New-York tribune., 1873-01-21

them be escape the infexibe Ia that subject
the equilibrium OF life 10 that Of the lowest physico
chemical conditions. He has at least the consolation OF
knowing these laws, and guiding his existence az Il
soften their severity far possible. When Nature
crushes him, she Ia unconscious OF 1t, unconscious OF
herself man, small is greater than these blind
eatnesses because his peculiar greatness is conscious
The subject have been studying is grand
proof of this but its full imposing would not
be understood to end without giving the
10 the last question II suggests Whence this
heat developed by chemical phenomena In the living
system 1t FROM ailments which, In the ast re-
SORT all drawn from plants, and they have borrowed
IL from the When the vegetables, whose combus-
ton takes place within the animal there throw of GER
tain amount of potential energy, heat, they do but
TO 1t the force which the has supplied them
with 1t is then portion of solar radiation, stored up
first by plant which the animal makes dsposabe
and to use whether for resisting cold or for
curing the regular play of his motive functions. Thus
may say with exact truth the sun Is the nexhaust
ible source. t is the perpetual spring OF fe FROM
this point of vew science confirms the ntutons Of old
est date and mans poetic dreams In the childhood oil
the race Reason completes the instructions of its long
experience by harmonious agreement with ,the simple
and natural sentiment felt by the first of when for
the first time they looked the spendor, of day."
II would have been great convenience 10 the reader
II the degrees Of the centlgrade therm0meter'
which used In the article had been converted into
those of Fahrenheit, or at least II the formula
for their reduction had been given. The seventh
chapter of Mr. Speneers essay Sociology illustrates
the influence Of the emotions IN impairing the
Judgment He states tho general law that no
propositions, except those which are absolutely
indifferent TO u.s. can be contemplated without kings
and repugnances affecting the opinions form about
them There are two modes in which our conclusions
are thus falsifed Excited feelings make wrongly
estimate probability also make us wrongly estimate
Importance
Some cases will show this. All who old enough
remember the murder committed Dy Muller on , tne
North London Railway some years ago. for, even aiter
reaching that stage at Wmen accounts oI eaap ~
is impossible to avoid gathering IRON gossip soine
VIII remember that for some time aterward
universally displayed dislike To travelling by railway III
company with Il single other passenger-supposing him
to be unknown. Though up to the date OF the murder
in question almost iunulneraDe journeys had Deen
made by two strangers together in the same c0mprt-
nent without evil being suffered by eitherthough after
the death OF MI Briggs the probabilities were immense
against the occurrence OF Sl @ LS To- ahoIsr rasa% p
fear that would have been appropriate only had the
danger been considerable. The amount OF feeling eA-
cited was quite ncommensurate with the risk Though
the chance million 10 one against eyl the ancl-
patton OF evil was as strong Us though the charee %
had been a thousand 10 one or hundred 70 one Inc
emotion OF dread destroyed the balance OF JUDGMENT
and true estimate OF Hkeliho0a became lHpVSsi;DG p
rather, any rational estimate ol hennoOu lht Bnt
be formed was wholly imperative on conduct ,
the smallpox epidemic which while since 20 unac-
cOunabY spread after twenty years OF compulsory vac
cination lady living In London, sharing IN the gen
eral trepldaton was le ~ al 10 W i9' M
her whether, If she lived IN town OF 2OOO Inhabitants
and heard person dying OF smallpox In the course
of a week she would he much alarmed Naturally she
answered, mo-" ana her fears were somewhat
populaton of London, and the number OF deaths per
week smallpox this was about the rate OF NOR
taty at that time caused by II. Yet III other minds, as
i'm hcr mind panic had produced entire incapacty
for forming rational estimate Of the danger Nay in-
deed so perturbing the emotion that an unusual
amount OF danger 10 life imagined at time when
the danger to life smaller than usual For the re-
turns showed that the mortality from all causes was
rather below the average than above it, While the eyl-
dence that the risk OF death was unusually SMALL
this wave OF feeling which spread through society pro
duced irresistible convection that 1t was unusually
great.
