Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, June 22, 1873, Page 8

8 THE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 1873. e e e e e e e e e e ot — e TERMS OF THE TRIBUNE TEBAMB OF SUBSCRIPIION (PAYABLE IN ADVARCE).” Baily by mall.....$12.00) Sandar... .82.50 5.00 | Weekly .ciuve saseees 2o Parts of o sear at the sume rate, To provent delay cud mistakes, be sure and give Past Offce address fa full, {ncluding State and Cosaty. Romittances may bo mado eitber by draft, express, Post Office order, or in registered lotters, at our rirk. 2 TERMS 70 CITY SUDSCRIDELS. Daily, delivered, Sunday cxeepted. 2 conte per weok. Daily, deliverod, Sunday included, 0 cents per week. Address THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, Corner Madison and Dearborn-sts!, Chicago, il BUSINESS NOTICES. A EURE CURE FOR CHOLERA, CHOLERA MOR- Pas, Giscrheea, dysentery, and choferay infantum, De. Konarick's Carintastive Anodynes ANl Dragetsts soll i wad pay your maney back if it doos not care you. ROYAL HAVANA "TOTTERV_WE SOLD N awing rize. Circulers Sryming g Anr lest e SO0 BRI £°C0 ore, 10 Wal Yorl The Chicags Teibane. Bunday Morning, June 23, 1873. THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THOUGHT, The famous definition of mind and matter mhich Punch once gave is likely to lose .its ap- plication, if not its pungency, in the advance of psychological ecience. “What is mind? No matter, What is matter? Never mind," Dr. @illiam B. Cexpenter does not sgree with this riew of the relations between mind and matter, out tells us plainly that all menal activity is de- pendent on a chemical reaction between the blood and the brain. He intimates that it = time the metapbysicians should take some account of this, as it is now one of the established facts of physiology, and there is no donbt that it would give a new and curious bssis for a superstructare of speculs- «iva philosophy. Mental activity, he says, de- cends npon.the physical changes in the circula- tion of oxrgenated blood through the brain just 42 electricity depends upon the changes botween its metals and excited liqmd. This is certainly «mportant, if true, and teaches that it is neccs- sary to give greater sttention to the physical condition than most men engrossed in brain- work are in tko habit of according. Dr. Carpenter, in & recent number of the Con- temporary Review, gives some interesting illus- ceations of the physiological influences on tho esbits of thought, which may some day be re~ Iuced to 6 system that will aid materially in shaping them, in scquiring information, snd cetainiog it. The reproduction of past states of consciousness is described o be an automatic action. Some curious instances are cited, among shemthat of a lady who was left an orphan in nfsncy, and bad no recollection of her motker, but who, cnco entering s Toom in « .distant town where, to her knowledge, she had never beon befors, recalled her invalid mother leaning over her and weeping. The in~ sident, ehe subsequently ascertained, occurred just as ghe had recalled it. A similar case was shat of an English clergyman who visited an old castle, as he thonglt, for the first rime. When ne epproached the gatewsy, s scene fiashed upon cim in which he eaw the castlo, the gateway, Jonkeys under the arch, and people on top of it. He afterward found out from his mother that e had been to the castle under just such circum- atances when he was only 18 months old. The theory which such instances would seem to . establish in connection with the physiological ¥ elations described, is that the chemical action of blood in the brain is b sort of registering pro- ess, which, if it is properly pursued, leaves an indelible impreasion that can be always repro- uced under tho proper influences. A case of forgetting sud recovering a language is & pe- culiar illustzation of s sudden change in the ac- onof the blood: Dr. Abercrombie tells of a 80 who bad been put into s stats of stupor by 0 imury and, in this state, began to talk thoagh he had been thirly years absent om Wales, and had apparently forgotien the langusge altogether. Upon the re- sovery of his health, the man began to talk the English langusge, and completely forget hia Welsh again A carious Yact within the knowl- edge of the writer, was the caze of » student in Gerfany who was exceedingly anxions to se- qguire the German language as soon 28 possible He bad some knowledgo of it, but was tnable to useitin conversation. Yet, in his sleep, his mind evidently engrossed with the study, he 20uld hold a conversation, underatand perisatly, and talk fluently. It is possible that the con- @n.J" Weremoro favorable for tho reproduc- tion sna . Mestion of what ko lmow, s0d hence the flaex,, Rich he conld not com- mand among the the more disnas ~d Asocistions of waking hours. The exhilarstion of Gorren xion that many people receive from s clear and stimuleting or from s close and morbid at- mosphere is another instance of the sams in- fiuence on the chemical action of the blood. So, too, the impairment of the memory by disease or o age. This relstion between mental exprossion and physical impression 18 of practical importanas in infliencing the formation of hsbits of thought. Dr. Carpenter says that the doctrine of hereditary transmission will hold with reference to this as woll a8 other physio- logical phenomens, and, if so, the responsibility of parents defined in the Scriptures is founded opon & sound physical. basis. It also suggests the necessity of eystem in the mechanism of association, thus defined, by which the traces £nd impressions may be carefully and properly etowed away without -the waste common to & &aaty, inconsiderate, and’ unmethiedical process, Craes sre everywhere familiar in which the étudent who eequires readily loses the impres- sions which .have bean thus . hastily rogis- “fored,. while' ‘he 'whose process is moro eliberate and methodical as a resdier means of recovering what has thus cafefally been stowed ivay. This dependenco of mental activity on phyeical condition, if fully understood, may also Jesd to & reform "of what is popularly known as overtaxing the brain, andthe number of cases of “ Gying et the top” will bo materially dininish- 23. The value of associstion in the formation of hebits of thought ; the influence of xutrition apon the mc les of thought, and the maintenance of scquired habits of the mind may all find im- portant suxiliaries in the application of this physical notion of registering idess. What- éver objections some persons msy be indlined to arge against the doctrine on the score of mato- rislistic tendencies may be more than balanced by the advantages which science will possess in controlling the physical condition, and thereby influencing the habit of thought, A rare instence of soquisscenco in punishment Focently occurrsd in Now York. One William Willie was convicted, in 186%; of having killed & goung woman. Althotigh the customary plea of fneanity waa made in his- behalf, tis was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, which: sen- fence was subseauently commuted to imprison- ment for life. - After having served nine yesrs, soms of hus friends . sought to obtain a pardon for him.