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XiUvatutt.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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If there is one thing a decrepit Church should avoid above all others , it is the dagger of making the antagonism between it and Science more apparent by frivolous and vexatious formalities . Hence all politic friends of orthodoxy should be anxious to abrogate tests , for these tests awaken strange thoughts in conscientious minds . On the face of it few things can be more absurd than to demand of a professor of physical science an oath in conformity to a particular Church . It is not the chemist ' s religious
orthodoxy , but his chemical orthodoxy that concerns his pupils . Dr . George Wilson , of Edinburgh , has called public attention to this subject in a pamphlet on the Grievance of University Tests as applied to Professors of Physical Science in Scotland . An eminent lecturer , and an unqut stionably orthodox Christian , Dr . Wilson , declines to become candidate for the chair of Chemistry , because , if elected , he could not fill the chair at the expense of his conscience in signing a profession of the faith held by the Church of £ c 3 tland . To put such a test to a professor is
preposterous : — " Is it reasonable that a teacher of physical science should be bound to declare , not only ( as every Christian would willingly do ) that he believed that the souls of the righteous after death go to heaven , but in addition that they are ' received into the highest heavens V Would you deny his Christianity , because he declined to be positive on a matter so far beyond human inquiry , and felt it to be difficult to reconcile the statement of the Confession with the declaration of the Apostle Peter concerning one righteous man , namely , that ' David is not ascended into the heavens ?'—a passage generally understood as referring only to David's body , but which appears plainly to teach that David is in no sense exalted to those highest heavens where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God . '
" Once more : Why should a Christian professor of anatomy or physiology be required to declare , that at the Kesurrection , ' the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies , and none other , although with different qualities V The passage is obscure in grammar ; but even if we understand it as signifying , that the body possessed during life by each individual shall be restored to him at his resurrection , ' the self-same , and none other , although with different qualities / is it not hard that hundreds of persons should be required to declare their belief in the resurrection in these questionable terms ?" Dr . Wilson shows how such a test would exclude the greatest names in Chemistry—Boyle , Hooke , Cavendish , Pkiestley , Black , Wollaston , Davy , Dalton , and Faraday .
" Faraday , who is a member and minister of the body of Christians calling them * selves Sandemanians , of whose genius , great discoveries , high scientific reputation » rare excellence as a lecturer , conspicuous integrity , religious earnestness and piety , it is needless to write at length , would not be more welcome than Allen or Dal ton . He is Christian enough to lecture to her Majesty and Prince Albert ; Christian enough to lecture to peers and peeresses ; Christian enough to lecture to clergymen , to men of letters , to men of science , to young ladies , professional students , and children , within the walls of the lloyal Institution , London , and at the meetings of the British Association ; but he is not Christian enough to be made a professor at St . Andrews , Glasgow , or Aberdeen !"
Not only does the test exclude the greatest teachers of Chemistry—or coerce them into a lie—it also makes public oath-taking a mockery and a " mere form . " As Tjikodork Hook said , when asked to sign the Thirty-nine Articles , " Certainly— -forty , if you like . " But when a Church persists in enforcing these shams , it makes evident the vital antagonism there is , and must be , between its vague unsatisfactory dogmas , variously interpreted by various minds , and the precise , satisfactory , immutable dogmas of science , which arc everywhere accepted , and carry conviction with unity .
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On the continent , Reaction in the plenitude of imbecility is fast underniiuing its own existence by shortsighted cunning . The Minister of Public Instruction in Vienna has actually ordered an Edition of the Classics to be prepared , wherein all passages bearing upon Religion , Morals , and Politics are to be accommodated to " correct ideas . " This is to stay the progress of the vcr ronyeur—the corrupting influence of the classics ! One can imagine the havoc they will make with Tacitus iind Sknkca , especially when one thinks of ( Jranikii dkCassacnac writing an eulogy on Tiijkki us / by way of covertly praising Louis Nai'Olkon ! In respect of dirt one might wish the Classics altered , but the dirt , be assured , will be religiously preserved ; it is not dirt that is dangerous , but Thought ! Martial , ami Ahistoi'iianicn , Catullus and Pictronius will form les dtlices of the
bien pensants us heretofore , Not only is a vigilant eye to keep dangerous sentiments out of the Classics , but also to look more sharply after the Modems . Hitherto the Censor has discovered the " danger" after the book bus been extensively circulated ; now his post is to be Leipsig—the great book-mart- —mid before a new work enters Austria it , must pass through his hands . So that an intellectual quarantine is established to prevent the entrance of the pest of knowledge into Austria . Why not re-establish the Inquisition at once , as the bolder and more logical partizans openly advise ?
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The cordial hatred and profound contempt which Englishmen feel for the Deceinbrizers of France , will find ample justification , if justification be needed , in the circumstantial pages of Victor Scikmlciikk in lu » Jlistoire Ul-h Crimes du 2 Decembre , published iu London , and giving a minute
history of the coup d'etat , worth consulting by those who have read the " official" accounts of that infamy ; accounts to which Louis Napoleon referred with characteristic assurance in his ludicrously " dignified" reply to the Times .
