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Leader (1850-1860), 12th September 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 18, 3jvi * ^ « , A 3-'.tuTuUltt«

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    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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      S8&- The Lea Be Bw [^^ 39&, Septbmbei. 1...

      S 8 & - THE LEA BE Bw [^^ 39 & , Septbmbei . 12 y 1857 ,

      3jvi * ^ « , A 3-'.Tutuultt«

      l !& tntare .

      Critics: Are Not Tiielegislatora, But Th...

      Critics : are not tiielegislatora , but th . e judges and police of li . fceratu . re . They do- nat make laws—they interpret and try to enforce therm . —Edinburgh Review . ?»

      Prance-Ftas Just Lost One Of Her- Most O...

      Prance-ftas just lost one of her- most original and independent thinkers . On Saturday last Axtguste Comte , author of tire vast system of scientific speculation known as The Positive Philosophy ¦ ,. 'died . at Paris of enlargement of the heart , after three months illness . He retained- his faculties , and continued at Ms work to the very end , being engaged , in writing only an hour

      before his death . He was buried on Tuesday at Pere Lachaise , about fifty of Iris scientific and pMlosopliic friends following his remains to their last resting place . Two ? discourses' were delivered at the grave—one by a . disciple of the pure Comiists ,. the section of bis disciples who remained faithful to their mastery the other by ML Robis ^ in . tlLe nanae of M .. LiItxiie ( unavoidably absent fromEaris )^ representing ; the steceders ,. the section of his followers who parted company -with , CwmE seven years , ago , when he attempted ; to engraft on the Positive Philosophy a new religion , of which he was . to be .-Hmaelf . the apostle and Irish-priest * .

      Otu ? readers will naturally : be . anxious to hear something- touching the personal history © £ one -who . has been so often intnodkicecL to : them in the pages of the I ^ ac & ar / .- but the biography of a lonely thinker ia rarely one © £ dDcid « nt > and ' . Comte ,. preoccupied with , his speculations , led a life more than , usually-retired * - —early became , in fact , a philosophical recluse . The main facts ; o £ bis history are soou told . Bora , in 1797 ; of Catholic and royalist paieute , lie -was educated at one of the Bonaparte lyceums , where he early drsfcmguiahed himself by his love of speculation , and his profound dissatisfaction : TWfck tlie existing philosophic schools and' actual' social condition of his country . On * leaving-college lie- became acquainted with the celebrated Saint-Stkow , and being- attracted by his personal character , and charmed by the

      originality of his views , he joined the band of brilliant disciples wliich the geirhis and ambition of" that distinguished social reformer gathered around ¦ him . Being the youngest amongst them lie was Inown as the Benjamin of the SaiBt-Simonfan . school—a sobriquet which Bis enemies maliciously said Hi ' subsequent career fully justified , his philosophical , system being , according to them , a genuine Benjamin ' s mess . As a favourite pupil of Sajlnt-S-imon , Comte not only assisted him in the preparation of bis text-books ,, but undertook , in 1820 , at the suggestion of the mastery an . independent work designed as an exposition of the scientific basis of the . system .. Tliis wouk , entitled Syzieme de Politique .. Positive ,, while approved of in . the main by SAiNT-SiMOi $ s . w-aa described by him . as : defective in . its exposition of the religious and : sentimental ¦ aspect of his views . On the death , of its . founder bh 1825 , Com-ee : deserted the Saint-Sinioniaa school , to . found one of his own ; andi during the nexi twenty

      years devoted , himself to-the- elaboration of an . original system of scientific "thought—since known as the ' Positive : Philosophy . ' The great textbook of his system , entitled Cours de JFMlosophie : Positive , extending' to six thick volumes ,, graduaLly appeared at intervals between the years 1830 and 1842 . During this time he led a quiet , scientific life , as Professor of Mathematics in the Ecole Poly technique ; and almost iin mediately after the conclusion of his great work published Wo popular treatises connected ¦ wi th tins- subject of * his chair ; one ou Analytical Geometry , the other on Astronomy , both of which weve very successful . In 1844 he issued an outline and defence oE hia-system in a . single volume , entitled Discours sur I'Ensemble dti Podtivisme . Soon ; after the * publication of this , work , aa emotional crisis liappened in his history , through which 3 ve became conscious that his own . system - was defective—as his early exposition of Saint-Simonism had bceji—on the religious side . The- occasion ; ofi this was an ardent but virtuous attachment to