- The prisoner, bearing of it, wrote a tetter to-hie coansel, refnsing to be pardoned, contending that his punishment was just, and that, it he wers pardoned, the interests of so- ciety would suffer. If common sense wero pra- ishable with hanging, tuat man would be hanged forthwith. PLROF. MARSE'S EXPEDITION. Prof. O. 0. Marsn, of Yale College, passsd throngh this city, s short time since, with & party of students toresume the scientific explora- tions which he commenced two years ago in the Western Territories. A summary of the re- sults of his provions invsstigations is published in another part of this paper, and it is not too miuch to ssy that they are not surpassed in point of msgnitnde and’ significance by those of any paturalist of tho presont age. Hehas found that the arid spaces and the alkali plaing Iying botween the Rocky Mountsins and the Wasatch Range, where nothing now subsists but the sage-hen and a few stray antolopes, were oace peopled by a strange community of extinct vertebrate animals, which have not aa yet been found anywhere else on tho carth's gurface. Over two hundred new variotics of vertebrates have been disentombed in thia region, including peventeen varieties of the foseil horse, ranging from the size of the common fox to nearly that of the horso of the presont day—somo with three hoof. to each foot, others with one Loof and two toes, and still others with the single hoot of the horse as wesee him now. Theso were found in the Miocene and Pliocene epochs. It is shown that the ontirospace betiwoen theso two mountain ranges wasonce covered by the sea during the cretaceous or chalk formation of geology. When the sca sub- pided there were left vast lzkes in the hollows of the surrounding land, which have since boen fitted up with tho detritus ‘washed down from tbe neighboring mountains. The beds of theso ancient lakes are the tombs of vast numbers of turtles, crocodiles, lizards, serpents, and fishos, while near their marging aro found the remains of four-footed animals of sstonishing size and strength. One of theso, first discovered by Prof. Marsh, was of the size of the olephant, and its ekull was provided with three pairs of horns. Lions, hyenas, foxes, and cats of extinct epecies wore also found, together withseveral monkeys of alower typo than anynow existing. These laiter bad mosquitoes, lleas, and bed-bugs, larger than the existing varieties, to torment them. No mosquito-bars, bed-bug- exterminators, or other traces of man are found in the Eocene formation. Prof. Marsh's second expedition, which he has just undertsken, is provided with s Govern- ment gscort, and, being thus protectod against the Indians, it is expected that the results will be even more important than the former. A CASE OF PROFESSIONAL PEILANTHROPY. It has been popularly supposed that Mr. Jonathan Young Scammon is & representative of that class of citizens who beliove that charity begina at home. His rule of conduct in the past has amply justified this belief It is announced, however, that, following the fashion of the day, he hes determined upon a new departure. It is statod that ha is now engsged in distributing circulars advertising * free excursions for the poor children of Chicago,” under the auspices of himseit and his newspaper organ, and asking “ liberal responses,” by which Lo presumsbly ‘means donations of money, to carry out his be- nevolent project. If itis truo tnat Mr. Seam- mon has resorted to . circulars as a means for advertising his proposed philanthropy by proxy, the circumstance shows that ho has & very fair appraciation of tha value of his nowspaper as an advertising medium, and has concluded that no one wonld ever hear of his scheme if the an- nouncements were confined to its columns. Can- did recognition of this sort is deserving of some return, and Tmx TIBUSE is unselfish enough 'to thus afford gratuitous sunouncement of Mr. Scammon's new charity, which will reach more people in ons day then his combined circulars and newspapers would resch all summer. Ba it known, therefore, that Mr. Scammon proposes free excursions for the benefit of the poor chil- dren of Chicago, and that, in the fullness of his heart, he is not only willing thst other people should contribute the necessary funds, hut yol- unteers to take charge of the money.” Itisa wonder that Mr. Scammon does not go still farther and offer to pay intercst on the con- tributions, as he is now said to be largely cn- gaged in that sort of business, 1r.; Bcammon’s philanthropy does not stop Lhere, It isaleostated that the circular spta forth s~ ntention to contribute $1,000 to the good csuse. Thia --n0uUncement will neturally set curions poople to inquiring: U 0 What par- ticular fund Mr. Beammond will take vl 31,000 which he so generously offers to contributo in order to secure free rides, fresh air, and health- ful recreations for the enfants perdus of Chica- go. Will ho take this sum from the school- fund for which the city has sued Mr. Scammon? Or will Lo take it from the monoy of the Mutual Security Insurance Company, which of right belougs to the poor people who were burned out in the grest fire, and who aro yet suffering for want of the pit- tance coming to them—for which he has also been sued? Or will bio tako it from the Swoden- borgian Rolicf Fund? -If from none of these funds, or if thoy have already been distributed. from what fund will Mr. Scsmmon take his pro- posed contribution? -There is- & grave ap- prehension that, it the contribution is to come from the profits of Mr. Scammon’s mewspaper, the free excursions fo the poor children of Chi- c2go will depend on outside coutributions, or. bo indefinitely postponed. It is of importanco to know whether Mr. Scammon's most recent phi- lanthropit inspiration is tobe carried outsa o banker, a journalist, an insurance Treasurer, an educational Mrcenss, or -tho hozd of the Bwe- denborgian Church, whose infallibility is not yet ar articie of the faith? Tho amount and the number of the contributions will depend largely upon the information he is willing to give in this Tespect. If Mr. Scammon proposes to re- ceive these funds in the capacity of a pro- fessional Treasurer, there ouglht to be some gusrantes that he will