do me good, I believe. I have vowed mentally that I will never again, knowingly, criticise anyone. . . ._x000d_ Mr. Sturdy has actually published the early Raja lectures in pamphlet form. I shall read it to-night, & think I can get an idea of his acquaintance with Raja. Gnana, of course, he is safe with. But this previous knowledge may be of use in deciding the other.

Chicago was in a sense Swamiji's home town. It was here that he first walked on American streets, and here, nearly six weeks later, that he first spoke to a large and important gathering of American people and then and there set in motion a ground swell of spiritual thought that even today is gathering momentum.

In the mid-nineties Chicago was, physically, barely a quarter¬century old, almost all of it having been burned to the ground in October of 1871 in a super conflagration. It had been at that time a mere overgrown pioneer town, sprung from a rough and muddy trading post that had been bought from the Indians some thirty-five years earlier for a heap of blankets, kettles, hatchets, and the like. Standing at the crossroads of commerce, the town had grown fast. Grain and livestock poured in from the west, lumber and manufactured goods from the east, wheat and cotton from the south, and all of it poured out again, always leaving behind a rich deposit of profits. Millions were regularly made overnight, largely by the industrious and thrifty Yankees who had come from New England to settle in this gold mine of a town. After the Great Fire, Chicago grew even faster than before, mushrooming up from its cinders with a vitality that astounded oven its own energetic pioneers. Intense concentration had wrought the miracle: the men of Chicago had one, and only one, consuming interest-the making of money.

The same intensity and passion with which that money was made went into civilizing the city, particularly after the fire ¬and into barbarizing it as well. Chicago quickly took on all the characteristics of any other big American city of the 1880s and 90s-and this with a vengeance. Gamblers and swindlers, who had come from the South during the Civil War, flourished; honest immigrants, full of soon shattered hope, poured in from Europe; vice and corruption, labor riots murderous on both sides, crowded slums, stockyards, packing houses, grain elevators massive and ostentatious mansions, the world's first, skyscraper, noise, congestion, unabashed avarice all went into the brew that was Chicago. And in and through this disorder, the beautiful and gracious wife of the immensely rich Potter Palmer went about building up an elite and cultivated society which sophisticated Easterners could no longer ridicule.

Mrs. Palmer reigned with a mind given, as well, to society in a larger sense. Like most upper-class Chicago women, she had an awakening social conscience, a sense of civic pride, and a serious interest in the welfare of the poor. For all its new wealth, Chicago society was not altogether frivolous, nor in the nineties it crude. Thanks to women like Mrs. Palmer, it had acquired not only a measure of savoir-faire but of responsibility as well, and if it hadn't quite made the Eastern grade in sophistication, it was well out of the prairies.

Florence Adams, then in her early thirties, was the petite and lively wife of Milward Adams, house manager of the grand Auditorium Theatre ("one of the handsomest in the world, Baedeker said), where the acoustics were perfect and, as mentioned above, the Metropolitan Opera Company gave annual performances. The Opera Company was, in fact, gracing Chicago in April of 1896,* its stars staying at the Auditorium Hotel-an immense building which, together with an office building and tower, had been constructed in connection with (and to finance) the Auditorium Theatre, making, in all, one "mammoth pile of masonry" on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Congress Street. In her own way, Mrs. Adams was also a star of sorts-a talented ("one of the most gifted women" Mrs. Bull had ever known) and popular lecturer on "The Art of Expression," which art included speaking, walking, gesturing, and standing. (Swamiji took lessons in walking from her, but, as he wrote in March of 1895 to Isabelle McKindley, to "no use; the ever increasing load in front does not allow me to bend forward as Mrs. Adams wants it. If I try to bend forward in walking, the center of gravity comes to the surface of the stomach, and so I go cutting front somersaults._x000d_ * Mme Emma Calve was in Chicago with the Metropolitan Opera Company in March and April of 1896. for her possible meeting with Swamiji at this period, see Prophetic Mission -, Appendix.

