The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1873-05-22


81 hnman knowledge, the french are mortal
toes to obscurlty, aud wage an unendng war
agalnstaii' the powers OF meUtal darkness
Fns most subtle OF analysts" says Sir
James Stephen, 1.-The Frenchman dlssect. his
IDEAS into ID ir component parts with touch
~ once so delicate and so firm as almost to
Justify bis exulting comparison of his own
vocabulary with That OF Atnem. The most
Perspicuens OF expcri mentaliste. he explores
With the keenest glance all the phenomena
irom which h.s conclusion< are derived Tho
most precise OF logciaus. lie reasons from
such premises With the mos undiscolored
men.al vision. The most Sspifing or thee.
rists, he nxes an eagle gaze on the. highest
eminences Of thought, and passes from one
| saountain top OF spscnl Atton4 10 anothsr VITA
. yigorsand an ease peeutiar. to hilaset. Aad
hsnee 1t has happened that the writer's OF
Francs have brc0ms either shs teschars or
the Interpreters OF science and philosophy 10
the world ~ large chat their evil jdrisprn.
dence forms the mosr eimpc aud sOm prohen.
eive OF ali exlstiAg estes of iaw; and that
3
poets breath freely in transcenden al at
mosphere too rare and attenuat-d to sustain
the intellectual life OF grosser minds than
theirs"
| On the other hand, this logic structure of
the French understanding, while 1t insures
tn" highest ciearness and Iumtnousness of
style, has led TO that teNdancy To push every
conclusion 10 its utmost const qurncss, Ito
that renor.elecS Ergesms rs they have hap-
PLY termedt- u which lii SO striking feature
IN sheir intellectual chArscter the saves of
sytiogysn, they March wisb undinchins IN
Itrepdi.y to any consequence, however ab.
surd, which SCENE 10 follow from what they
regard AS we'll est.bilsnsd pTsaisss whils
they reject any dectrHe, however strongly it
comm nds / self 10 their Instincts aud 10 the
instincts of the race, II it c1us0t be demon.
strated in mood and figure Unfortunately,
there some ideas which cannot be OK.
pressed in terms perfectly transparent or un-
ambiguous. because they reiat To subjects
beyond the range If human observation aud
OF human experience There are certain su-
perSepsuOus notions and doctrines which
command our implicit sent, hat which cam
not be explained with the clsarEcss With
which one can d, fine materiAl things, and
the proof Of which cannot be adequately
stated in syisogisms yet these Condemn
ed by the intellectual leaders of France az
seneeless and suprrst,sious. Hence we find
las to Rsyle.aEd Voltaire. and from Vol
taire 10 Renan. the acutest thtnkes of that
country haNp been skeprics; and this Pyr.
rhonism has permeated al; classes, frora the
noble to the peasant. It Is striking fact
hat the French language has no such word
4s spiritual while, on the other hand, spIT~
ituel and esprit express what he French deem
tbe highest glory OF The human mind No
highly civilized people of modern times have
been SO des. Il ute of profound aud unchange-
able convictions as the French, and OF this
the popularity Of their skeptical teachers has
been both tae effect and the cause. The
French passion Tor logic is we'll illustrated
toy u comparison OF Luther's method of reas-
onng compared Vita CalvD's. While the
Teuton, though he 6xats the Romtsh doc.
trlnes TO ths extremity, yet pauses when
cOnfroR' ed by conclusions at Which his moral
Instincts are shocked, AID, believing that the
best reasoned Is not always the mmt reason
able doctrine, is conten to be illogical rsth
er than advocate doctrines from which his
whole soul recoils. the FrencLman bsws cub.
miSsively to the DEGREES of his logic, ard &C.
cepts unainchingly any conclusion. however
revolving, to which his premises conduct him,
Cosely connected With this logical habit Of
the French is the doSmatism for which they
are notorious. No man, we are sure, who
ever argued with a Frenchman, can tail to
sympathIxe with Prof Mason in his state
ment that 1t is hard to louk on and see q
! Freuchman generalIzing 10 the utmost Of
his national manner, when it breaks loose.
without longing to knock him down and
put him in q straight waIstcOat. "There is
such a confidence about him, such q sys.
tematizing rapidity, such an unhesi ating
sureness about things, where we Goths are
cIogged and restrained by traditional cnnsid-
erations and sense OF difficulty and COM
plexity But there is something superb
nevertheless, in the speculative moments of
frst-clsss French intellect" s.aab
The same qualities Of mind which havs
rendered the French pre-eminent as logicians
aud hetoricians have also made them pre-
eminent as orato s,-for what Is true 0ratory
but 'lgnited logic" or treason permestel
and made red-hot by passion 20 The English
historian, Hume, long ago acknowledged.
with Same that French orator pleading
Tor the restoration o. q horse is more eloquent
than the orators Of Great Britain discussing
| the graYest interests of the nation in the