not require to be sued for them afterthe excursion takes place. Wouldn't Mr. Scammon bo willing, for this occasion only, that somebody else should act us Treasurer, and to deposit his $1,000 with somebody elso in sdvance? | If Mr, Scammnion will turn over the proposed 1ree excursions for the. poor children of Chicago into other hands, we think that we conld suggest a -fitting occhpstion fcr his philanthropic mind. The. work . of asceriaining the sddress» of Mutnal Becurity policy-hold- ers, acd dwstributing among them equita-~ bly the funds which he unjustly withholds from them, would Sll up his time, and. gladden | tral establishments in Rome of tho. raligious | the hearts of very many poor people who find it hard to buy 00d “foi the poor’ children whom' Ar. Scammon wants to send out on excursions. ‘This done, Mr. Scammon might next turn his at- tention to the adjustment of the financial misun- dorstanding botween himself and the City of Chicago, and, by paying over the money belong- ‘| ing to the echool-fund, ho would enlarge our educational facilitios end do moro for the. poor children whom he has 8o sud- denly and affectionately taken to his beart than any number of excursions could sccomplish. Mr. Scammon might thon deovote tho Swedenborgian Reliof Fund to the relief of cases of guffering by the fire. In point of fact, there are so many obvious diréctions for the flow of benevolence with which Mr. Scammon i running over that he can well afford to relosse his patenton the organization of free excursions. Thero is all the more resson why ho should do 80, because it is an infringement on sn advertising patent taken out by the New York Tymes, which is likowiso an infringement on the Philadelphia Ledger's plan of gettizg up fros excursions, aud paying the wholo expense out of the Zedger's treasury. Nobody haa 80 plainly infringed upon Mr. Childs' original patent that he has deemed it worth whilo to sue his imi- tators. A NEW USE FOR BONNETS. The absurdity of misdirected philsuthropy was woll illustrated in the zealous efforts of Mrs, Jellyby to provido the young natives of Borio- boola Gha with fisnnel jackets and woolen trowsers, rogardless of the fact that the ther- mometer ranged through tho ninetics all the year round in that aflicted region. Tho efforts of our own philanthropists to ameliorats the condition and advance the civilization of the noble red men of the forest, Who were the original owners of Westorn resl estato, are no loss ridiculous than those of Mrs. Jellyby, which did no good to Borioboola Ghs, and caused the worthy Mr. Jellyby so much pain, what time ho used to stand with his head against the wall and mourn over the foolishness of his wifo and the distress of Caddy. It is not long ago thata worthy Indian missionary, in the sim- pliity of his bheart, thought that equaws under his charge should bave hata and paragols to protect their delicate comploxions from the too ardent heat of the sun. Bome benovolent ladics at tho East accordingly con- tributed an nssorted collection of hats and divers -parasols of variegated color and condition. Upon their receipt at the mission, the worthy man was shortly astounded upon beholding the copper- colored sisters, each arrayed in s hat snd paasol, and nothing else, parsding the strect with an sboriginal degroe of pride and self-satisfaotion fully aspronounced as thomore ciilizod and ofogant hautour with which Flora McFlimsey eails down the Avenno in her new redingote and skirts of many colors. Philsn- thropy has many timos supplied the Indians. with castile soap, though they had as littlo uso for it as & hippopotamus has for s glass of water. They tried to smoke it, to eat it, to wear it 3'an ornament, snd eventually exchanged it for aglass of whisky. Manyand many o time has the untutored Indisn mind beon distracted with eight-day clocks, fluting irons, pop-guns, pocket- combs, shoe-strings, pillow-casos, sugar-spoons, oyster-forks, quill-pens, and other such uten- sils, which were of about as much use to him 88 80 many tickets to a necktio sociable on Twenty-sixth strect would be, ecd all of which le would at any time ex- change for & tin looking-glass in which ho might admire his ugly countenance, or s drink of whieky, which he might put into his ugly stomach. It was resorved for the Quakers, who have charge of the Otos Indians dwelling on the Big Blue in- Bouth Nebraska, however, to cap the climax. For years the Quakers have labored to cirilizo the Otoes, with what success the denone- ment shows. The Philsdelphis Quakersrecently rocoived intelligence from the Otoo misslonary that the squaws hed no bonnets. The Quaker- esses ware dumbfounded at this startling intelli- gence, and, in the goodness of their hearts, they set themselves to work and obtained & hundrod bonnets, which they forihwith despatchéd by.the first express to the Otoo missionary. When the bonnets arrived, the missionary’s wifo summonod the pquaws together, and fitted & bonnet on each fair head.’ The Indizn belles, however, with that curiosity which belongs to tho female sex, whether bLlack, copper-colored, or whito, whipped them off to look at them, and, having got them of, couldn't get them on agsin. They had them on bottom side up, wrong side before, and overy way but the right way. This was suf- ficlently distressing, but the worst was to come. Thereis scustom among the Otoes that no ‘brave can sit down between sunrise and sunsot without disgraco. «He can lio down, ipeel down, lean up against a treo, stand on 1is head, or turn hand-springs, but he mustn’t git equare dowu on any account what- ever. From time to time, however, it appeared some of the Otoe braves had treschsrous memo- ries, and st down before they thought, and ibus fell into diggrace. To obviate this difficulty, each brave is provided with what is termed & “crow _cyshion,” an affair 80 contrived and fastened to him that the moment he commences: to stoop " in- the sitting process & pin runs into him - snd remings him of the offense he is about to com- mit. - Meanwhils, the squaws went to their wig- woms, carrying their bonnets in _their hands, 88 they couldn’t get them on their heads again. | The warriors, tsking them for # erosw-cushions,” st onco confistated.” them. The next morning the squaws were out bare-headed 88 usual, while each bold warrior-had & bonnet fastened on | him, ponier fashion. It was not long, however, before the now ‘‘crow cushions” were wrecked. Tho waming pin was not on them, and, as the forgetful braves, one after tho other, sat down, they wrecked ths gentle Quskeresges’ donations, and reduced them to & flat surface of strasw and ribbon. There is com- fort, however, for the philanthropists after all. They have only to insert & pin in their next’ voice of bonnets to the Otfoes, and & use will be found at last for the hat of the femalo of - the period; and a lucrative trade may yet spring up in old cast-off bounets. Onr own belles may also take a hint from the gentlesevage, and utilize their bonnets when they commenca to bo “ positively frightfal,” by turn- ing them into paniers, aad thus subserve the Purposss of oconomy, and also rescge the daily newspapers from the uses to which they aro now subjected. : —— Thobill which was recently passed by the Italian Senate suppressing religious corporntions, and which awaits the royal sanction to become a Isw, 18 not entirely sweeping in its character, as many supposs. 