New-York tribune., 1842-03-08

Of ,he Passions-Cencra Confidence ard Unity OF ,c
Ztion-Socal Elevation Of Man..
IL tbs Column has beer parctused By the adzocaes Of
Assocutt0 nrder 10 lay thetr rtneys fare The Public
It's edorshp eltireiy distinct from that the Tribune.
rEcmoir Of Charles Fourier.
|con,nued
On leaving school, Fourier was sent io-Lvoi@
wllcr,. he entered as clerk in u commercial house
He was then about eighteen years Of age. aud
after remaining time clerk, he became par
ticularly dcsirou- OF travelling. 1t was not long
before he able TO indulge his taste by obtain
Ing the confidence OF Very respectable house
whose business extended over a great part Of the
continent. and for whom Fourier travelled hrough
Geraany, Holland Belgium Switzerland and
france Two circumstances favored his views in
this respect III the first place, commercial travel
eis were not numerous then they now,
and rapid circulation deemed less essential:
secondly. the death OF his father had left him per-
tect at ease money matters, SO thar, travel
ing for iis commercial patrons, he was able to
remain long as he thought proper in cacll city,
by paying the extra expenses incurred on his own
account. Aninsa,iablc thirst for knowledge caused
him to change frequently from one firm another,
and from one branch of commerce 10 another, not.
wihsianding the many advantageous offers which
were made to retain him account Of his well
known probitv and sa@ucity Sometimes ne Was
employed al Roucm, sometimes at bordeaux. Mar
settles or LYONS bnt the a, Of these cities his
yavorite rcstinY-plncc there he passed more than
twenty wears Of his life. From l822 to 1887 he
re sided chiefly in Paris.
Nothing tha, was remarkable escaped his OBJ
scrva,ion IN the course of his travels, nor was ms
memory less rc,cntivc an his other intellectual
faculties were powerful and mcthodical. Ihc eli
mate. the soil, the rivers, hills, forests, &c, the
=
which he lad visited. were regularly clas-ed III his
memory, and critically compared one with another.
The number OF inhabitants of each city, and their
respective pursuits industry the principal build
ings, both public and private respcciycdmen-
sions, beauties and defects, the width and direction
of streets, the nights OF houses, the nature OF bulid-
ING materials promenades, fountains. vistas, every
thing notable, in fact, seen by his observing
eve wherever he passed and, when once. be had
properly observed, he never forgot even the most
trling details. 1t often happened that those who
visited him We're astonislcd 10 hear him exp lain
The defects ai public buildings, the insalubrious
distribution of streets, and the particular improve
mcntS which might be made III their native cities.
through which he had only passed once or twice IN
his life andlicn remained, perhaps, not more than
a tewhourS. They had pasScda great part OF Their
whole lives in their native cities without ever mo-
Wcremembcr an instance of this nature concerning
Metz One Of his friends. !; military engineer. who
bad been long stationed in that city and who. from
his professions well acquainted wltlllt, on hear
in. him comment lcanedlv and tnmiliarlv on liz
beauties and defects, the dctormltics OF certain
buildings, and the nature OF the improvements
which might easily be made, was led 20 suppose
ta, Fourier had not only resided there many years
but tina, he had been employed as an edile OF tue
cilv; on nquiring how long=lt was since i onrler
had resided there, the answer was. that he had
never resided there at all; that hc had only been
there once in hi, life about thirty years before that
time and that he then only remained one day IN
that civ: he was either going To, on returning from
! CcrAanv; arriving in Mct2carly inthe mcrnnS. hr
was obliged 10 wall for evening soacil. and, not
knowing wha, To do with his time, he passed II IN
his usual rccrca,on tla OF observing the buildings
! and the nciglhcring country. HIS prodlsions t,-
cIv for geographical and architectural studies,
| cXcilcS almost superstlious boliet III ms pr"v1-
Dental mission for discovering the natural destiny
oi humanity upon Garth. Eenevcr walked IN the
streets, or entered public bulldmg nor e'ea a
private house, without rcmarkng the pcculiilli>
OF distribution. with their beauties. detects, con-
ycnicnccS &c. as we'll "a thc improvements which
might be made in them. His wal>lng-stlck was
regularly marked off in Zee, and inches, and every
reduced 10 measurement aud calculations.
He studied almnS, cvcry branch Of science, 50 Is
to=ncquire at least. a general knowledge OF each,
and their relative degrees of importance III nn,-
vcrs;,l point of view Tho mathematical physical.
chemical and natural sciences wcrcho>ez which he
cultivated most:=thc mciaphyslcul. pollllca moral
and economical sciences hc abandoned aS soon as
he .o,l; their doctrine, were based on arblfi7irN
and uncertain principles He discarded every
,hna which was rigoronslv derived from The
laws ot Nature, dccmrg ii absolute loS>ot tlmt
10 study arbitrary rules. even where they ara more
or less Indispensable, aS in=languagc; he pad
iil, or no aitcnion 10 rules oi grammar or loslca!
>ophiS,rv He ha, a correct knowledge OF Latin,
bal hC. cave himself trouble to learn modern
languages he neglected acquire critical
knowledge ot his native dorn. the French ms
neglrc, OF languages caused more by :. posltiSt
knowledge al their mpcrtcclons than by =nainri
tliSaStc for the acquisition OF words one o III;
I. earliest GscoV cries revealed 10 lnm the natlira
scale OF varictt in the sounds ot the halil4l voice
) and rs the most simple sounds were torty-.ish
In number Inc saw the confusion winch muSi neccS
Surilv arise from the irasmen.ly attempts 10 repre-
>cnraconlpcundm multiplicity otthe<c distinct sounds
bv,nr;S ot twenty or thirty simple letters haN"!
also discovered The natural laws hy which name
should be given 10 things he was aware nt the III
: convcnieucc> which must arise from an arbltrar,
4 system OF forming words that different person
+ would atacli different meanings 1.-THE same word
apIcsrr, 10 him a natural consequence OF the arbi
.rarv formation Of languages. and. aslt=IS lmpo>
,ibl, for one Ina!l or enc generation, 10 rcmed
,,.ils o tins nature he contcntcd himself by lndl
eating the natural process OF reform. when >1cie
.I,.,,la be sufficiently advanced think@oi under
a. - .;,,y -nch an oprr.tion. One OF MS pnnclpn