Mrs. Adams had a studio in the Fine Arts Building, adjacent on Michigan Avenue to the Auditorium. Here such people as the young Ethel Barrymore and Mme Antoinette Sterling came for lessons, and it was here that Swamiji would give at least two of his talks during his ten-day stay in the city. Inadvertently, he himself did much to make his presence known in Chicago. In a letter dated April 2, 1896, Mrs. Adams told her friend Mrs. Bull that on the night of his arrival "he came to the opera for two acts, and there met many old friends, among them Prince Wolkonsky." The intermission between those two acts of what happened to be Il Trovatore must have been like a gala reception for Swamiji. One can well picture his brilliant robe among the elegantly dressed opera goers the ladies in their elaborate low cut, floor-sweeping gowns, their necklaces and tiaras flashing with jewels; the gentlemen courtly in white tie and tails. His was a surprise appearance that must have elicited many a delighted exclamation, sometimes on both sides, as when he met his old friend Prince Wolkonsky, who was also in Chicago for a short visit only. In her letter of Thursday, April 2, Mrs. Adams went on:

The Swami has just given his first lesson and not only the matter but the appreciation of the audience was all we could desire._x000d_ The Swami was clear gentle and brilliant. How deep he carries one's thought in the short space of one hour._x000d_ As you know Chicago is always convulsed with Opera excitement and I have been so bewilderingly busy since my return after a month absence from the Studio-and with guests for the Opera-the Homers-and nightly box parties-but best of all hours & hours with the de Reszkes & Melba filled with helpful & stimulating talks. I could not seem to do much for the Swami before he came-and at the time of his arrival I realized after talking with every one I met for the week that one series of talks must be in the center Of town, so I waited for his approval & we began today with a select audience in my Studio. The rooms were full and more coming tomorrow if we outgrow the Studio we can go into Apollo Hall. Tonight an eve. course begins at 1628 Indiana Ave.... Next week the Prince [Wolkonsky's] and Swami's lectures will be all there is. Today being Holy Thursday & tomorrow Good Friday-& Saturday a matinee for which people had arranged-I am delighted at todays attendance & re¬sponse. I want Dr John Hall & Jenkin Lloyd Jones to hear him &c. We had a fair half of men today which is only possible in Chicago in a down town place.

Where in Chicago did Swamiji live this time? Not with the Hale family, for Mr. and Mrs. Hale were not in town and the "sisters" Mary and Harriet Hale and their cousins Isabelle and Harriet McKindley had taken an apartment together at Walton Place. It is not likely that he stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Adams, who lived at the Auditorium Hotel; nor, as one can gather from the reminiscences of their grand-daughter,27 did he stay with Mr. and Mrs. Lyon during this period. Where then ? One answer, which may or may not suffice For the whole ten days, can be found in the following item on the social page of the Inter Ocean of Easter Sunday, April 5:_x000d_ Mr. Vivekananda from Calcutta is the guest of Dr. H. S. Perkins, No 1628 Indiana Avenue.

As we have seen, Swamiji held an evening class at Dr. Perkins's on April 2; on April 6 he wrote two letters from that address; thus it is possible that he stayed with the doctor (who was the director of the Chicago National College of Music and almost certainly a friend of Mrs. Adams), for at least several days. But this is only speculative; at the present time our knowledge of Swamiji's ten-day stay in Chicago is sketchy at best. He did not write newsy letters; Mr. Goodwin had re mained behind in Cambridge; and the Chicago newspapers were almost wholly silent on the subject of "the lordly monk's" visit to town blessedly so for him, unsatisfactorily so for us. All we know for certain is that he held enthusiastically attended classes, had some dental work done,* was not feeling well, and had "beautiful visits" with his friends. Among those friends were of course the Hale and MeKindley "sisters," and it was very likely during this period that he made a number of recordings at their Walton Place flat, talking into a big horn that flared from one of Edison's phonograph machines. This information (though not the exact year to which it belongs) comes from Mrs. Herbert E. Hyde, who was nine or ten years old in 1896, the daughter of a third McKindley sister, Mary (Mrs. Leonard Baker). The little girl, Louise Baker, had often visited her aunts at Walton Place when Swamiji was there. "Of course," she told me when I had the good fortune to talk with her in 1969, "he was generally shut up in a room by himself when he was lecturing into the machine. But once I saw him while he was doing it. I remember the black recording thing. It was very primitive." (Mrs. Hyde also remembered Swamiji's beautiful voice and how very handsome he was. "And his eyes!" she said. "He had luminous eyes. I'll never forget ") What became of the cylinders that bore the impress of Swamiji's voice no one, it would seem, knows. And indeed, unless a permanent matrix was taken of them, they would surely have long since deteriorated, being made, as was customary, of a waxy substance not meant to last._x000d_ * Mrs. Bull writes in her letter to Swamiji dated April 11, 1896, “Mrs. Adams has written me of your good work with them and her enjoyment of it all – and that you had been busy with visits, dentistry etc.” From this it seems clear that Mrs. Adams had written a second letter to Mrs. Bull (later than that of April 2), in which she had given a fairly detailed account of Swamiji’s Chicago visit. The hope is that someday this letter may come to light.

