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    man now intercepted him ; and I believe the two wbuld have made short work of it , if 1 had not come up . It was evident that each party took me for an enemy , or at least viewed me with suspicion . The younger man staggered , and then leaned , pale , but firm , against the trunk of an old olive . The brothers > for such the other two evidently were , still kept guard with their knives , but stood to iee what I should io . I now observed that the young man was bleeding from a n ugly wound at the top of his arm . I scarcely npticed it at the time , but afterwards I recalled the aspect of his uridraped figure as he leaned against the dark trunk of the tree , in an attitude of proud resignafull

    tion ; liis arms folded , one leg thrown acrbss the other , his slender yet and ' rounded form falling as naturally as possible into an action that every painter might have envied , very few could have copied . While we stood at the first moment looking at each other , each uncertain of the rest , the young girl , whom we seemed all of us to have forgotten , rushed from behind me , find throwing her arms rbtirid the ybuth , burst into a passion of grief . The twd brothers angrily advanced to tear her away ; but as the y outh , forgetting his wound , past his bleeding arm round her , tb sustain and protect her , I put in a few words , of which perhaps the reasonable tone struck ; them rather than the import ; and with an air of deference that did not chill the fervour and torrent of their eloquence ,

    they began ; both together , to tell me the occasion of their wrath . I need not , if I could , repeat all they said ; but I soon understood the case . The young man was the iovfer of the girl , their sister , whose father had forbidden him tb marry her ; but he would * not desist from his suit , and taking advantage of their repose in the heat of the day , he had come by a short and safe cut , summing dbwn the river , to visit his Herb . Their honour fired up , and they had resolved to avenge it with his blood . When they had said their say , Lionardo , starting forward , and putting his hand on the lips of Beatrice tb silence her , gave me his version of the Story—how his father had refused because the brothers ' Cini were not rich enough ; how he should be able in time tb overcome his father ' s objection , and to make him consent : how he had never deceived either Beatrice

    or the brothers , but could iibt live withbut her . " He was so good I " cried Beatrice , apologetically . " And I loved her ! " added he , as a final and sufficient statement bt the whole affair . I took no note of it at the moment , but I could not help smiling afterwards to think of that strange groupe , surrounding a youth in so statuesque a costume , while most eloquently yet artlessly , explained his family affairs to a strange traveller , whom all seemed tacitly to adopt as the final referee and umpire . Could it have been possible to present that living picture tb an audience in Paris or London , how striking might it have been ; But it would have needed the hand of Raphael and of Titian , the eloquence of Ariostb , and the fervour

    of Rossini , even for the highest art to approach that artless original . Such is life , when it grbws under a genial sun , and is unspoiled . The earnestness of his appeal riot only made Lionardo ' s full eyes sparkle under his black curls , arid brought the rich blood into his brown and almost girlish cheek , but drew forth the blood afresh from his cut , and suddenly turning pale from his brow to his very feet , he leaned faintly upon Beatrice . She supported him on her shoulder , with one arm clasping him , and the other hand holding his arm ; while she looked around at all of us , silently and proudly , as though she accepted the situation and claimed the rights which it conferred . The vehement tutnuit , which had stolen all our memories ,

    subsided . We took Lionardo gently from her , and set him down on the ground , with his back to the tree , the two brothers helping as tenderly as any ; while I went tb fetch the cloak where it lay forgotten , and gave it to Beatrice ; who kneeled down to wrap it round her lover , first kissing the wound . This reminded me of another duty ; and taking out a handkerchief , I tied up the arm sufficiently for the nonce , and then looked around to know what We should do ? The two brothers disappeared , but presently they returned with a sort of litter hastily made ; and placing him on it , they carried him to their own hbuse . We said little on the way ; but more than once Beatrice , turning to me , her f&ce smiling in tears , and beaming with doting delight , exclaimed , " Ma quaritb e hello !"—[ " But how beautiful he is ! " ]

    And beauty , thought I , is an element of loveableness , especially in the young . Beatrice herself seemed to rile eminently loveable . in that regard . How happy they might be together ! We did hot say much then ; but that evening I stayed with them , and we talked enough to settle certain affairs for a whole life . I found a means of soothing their pride towards Lionardo ' s father ; and Baldassare Cini brought you that letter ; the result of our talk . I count Upon you , my dear Giorgio , to make good my promises . Iri Baldassare , with his square though Bpare Roman form , you will see that Lionardo had no mean combatants to encounter ; for Paolo is a very duplicate of Baldassare .

