The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-05-04

oerebeiium removed rom the crantA OF Drue
and small animals. and yet they did not lie. 1
believed that. though the brain we're to be re-
moved from human skull. the sabiect would
not die although he would certainly be Invested
OF tho intelligence which governed all savo tho
purely reflex actions Of his body.
Once more: profound study OF history from
| the sociological point OF view. and not incon-
| siderable experience with practical human
| nature. had convinced me that tho greatest
| Reniuses that ever existed were on n plane not
not so very far removed above the level OF aver
aRe intellect. The Rrandest peaks in my native
country. those which all the world knows by
| name. tower only a few hundred feet above the
| countless unnamed peaks that surround them.
| Napoleon Bonaparte lowered only little over
| the abest men around him. Yet that little was
| everything. aud no overran Europe. man
who surpassed Napoleon. as Napoleon sur
passed Murat, in the mental qualities which
transmute thought into fact would have made
] himself supreme master OF the whole world.
Now. to fuse these three propositions into
| one: suppose that l take man, and, by remov-
| ing the brain that enshrnes all tho erreTu and
failures OF HIS ancestors away back to the origin
| Of the race remove all sources Of weakness in
| his future career. Suppose that In place OF the
| fallible intellect which have removed. I cndow
| him with an artificial intellect that operates
with tho certainty Of universal laws. Suppose
that launch this superior being. who reasons
| truly. into the hurry bury of his interiors. who
reason falsely. and await the inevitable result
with the calmness of u philosopher.
Monsieur. YOU have my secret That lie pre-
csely what have done. In Moscow where my
| friend DR.. Durhat had charge OF the new insttu-
ton OF st. Vasili for hopeless idiots found boy
| Of eleven whom they called St6pan Borovitch.
| Since he was born ho had not seen. heard.
spoken. or thought. Nature hal granted him.
| II was believed. fraction OF the sense Of smell
and perhaps a fraction Of the sense OF taste.
| but Of even this there was no positive ascer-
| talnmcnt Nature had walled in his soul most
| effectuHlly. Occasional inarticulnte murmur-
ings. and an incessnnt knitting and kneading
| Of tho fingers were his only manifestations OF
energy. On bright days they would place him
| in little rocking chair. in some spot whore
the sun fell warm. and he would rock to and
| fro for hours working his slender fingers and
mumbiinR forth his satisfaction at the warmth
| in the plaintive and unvarying refrain OF dlocy.
| The boy was thus situated when first saw him.
Il begged St6pan Borovitch Of my good friend
| DR.. Duchat. II that excellent man had not long
| since died he should have shared in my tri-
umph. l took stepan To my homo and piled
the saw and the knife. could operate on that
| poor. worthless. useless. hopeless travesty OF
humanity as fearlessly and as recklessly as
upon dog bought or caught for vivisectlon.
| That was little more than twenty years ago.
| To-day stGpan Borovitch welds more power
than any other man on the face OF the earth.
In ten years he will be tho autocrat OF Europe.
/ the master Of the world. Ha never errs for tho
machine that reasons beneath his silver skull
never makes a mistake"
| Fisher pointed downward at tho old guardian
Of the town who was seen toing no tho hill.
Dreamers." continued Dr. Rappersch wyll.
| have specialized on the possibility OF finding
among the ruins Of the older civilizations some
brief iptlon which shall change the founda-
| lions OF human knowledge. Wiser men deride
the dream. and laugh at the idea OF scientific
kabbala. The wiser men are fools. Suppose
that Aristotle had discovered on cuneiform
covered tablet nj Ninoveh the few words. Sur
vival Of the fittest' Philosophy would have
gained twenty-five hundred years. will give
you. in almost "a few words a truth equally
pregnant The ultimate erol,ition Of the creature
Is into DE creator. Perhaps il will be twenty
two hundred years before that truth finds gem
eral acceptance. yet II 10 not the less a truth.
The Baron Savitch is my creature. and am his
creator-creator OF the ablest man in Europe
| the abest man in tho world.
" Here lie our ladder. Monsieur. have full
filled my part OF the agreement Remember
your PROMISE"
After two months tour Of Switzerland and
the Italian lakes. the Fishers found themselves
at the Hotel Splendde in Paris. surrounded 10y
people from the States. II was a relief to Fisher
after his somewhat bcwilderng experience nj
Baden. followed by surieit OF stupondOus and
ghosty snow peaks to be once more among
those who Disseminated between a straight
flush and q crooked straight. and whose bosoms
thrilled responsive 90 his own at the mere men
tion OF the Bunker Hin Monument II was par
ticularly agreeable for him to llnd at the Hotel
Splcndide. in q party Of fasteners who had
come over to see tho Exposition. Miss Bella
Ward Of Portland, pretty aud bright girl affi-
anced TO his best friend In Boston,
With much less pleasure. Fisher learned that
the Baron sayitch was in Paris. fresh from the
Berlin Congress and that he was the lion OF
this hour with the select few who read between
the written lines Of politics and knew the dunn
mics OF diplomacy from the real players in the
tremendous game. DIR. Rapperschwyll was not
with the Baron. He WAS detained in Switzer-
land, at ths deathbed OF his aged mother.
This last piece Of information was welcome to
Fisher. Tho more he reflected upon the inter-
view on the Mercurusberg. the more strongly
he felt ii TO be his intellectual duty TO persuade
himself that tho whole affair was an Illusion.
not TehtNy' ne Woulu nave been glad, even
at the sacrifice OF his confidence In his own
astuteness. TO believe that the Swiss doctor had
been amusing himself NJ the expense of his ere
dulity. But the remembrance OF the scene In
the Baron's bedroom at tho Badischer Hot was
too vivid 10 leave the slightest ground for this
theory. lie WIS obliged to be content with the
thought that he should soon place the broad At
lantic between himself and creature SO unnat-
urnl. SO dangerous. so monstrously impossible
as the Baron Savltch.
Hardly week had passed before he was
thrown almost daily into the society of that dan
gerous, unnatural and monstrous being.
The ladies Of the American party met the
Russian Baron at "A ball in the new Continental
HOTEL They were charmed with his handsome
face. his refinement Of manner. his Intelligence
and wit They met him again at tho American
Minister'S and, to Fishers unspeakable con
strrnatOn, tho acquaintance thus established
began to make rapid progress in the direction
OF intimacy. Baron Savitch became frequent
visitor at the Hotel Splendide.
Fisher does not like 10 dwell upon this period.
For month his peace Of mind WIS rent alter
nately by apprehension and disgust He is