Yes, the task the Swami had set for himself was Herculean; but certainly he succeeded in a large measure. Although his teachings were firmly based on Vedantic scriptures, they were remarkably clear and modern in their expression. Whensoever he made comments in his classes upon the Vedas or other Hindu scriptures, he threw a whole world of light and revelation upon the texts. Such was the case also in his many public lectures during this fruitful and intensive season of his work in America.

Indeed, the Swami's experience in the West and his constant meditation on, and study of, religious matters drew out of him surprisingly original observations upon Indian philosophy, which culminated in his bringing about later in India itself a thorough restatement of Indian ideas. And it may be said without dispute that in a special sense he was the first of Indian philosophers to show that Hindu spiritual ideas were truly scientific as well. Further, it was he alone who pointed out the philosophical truths behind the Puranic and mythological forms of Hinduism.

From Boston the Swami travelled on March 30 to Chicago, the city of his first triumph in the Western world. Here he now held a number of successful classes, arranged by his friends. He remained in Chicago about two weeks,and then on April 11, returned to New York. There he worked on his Harvard lecture on the Vedanta Philosophy, which was going to be printed, adding explanatory notes to it. On April 13 he gave a brief talk to the students of the Vedanta Society on the Chief Principles of Vedanta and Its Prospects in America".

To do so, he felt he would necessarily have to reorganize the entire Hindu philosophical thought and group its distinctive features around the leading tenets of the Hindu religious systems, thus making it more intelligible to Western minds. He wanted to bring out, according to different schools of Vedanta, the ideas of the soul, God, and the final goal; the relation of matter and force, the Vedantic conception of cosmology and evolution, and how some of the most wonderful discoveries of modern science were "only rediscoveries of what had been found ages ago". He also intended to draw up a classification of the Upanishads according to the passages which have a distinct bearing on the Advaita, the Vishishtadvaita, and the Dvaita conceptions, in order to show how all of them can he reconciled. He planned to write a book, carefully working out all these ideas in a definite form. That he had long had this in mind is shown by a letter he had written to Alasinga Perumal on May 6 of 1895, in which he had said: _x000d_ Now I will tell you my discovery. All of religion is contained in the Vedanta, that is, in the three stages of the Vedanta philosophy, the Dvaita. The Vishishtadvaita and Advaita; one comes after the other. These are the three stages of spiritual growth in man. Every one is necessary. This is the essential of religion: The Vedanta, applied to the various ethnic customs and creeds of India, is Hinduism. The first stage, i.e. Dvaita, applied to the ideas of the ethnic groups of Europe, is Christianity; as applied to the Semitic groups, Mohammedanism. The Advaita, as applied in its yoga-perception form, is Buddhism etc. Now by religion is meant the Vedanta; the applications must vary according to the different needs, surroundings, and other circumstances of different nations. You will find that, although the philosophy is the same, the Shaktas, Shaivas, etc. apply it each to their own special cult and forms. Now, in your journal write article after article on these three systems, showing their harmony as one following after the other, and at the same time, keeping off the ceremonial forms altogether. That is, preach the philosophy, the spiritual part, and let people suit it to their own forms. I wish to write a book on this subject, therefore I wanted the three Bhashyas [commentaries] …

Again in May of 1895 he had written to Mrs. Bull: "The different books on Vedanta are now being sent over to me from India. I expect to write a book in English on the Vedanta philosophy in its three stages, when I am at Thousand Islands. . . ." As we saw in the preceding chapter, in the early part of 1895 he had been writing for the Vedanta-Sutras with the Bhashyas of all sects.

But, his first, immediate task was,he felt,To put the Hindu ideas into English and then make out of dry philosophy and intricate mythology and queer startling psychology, a religion which shall be easy, simple, popular, and at the same time meet the requirements of the highest minds is a task which only those can understand who have attempted it. The abstract Advaita must become living poetic in everyday life; out of hopelessly intricate mythology. Must come concrete moral forms; and out of bewildering yogism must come the most scientific and practical psychology and all this must be put into a form so that a child may grasp it. That is my life's work. The Lord. Only knows how far I shall succeed. To work we have the right, not to the, fruits thereof. It is hard work, my boy, hard work!