1t preserves the Generalates or gon- the | orders, and . accords to the Pope an an- nual allowanca of 400,000 franca for their support. The order of Jesuits is excluded from the benefits of tba other houses, but the ‘motion for their expulsion from Ttaly did not pass, . Similar Tegislation, although more rigid in its enforcement, has recently been adopted in Moxico by the enforcement of an obsolote law prohibitmg religions persons from living in com- munities. The Jesuits oscaped, but on tho 20th of Inst monih} a large number of Paulists, Pas~ sioniats, and other_religious bodies wero ar- restod and thrown into prison, and will shortly bo taken to tho coast, whero thoy will be compelled to embark for some foreign coun- try. Among those arrested are two claiming American protection—Thomas McCrealy, of Bal- timore, Md., and Angelo M. Lills, of Hoboken, N.J., the ono a Isyman and the other s priest, but neither of them Jesnits. The American Minister, having been informed of their arrest, demanded that they be sllowed a trial, which the Mexican Government refused. The American Minister has, therefore, officially protested, and the question will now become one of diplometia consideration between the two countries. CONFIDENCE GAMES, - Inall large cities there is a constant recur- rence of frauds kmown as the “confidence game,” “ bunko,” and othor devices, by which one class of persons are flecced, and another class got the fleeca. There has been much written on this subject, and a vast amount of in- dignation hurled at the winnersin these devices; but there is another side to all these stories of robbery by confldence operations, which it would be as well to undorstand. Thus, for instance, we resd occasionally, if not regularly, that Farmor This or That met, on the cars or elsowhero, an sgrecablo scquaintance; ‘that after a whilo this scqusintsnce produced s chock, say for $300, stamped - and endorsed, on somo well-known bank; that the farmer is indured to lend his acquaintance $75, taking the check as security; that the farmer, on presentation of ‘the check st the bank, dis- covers that it is a fraud, whereupon he rushes to the polico offics, demanding the capture of the confidenco man and the restoration of his money. The pocket-book trick is old, but, novertheless, it still finds victims., A man picks up & pocket-book onthe sidewalk, which ho opens in the presence of the crowd, who are onvious of 'his good luck ; he declares that he i a atran- gor, las notime to hunt up the owner, but, as there will unquestionably bo a large rewsrd, he will Land the whole thing over to any per- son who Will give him $20 and take the chances of never having tha book or money called for. Tho man who pays the money finds soon after that the book is stuffed with counterfeit notes. The latost device adopted in Chicago is to indnce ‘men to go to s bunko-room, wicre, by putting down a dollar, and throwing dice, the player msy win anywhere from $2 to $500a throw. After playing a while tho visitor finds himsolf stripped of his money and his winuings, and he, too, rushes off to the polico. It is usual for tho papers, in recording these robberies, to refor to tha verdancy and sim- plicity of tho vicums, and to sttribute to them a degree of credulity and innocence wholly unnatural in this ego. But thisis not the trath. That thess people are deceived and robbed is entirely true, but that they are vie- timized because of their simplicity is not so true 89 that innine cases out of ten they are over- reached in their efforts fo play asharp game for their own benefit. The countryman in the city with his 8100 in his pocket is by no means a credulous simploton who londs money to the first man that asksit. Ho isnot to be reached through his verdancy. Butheis keenly alive to any bargain by whick he can dd to his funds, and, when some potson who has mado himsclf agreosble is met on his way to tho bank by an immedisto demand for a com- paratively small sum, snd tho'demand is so presaing that he offers to pay $20 or 230 for the use of $100 until he can go & fow blocks further to the bank, then the acute gontleman from the rural districts hearkens to ihe proposition. Ho takes the chock in his own hands, advances the £100, and proceeds with his obliged friend to the bank, anxious to clutch the 20- per cent profit on a ton-minuto loan, Before reaching the bank, the borrower alips out of is sight; but, intent on his profit, the finzncial operator presents the check and discovers that he has boen overreached.. Whilo the crime is none tho iess, yet is tho victim fairly entitled to tha sympathy ho receives? Ho would not have loaned one dollar of hia money to human ‘being for eny other consideration than the expectation—certainty, in his cstima- tion—of a large snd immediate profit; s profit which would have been worthy of talking about, and which would have confirmed his own notion that ho was capable of conducting & large busic ngss, if ho had tho opportunity. When ho goes to tho police, however, he never discloses his own side of the caso; he nevor tolls that ho had loaned tho monmey upon the agréement that he was to got $10, $20, or even 56 for its use until he could reach the bank and repsy himself.from the proceeds of the check. So with the man who advances the money on tho found pockat-book ; ho esys nothing.of his pur- pose to reimburse himsel! ‘st a large profit from its contonts, pr his .expectation of keoping the whole of it should no owner appear to claim it. 80 Vith the victims of bunko. Each one goes 2 thess games to win money. - Avarice, tho 1-16 of gain, the deire to obtain somethi=5 10T nothing, induce these mon to go ¢o-tho’ bunko-rooms and throy dico, to v from the kegper. They do sometimes Wi, aud, 'pocketing tho yprocoeds, mever g0 to the polico; but whez they loso in thelr . stfempt’ to win money from othera; when, instesd of victimizing the keopers, they are themselves the victims; they rush to the police, demanding, firat and foremost, the return of thew imoncy. Their