, 1873-12-22
TWO LIVES.


Aga*stz aud John stfanrt MIL.
From Tho Neso Fork Times, Dco II,
| In the lilo of tho groat naturalist oyor whose
remains tho grave aas not yot oloaed, there was
! rs tic world mud oven hia own persoua, friends
Know 1t, ovorything to chcer md encourage thc
YonugdoVoteo Of SCIENCE or Of litoraturo.e Prob
aby fow happier 1iyos havo boan passed. thnn
that which coHod ut Cambridge two days ngo,
That It has boen altogether FREQ. at all periods.
from disappointment, from priyatiou, aud from
tra', 1t ~ NOT to be beloved. except upon owl
dcpco which could hardly DO prolucod No ulu u,
wl,atovor his native elfts bis good fortuno. 0 Of
MS sl'cccss. passes maturod manhood. and
"givcs hostages to fortune" without knowing
some sosrow-to ray nothing Of tho griofs of
ol'lldlo cd and carly youth, which arc too l,ttlo
rows aud trials Of humanity, Agassix seems to
hare lived n continuously hnppy lilo. Thls wns
uuo III grcat measure to Ills own nnturo to his
clioerfnl disposition, hs loyo Of makiug otllors
hia!ppy, hs abllity to 10 concnt with little. and
his devotion to grcat study, tho successful
pursuit Of which WIS IN itself source Of daily
happinese. but in part it was doubtless duo to
thG ,i''auoncos which, surrounded him in lis
ohildhood aud hia carly youth. Tho sou of six
gonorations, Of clorgymen OH tho ono sido, tic
grandson Of a physician OH the other, he was
born to ,groat anhorlennco, to which lo camo
early-the inheritance Of cu'turo. It were much
to DO wished that ho had 'ofL behind him
as Sss g 5Si 1s sar qqs % Fl S
tfor'ading, to sd1 i'm gloomy u book, which would
tenderness. Tho lifo Of tho great naturalist,
lko that of tho political economist, had little ia
Investigations Of tue former, to say nothing Of
Lis intetoourao with great mon, from Humboldt
aud Cuvor down, would layo givon to l,is mo-
moirs an interest Of variety taud tone OF human
warmth a1d sympathy which are cohspicuo,tsly
absont from tic luttoi's dry record Of nlentai OK
orciHe aud litorary performances. III either case,
tho value OF aucA memoir would consist in ita
revelation OF tho mautal and moral growth aud
experience OF lts subject.
compare Lis life ntereat% SaGs NTH Mnvt 5 If
has told us Of llls: And ut tho worry outset we
meet with striking contrast. Until lo wns
II years old, :Agasslz was educated by blu mother.
Let us again record hor namo with honor
naalnm q very difCercnt thing in Germany from
tho place go numcd hcre). aud thoro. his studies
III Greek anu Latin were varied and rolioyol by
healthy outdoor sports with other boys, aud by
yonhs angier's enjoyment OF - tho contempla-
dolborg and Of Munich completed hin propara-
t'on to enter upon tho great course or study
which lie puraueu with such happiness to linn
aolf aud such brilliant results to science. Turu-
Ing to Mills autobiography, We arc first struck
by q notublo abselce Of any mention Of nis
mother. 1t i8 really shocking. So absolute il
his silence upon this subject that it brings to
mind tho abstlrd lIno, w4lch, howoyer, is not
quite SO absurd az some critics would have mauo
i III negative condition whioa is positive Of
foBo. Even wore lis mother not tho in.
tellgent and cultivated woman TINT Agaasix'8
mother was,, it would seem that thore
sos atSorv naye axo SONG wonan influence
,nontion would have been q pausuro, mud un
honor to him even more than to Aor. II there
woro nouo, which is loasiblc,-for, nnlappiy,
all woman are not womanlY, nor arc all ulotlers
mournful lact still further
marks tho unpleasant contrast between tic in-
Iucnces WHICH governed hin in hs Doyilood aud
those which swayod ASassiz in lia. But Of
Mills childhood we rcai nothing but mental !
