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Leader (1850-1860), 11th July 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17

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      Moral Life In Prance. La Religion Niatnr...

      the evidence which they give of the development of a strong spiritualist JcWof taught in France at a moment when French intellect is supposed tohave succumbed beneath a despotism openly materialist , and supported by a church which , having become an hypocrisy , is as essentially materialist af the despotism which it supports . \ fe see Jn this development , apart from tha intellectual power of Ss leaders , and the direct effect produced by their work , a precious germ of political hope for prance . _ The situation of French affairs affords a parallel to the Roman Empire which those who enjoy the bounties of the modern Augustus have not shrunk from placing in the clearest light . France , like Rome , has been debauched by the violence of faction , and by the excitement of political chimeras , and a period of complete moral and political lassitude has naturally succeeded that debauch . Terrorism and Fourierism have performed in the one case that which the civil wars and the Catilinian conspiracy performed in the other : nor has a Lucretius been wanting in the form ot a

      voluptuous literature to preach to weary hearts that social effort was endless and vain , and that repose of any kind was sweet . This is the foundation on which the Empire rests ; this is the origin which it avows , admitting itself sternly to be , not the creature of political wisdom and virtue , but the retributive offspring of delirium and despair . But Roman intellect and virtue did not sink down under its degraded yoke without a struggle and a protest : the great spiritualist school of the Stoics sprang forth in strong antagonism to the downward tendencies of Epicurean despotism , and though it was vanquished , it lived on , and amidst the sunxmnding putrescence of institutions and of intellect preserved a line of noble character and high effort till it merged in Christianity . And so , sustaining the parallel , French intellect has , at the moment of general prostration , produced , by a vigorous reaction , a great spiritual movement , and reasserts with the authority of unshaken conviction the supremacy of the moral law and the existence of Providence in the face of an order of thinjrs which is founded on the denial

      of morality , and which seeins to have inherited a world deserted by God . The Roman Emperors and their favourites persecuted with a sound instinct that restless sect which preserved the tradition of political duty in the city of the Caesars , and at last gave the Antonines to the throne . And perhaps it will not be long before the Caesar of our day will discover that , to inculcate with an eloquent voice principles of action above interest , pleasure , and fear , and to preach a re . il religion in place of the convenient and obsequious religion of the augurs , are offences more dangerous to society , and calling more loudly for a ' warning , ' than even a squib in the Charivari , or the expression of liberal sentiments in a Review . High morality and rational religion have always been the nurses and allies of that liberty which ^ is essential to their existence , and the new Reformation , if it is not stifled , will , in time , shake more thrones .

      We should be sorry to spenk with disrespect of Voltaire , or to fail in acknowledging the services which were rendered to humanity by his clear and penetrating genius , and his quick and warm , if somewhat shallow heart- He did with wonderful ability , and with a courage which at the present day we can scarcely appreciate , the work of his hour ; and that work was necessarily destructive . He and his school failed , and under the circumstances could not but fail , while pulling down the old moral and religious system , to found a new system on a better basis . Gradually undermined by the persevering efforts of a succession of philosophic and political assailants , the vast edifice of the French monarchy and church at last full in , and the nation was left without any faith but the false faith of political perfectibility or , we should rather say , of the immediate advent of political perfection . Hence that abyss of social chimeras , unbridled personal ambition and extravagant

      faction , into which i ranee , at the hour of hope and fancied regeneration , found herself plunged , and from which , in spite of noble efforts , she has p ever again fairly emerged . Public liberty and social progress are possible only with self-abnegation and self-devotion in individual citizens , and without a strong code of individual morality , based on conviction , self-abnegation and self-devotion never have existed , and never can exist . Works like those of M . Jules Simon , quickening each man ' s moral perceptions and confirming in each man ' s heart the dominion of the moral law , lay the foundation on which the edifice of French liberty will rise again , built up by the hands of patriots , and guarded by their devotion . Let us then earnestly wisli to M . Simon success in his beneficent career , and we augur that he will he successful , belying in this respect the parallel of the'defeated spiritualists of Rome . In every nation of modern times the force of the spiritual elements to which works like his appeal is incomparably greater than was the force of similar elements in the ancient world .

