The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1869-05-20


my friend WOlfgang, is mystery to me.
1t would seem as though madness were
contagious.
UpI climbed, he behind me, until l
reached the top. There l stepped upon
the dusty floor of the loft, and looked
around me. 1t was an immense garret,
the roof pierced with three windows, and
in the midst stood small table loaded
with books 1t was impossible to look
outside, for the windows were at a height
of ten or twelve feet above the floor.
did not at first perceive low door, and a
large, square hole at some height up, con-
trived in the wall Wolfgang, without
saying word, pushed toward me an old
box which served him for chair; and,
taking up in his two hands a pitcher of
water, he drank long draught, while
looked on in silence.
1--WE are in loft of the old slaughter
house" said he, with strange smile, set
ting down his pitcher on the floor; the
council has voted funds for building one
outside the city. Ihave been here for five
years without paying any rent. Not a
soul has come to interrupt nay studies.
Sitting down upon some old logs of wood
in one corner Now" continued he,
"let US come to the point Are you Ger
tain. Kasper, that we have soul?"
"Hark you, Wolfgang !" replied L if
you have brought me here to talk metaphys-
les, you've made great mistake. | had
just come from Hasenkopf's lecture, and
was going to the beer house for dinner,
when you stopped me. / have had my
dose of abstraction, and that is sufficient.
Explain yourself clearly, then, or else let
me return to my dinner"
"You live, then, only to eat ?" said he,
in harsh tone. "Do you know that /
have passed whole days without tasting a
morsel of food, only for the love of
science
Each to his taste; you live on syl-
logisms and dilemmas-I love sausages and
strong beer What else do you want?"
He became very pale, and his lips trem-
bled but restraining his anger, he said,
Kasper, since you won't answer me, at
least listen to my explanations Man
needs admirers, and want you TO admire,
and be in some degree astOunded by the
sublime revelation that L am about to
make to you. 1t is not too much, think,
to ask you to listen for an hour to that
which has cost me ten whole years of
faithful study"
"Well, 60 on; am listening"
| His face was agitated anew by some
powerful emotion, and began to bitterly
| repent having climbed up the ladder. |
assumed grave expression in order not
to anger hlm any further and this ap-
peared to calm him somewhat, for, after
s moments silence, he exclaimed. you
are hungry; well, there is my bread and
there my pitcher-est-drink- but listen"
"Never mind, Wolfang; will listen to
you without that"
He smiled bitterly and went on
1--WE are not the only beings that have
souls. From the plant up to man, all be-
ings live-they are animated therefore
! they have a soul. Yes, all organized ex-
istences have at least one soul but, the
more their organism is perfected, the more
complicated does it become, and the num-
Der of souls is increased. That is what
distinguishes living beings, the one from
the other. The plant has only one soul
the vegetable soul. Its function is simp-
ly to obtain nutriment from the air
through the roots. The animal has tao0
souls; first, the vegetable soul, whose
functions are the same as in the plant !;
and the animal soul, strictly so-called,
| whose organ is the heart. Lastly, man has
three sOuls-the vegetable soul the ami
NAL soul, whose functions are carried on
the same as the brute; and the human
soul, or the reason, whose organ is the
brain"
Here Wolfang paused for some moments,
and, looking at me, said, "Well, what do
you think of this?"
"Why it's a theory, like any other !;
the only difficulty is, that the proof is
wanting"
A sort of frenzy seized Wolfang at this
reply. He sprang from his seat, exclaim-
ing Yes-yes-the proof is wanting I;
that is what has troubled my soul for ten
whole years! That has been the cause of
all my sutferings and privations Upon
myself; yes, upon myself, Kasper, tried
to experiment first. More and more was
this sublime conviction forced upon
me, without my being able TO prove
it. But at last the proof is found l have
it here; soon shall you hear the three
souls manifest and proclaim themselves ;
you shall hear them"
After this burst of enthusiasm, which
sent cold chill through me, SD much of
fanatic strength did it display, he sudden
ly became calm; and sitting down and
leaning his elbows upon the table, he
went on, pointing at the same time to the
wall in which was the opening before de-
scribed:
"The proof is there-behind that wall !;
you shall soon see it for yourself But
| first, you must follow the onward march
of my ideas. l have maintained the dis
tinct existence of three souls. Reason
told me that every man, before reaching
his final development, must pass through
the condition of the plant or animal.
determined to resolve this problem. To
do this il waa necessarv tn eYtinpuish in
| myself the three souls successfully, and
| rigorous fast; but, unfortunately, the hu-
man soul had to yield first, in order to
permit the free action of the animal soul
| Hunger made me lose the faculty Of OBJ
serving the animal state in myself-the
exhaustion prevented me from judging
anything concerning 1t. After many
fruitless attempts upon my own organism,
| felt convinced that there was but one
means CT reaching the desired end-I must
have some one else. But who would be
willing to submit To- such treatment ?"
Woltgang paused; his lips were con.
tracted; and, In quick tone, he added,
a felt must have a subject at any price
| determined to experiment upon some
onel"
| l shuddered, for this man was, 50 W,
capable of anything.
"Do you understand?" said he.
Perfectly. You wanted victim"
"To snalyze," added he, coolly.
And have you found oneY"
"Yes; promised that you should hear
the three souls. 1t will be difficult just
now. But yesterday you could have heard
them, off and on, bowling, groaning,
PRAYING, and gnashing the teeth"