Another striking illustration of the influence OF emo
ton over judgment found III the opinions which
prevail with regard TO the evils produced by the French
Revolution and the military career Of Bonaparte. The
character Of the French despOt is painted IN strong
colors.
ont OF the sangunary chaos OF the Revolution there
presently a soldier whose immense ability, Joined
with his absolute unscrupuIOusness, made MN now
general. consul, now autOcra He was untruthtu
in an degree lying In his dispatches day by day.
writing page without bad faith, nay, even
giving 10 others lessons In telling filsehoods He
professed friendship while plotting to betray, and
fable his guide. He got antagonists into his
power by promises OF clemency, ana then exc
cuted them To strike terror, he descended 10 bar
bartes like those of the boodthrty conquerOrs OF old
OF whom his reminds us; as IN Egypt, when, To
ayenge OF his soldiers, lie beheadcd 1900 1elahs,
throwing their headess cOrpses into the Nie or as at
Jafa when OF the garrison who finally surrendered
were deliberately Dassacred. Even his own
officers not Overscrupnlous, as we may suppose, were
shocked by his refusing to execute
hs sangulnary decfees Indeed, the lstllcts Ol tue
savage scarcely at all qualified IN him by what we
call moral sentiments We see In his proposal TO burn
1.-TWO or three Of the larger cOlunnes IN la Vendee as
we see his wish 10 introduce bu1-hghts INTO
France, and to revive the combats of the Roman
arena see IN the cOd-boOded sacrifice OF MS own
soldiers when ordered useless outpost attack merely
that his mistress might witness engagement mat
such should have prompted the individual Killing
OF leading antagonists and set prices their heads
IN the OF MouradBey and Count Frote, and that
10 remove the Due dIngnlen ne shoud nave cohhlttu
a crime like Ill Its character 10 tlat OI one VINO
hires bravo, but iunlike 10y entailng no danger
was quite natural IL natural, too. that IN
addition countless reacheres and breaches OF faith IN
his dealings with foreign powers, such man should play
the traitor to his own natOn Dy stamping out its newly
gained free institutions, and substituting his militia
~ despOtsm such beng the nature of the man, anu
such beng few Illustrations OF Ms cruelty ana uscTu-
puOusness contemplate his greater crimes and their
motives Year after he went sacrificing by tens
of thousands and hundreds OF thousands the French
people and the people Of Europe at large, 10 gray his
lust power and his hatred OF opponents. To feed his
Unsuitable ambition and 10 crush those who resisted ms
efforts after universal dominion, he went eizng the
young of France forming after army that were
destroy In destroying like armies raised by neighbOring
nations In the Russian campaign alone, out OF $4,000
French eft dead prisoner, but small portion re-
turned France while the Russian force OF more than
reduced 10 10000 or 10000; implying total
sacrifice OF considerably more than haf million lives.
And Shen the mortality Oh both sides by death IN pat
tie wounds and by disease throughout all the NapO
leouc gus Is summed up, II exceeds at the lowest
computation, 1.-TWO millions. And all this slaughter, all
this suffering, all this devastation gone through be-
cause had restless desire ~ be despOt all
And what has been thought and felt in England
sets OF events above eontrasted about
the actors IN the blOOdshed Revolution
there has been utter detestaon, and for those who
wrought it unqalhed hate. For the immeasrraby
greater blOodshed which these Of the Consulate
and the Empire enaled little horror expressed
while the feeling toward the modern Attla who was
guilty of this blOodshed is shown by decorating
with portraits ana busts Of him.
There interesting paper from London Society"
on the Romance OF Medicine remarkable among other
things for the cool with which ignoranty
Sir James Simpson the discoverer of the
possibility of banishng pain and sujecting it to human
control in surgical operations, when it had been yei
fled at the Massachusetts General Hospital i'm Boston,