New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-01-26
MICROSCOPES AND MORALS.
escape.


Uassler. 1t is good to escape for an hour
from the sound Of the name OF lainlnany'
from the knowledge of CustOm-house Iauos
and Presidential aspirations, from the Oaso
literature of murder trials and mob Violence
into the clean society of men to whom al In'S
din il vanity. and who find the real things OF
life in the immutable testimony OF the rochB,
the waves. the mountains. Their daily Journai
records temperatures and sights in place OF
trespasses and sins. Their spOils are taken
from the willing sea, too rich to miss IheIi'
They examine the cunning structures Oh tho
proyident fishes, and not the ninsy rei-
ugcs Of lies of greedy men. lho
eager naturalists, and the officers OF tne
ship as WELL are fallen under the spell OF the
microscope, and with equal ardor and patience
they cast their nets and bend over the magic
lens. So far, the discoveries of the expedi-
ton seem to be two. The first is that the
curious chironectes pictus, among whose odd
habits arc those of encouraging fms like hands
and of walking rather than swimming, makes
its cradles of sea-weed, more cunningly woven
than the finest skill of men can rival, and In
them sends out its little unborn babies TO I'M
prove themselves by travel long before they
upon the kindly waves, they journey on and
on, the cradle furnishing sure shelter for the
embryo, and presently food, also, for the tiny
fish.
Pleasant ns is this finding of the wise men,
their second discovery seems, to our mind,
much the more important. 1t Is that the COM
mon sailors of the ship took the greatest inter-
est in this treasure-sceking with net and lens,
and were eager to help. And we seriously
asked ourselves whether the great Professor
might not accidentally have found fragment
from which to construct the future animal as
unerringly as he has often rehabiliated an ex-
tinct creature, from bit of tell-talo bone.
The common sailor Is not an interesting
specimen, psychOlOgically considered. lie
comes usually from the lowest stratum of
society," and ofteDest from foreign source. He
has in his veins wild blood which cries out
for tho wild life of the sea, and which, on
shore, Graves with equal importantly the
coarse excitements of dCbauch. For one
Bethel ten brothels invite and secure him.
His home is a Water-st. lodging His com
panons are thieves and drabs. On the other
band he has an indomitable courage, superb
Indifference to hardships, and that lavish
whose untaught results are senseless prOdi-
gality and vulgar pleasures. There is material
hero which surely might!be put to better uses
than to recruit the dram-shOps and jails withal.
We speak, of course, only Of the average
and typical JaCky Tar Neither Robinson
Crusoe nor Charles Reade's castaways stand
for a class. 1t seems unnecessary to add that
these men are densely ignorant. Stupid they
are not till their brains are stepped in alcohol.
Some of them read and write. More of them
make their mark. But to them all the Won
derful book of Nature is sealed as with seven
seals. The mysteries of the tides, the swarm
ing life of the sea the rhythmical SWING Of
the planets sunrise and sunset the certain
coming of the moon eclipses, and the awful
phenomena of storms; the Gains of the equa-
tor: the tornadoes of the tropics the steady
beneficence of the trade-winds; the prophetic
instinct of the shrinking mercury; the valia-
tons of tho sensitive neede-all these things
arc barren spectaclcs to them. Yet what ro-
nance is so enthralling M the tale they
utter to ears that will heart
Mr. Froude upbraids the great Universities
of Europe with the reprOach that they do not
cit man for the encounters of to-day, but
turn their double-frsts into the world SO i'll
accoutcred for tho tussle with poverty that
those hOnOr-men are quite as likely to come
to breaking stones on the road for their bread
as to struggle up to the places Of fame and
dignity. The Superintendent of the Penten-
tiaries declare that The whole policy of Grim
inal coercion tends to increase crime. They
say that of the boys who come to them
largo proportion have been inmates of the
of Doc, nj bo
come inmates of the State Prison. SO the two
extremes of the social system complain that
means are inadequate to ends, and that the
results are human failures. Oxford and Cam
bridge, says Mr.. Froude, must educate the
hands to intelligent labor. Randall's Island
and WestborOugh, say the thoughtful wardens,
must educate the head to intelligent thinking.
These latter are the institutions Of which Jacky
Tar is most likely to be the graduate if he
has learned his letters anywhere. And
we all know how unspeakably arid is
the life and the system of eduCa-
ton which these public Juvenile Asylums, and
Houses of Refuge, and Reform Schools pro-
vide. 1t is very desert Of geography, gram
mar, arithmetic. and spelling, in which the
boys are expected to gather succulent knOwl-
edge. 1t is very barrack and tomb of
dwelling place, wherein they come so to detest
the name of routine that ORDER cleanliness,
and decent living are thenceforth hateful to
them. Moreover, tho truancy from our pri-
mary and secondary public schools is q sug-
gestive factor in this problem. The children
of the lower classes, setting entirely aside the
reluctance of Catholicism to receive Protestant
teaching, must, apparently, be hailed to school
by force and kept there by solid walls, to in