, 1870-07-24

III Wilkie CnlIius' latest novel. 'AT:s, nn.l
Wife, the hero, or ratLer TIE villain. of tA,
story IL all athlete, and the n,tslor. il h.
inra1t that any mural Should at1urn his tAl...
intended to show that the severe trai.liu.
necessary to develop tho purely n11svular
animal Gun ouly he attained, mt merely
ut tile expense OF the intellectual and u.,ral
tsatnEe. hut at the sacriics, Mt length. uf the
physical health md strength, NJ we'll. The
picture which the author presents is, III
doubt, AZ true as it il revolving. III more
brute force. mum car neycr rival tue 1urgnst
and strongest among beasts, aud il wills
never intended that lie should. Ills in,wer
il Of another and higher sort, md i. would
seem to ,o natural law, that tho nearer ht
approaches to the brute in mere
muscular force, the 1norr he l'estinlizes his
higher nature, while lie fails after all. i'll
making himself l,rute altogether. Puh-
ALLY the r1.le would hold goo<l unlrr the
opposite application, anil, II il werc I",S>i.
lie for a linn or leopard to dev.,te himself
TO the severe study Of the 1Iuuanitiex, III
Just no muck as he succeeded in .lnvel,,,in.
Ills intellect, it wnula 1'c at the l,s, II lis
distinctive mud supreme animal nusr,r,., nni
he would finally become al. idio:ic l,r,ttc
i'll the attempt to cultivate his brain 10 !.
degree that nature never in:en:le.l. Wiki.
Collins villain. in MN, md Wife, is nm
.luul'tedly the typo Of II class not uncommon
in England, where university men. With
,1o taste mud no aptitude far study.
FIJI ,,f
tbs necessity of earning their avn
bread when they shall ente er npon
the business of life, devote their
abundant energies anl their abundant leis-
ure to the cultivation OF their muscles. To
he 'stroke in j victorious hoat-race: to
r1u faster than anybody else in givc1,
hnrnbes Of mics; to ride huri1e-race
with nlorc tae1terity and success thaa any
professional jockey in the kingdom: tn
strike with the fist us hard l,luw al horse.
tan kick with his hoof: to make himself,
i'll slort. more splendid animal in vigor
agility and grace than any brute that
lae1e uuassisted nature ever turned out, is
she height Of the amhition of this high-bosn
,"lng English gentleman. lip to csrtai1,
,.oin. he succeeds admirably, mud he
ZONES beautiful specimen Of tht
hykical man, Init mere chill,
in intellect aud with litsle else than II
mncll instructive morality ns will l:crp hin
within the bounds Of law and the ,,sases d
| .otM society. But when lie goes btyun'
that point, nature has her revenge for til
l uut.aee upon her laws, and tho trliuin,
that WINS TO lead to physical perfection
leads only TO physical disease os death. !
| ts perhaps, due to this cause that there IL
| certain degeneracy uf tone in eh7racte
arl mora't in the mod .ru En5 n5lis:llaau
llat the Ihpulaz muscular Christianity
has been so preached up und written 1lp il
) England that its influence has I,ervllt
: the whole of the influential c'a>s, and that, II
: necessary result. We 70 often ene.'u,lt,
: IN the y"t1rg EnglisLnsan of Ida, tla
| hnr.s- lnrensible, selfish, hsutal-ts, use
fasurlte word Of their own. l,eaStty n
c ! ture, which wants nil those fine. mani,
G Eener"'s qualities, which were ouce suI
u POSED to belong to the race. AMI certai
e it in. thut, htncnth The social life uf Il
n | English a1istocracv, there exists more co
o | ruption and nastineAs, murc Disregard .
q MI morality tAan exists anywhere else IN IL
,s world
u Dutthc point re want to make is thi
It that, however correct Mr. Cnllins aad ,
Is who agree with him, may he in regard
[e the danger OF undue physical treinin
al and its unhappy aud melancht
Ie.i results in England, there ne