task,9ork under perhaps not unklnd, but ey-
IDENTIFY hard, harsh. iuilexlble task .1nastcr-lis
father. Was there ovor u picture 10 furbl.lding
prosecuted to the world as that OF tho little Niil
set to work at learuing Greek at yoars old, aud
Of hlH father diving tho infuut through lis
dally grIud! Surely the elder Of tluso two
strange figures must have fauriol himself ono Of |
lhe Mills ot tue gods, for ho certainly did grind
exceeding small when he took tiIat Duby for
lis Igrisi. From TINT tins forward tho lii
tle Mills life was one to Which that OF q child t
forced by all ncrobatic fathor 10 dance on tlo
!ight-lope and exercise upon Tic t!ying trapoze s
IL jovlat pastlmo. Ho was not misunderstanding
10 fortunate; for Ao might have boon uble to
|orgot hls cram from cue months oud to at,-
't1er. lie was put through severe mental DIS
= constitutional" wallis Tint bis fataer ana liz
we're Obliged to tako to enablo t4om to digest
heir dinnor mud keep their bodies mud souls TO-
sethor-uo, not their SOULS, their iutollcots to-
Glyon not to recreation, hnrtlly to
claxatlon, but to hard and formal discussion. of
le subjects of tue boys incessant Indoor
tudles. The result was-the lad having iuAor-
tod u constitution which ouablcd Lin
o go through this tralning mud survive,
itor ;l q fashion that Ut about tho
hTNAaIX Ian lin ,,l1,, |
lands ior his schoolboy life aul the classics,
I'LL had road thoroughly more LAt,u aud Crook.
ud moro philosophy aud niatLsu,atics than
lost ed!lcated men who aro not profcssod Bchol-
ellole lives. Mill does not mourn oyur tIl,s
'oor man, that IL tue sorlow OF it Ao docs not
com to have tho least consciousness Of what lIo
nat lo docs not rcannt sls robbery OF his boy
ood but ho dtrc:ta attention to 1t in sort Uf
old, Mathematical way, as II it woyo new fac-
Or ~ some equation tlat was to Holyo tho greut
roblom Of human life, Ho Gun 300 in it olll d
rcat tl'ae-saslng process. by the timo ho was
;oll Into Jacket and trousers ho had gono
trough tue usual university course, aud, thoro-
oro, there waa 10 Mueh'tino saved i'll his life.
remarkable and significant fac: t4is If it be o
acei but 1t should hot DO accepted without cou-
Iteration.
What ,s1g Tns gained i in the end BY this destruc
ais removal Of him in his tonlcrest yoars from
wom"n's influence and caro- (for tho uullappy
tito creature passed tho wlaoia day unllcr Lis
ouhgosuo tut thora oyo) mud how tnr did it BOT,
ven such ~ intellect " lis III advance Of such
man as Agasaiz, with Aia motaor for his tcacll- !
ans no had assod hls ilrst decade. aua his
u VI al knowledge OF The drcoh and Latin ,
'ai is usoful in curly years (ana usefulness IL
ilrs toBt ct ovorything) Agasslz had acquired =
lell Q Mastory thAt wllllo yet Atudont Ao was
,lo to write III Latin considerable pnrt Of d !
Eeat bc!ontIflo work, tue substance Ut wAiuh =
III tnrnlsEcd by eminent nuturaIlstH. Aftor !.
lat, eminent as Mil was (and, for our purpose, :
10 two mon my 10 regarded ~ OF : :
lual attaln'tlonts III the several depart
rllta OF scfence),, Agaasix certainly suffered
no WY from tho losH OF that tuo IN 4 lculthy, Z
'ppy, natural hoyhood which Al.ll lLal "sayou"
the lal,ors Of l'iA dreadful childhood. Aud to
rn from tho naturalist to Llili's contemporaries
ID compeors in philosophy, IN politics, md III =
eratnre, what was his Comparative gain by that
doouB tImo- -sayng PROCESS Ut which ho d I,aros
no detail? Nothing. lIe was eminout; 10 .
're otAorH. flo produced works which COM
andeu tho attontion Of tho worll ~ dill :
7 |