So Swamiji gave two classes on April 2-in the morning at Mrs. Adams's Studio, and in the evening at 1628 Indiana Avenue (the home of a Dr. H. S. Perkins). We can, I think, assume that this was the pattern he would follow for the next week-a class downtown in the morning, one in the evening in the home of a friend, and it is probable that the size of at least the morning class made it necessary to move it to a public hall. On May 17 Mrs. Adams would write to Mrs. Bull, who, characteristically, had sent her a check to provide for Swamiji's Chicago expenses:_x000d_ As to the Swami's affairs in Chicago and your check¬ my dear friend, I thought you offered to assist about the expenses if we did not receive sufficient return in Chicago. As you know, we literally had no time to prepare the ground for the Swami's coming, but our audience was beyond our aims or plans, and when the financial return by voluntary contribution [at] only the last three lectures amounted to close to $200,00 I was well pleased. After all his expenses were paid-board, R.R. ticket, & Hall rent¬-I gave him $140.00 as he left, & he seemed to be well pleased._x000d_ You are so good to think that I might need help, but I know that the few in Chicago who realized would be glad to do so little as the Swami asked.

Indiana Ave, Chicago, Ill._x000d_ 6th April, 1896_x000d_ Dear Mrs. Bull,_x000d_ Your kind note was duly received. I had beautiful visits with my friends and have already held several classes. I shall have a few more and then start on Thursday._x000d_ Everything has been well arranged here, thanks to the kindness of Miss Adams. She is so, so good and kind._x000d_ I am suffering from slight fever the last two days; so I can't write a long letter._x000d_ My love to all in Boston._x000d_ Yours with kind regards,_x000d_ Vivekananda

To Sister Christine_x000d_ 1628 Indiana Ave._x000d_ Chicago, Ill._x000d_ [April 6, 1896]_x000d_ Dear Christina,_x000d_ [Line excised.] reply as soon as possible._x000d_ I am going forward to New York on Thursday [April 9] and [will] start for England on the 15th of April._x000d_ Goodby and love to you all__to Mrs. Funkey [Funke], to Mrs. Phelps and all the rest of our friends._x000d_ In this life we meet and part again and again; but the mind is omnipresent and can be, hear, and feel anywhere._x000d_ Yours with love and blessings,_x000d_ Vivekananda_x000d_ P.S. Give Kripananda and Miss [Martha] Hamilton my love and blessings when you meet them next._x000d_ V._x000d_ _x000d_ [Written in the margin:] I will go to New York next Friday [April 10].

(Kripananda had need of that message from Swamiji. He was not doing well. On April 11 Mr. Goodwin would write from New York to Mrs. Bull: "I received your letters this evening & was interested in what you write about K. I can quite believe that in his best moods he can do work of a high order. But I also hear that he is at present worse than ever, & Mrs. Phunke says if he receives many more criticisms she thinks he will become quite crazy.

Before sealing his letter to Christina, Swamiji postponed the date of his departure from Chicago by one day. In the margin he wrote: "I will go to Newyork next Friday [April 10]."

I was very much surprised to receive your telegram stating that Swamiji would not leave Chicago until Friday (today) or Saturday. When writing Mrs Adams the other day I made it clear, as I thought, that he would have a lot of things to occupy his short time in New York, & I understood that she assented to the arrangement of sending him back yesterday._x000d_ Immediately on receipt of your telegram I wired her "Please send Swami to-day latest-Engagements made." I hope I did correctly. I have no doubt it is by Swami's wish he is staying, & I think that even he should not be exempt from ordinary obligations. I am afraid Mr Le Vinsen was not much pleased when I told him of the message.

(Mr. Carl Le Vinsen was a teacher of music and a good friend of Swamiji's. There was also a Flounce d'A. Le Vinsen and a Maude R. Le Vinsen.* They lived at 124 East Forty-¬fourth Street, and very possibly Swamiji would stay with this family for several days after his arrival from Chicago. Beyond this, we have at present no knowledge of the Le Vinsens.)_x000d_ * Three Le Vinsens – Florence d’A., Maude R., and Carl – were on the dock to wave goodbye to Swamiji on April 15, 1896 (see Appendix C).