merel and religious views have recoived no 'shock ; their respect for Iaw and their regard for social order have in po Wiso been aggrioved; their whole complain is that they are go much out of pocket, and they want their mogoy beck ! Thore is not 3 csse where tho polico have been able to catch the sucosssfal operator in one’ of these jobs where he has not secured the silence of Bjg yictim by refanding the money. Itis questionable whethierany of thessso-called victima of confidence or bunkgareentitled to say particular sympathy, and whether, when s bynko establishment js raided, sll tho playors, wimners and losers, ought not to be treated slike as gam- blers secking to fleece each other. The proprie- tors of the establishmenta ought in every case to ‘be punished as vagrants ; but there can be no moral distinction drawn between the pisyers; the motive is precisely the same in every case, —ihe.chesting of the others. . train GERMAN MATERIALISH. FORCE AND MATTER. By Dr. Louis Burcuwes, " President of tho Medical Assoclation of Hosso- Darmstadt. Translated by J. Frederick Colling- wood, F. R. 8. L. London: Truebner & Co, Chi- cago: Jausen, MeClurg & Co. “YWhence do we come, whither do we go?" From the earliest times that wo have any record of, mankind has been asking this question. All religions and all philosophies have their beginning and their edding in it. Go back never 50 far, you can find no place where it was not. Even the Mound-Buildors of North America, who loft us no written langusge, have loft us tho evidences of their worship and their com- munion with an unseen Power, sido by side with their stone-hatcheta, their mastodon soup- bones, and their flat skulls. Carlyle belches it forth in Sartor Resartus : Generation after generation takes to itself the Form of 5 Body ; and forth-issuing from Cimmerisn night, on Heaven's mission apzans. What force and firels in each ho expends; one grinding in the mill of Indus- try. oo huater-lIke, climbiug thogiddy Alpine belghts of Bcienice; one madly dashod in pleced on the rocks of strifo in'war with his fellow,—end then the Heaven- sent ia rocalled ; his earthly vesture falla away, and even to Benso becomes s vanishod Shadow. Thus, like some wild-fisming, wild-thundering of Heaven's artilery, doos this mys- terlons thunder end fiame n long—drawn, quick-succeeding grandenr, through the unknown deep. Thus, like & God-created, fire- breathing Spirit-Host, we emerge from the Inase, Esste stormfully scroas the astonished then plunge again into tho Inane, But whenco?—0 Heaver, whither? Sonse knows not; Falth knows not: only atit s through Mystery 10 Mystary, from dod to The volums befors us esszys to suswer this nover-ending question. It tells us that we come out of the earth, and that we gonowhero, The first editionof Kraftund Stoff (Force and Matter) was published at Darmstadt in the year 1855 It has passed through ten editions &t home, and been tranalated into French, Jtalian, and, finally, into English. It has been kicked and cuffed in Germany to & notable ex- tont, both by beliovers and unbeliovers in Reve- lation, and itg author has replied to his assailants in the prefaces to the succoesive editions of his work. Bo, upon the whole, he hea acquired & sort of roputation a3 the Boss Infidel of the world, and, as such, was invited last winter to Jlocture to the German Materialists of tho United Btates for the round sum of $10,000. Weshall examine tho volume upon his own chosen ground. Notwithstanding tho seer-like grasp displayed in some portions of it, Dr. Buechner's book is fundamentally bad, even from s Ratiomalist point of view, forit eeeks to expel God from the universe, and to disprove a future stato of exiatencs ; that is, to prove a negative, in a do- ‘main wholly beyond the reach of reason | In its moral tendency it fully justifies the objection of & German critic, who says that it teaches the sonl nothing but this : * Let ua eat aund drink, for to-morrow wo die.” ‘The sauthor attempts to answer this barbed criticiem, but fails miserably. There must surely be & radical defect in any system of teaching which leads us 1o higher than this ; and when it is confessedly exorcised upon » subject mattor boyond our experience the presumptions must all be against it. And this, in brief, 15 the wayhe essaya to prove his case. There is no matter without force—no force without matter. Lhe two co-exist universally. Both matter aund forco ere indestructible. Nothing can como out of nothing. Nothing can be resolved into nothing. Therefore mattar must have existed from all eternity, and must exist to all etornity. * The notion efernal is cor- tainly ono which, with our limited facultios, is difficult of conception,” (sic). Novertheless, it is 80; for to supposo that a Creator existed beforo matter existed is to suppuse that power oncs ex- 1sted in & state of inertia, which is inconceiva- ble. 1atter ig also infinite in space. If it wero otherwiso the law of gravitation would cauze tho solar system and all the other systems to rush to a common contre. The laws of matter aro immutable, unalterable; therefore, the ex- istence of any other governing power is unneces- sary and superfluons. * Empirical philosoply, wherever it may search for it, is nowhere able to find 6 trace of & supernatural influence, either intime or space.”” Goology toaches that many bundred millions of years must have been required to bring the earth from its original incandescent state to ite present habitable condition. If thero be an all powerful Creator, why did he not immediately turn it out 2s a finished pro- duct? (In order to make foolish boys ask ques- tions, perhaps.) We sco that as tho carth passed through successive geological epochs now forms of vegetable and animal life appeared in an fa- cending crder, culminating in man. Thero are grounds for belioving that all these forms of life, including mam, were * evolved " from the next precoding forms, and there is no way of proving that man himself is the highest typo of existence which Nature is capable of “ evolving.” There are at least three different groups of languages in the world, and probably more, which could not have originated from the same stock. Therefore mankind could not have sprung from s single pair. 8o much for the puraly physical aspects of “ Force and Matter.” We now come to the mota-~ physical, for although Dr. Buochner pours 1o - end ‘of ridicule upon meta- physics, he deals lavishly in the article himsolf. There is mo such thing as De- sign in Nature. What woe call Dosign is the pro- duct of reflecting resson. Wo find & certain state of things existing, and we call it Infinite Design. If thostate of things had been dif- ferent wo should still have