      a lady named Cxotilde , whose death ,, a year after lie had first met her , left him miserable in . himself , and dissatisfied with his > philosophy .. The influeucc of this ; new experience is thua . desaribed by Mr . Lswiia .:- — One -whole year of cfrasta aird exquisite affection changed hist life . He had complfetel 1 hi » great ^ work on Positive Philosophy , iris scientific elaboration wna ovon . H « -was now t * v enter upon the great problems of Social Life ; and , by a fortunate coincidence ; it was- at tnia moment that he fell in love-. It waa then tins Philosopher

      was to / dePhrall its intensity the truth which ho before had perceived ' , —viz ., that in tlto- masBj as m- tho individual , predb-minanco ia due to tho affections , because the intellect i * really no more than- the Bezant of the aflfectionei . A new inE uenco , penetrating lute stmahino into tho very depths of his' being ; awakened there tho feelings dbrnranO since childhood ,, nnd by their light he saw tire world under now aspects . iho grew religious ; He learned to appreciate- tho abiding and universal influence of the Attfectlons ' . He gained a tow glimpse into man ' s-dtostihy . ECo aspired to . becomo the founder of a > row religion— the- religion of Humanity .

      While tke spirit in which this , cJTort originated is worthy of all honour , tha attempt itself . muBt be pronounced ai failure :. It not ) only gained no new diaciples-, but alienated some of Comte ' s firmest friends and most devoted followers . Even M . Lwtbe , the enthusiastic disciple who had devoted himself for . soars to tho exposition and defence of the : Positive Philosophy , felt obliged lo ttoserb hie master whon be attempted' to inaugurate a new religion ,, which in tire judgment of charity--was at best but sclf-idblatey thuiLy disguised . C ' oiixe ' s life thus divides itself into three enia ; , in the first ,, he is a disciyle cx ^ ouaiding the : views of otlUii )* . ^ in-tho second a . master ,, a philosophic legislator , unfolding a systcin oC his own ; , in the-third an . apostle , proclaiming , a new religion . In the first period he naturally accomplished but little , and . his

      efforts in the last weie ,, as we have said , to a great extent abortive- bui k tke middle , era , that " , of his philosophic , activity , he accomplished a scientific reform , auek . aa , few . mart can . ever- individually achieve . Whatever raav he thoughts the Positive- Philosophy either-as to the perfection ^ -the parts , or-as to . its : completeness as a ? w , hole>—and it is . undoubtedly open to criticism in both respects—it eatraofc be : denied that to Comihe belongs , the honour , of beineth firstwho grasped , the : true principle-for the eo-ordinai , ion of the sciences j that ia an age of . . -vast speculative , and scientific activity lie first rose from the empir ical classification ; of facts-to a genuine science of principles Even 1 ' enemies allow that he possessed great general force of inteDect , rare specul tive power , and that lie reaches the happiest generalizations in every branch . o £ science- he undertakes to expound-.

      It would be impossible for us to attempt even an outline of his system nor is this necessary in the leader : That system was first introduced to English students through our own pages , in a series of papers by Mr . Lewes , wliich appeared in the leader . during the summer and . autumn of 1852 , and have since been collected and published as a separate volume in Boh / l ' s Scientific Library . It was Ms . Lewes , indeed , who first made Comae ' s name known in this country . Long before these papers were published in tke Leader , -adieu the Positive Philosophy was altogether unknown , IVIr . Levus directed ' speeial attention to it in . his BioffrapJrical History of Philosophy ^ The striking chapteii in that woi \ L ,. which heralded CoatTE as . the ' Bacon of the nineteenth century ,, ' and indicated the scope of philosophy , excited an interest hi the

      subject winch , has been , ateadily on . the increase ever since . And Comte has now become so well known , in this country that it is unnecessary to undertake either an expositionor adefejjce of liiasjysfcem .

      Louis Blanc's New Tolume. History Of The...

