Page:The International Folk-Lore Congress of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, July, 1893.djvu/36

18 of individual members of all the societies, and the presence here of officers from all, and their participation in our proceedings, consoles us for the non-adherence of the official bodies. It is, then, the first American International Folk-Lore Congress. Furthermore, we insist that it is the first really broad World's Congress, in an unrestricted sense.

At the first Folk-Lore Congress, in Paris, in 1889, the following countries were not represented: Germany, Norway, Kussia, Austria, Spain, Portugal. At the second, held at London, in 1891, the great German nation was not represented, nor were several other European nations. Now, for the first time, the co-operation of all has been asked, and representatives from all parts of the world have contributed papers, and some have travelled great distances, to be with us. We think these facts fully show that this is the first great International Folk-Lore Congress.

Folk-Lore is one of the youngest of the scientific branches. It has accomplished much within the short time devoted to its study. We all remember the silly guesses at mythological interpretation of sixty years ago, the wild imaginings of our brothers, the philologists, in attempting to unlock mysteries of the mind of man with their skeleton keys, warranted to open any lock, the erroneous dicta of our friends, the anthropologists, who count all men as varieties of the simple savage.

Into this chaos of widely-differing conclusions about the habits of action, thought, and feelings of man, came the new science, Folk-Lore, to correct, by the data of experimental comparison, these erroneous ideas. Nor was it useless to the sciences inaccurately yclept exact. Says President Gomme of the London society: "No science dealing with man is quite perfect without the aid of Folk-Lore." Geological facts are sustained by traditional accounts, historical statements shown to be illusions, botanical knowledge has been forwarded, mythology entirely reconstructed; and literature, always drawing its inspiration from the people, owes much to FolkLore. In short, every study, whose end is that proper study of Mankind to which the great poet alluded, is assisted by this most universal, wide-embracing science.

Folk-Lore is not merely a study of the survival of decay,