New-York tribune., 1869-03-26
TILE rAzE or Young EMpERORs

peror of the French, now quite lad, has the
best of care, and, in particular, that he takes
ride Oh horseback every day, still, lie Is so den-
cient in physical vigor as to resemble hal1-
starved tailors apprentice. This fact Is dwelt
upon as evidence that the present house is no
likely to be perpetuated; and, naturally, there
are sympathetic lamentations in great families
that the Emperor and Empress should be so
unfortunate as not to have son capable OF
being the heir of their grandeur. 1t is not
likely that Americans will have other interest
in this statement than what may arise from
satisfaction in learning that those who are
highest are as subject TO great misfortunes as
are those who are lowest, and with compla-
cency the remark will be made that riches and
power can neither impart vigor nor prolong
life. If, however, we carefully consider the
tendencies of civilization. and if, above all, we
look upon families in humber conditions-upon
families of our own acquaintance, and IN our
own neghbOrhOOd nay, even IN our own dwel-
lings-we shsll not find 1T necessary 10 give
force to political maxims or moral precepts Dy
illustrations drawn from the families OF Euro
pean mobiles or kings.
large portion of the families In this cOun-
try contain within themselves whatever has
been accumulated by the progress OF the Cau-
casian race, and for this reason they possess
superior intellectual powers. During this accu-
mutation the coarse and degraded, to degree,
disappeared; but now, instead of retaining
firm nervous system, such as belongs to the
undeveloped races these families have built up
n system of most excitable character; and
thus it is that conditions and events which fail
tl,n tive
to tremble and thrill like the strings of an
EOlan harp in the gentlest breeze, for they
are unequal to the support of the new and
powerful mentality. There is no doubt that
the origin of modern progress was in the fam
lilies of the great, and in particular, upon the
fertile soil and in the healthful climate of En-
gland, where wealth first gave leisure and then
culture; and, these having been supported by
physical exercise, each generation was able to
add something to what it'receiyed. Meanwhile,
there were offshO0ts from these great families,
of daughters and younger sons; and from these
the families in our land, which lead the advance
in mentality, have descended. The English
Game Laws have q deep significance. That
the physical powers of the higher classes
might be sustained, the exercise received in
hunting was an absolute necessity, and penal
laws were enacted and enforced with the utmost
rigor that the game might be preserved; and
it is to these laws that, to-day. the English
aristocracy owes its vitality, and even ITS eX-
istence. But changes come to all, ana now,
strange MS it may seem, the arlstocracy OF En-
Gland and the savages of our western fhlhs
are both in like condition; for both live by
the chase. both require large bodies of unOc-
cuped land, both punish without remorse those
who destroy their game but both, manfestly
must give way before the uprising of millions
of human beings, and seek some new way for
sustaining existence, or die
While mentality is always hereditary, and
while it accumulates rapidly, physical vigor is
seldom transmitted beyond common average,
and, unless carefully cultivated, it hastens, like
all other earthly qualities, to decay. Indeed,
the more powerful the intellect the greater is
the necessity for physical culture that the in
tellect may be sustained for it is now demon
strated that the process of digestion, and all
the phenomena Of nutrition and waste, are as
much carried on in the brain rs in the
stomach, and this in proportion to the amount
of mental activity. For want of proper un-
derstanding of this fact we have notable cases
of softeuing of the brain, and of early disqual-
iiication and death. Eminent men. who lead
sedentary lives, seldom are repeated in their
children, not because they do not impart men
tality, but because they do not impart the
physical power to sustain it, and this explains
why the posterity of such fades away; and why
we are called upon TO wonder that he who
charmed us with his brilliant thoughts has
feeble-minded son, or, alas! one who passes his
days in q lunatic asylum.
Not alone does the great family of Napoleon
sink into oblivion. Saying nothing of the
progeny of mobiles and of kings now forced to
compare themselves and TO compete with the
advance of q newly developed race, there are
thousands of wealthy families in our land in
which the children possess every advantage.
and all that schools and colleges can bestow
are to be theirs; but. to the experienced often to
the casual eye, it is apparent that so far
from being able to compete with those coming
fresh from the activities of life, and made
powerful with u knowledge of useful industries
and of the arts. it is doubtful whether with those
feeble bodies they will be able to reach the
period of manhood We do not mention in
temperate nor vicious habits, nor want of
moral principle, because, in the absence of
physical DEVELOPMENT. physical and mental ruin