The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-02-03
TWO CURIOUS FRENCHMEw.

u
in common. They were both men with grain
of genius in. them they both made fools OF
themselves; they we're both prosecuted almost
all their li,vs long. and they both died what
might be ca u ed heroic death. In that sense that
they took 40 notice OF their prosecutions and
never yield el jot OF their principles or convic-
tions.
Baspails life was by far the more interesting
OF the two. though Courbet was certainly tho
more gift oil. Francois Vincent Raspail was
born at G. Itpentras In 1894. His father was n
poor innl aceper. and. having several sons.
could not find any better employment Tor this
one than to send him to the theological semi
nary. TIL o boy looked intelligent and PROM
ised to do we'll as a priest
There 90 documents preserved In the epis-
copal arcl Il vos OF Avgnon showing that he had
the tonsuir, conferred upon him in 1907. and tho
minor or hers in 1912. But as he progressed In
his studios. he seemed to take dislike to the
eccesiss 4 cal career. and threw of the cassock.
The COLI " Q OF his native city gave him at once
a lay pro (, ,ssorship. public speech which he
had to d ever on the wars OF the empire and
the dcfc n,e OF French territory attracted the at
tention ), Napoleon l.. and caused him TO say:
" That yr,ung man ought to be watched. He will
go far"
But he was mistaken" said Raspai In his
did not go far for was arrested by the Jesu-
it's"
When. Napoleon was finally overthrown and
the Bo rbons restored in France. the liberal
professor Of the Carpentras college was. OF
COURSE dismissed from his chair and sent to
prison by one Of the then newly established
provoiaal courts. He was at the same time
conde Ilned by the Jcsuits MS renegade from
ecces l,Istica orders.
tt & first time was condemned to DEATH"
said g in the defence Just referred to. was by
the J osuits. | was to be strangled BY man
of tho name Of Pointu. who would certainly
have done 30. had the honest turnkey Of the
prison allowed him to enter my cell. Pointu
was 1 u terward found dead in the woods. with
purs full OF gold in his hand. and with his
body partially dcvoured by wild beasts"
TT eatment OF this sort was not calculated TO
max 6 Of the young man a friend Of the mon
arch =. He became at once radical and So
cial ct OF the most resolute stamp His career
as college, professor being closed 10 him. he
took. after his release from prison. to private
Tut l. n and to journalism. and removed to Paris.
He worked hard and struggled still harder. for
evc ybodv was afraid to give him employment
Blu t. far from losing energy. he married on the
SET Jlty income he was earning.
iuong with tho lessons he gave to others.
he ntercd upon large circle Of studies him
self. He became a naturalist and lawyer. He
ri died law for the purpose. rs he said. Of
knowing the precise limits to which he could 20
in his political agitations without being ac-
Ct tsed of crime and also for the sake OF not be-
II U. compelled TO engage attorneys when he was
7 E osecuted. And he never did engage any. In
be numerous political trials he went through
curing his life he was always his own counsel.
As naturalist he acquired great promi-
n -. 4.
tte branches Of study. but he neglected none
Of the others. He wrote many works-most Of
them while in prison for political offences
II was Raspail who first assaulted LinnRus
and his system OF classification. II was Ras-
pail. too. who popularzed the distinction
between organic and inorganic chemistry to
such point H. TO be called the father of or
{, ganic chemistry"
His fortune and his fame were. however at
tanned chiefly in medicine. In the course Of his
I pathological studies he came to the conclusion
that all disease of human as well IA animal
4 bodies. was due to the invasion OF parasites.
Against these he maintained camphor to be the
universal panacca. and some thirty years ago
his cnmrhorated cigarettes and his popular
manuals II domestic medicine sold like hot
cakes. Later on, by applying the same theory
70 veterinary science and by publishing his
" Fe1nis1'- ItisrndTe.' he became known to
every peasant in France
As n matter of course. professional men
called him n charlatnn. and the Government
prosecuted him for practising medicine without
having been duly graduated. But no amount
ot fighting ever inundated him Besides
he had real merits. which the most orthodox
men Of science were unable to deny. and the
Government WAS finally compelled to offer him
the ribbon Of the Legion Of Honor and the post
Of Conscrvator Of the Museum. He refused
tho Legion Of Honor. and declared that he
would accept the office OF Conservator only upon
tho condition If being left at liberty to turn the
whole museum upside down ms soon AS he WAS
insialled-to which condition Cuvicr did not
think it possible to give his assent.
The combination Of his studies as lawyer and
naturalist brought him into considerable prom
inence during the great Lafarge trial in 1870
The counsel for the defence requested him to
verify the analysis made by the celebrated
Orna who. with the aid Of Marshs apparatus
had discovered traces Of arsenic in the stomach
Of the victim. Raspail declared that the fact did
not prove anything that traces OF this poison
were 10 be- found everywhere. and that he
would undertake TO find them in the wood OF
the chair on which the President OF the Tribunal
was sitting. This declaration threw considera-
Bile hesitation into the public mind and great
Influenced the subsequent proceedings.
II is needless to say that he took part In all the
revolutions which France has had since he be.
came n grown-up man. In 1880 he was wound.
ed on the barricades Of the Rue de Babylone
A. editor OF tho RsfOrInatetr and the
hini di Frple he was constantly prosecuted and
during ono Of these trials declared to the tri
bunal that the people ought to bury alive undo,
the ruins Of the Tuileres the man who made
poor France pay 100000 francs toward his
support. He meant Louis Philippe. and these
few words cost Raspail fifteen additional months
of Imprisonment.
The revolution Of lsis made Raspail one o.
its great actors. On Fob. 81 he took possession
OF the Hotel de Vile. proclaimed the Republic
and became n member Of the provisional Gov
crnment. At the following elections he was re
turned for the Assembly, together with Loui,
Napoleon and Fould. The celebrated High
Court of Justice Of Bourgcs, before which h,
was brought, together with Blanqui and Barbts
condemned him 10 five years Imprisonment. a
the expiration Of which term he retired to Bel
GUM. Upon his return 10 France in 1869 h,
was again elected TO the Assembly against julie,
in bn md pa in, al.