cslled it Design. It it was Dosign that caused the wheat to grow, was it also Design that caused the locusts and grasshoppers to eat it up, the rust to killit, tho mildowto rot it? If it was Design that gave us bealth, was it slso Design that gavo us countless disenses? If it was Design that gave us the wmsoful hose, Was it aleo Design that gavo us the poisonops nske and the repulsive tape-worm? Instesd of there being any such thing 8s conscious Dosign in Nature, there is **an’ jmmanent necessary in- stinct.” Brain and mind, or soul, aca 80 _ingep- arable that wo may call them two nauos for tho same thing. We have po riglt to assame that tho on continnen + 0Xisé sfter the other has ceased to exist. The brain of man and his mentsd Bctivity differs from that of tho Jowtr animals in dogreo . but not in kind, just. a8 that of the dog _ diffors from - that = of tho - oyster. If tho on6 ‘has an immortal soul, thoy all must be endoswed in liko mannor. What is thought? Our author gives us a chapter to tell what it is-not. It does not stand in the same relation to the brain as bilo to the liver, or urine to the kidneys, for these are tangible, ponderablo substancos, while thought is intangible and imponderable. Nevertheless, the brain is the locus of thought, nd, therefore, the seat -of the soul. There aro no innate idess either mental or moral (vide aocke). On tho contrary, all ideas sre obtaingd from ecnsation, ox- . asgociation. Thero is perience, comparison, no such thing a8 an sbsolute conscience. What wo call conscienco allows the most contradictory ‘behavior in different countries apd ages. Con- science allows polygamy in somo countries, and forbids it in others. It tolerates, even requires, $he’offering up of numsn sacrifices, in some ages of tho world, while in others it condemns such acts gs §he cztreme of cruelty, blasphemy, and sacrilege. Among sowp berbarous and’ be- sotted races even of this day it is impossiklp to find any conception of the idea of duty, or any word in therr Ianguages signifying that this ought to be dono, or that ought mot to’ be dome. If there were innate moral “ideas, or such s thing es’ conscience, they ought to be mniversp] 2nd invariable among baman beings. It is equelly opposed to facts -to suppose tha the ides of & God i8 common to ll mankind. Did not tho Pgyptisns worship the bull ind the crocodile ? Do not cartain bar- Baron tribes to this day offer their prayers to ratticanakes, or, what is worse, {o stone and clay imsges ? Thare! u:n,flhpiduot_luodilnot innate. Among those who believe in a God what & variety of attributes are imputed to Him! Some picture him as & ferocious tyrant, others as the gome-keeper of the happy hunting-grounds, others ag & veiled and stolid spectator of the universo. Some say.that Ho elects a portion, evidently the- largest portion, of mankind to endless torment. Others hold that He provides a half-way house between heaven and hell, from which the dead may be rescued by the prayers: of tho Living. Somo think that Ho susponds tho laws of the natural world at human intercession. In ehort, we have as many different. Gods 83 wo have -different gocts, - and this hops that we know nothing at . &ll shout Him. Copsequently, the sssumption’ that there is any personal God is purely. gratu- itous. Bo also is the ides of personal continu- ance after death. If the soul did not exist be- fore birth, there {5 no reason or necessity for its continuing to exist after death. It is contended that the idea of annihilation is abhorrent to the soul. Bo is the ides of death abhorrent quite a8 univereally as the ides of annihila- tion. A ressonsble man, however, must sce that eternity would be insupportably tedions. He ought to feol satisfied to know that heis a part of this grand Natare which has begotten him, and that, when he dies, he will be as free from pain as though he were in the profound slumber of health. *The idea of an sternal life—of not being sble to die —is, on the contrary, the most horrid that hu- man fancy can invent.” The reader will perceive thatDr. Buechner, with all his sbhorrence of speculative philosophy, hts gone as dooply into it 25 need be. He talks about a soul, but cannot tell what it is, though he thinks it resides in the brain. He talks about Thought, but cannot tell whether it is distilled, woven, puddled, or cultivated with s hoe, And when Rudolph Wagner ssys that the moral upshot of his system is, “Let us eat and drink, for to- morrow we die,” he replies that Beience is not concerned with the moral tendency of facts. It is only concerned to ascortain the truth, and let the tendencies take care of themsolves. As though he had given us any facts whatever regarding the exist- enco of & God, or personal continnance after doath! He has given us merely his own speca- Iations upon certain facts, most of which were known, and all of which had been held by indi- viduals before him. In his preface he disclaims being an original investigator, and in the text he mekes several blunders in the statement of facts, only one of which, however, seems to bo of real importance to his argument. This one relates to what i8 called instinct in animals. He assures us roundly that instinct in animals is only experience acquired very soon after birth. The late Mr. Mill was s supporter of the Experience philosophy, but ko aid not venturo upon sorash an sesertion. He suid that whether instinct in animals is experi- ence acquired very rapidly after birth, or is an inherent attribute, is still undetermined, and can only be sscertained by experiment. The recent experiments of Mr. Samuel Douglass with young chickens and turkeys hatched by artificial means prove that instinctis ipstinct and not experience. Whother the instinct of fear which young turkeys botray at the note of & hawk is ‘horeditary, or whether it has been an ‘“innate idea " in all turkeys from the begin. ning, may be a question. Butit hasbeen con- clusively shown that it is not the result of ex- perience in turkeys born now. It does not help usto expel God from the universe to gay that instesd of a conscious De- sign there is an “immanent nocessary inatinct ” in Nature, To say this, oreven to prove it, meraly ante-dates the query. Where did the *‘imma- Tent necessary instinct come from? Isit sup- possble that an immanent necessary instmct, capable of producing the countloss changes hich this globo has undergone, including the ‘body and sonl of man (Dr. Baechner admits that there is such s thing as & sonl, though not an immortal one,) originated in the inert matter of the earth? The sonl will surely inquire-where the immanent necessary instinct came from. The sonl is entitled to ask for a First Cause, will ask for it, willnot stop