    However , it did not need my aid to soften their hearts , for that had already been done ; and I believe that the wound hurt Baldassare , who gave it , more than Lionardo who received it . I hardly think Beatrice regretted it : to have Lionardo by her ; to iriake his wound the pretext for liricettsirig little soheittide s ; to call upon me for a share in her delight—these wore Worth the pain and fear which she had suffered . At last she fell asleep on his unhurt shoulder . Lookirig at her with a fond delight only equalled by her own , he burst forth into a love serenade , at first tmbdued and murmuring , but afterwards ringing loud and full , with a voice so sweet that it made the naked walls of the humble saloon vibrate again without startling

    sleep . I never heard a more lovely voice ; and as he dwelt on the tender pulsing accents ,, the brothers and I sat in manifest delight , which his own countenance reflected . For the rogue knew the power of his voice , and took a pride in subduing the angry brothers more and more to his friendship . . Next morning I had some difficulty in tearing myself away , especially from Beatrice , who clung to me like a child parting from its mother . But at last Pablo helped Lionardo tb drag her back ; and kissing her on the forehead , as they held her up to me , I followed Baldassare , who accompanied me as far as the main road , and then we parted ; he for you with my unintelligible letter , arid I on riiy longer journey . As I rode on alone , I retraced the whole scene , noting many things that

    I had before passed over . " In Italy , " says Alfieri , " the plant , Man , grows to its utmost perfection ; " and I agree with hitri . The genius of music , bf painting , of poetry , is in the very blood and organization of the race . They are what their great artists pourtray . Life with them attains its full , arid nothing checks it ; for never was there a race more simple . Moralists might desire to teach Baldassare better instruments of domestic regulation than the knife ; to teach Lionardo riiore regular modes of courtship than to visit his affianced at noon-day in swimming cbsturrie ; to teach Beatrice a more decorous consciousness of the garments Which he had left behind , than of his devotion , his danger , and more than all , bf his beauty j they might desire to teach her better manners than the open , fond exclamation - — " How beautiful he is ! " But I doubt whether the constraint would riot

    hate marred their aptness for the enjoyment of existence ; and certain I am that a land of living art must be a land of strong emotions , of unconstrained manners , and of artless expression . Without Libnardos for model , Raphael could not have painted , Arlosto could not have written , no ! Rossini sung . -

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    COMTE'S POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY . By Gr . H . Lewes . 'Part XVIII . —Vital Dynamics : Instinct and Intelligence . Conclusion . Tttfi study of Animai Life starts as we have seen from the localization of the two capital properties—Contractility arid Sensibility—in two fundar mental tissues- —the muscular and nervous . How little this fundamental pbsitibri is understood by the majority of Biologists may be gathered from , the fact , that while rilost of Bichat ' s successors have believed Contractility tb be a property of all the tissues , differ ing only in degrees of intensity ,

    even the writers of the present day are divided on the question . In the last edition of Qtiain ' s Anatomy , the editors modified their opinion during the progress of the work through the press ; at first inclining to the belief that contractility had been observed where no muscular fibres could be traced , and Only giving up that opinion in obedience to more recent and conclusive experiments . That Contractility is the special property of a special tissue is the final result of the most recent investigations . I refer the rekder tb Todd and Bowman ' s Physiological Anatomy for ample evidence ; irieartwhile , here is one important fact : Muscular tissue is composed of Fibrine , arid Fibrine in the blood , immediately after coagulation ,

    manifests contractility . The Positive nature of this conception will be better appreciated by seeing how even so excellent a physiologist as Dr . Carpenter , while virtually accepting it , does , nevertheless , wander into the Metaphysical path , and give us a vague expression where precision was so needful . " Various attempts , " he says , " have been made to show that the contraction of Muscle is an electrical phenomenon ; but no proof has been given that sudh is the case ; and every probability seems to be in favour of its being one of the manifestations of the Vital Force . " What business this mysterious

    entity , Vital Force , has here , only a Metaphysician could imagine . The positive thinker , rising the term Vital Force as the generalized expression of all the properties bf organic beings , must conclude , that it is reasoning in a circle to call contractility " one of the manifestations of the Vital Force ; " whereas , by calling it the special property of a special tissue , he doed no more than record observed facts ; and should at any future tiirie contractility be resolved into an electrical phenomenon , that discovery will leave the speciality unaltered , since the special manifestation of electricity , knbwri as muscular contraction , will allvays remain associated with a special

    tissue known as the muscular tissue . It may be said , therefore , that in the perfect correspondence of the two ideas of Tissue arid Property , a positive basis is given to Biology . We are as yet but on the threshold of this science . The minute researches of thousands of inquirers are still necessary before some of the most capital problems can be solved ; but the whole history of science tells us with what accelerated rapidity discoveries are made when once tlie right Method is thoroughly followed . NatUre answers if we but know how 16 qiiestion . Her treasures are open if we know where to look . Philosophy is the " interrogation" of Nature ; arid the man who enn put a distinct question , has gone more than half way to the answer .

    Motion and Senriatiori are the two capital functions of Animal Life . "We have brily to consider either of them a moment to be aware of the immensity there ii still to be done before these ; processes rtre reduced to scientific law . Of Muscular actions , for example , some me notoriously voluntary , some involuntary . Those broad distinctions are as perceptible as the distinctions between n Plant arid ftn Animal . But as bn closer inspection it

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    August 14 j 1852 . ] THE LEADER . T 8 S

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 14, 1852, page 785, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1947/page/21/