Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1871-11-09
For the Republican aaa a1
Humanity ; What is it?
BY j. SPENCE s.

Its usual amount OF lncredullty ana lnuH7
ference, the strange accounts coming from
Paris of the experiments of the French
noblemat1 the Marquis L., in his en-
deavors to search out the a''fearful secret
of the source of life.rB Why is it that so
little thought is,egiven to matter so
stranger The press scarcely hazards a
comment; fearfullof public opinion they
proffer the old time excuse, 1--WE give it
for what it is worth.'N One paper, how
ever, Sc, tar. committed itself as to venture
the assertion that, "If the evidence were
not so positive one would doubt the
statement contained therein. The ex-
pertinent which the Marquis has so vivid
| ly described, in his journal give in sub
stance as follows: "The subject of the
trial was thirty-two years old; the fumes
of charcoal was the agent employed to
suspend the vital forces. AT the instant
of unconsciousness, every drop of blood
was extracted, AS life was extinct, and
the object of the experiment was to re-
store it, preparations were made to that
end. Suffice it, that by means of electric
ity, the injection of artificial blood, and
the air bellows as means of resuscitating
respiration, the body soon simulated ev-
cry appearance of life, but remain plunged
in torpor, which my utmost efforts and in
genuity could not dispel. Had | then
succeeded in producing animal life, but
| <F
power thereof? What is the thing want
ed to arouse this intelligence, and how
connect the actions of the physical organs
with the nervous systeme | retire for the
night A day and night spent in deep
reflection, and the experimentor resumed
his work. He finally succeeded in re-
storing his victim to perfect conscious
ness it could move around, was possessed
with wonder at the objects it beheld, and
uttered inarticulate sounds, but with all his
skill he could not restore his. lost human
4 ity quote "'The intangible something
which had heretofore made him q respon-
Psible human being, was gone forever, and
| my reason at once told me that farther
than this art could not go, deeper than
this science could not look. and l stood
rebuked on the very threshold of the
temple, without even a glance at its real
mysteries - A deep disgust fol
knowledge succeeded my late enthusiasm
and my only feeling was one of anger ant
envy at the first great cause whose doing.
had thought to duplicate, whose secret:
kunravel" 1l ri l3ii"
Disguised with his own work, inccnseC
at his own failure. he destroyed his vic
tim. and then with an air of remarkabl,
complaisance he asks: "What is the meas
ure of my guilt as weighed by legal stand
ard, and in how far would | have been
murderer had not the scene been enacted
1t surely reads like strange story,
and notwithstanding the probability oft
being consummate hoax, a mere sensa
ton, if it contains even semblance o
truth it is in itself sufficient to arouse tn,
s$whole scientific world, if men were candle
enough to give it a thought. 1t at las
q opens up new source ofspeculation an(
, thought, and contributes a cogent appeal
for the principle so ably and eloquent!
taught by Socrates and Plato to tn,
heathen mind of Athens the immortalit,
9 of the soul NV hi
Il lift is reasonable to presume that ami
Y NAL life can be resuscitated. by inocula
ton, as it were, with artificial prepara
: tions, isit less reasonable to suppose tina
the intellect organism, could be revive
Al or developed by culture? Arriving at tn
( hasty conclusion that lie did, surely de
termines the measure of his guilt. II
expected, as the result of his experiment
a perfect manhood of a minutes growth
with a full developed mental capacity
4 Unwilling to wait the influence of cultur
= and the consequent growth of the ments
!. powers he committed a1sccocd murde
4 He thought to duplicote the works of tn
a Infinite; had he not accomplished this t
J, all intents?l The Almighty, in his LAWS
Kindness never endowed man at once wit
a wealth nof intellectual attainment.
a l. W hiiS hAO bON bOlh OttbC listS tNtIl Iut
ulty of matured manhood, yet its INTEL
,fl gence is only ripcned by experience an
; gradual instruction This victim of tn
experimentor was "born into new life
= as it were, a man in physical stature, a
r, infant in mind ana in all that constitute
: infancy. Where is the inapplicability {
: the reasoning in either instance? Frol
te the hypothesis here presented can we M
IF reasonably conclude that the noble mu
20 derer proffers shallow pretext upo
70 which to base justification of his mu
dering his victim, and one equallyas sha
/. low to substantiate his assertion that h
% manity had gone forever and could not |
+ restored. He indulged i'll fit of irreve
=, ent anger at the first great cause, &c, al
dtl murdered his victim because his reasc
g ftoldi hir. that lit WAS useless to preeee
~ farther Let Us reconcile ourselves taib
Ne lieve that his reason did teach hiinieorrec
MI ly, that intelligence,i or that which eonst
a. tates man responsible being; is a ere;
vue ton 1of ithesdDeity we then admit Il
e. great christian idea of thaisoul and its II
er thereafter Improves The divine origin
nv tour spirituality, and destroys the stron
hold of naateriaIism.9 1t shows that h
pd manity is that intangible something whit
of man cannot define. cannot create or de
" troy, 1t is com (which thei
tn teHect. the mind, the power of thong
er and action, and Ne spiritual Temperance
,r- are the constituent, parts, and yet we al
nr what is its RI *. 1o8-e 80 aa
"A sensitive old bachelor says that pr
" ty girls always affect him just rs orr
ng mental confectionery does-they give hi
tai the heart burn. a ~
on Dean Swift said: 1T is with narro
souled people as it is with narrow neck
bottles--th less they have in them t
nl- more noise they make in pouring It,out.
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