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Although Society is saved , Literature does not seem to flourish . Its main activity lies in reprints ; among th , £ se , let us notice two agreeable books , — Caprices et Zigzags * by Theqj » hil . e Gautieu , containing his " impressions de voyage" in Belgium an d England ; very amusing pages they are , witty , picturesque , ephemeral . The Nouvelles , by Charles Reybaud , though not so amusing as Jerdme Paturdt , have nevert heless some of the gaiety and point of that pen . George Sand has again made a dramatic effort , Le Demon du foyer , and again failed . Her admirers deeply regret to see such genius struggling jn a sphere so ill adapted to its forces ; but their regrets are idle , Genius is moved from within , and what seems capricious to byestanders , is in reality the most perfect consistency . George Sand has an impulse to create a new school of drama . If sne succeed , the quidnuncs will forget their regrets .
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We cannot close our weekly gossip without calling the attention of all readers to the fact of a new and very cheap edition of Newman's grave and searching book , The Soul j its Sorrows and its Aspirations , forming the fourth volume of Chapman ' s Library for the People . It contains a new Introduction , vindicating the claim of human reason to be the arbiter of its own creed , to be the witness to First Principles , and not to be subjugated by Authority . This beautiful book is now within the reach of the humblest purses .
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TODD AND BOWMAN'S PHYSIOLOGY . The Physiological Anatomy and Physiology of Man . By Koberfc Bentley Todd , M . D ., and William Bowman . In two vols . J . W . Parker and Son . Although the concluding section of this work still remains to be published , we will no longer delay our review of $ book which deserves a place in every scientific library . The aim of the writers is to furnish , an . accurate view of the structure and functions of the human frame , and they have given more anatomical detail in their work than is usual in treatises on physiology . We cannot approve of the arrangement of their work , although it is the one commonly followed . After " general considerations , " there is a chapter on the Constituents of Animal Bodies : and an investigation of the Tissues ; from this a start is made at once to the functions of animal life , locomotion , and sensation .
" The subdivision of the functions of the human organism into the ammnl and the organic , as already stated , may be adopted as the lpast objectionable basis for their arrangement . Under the former title we include those functions , which are peculiar to and characteristic of the animal parj ; of the living creation , and to which there is nothing similar or analogous in the vegetable kingdom . These aro locomotion and innervation . The organic functions are present in both kingdoms , with certain modifications . They are digestion , absorption , circulation , respiration , secretion , and generation . " In examining these various processes , we propose to follow the order in which
they have been enumerated . We find it convenient to take the locomotive function first , because so large a proportion of the mechanical arrangements , or of the anatomy of the body , is connected with it . The transition from locomotion to innervation is easy and obvious ; for the nervous ( system lias a special connexion with the locomotive organs , in order that the influence of the will may be conveyed to them . It may be here stated , that in the animal functions the interference of volition is more frequent than in the organic ones ; and that , in all , the nervous system exerts a certain control , and may influence to a great degree the performance of the functions , although some of them are essentially independent of it . "
These are reasons that will satisfy no philosopher . Strange , indeed , that men should overlook so plain a precept as tliat of proceeding from the simple to the complex in their study of organization . If animal hlo is but a superposition on vegotativc life , —if it ig not only a later development of organization , but is absolutely dependent on vegetative life for its own continuance , then it is clear that physiologists loso many an advantage in not following the course of nature in their exposition , and making the studont familiar with the simpler forma before pro ceeding to the complex . The objection we make must be made , howovor , to all writers on this subject . ' They follow each other in unthinking routine . The objections we are about to make , apply more especially to Messrs . Todd and Jx > wman , and wo mnke them that we may be more at ease in our emp hatic commendation of their work .
Excellent anatomists and physiologists as they are , they have fa " ! into a ludicrous blunder with respect to muscular heat—a blunder wine ' no properly educated physiologist could havo fallen into , became- to bo properly educated , a physiologist must have mastered the preliminary sciences of Phy sics and Chemistry , whereas ., in defiance of the p lnincH facts , Messrs . Todd and Bowman attribute muscular heat to the friction of the muscular fibres ! . Read the passage :- - ¦ , " Two phenomena yet remain to bo mentioned , which by admitting of a Hatisfiietory explanation on thin view of the subject , g ive strong testimony to i < " < ~
reotneHN . _ . " The first is the muscular sound , hoard on applying tho car to a m uscle u action . It resembles , according to the apt simile of Dr . Wollaston , tlio "'" I . " ^ rumbling of curriage-wheels ; or rather , perhaps , an exceedingly rapid and niin ^ tremulous vibration , which , when well marked , has a metallic tone . It is tho «() U" ^ of friction , and appears to be occasioned by those movements of the iioiK lib <>« r lll k fibres upon onu another , with which tho partial contractions must bo attended i their incessant oscillations . , , . " Tim other phenomenon in one whono existence luut been recently ascertain *'" . V MM . Ueequorul and Hreschef , viz ., that a muscle , durin // contraction , wjments temperature . They havo found this increase to be usually moro than ono degr
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Prilics are not the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not oriucs ^ akelaws _ g ey in terpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Bevtew .
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878 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 11, 1852, page 878, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1951/page/18/
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