Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1874-02-05
POPULAR TOPICS.

Standard. IL an inlidel Scientist, and an
Atheist. who. in fact, neither revereuees
God. nor has any regard for the dignity
aud nobility Of humanity. He believes
that msu is nothing bat . beast. that
through the operation Of long continued
habisusi impressions he has como to think.
thst bis most heroic actions are but the
result Of repeated emotions. operating me-
chanicafiy upon him--snd eonsrqne ntly
that for him there il neither virtue nor
vice nor moral responsibility. - ai
Yet this man, though he thus ignores
his o~n manhood. is gifted with excep-
tionally remarkable power Of analysis.
He is keen observer. an sdnirable dis
sector and analyst. lie can pull down,
divide. destroy. But syuthc.is. recon-
strncsion. he knows not Of.
From his lare articles on Sociology"
~ make the following condensed extract
Of bis views Of the utter in. efficiency. for
any valuable social or moral purpose, Of
mere intellectual culture.
His statements as to this are incontro-
versiblc; and the array Of facts he has
gathered. and the lessons they teach. car
~ with them the more weight, as they
furni,h n striking illustration how con,in-
ually the bi,terest enemies of the truth.
become. against their own intention and
will. witnesses in its favor. and how, in
their efforts to combat the truth, they forge
instruments for its defence:
Though the drunkard knows that after
a days debauch will come to-morrow's
head ache. yet he is not deferred by con-
sciousness Of this truth = y Similarly
with improvidencc in general + = The
truth that recklessness brings distress.
fully acknowledged though it may be, re-
mains imperative. The mere coenitiou
docs not affect conduct.
Have We not here. then, q cardinal
psychological truth. to which any rational
system Of human discipline must conform?
Is it not manifest that legislation which
ignores it and taci,ly assumes its opposite
will inevitably fail Yet much Of our
Legislation does this; and We are at pres
eut, Legislature and nation together. ca
serly pushing forward schemes which pro-
ceed on the pos,ulate that conduct.is de-
tsrmined by cogni;ious.
For what else is the assumption un-
derlying this anxious urging on Of organ
izaiions for teaching? What is the root
notion common to secularists and dcnom-
iuatioualists but the notion that spread of
Knowledge is the one thing needful for
lettering bchavior3 Having both swal-
lowed certain statistical fallacies, there
has grown up in them tho belief that State
education will check ill-ioing. In news
papers they have often met with compar-
isons between the number of criminals
wao can read aud write and numbers Who
canuot; and finding the numbers who
cannot greatly exceed the numbers who
can. they accept the inference that igno-
rance is the cause of crime. II docs not
occur to them to ask whether other statis-
tics. similarly drawn up. would not prove
With like conclusivcness that crime is
caused BY absence Of ablutions. or BY lack
Of clean linen. or BY bad ventilation. or by
want Of q separate bed -roem. &c through
any Jail and ascertain how many prison
ers had been in the habit Of taking q
morning bath. aud you will 6ud that
crimiaality habi,ually went vith dirtiness
Of skin. Count up ,hose who had pos
sessed q second suit Of clothes, and GEM
parison Of the figures would show you tha,
but small percentage Of criminals we're
habisually able to change their garments.
Inquire whether they have lived in main
streets OF down courts. aud you would
discover that nearly all urban crime comes
from holes and corners. Similarity. = IA
na,ical advocate Of total abs,inence or Of
sanitary Improvement could get equally
strong statistical jus,i6caiions for bis be.
lief. But If. not accepting the random
inference presented to you. that ignorance
and crime are cause and effect, You con-
cider, as above. whether crime may not
wi,h equal reason be ascribed to various
other causes. yoa are led to see that il is
really connected with an inferior mode oi
life. itself usually consequent on original
inferiority Of nature; and you are led "a
see that igaoraacs 10 simply one Of the
coaeomitants. no more to be held the
cause Of crime than various other concou-
itants.
''But this obvious criticism and the oh.
Woes sossser-eonelassoa Il implies are no,
l.