short of it. The precise difference, therefore, between the Atheist, as reprosented by Dr. Buechner, and the Theist, is that the former deems it more credible that matter croated mind than that mind created matter, while to tha lattor it is more con- coivablo that mind createa matter than that mat- tor created mind. The controversy can safely be left here, 50 far as it depends upon the suf- Irages of sentient beings. It avails nothing to tell us that man waa “ developed” from the low- er animals in inconceivably long geologio peri- ods. Theology, which is perfectly con- tent thst man should have been cre- ated directly from the dust of the earth, is startled at the thought that he shonld have been created indirectly from the same source. To the eye of reason there is no difference be- twoen the two modes. This much may be said withont conceding snything to the Darwinian theory. It remains to notice our author's objection to the doctrine of innate jdeas, This ie the oldest controversy on record, and if would be idle to romew it in these 'columns. The 1atest aud best discussion of it undoubtedly is the firat chapter of Lecky’s History of Euro- pesn Morals, to which wo would refer those who may desire to go moro deeply intoit. It ia con. ceded by Coleridge that beliof in God and s fo ture stato is bottomed st last mpon the ex- istence of a conscience. It matters mnot that the conscienco of primeval man allowed him to offer up human sacrifices or to have four wives, for conscience deals not with' acts but with motives. If there are acts which wo instinctively know to be wrong, although. fo commit them causes mo unhappiness to our- solves or others, except the unhappiness of s violated conscience, as there are, then do we know that we are instructed from on High. The Experience philosophy leads directly to Atheism. Locke and Hartlay, its two greatost exponents, avoided that horriblo pit and miry clay by accepting Revelation. ‘Everything be- tween the two lids of the Bible was to them # Thus saith the Lord.” Anybody unprovided with the Bible, or unable toaccept it as a divine- Iy-inspired work, mast, 1f he follows the schoal of Locke, logically deny the existence of God and » faturo state, a8 Dr. Buechner does. Wosaid that thero is a seer-like grasp dis- played in certain portions of the work. Con- sidering that it was -first -given to the world in 1855, it must be admitted that the anthor anticipated s great deal of the scientific drift of the present day, and that the ! “immanent necessary instinct” of Nature that ho spesks of has much to be said in its favor. He was not the first ta declare a belief in the theory of evolution. Lamarck and Geoffrey St. Hilaire preceded him. But he esponsed it, sdded to it, and wove it into a body of doctrine before it was taken up by the English school- of Dar- win, Huxley, Spencer, et al.,whohave sincemads 1t peculiarly their own. 8o also*he antici- pated in a straggling and confased way the rovelations of the spectroscope and the ¢ gon- sorvation and correlation of force,” since dem-~ onstrated by Grove, Carpenter, and Tyndall ‘This is high praise, indeed; but when the author leaves the domain of phyaicsl science and gets upon thofooting of Kant and Hegel, whick he affects 5o mich to despise, his hegls straight- way fiy upward and his head strikes $he ground withont gaining any of that recuperative virtue which wsd €0 profitsble to Anteus. ' His , porbigpd, the most finished product of German Materialiem, which is & mofo dangop- ous, because less flippant, article than the French Materislism which preceded it. How dwaifed do thoy both appear by the light of one gleam from Bhakspeare's genius: = | §it, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven Ia Ioick iniald with patines of brigh gold; There's not the smalleat orb whicl Bk 1 ity nvotion s s sapel s beholan s g3 Bl quiring to the young-ayed chierublms ; Em&nmgnyhh,immm’nlm; ik But whilst this muddy vestars of decay Doth grosaly closs 14 i, Wo csanot hear i, GERMAR IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. To the Editor of The Chicajo Tribune: 812: In your fssuo of last Thursdsy you lisve an_editorial srticle, Leaded * German in the Pablic Schools,” in which the Committes on Ger. man, of the Board af Education, are reported sa proposing to mako the study of German com. pulsory. Based upon theso premiscs, you errive, in our deductions, st conclusions which entirely ‘mistepresent tho iatentions of szid Committee. Astonishing 3 it is to mo that & paper 80 care. fully managed 88 T Tamosz should sogravely misspprehend tho intentions of said Comupitte while tha report of tho Board of Education 1) beforo the cyes of tho editor, ot I trast gui. ciently 1n its faimess to beliove that It wil correct an erroncous statement, or allow me to corvect it. Lot me say, then, that the whole foundation of that article is s fiction. Tho Commit. tee did mever, nor any member of it, try to make the Garmen study compulsory to all pupils of the public schools. ~All that they were endesvoring to do was tomake it more affective to thos who had once voluntarily ema braced it. It is a rule of the Board, strictly ad- hered to, that papils must be regular in their sttondance to the several studies ; they are not allowed to drop one or another st pleasuro, sad commence it again if they pleasc. If that waa permitted, no instruction would smount to much, no general progress of the class conld be expected. Pupils, by the rules of the Bosrd, aro compelled to continuo their studies or hava to Jeavo the gchool The study of German always has been, sud always ought to remain, optional with the paronts or guardians of pupils. But, if onoe voluntarily commenced, it ought to be, 8t laast for the carrent year, made compulsory for pupils to continue it. What is considered right, oven indispensable, in one instance, cannot fairly be considered wrong in snother. To allow children to follow a mo~ ‘mentary notion, perhaps the result of laziness, and to lot them decide a3 to whet they will lears and what not, is hardly wEat any Board of Edua cation should do; it is trifling with matters of importance. The city is expanding about 88,000 por anoum in salary of German teschors; it tho daty of tho Board to see that a proportionate harvest isreaped. 