      LOUIS BLANC'S NEW TOLUME . History of the French Jievoluiwn XMistovre , fyc ) . By M . Louis Blanc . VoLIX . Paris : LaTigloia et Leclercq . Anothbh ? volume vrill complete this . gcreat history , the only faithful record of the French Revolution . M . Louis Blanc is indebted to his exile for fur-Tnshing him with a- rich accession of documentary evidence in the British Museum y . moreover ^ he lias made use of important manuscript colJectioas which have been , especially : confided ! to Innu . The . result is that new aspects of the Revolution are . developed , and , that uumeious . traditional fallacies , are altogether exploded . We have to repeat ,, therefore ,, what we have already said—that the grandest event jn the annals of France is not to be understood unless it be studied in these paj ^ es . We have now before us the iuntu volume , on « of the most remarkable nr the series . It contains fourteen

      ebapters : In the lii'st , M-. Louis Blanc analyzes the- deliberations which established ! the constitution of 1798 ^ Hence tke transition is rapid to the horrors of the V « ndeaa war . The : shory of Marat is told , calmly but brilliantly . One chapter is devoted to the insurrection , and another to the suppression of the JLyonnesc 'The Coalition advances , ' leads up to the Coalition repulsed ' , ' through , several descriptive interludes on the convulsions in La Vendee , and the mighty efforts of the patriotic party at home . Three elaborate passages in vivid contrast are—the death of Marie Antoinette , the social and scientific-labours of the Convention , and the necrology of the Revolution ! . Th & volume closes witli a chapter entitled ' Hebevtism . ' We have-already' noticed the ! views enunciated by M . Louis Blanc on the subject of political assassination .. From the points of view of morals and policy

      lie . equally condemns , it * and ; hia argument ia the refutation of a- thousand calumnies directed ! against hijuself and his ; party . Nowhere , however , do we lind the narrative of Charlotte Corday ' s career so picturesquely yot minutely traced . For ourselves ,. we have even less sympathy than M . Louis Blanc with the young ; Norman murderess , with her insane and ferocious dusire to avenge the sufferings brought by the Girondists upon themselves . She made her way by lies to Marat's chamber in the old Louse , still to be seiiii in the Rue die l'Ecole . de M & lecine . There she found her fancied enemy , not among lustues ,, silken hangings ,, and luxurious ottomans , as Madanws Roland has it ,, hut surrounded by tho emblems of poverty . WiLh the knife hidden hxher bosom she

      approached tho helpless mail , and it was her intentiou , as she confessed , to escape vyhen the crime had been committed . We recognize little of the heroine in Cbnrlotte Corday - When , in the assassin ' s red garment , she mounted' the scaffold , it was witli neither more nor loss intrepidity than was displayed by a hundred other victims . Throughout the scenes preceding her execution tho populace tehaved with exemp lary delicacy , and-when an assistant of the executioner , upon displaying her beautifuL head to . the spectators , skipped , the cheek , he was drugged to priaou and publicly branded . M . Louis Blauc ' s commentary upon this t- fi episode is ,, " Oil all thediaciplesiof , Marat . the roost illustrious was-Charlotte Cordtw . "

      It ^ vaa demonstrated in a former volume that the excesses in La Vendee originated- with tile Royalists . It is now proved , upon incontestable evidence ^ that the guillotine : was not iirst act up at Lyons by the Koyublicans . Chaulier was one of th « earliest victims , and it wns tlie Convcuition that endeavoured to save him ; the lioign of Terror was inaugurated by t ' Bourbon faction ; the : confusion began with tlie Gironde ; it was Coutliou who set the example of mercy aud moderation These certainly ; irtf starLlmg novelties in tl » e story of . the RovoluLion .. M . Louis 131 iuie a » po « l « , however , not to opinion but to authority , and invilea the , production ol testimony that wjIL contradict or invalidate liis own . Again , tho advance ot tlie coalesced armies and their repulse supply mnmiiliecnt cluiptura to the history , especially vrlken- the writer lias to depict' tho supremo dibit at "France , en « irttl « Ki » nnd ! tlireatenedi by so many enemies , with treason at home , ft queew doing-alii in lfcer power to Iuto on the invaders of the state , ami tho remnants-of ati . incopnigibleaarisbocr . acy stiuudating hv all direcbionfl niiserauw little reyolt . s to serve , their blind mid brutid cgotiani . We have wot been so welLsntiaucd vviUi . tlui narrative of Alarki Aaitoinxitte ' s tuiul and oxeuutiou ;

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 12, 1857, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12091857/page/18/