      A fearful leprosy has indeed como over French society ; but it has not yet sunk to the state which is painted by Juvenal , and beneath this base luxury lie classes whoso virtue is preserved by free labour—a source of regeneration unknown to declining Greece or Rome . But besides this , and more than this , the modern regenerator of a fallon nation is supported by the sympathy of the other nations of the civilized world . European society is now like a ship in compartments of which not only may one float while another sinks , but the one which floats may redeem the other from the deep . And M . Jules Simon has touched the sympathies of this country as well as of his own . For we too are somewhat in the same position as France herself . Wo too live nniidst the tumbling down of creeds and churches , and the decay of those institutions which are connected with them : and we too have reason to bo thankful to the philosopher who , before the old supports utterly fail us , trios to give society the elements of x \ rational religion and of a positive moral faith .

      No. 381, Jtot 11, 1857.J The Leader. 666

      No . 381 , Jtot 11 , 1857 . J THE LEADER . 666

      Memoirs Ojcrosse The Electrician. Memori...

      MEMOIRS OJCROSSE THE ELECTRICIAN . Memorials , Sci < int \ fio and JLiUrary , of Andrew Croasv , the Electrician . Longman and Co . Mr . Crosse ' s widow has put together certain dates und papers , which give a dim imago of tho existence of a very rcmnrkablc man . To the world in general Mr . Crosao waa beat known ( or miaknown ) by his supposed creation of nn insect by means of electricity ; nnd the rectification of that popular error ie the moat useful passage in the volume before us . Ho was known

      to the scientific world by many discoveries in his favourite science , notably that of the formation of minerals by long-continued electrical action . Hi * life was a scientific romance , had the writer been ready to have told the story properly ; as it is , we cannot recommend the biographical interest of this volume . The following story is not only good in itself , but may be useful to the reader , and we therefore extract it : — WHAT TO DO IN HYDROPHOBIA . Mr . Crosse was returning home one day by the side of one of the ponds in the grounds of Fyne Court , when he saw a oat sitting by the water . In the spirit of boyish mischief , which never forsook him , he sprang forward to catch the animal , with the intention of throwing her into the water ; but , to use his own words , " She was too quick for me to catch her , but not quick enough to escape me altogether . I held her for an instant , and she turned and bit me severely on the hand . I threw her from me , and in doing so I saw that her hair was stivered ; the cat wag evidently ill . She died the same day of hydrophobia ! The circumstance passed from my memory as weeks rolled on ; . but about three months afterwards I felt one morning a great pain in my arm ; at the same time feeling exceedingly thirsty , I called for a glass of water : at the instant that I was about to raise the tumbler to my lips , a strong spasm shot across my throat ; immediately the terrible conviction came to my mind that I _ was about to fall a victim to hydrophobia , the consequence of the bite thit I had received from the cat . The agony- of mind I endured for one hour is indescribable ; the contemplation of such a horrible death—death from hydrophobia—was almost insupportable ; the torments of hell itself could not have surpassed what I suffered . The pain , which had first commenced in my hand , passed up to the elbow , and from thence to the shoulder , threatening to extend . I felt all human aid was useless , and I believed that I must die . At length . I began to reflect upon my condition . I said to myself , either I shall die , or I shall not ; if I do , it will oaly be a similar fate to that which many have suffered , and many more must suffer , and I must bear it like a man : if , on the other hand , there is any hope of my life , my only chance is in summoning my utmost resolution , defying the attack , and exerting every effort of my mind . Accordingly , feeling that physical as well as mental exertion was necessary , I took my gun , shouldered it , and went out for the purpose of shooting , my arm aching the while intolerably . I met with no sport , but I walked the whole afternoon , exerting , at every step I went , a strong mental effort against the disease : when I returned to the house I was decidedly better ; I was able to eat som « dinner and drink water as usual . The next morning the aching pain had gone down to my elbow , the following it went down to the wrist , and the third day left me altogether . I mentioned the circumstance to Dr . Kinglake , and he said be certainly considered that I had had an attack of hydrophobia , which would possibly have proved fatal had I not struggled against it by a strong effort of mind . " Here is another : — SCIENTIFIC PIETY AND IMPIETY . A large party had cobne from a distance to see Mr . Crosse ' s experiments and apparatus . He had been taking them to different parts of the house , as was his wont , explaining his various philosophical arrangements : at length , on arriving at the organ gallery , he exhibited two enormous Leyden jars , which he could charge at pleasure by the conducting wires , when the state of the atmosphere was sufficiently electrical . An old gentleman of the party contemplated the arrangement with a look of grave disapprobation : at length , with much solemnity , he observed : . " ilr . Crosse , don ' t you think it is rather impious to bottle the lightning ? " " Let me answer your question by asking another , " replied Mr . Crosse , laughing : " Don't you think , sir , it might be considered rather impious to bottle the rain water ?" We have already said that the rectification of the popular idea respecting his creation of the Acarus is , to us , the most interesting part of this volume . Much ridicule was flung at Mr . Crosse , much absurdity was attributed to him , which were totally undeserved . No physiologist—even if he were inclined to believe in the possibility of spontaneous generation takingplace in the lowest forms—could accept the idea of a highly complex organisation like that of the Acarus proceeding from any direct combination of inorganic substances ; and the general public felt a thrill of horror at the idea of a Frankenstein asserting that he had ' created' a Louse . Mr . Crosse asserted nothing of the kind . In a letter addressed to Harriet Martineau , who wrote to ask him about this very point , he says :: —¦ " As to the appearance of the acari under long-continued electrical action , I have never in thought , word , or deed , given any one a right to suppose that I considered them as a creation , or even as a formation , from inorganic matter . To create is to form a something out of a nothing . To annihilate is to reduce that something to a nothing . Both , of these , of course , can only be the attributes of the Almighty . la fact , I can assure you most sacredly that I have never dreamed of any theory sufficient to account for their appearance . I confess that I was not a little surprised , and am bo still , and quite as much as I was when the acari made their first appearance . Again , I have never claimed any merit as attached to these experiments . It was a matter