1In your article alluded to you say: ‘It is confessed that the result of the Prosent system. is a failure, and that the cost is pretty nearly so_much money thrown amay." Mr. Eing, the President of tho Board, ays (o the contrary (I quote from memoryg : Tho in. struction in German has, during the last year, ivon more satisfaction than ever beforo; it has fone very well, and I think it is bettertolet well- enough alone.” The Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Pickard, has expressed considerable satis- faction with the German teachers now employed. These are views directly in opposition o asch other. What, then, is the truth ? "The truth, as usually, lies in the middle. The fact is, there are three parties in the Board of Education as to the study of German: It has ita fewopen friends, ita few open foea; bt the ‘majority, while they cannot closs eyes to the fact that nearly every larger city in the United States, especially in the West, is intro- ducing the German instraction, would gladly throw it oat, if they wero men who obeyed their notions rather their conscionces; these fore, as it is, they simply tolerate tho study of German, but opposo every improvement in tha instruction. Not that they would ever advance any reasons why the improvementa proposed by the Committee on German should not be adopte: If the speeches and remarks of the members in the seesions of the Doard were published, tha public would know that thoy confine themselves to ever complaining of *“ thut veratious ques- tion,” and voting down_every proposition. ~The merits are never argued, *XNo," not do it,” is the only answer. And yot, what the Committee on Germar propose to dois easily obtainable, a reacunable domand, and to tho best intereat of the pupils aa well s the city atlarge. They want to make the prosent moda of instruction more offective,—a parfect success. They want to see tho money of the iaxpsyera judicicusly and wisely expended. They want to do away with * that vexatious question.” in ths only manner that the civilization of the age will approve of. This can bo dons, they claim, firat, by offering to all pupils the benefit of tha siudy of German, leavig it optional with the paronts to ssy, in the beginning of the year, whether or nof their children shall engage in if, but treating it, if once voluntarily bogun, in the same manner &3 all other studios; that is, pro - hibiting the dropping of it during the year; secondly, by having 2 Superintendent of German instruction, who would prescribe the most ap- proved moda of instruction for all his teachor and watch their labors. Them the course woul bo more regular; tho scholars could pass ox amination in Gorman as well as in other branches; their ambition would be enlivened, and the general result would be eatisfactory to all. Tho small sum of, say, $1,200 or 31,300, which the city would pay tuch & Superintendent, would greatly help to mako the pupils reap 2 Toll hagvost in kmowledge for which the eity Bow paya 98,000, part of which is claimed to bs wasted. Why, then, if we ask no mors than what is to the purpose, ara we denied even the emallest progress ? The oxprossion of Mr. King, “to let woll enough alone,” properly interproted, to me seoms to mean, *lotbad enoughaslone; the German study has been no perfect success ; it is 8 sourze of bother and complaint; that's what we want to keep it ; that's well enough until ws shall encceed in convincing the whole publia thatitisa failure; meanwhile, prevent every improvement, and we will come to tha pains.” 1 have Mr. King's own word of mouth for it, that ho and the majority of the Doard will simply tol- erate the-isstruction in German, snd allow na improvements ; he would not even voto for the appointment of & Superintendent of German, it the expenso was paid out of a private Fues, ‘which I offered to collect. A Ihase no doubt but that Mr. King is honestly governed by his best convictions, but 8o are wa and others, his opponents in this ques- tion. You have, in your article, sccused us erromeously, that we desired “to compel all tho pupils to learn Germsa, or go without instruction in English.” You in- dignantly exclaim ; © Shall thoy bo tsught Eng- lish 1" Yon think it **a great violation of duty to compel any child to leave tke public sch or study, sgainst the will of his parents, 0¥ language save his own ! o Well, sir, it is just for this reason, so forcibly by you sdvanced, that wo want fhe Germad langasge well taught in our schools to those whose own languagoe it is, and wholargely pay for the support ot the public scaools. there existed, on this continent, an Americsn langusge, a3, after many centuries, the case s} be, this qnestion would not come up. ~isut th [Englsh Ianguage is not more unitersal than ths German or any other, although it is the prevail ing langnage, and therefors takes the firat rank in edacational branches. Nevertheless, that irs is_subject to changes; in the ' Germsn population exceeds the English; in otbers, the French ars prevailing; in others, the Scandinavians, VI then, should be our rule? It scems to mesa easy matter to decide, if we will adbers to your views as above expreesed, and not do injusiics {0 others. All paronts will be satisfied that thett children scquire good Jmowledge of tbe English, because that is generally the prevailiog langusge; and that they, besides, learn theif own language. Whera tho noxt large portion of the population be French, that langusge o to bo taught in the_public schools; German, a5 in all Western cities, the Germsd Ianguage shonld be taught. Common pradesce advises this; justico will not denyit. Oz ¥l joneay, that fha German amigrant and his fsi- |y muat broak off all connections with his relé- - tions in the old country-as soon ae-they come citizens of the ~United States; b8t his children, born here, are not enilled toloarn inour schools the langusge that i epoken by, their uncles, grand-parcnts, aod cousins ; but that the Englishman alons bas 8 right to ask such consideration ? The Americst people, if they will call themselves s natl cennot dnm_.l‘ 9 other mions, tho u%“‘,‘,’,?w psing s upiform langusga; We v English, nor-German, w0t Franch but weszif to becoms an enlightened peopls, coSmOPo: in its character and views, not narrowed | % to ono nationality or Isngusge. Let us &7 5 resp a harvest of the choicest fruits 80FR % 5 the other pations, and not be exclusive. T8/ only will the principlea npon which this Begubli is fonnded be transferred into_sctual life,3 the shackles of prejudice, religious uupqfl“m and national hatred be broken, which 2 threaten to fotter the life of our nsii Respectfally, Enxst PROSIG . Chairman Committes 62 RN R The Now York Times says: ' W bere &% 50m to believe that the project of & sessc? English opers, with Miss Kellogg 5 the o donns, is almost certain of execution. 13;1,’“,, has been long under discussion. The 0 et appears to have euch strong caanced of 7, that we wonder it wag not dfl%wfl rome timo since.” To which wo msY &Ll o g 18 not impossible Hirs. Molton sof may siog in the same {roups, e $roupe will make ita Jebat in or *“You can- where it i , E i i 1 Bt v ey st T R S O Y