      of chance . I was looking for silicioua formations , and animal matter appeared instead . The first publication of my original experiment took place entirely without my knowledge . Since that time , and surrounded by death and disease , I have fought my way in the different branches of the science which I so dearly love , and have endeavoured to be somewhat better acquainted with a few of its mysteries . Now , suppose that a future son of science were to discover that certain novel arrangements should produce an effect quite contrary to all preconceived opinion , would this discovery , however vast it might be , humanly speaking , be ouch as to stir up in a mind properly constituted an inferior sense of tho omniscience of the Creator ? It is really laughable to anticipate such a result , which could only bo engendered in the brains of the enemies of all

      knowledge . ' In a groat number of my experiments , made by passing a long current of electricity throug h , various fluids ( and some of them were considered to be destructive to animal life ) , aoari have made their appearance 5 but never excepting : on an electrified surface kept constantly moistened , or beneath tho surface of an electrified fluid . In some instances these little animals have been produced two inches below tho surface oi a poisonous liquid . In ono instance they made their appearanco upon the lower part of a small piece of quartz , plunged two inches deep into a glass vessel of fluo-allicic acid , or , in other words , into fluoric acid holding silica in solution . A current of electricity was passed through this fluid for a twelvemonth or more ; and at the end ot which kept

      some months three of these aoari were visible on the piece of quartz , was negatively electrified . I have closely examined , the progress of these insects . Their first appearance consists in a very minute whitish hemisphere , formed upon tho surface of tho electrified body , sometimes at the positive end , and sometimes at the negative , and occasionally between the two , or in the middle of tho electrified current , ami sometimes upon all . Iu a few dayB this speck enlarges and elongates vertically , ana shoots out flhimenta of a whitish wavy appearance , and puaily noon through a ^ lena or very low nowor . Then commences the first appearance of animal , life . K a un « point bo made to approach tlies < i filaments , they immediately shrink up and coUapso like KoophytoB upon mos » , but expand again some time after tho removal of the point .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 11, 1857, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11071857/page/17/