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Xiteraum
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EftnsBY student of French Literature , whatever his opinions , must have been amazed ; if not annoyed , at the irreverent way in which . God and Chmst are introduced . < This cannot always be irreverence , often merely the carelessness andinconsklearateness of habit . We must no more attribute to it any want of religiotts feeling than we must , fox example , to the startling use of ach Jesus ! oc&Je ! by Oerman -women . But there are occasions when it seems impossible that habit should so have slurred over reverence , when it seems imposnfcle riot to ^ suipect a want of religious feeling in the bad taste of familiarity . TtftB nSokt p ^ prilar writers are the most freqaent offenders ; thus blame it as ^ Tmayf we jqiTi % t acknowledge that France accepts it : — ' ¦ ' , * . ' . '•? Tant sofa qu'il vous plaira ; mais lea premiers de France , - ^ ' ' - Sont Ies admirateors de notre sufiSsance , "
( t « quote Sir / EvBEMbBnb ) . ^ fie ' btbfer day we met with a passage in a grave work by Isidore ^ tjbdon , the physiologist , which is worth extracting here as a singular specimen bftheiault un question . He is speaking of Ccvtbb ' s labours and iminenSe re ^ 6 wn :-- ¦ " £ a a word , his name has acquired such glory that it <^ ^ abhr ^ via ^ ( CV . ) ; an honour until now rj ^ cOT ^ ekilusiyely for Jesus Christ ( J . C . ) , Jean Jacques ( J . J . ) , and L ^ seuflj ^ IjQ . " Is . it ^ not astounding ? honheur jusqu'h Mi reserve a Jesus jf $ ^ : ££ fy Jaco . cje 8 and Liniubus are coupled witk JChbist , without a word of distinction !
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. iT ^ e neir Jaumber the Xowdb / i Quarterly Review opens with a paper on JRuswa * i ? foce in Christian Civilisation , an historical survey , -which leads to this conclusion : — .. ¦ ¦ ¦ :. " -tvw » . , \; ¦> " '¦ -.-. t ,.. ; -,, ; ¦ ' ¦ . : -,-. ¦ ~>»^^^^^ e ^ f ^^ ot ^ i ^^^\ AiAi retain * the ; theoiy and the practice of conqo ^ t , r ^| iM | e ^ Epn ^ i ce lus Jaught all tibq others to gi / o if ; up , a » d : recipi ' ocallj respect their v ^^^^^^ a !^^ fl ^^' ^ , ^ X ^^^ K ^ v . snccesabrg , by his example , the directions in irliclrtney % « retb'inarch oo . 'ihe career of systematic aggression vpnich his daring , inhuman , ad ^ n terajpulb uBgeiiins tracedtintiftr them . He plaimed the expulsion « f the Turks from ^ ? TOP ?* t ^« yg bi ^ jms ^ hinaaelf-Bignallr defeated by them , and driven behind the Dneiper ; he cominan ^^ i the ( Caspian ? by a fleetj has influence aaid ^ alliances extended to the hanks of thb ] b 3 n ^ an 4 he ^ ot poSseaaion of a considerable part of Perns , though it was soon retaken by : £ he , ^ roro > t tt ^ nduct of Nadir Shah ; in the north he -wrestedjtngria , Livonia , and from
£ « thon ^ Sweden , inflicting the first serious wound , on the power of that noble people . l $ e&nnd « &grk of St * Petersburg embodied at once all his thoughts , bis purposes , and Ms * fetOtsi'dt'Waa fhe triumph ^ of bis ' self-lbve over the independence of the old Muscovites w ^ o wished to ^ resist his incovations : it inaugurated the naval power of a great continental people , finding ito way to the . ocean : its costly edifices , built with Grecian aud Roman colonnades ,. sounlifcef the national architecture of the Kremlin , -and si > unsuited to a country of lorel ptiona aad Undefined horizons , were a fit expression of an artificial civilisation that hud no roots 5 q the soiL rAt the same -time a capital built upon ground won from Sweden was tho ^ p r ^ ii iestemb ^ eni that could be , devised of tie vast and persevering ambition that pfcuteditated raising its Jreatrietis upon the spoils of the world . ' It was a trophy prophetic of * tlw fti'jhu » ' jio # er of Euasia , and , from ' its erection onward , princes and people have b « en planning for the future , while the oth « ruations of £ urope have oeen living for the present . " The /' mission" of Russia is so antagonistic to that of Europe that the
struggle annst have come sooner or later , and now it has come we hope it will be decisive . The Writer of this article somewhat gratuitously asserts that although the Emperor ' s " fleets are superior in number of guns and men , they will doubtless be swept from the seas if they show themselves there . ** In point of fact the fleets are not superior ; but if they were , the assumption that we should sweep them from the seas will only be tolerated by those who can argue with this writer , as in the following passage : — " We do not found our confidence on Britain ' s ' dread arm of floating power , ' nor yet on that gallant army whose heroism makes up for the amaUness of its numbers , nor yet upon the help of our powerful and chivalrous ally . The real gronnd of confidence for those who scan the destinies of England in the light of history and human progress is this , —that God has a great work for England to do , and she may not be hindered in its performance ; while our adversary would , in principle , brine back the world to tie state that preceded the Middle Ages . Russia cannot even stand up before the West as the heiress or Greece
disputing once more , after twenty centuries , the supremacy of Borne . No ; England and France are b « tter representatives of whatever elements ancient Greece possessed to bequeath to the futnre . The entire sum of the acquisitions of the old world turned the Alps at our extremity of Europe ; they- have been preserved and augmented amongst us : the experiences necessary for the future development of the human race have been made and are being made amongst us ; while Russia is but the repetition of the despotism and the social corruption that Were fatal to the Western and Eastern empires in their tarns . Doubtless the day will come when tie greatest of the Sclavonian nations will contribute largely to the common weal Of humanity . Wo ha . ve all something to give and something to receive ; and the natural piety , the reverential feeling , the respect fior superiority , the woaderful imitative power , and the innate grace of the Russian may make him , in rnany respects , a model and n helper for his fellows : but it is not ns the instruments of Czarism that our Sclavonian brethren will ever attain that position . " ' There is a biographical sketch , of the Duke of Orleans—written for what
purpose we cannot divine—an article on American Poets , and one on Anatomical Science : its History and Progress , the latter a meagre sketch of what might have been a suggestive essay .
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REMARKS ON THE PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LEGISLATION . Remarks on the ^ Principles of Criminal Legislation and , the Practice of Prison Disci pUne . By George Combe . Simpkin and Marshall . We were lately surprised to hear it stated , as the opinion of a man distinguished by his public spirit and devotion to great objects , that discussion as to the treatment of criminals is futile , and that the only advantageous direction o £ effort is- to the general enlightenment and moral elevation of society . As if our mode of dealing with a large body of our fellow-men could , be excluded from that general enlightenment and elevation ! As if indifference on such a question could be otherwise than demoralising ! As if one means towards the moral health of society were not the dimintition of the sources
of moral infection ! We can only find a parallel for this opinion by supposing that a Sanitary Board , knowing it to be inevitable that at the end of no long term a hospital , which , enclosed all the worst diseases that have afflicted humanity , would let loose its inmates uacured on the surrounding district , were to say ,. " It is useless to trouble ourselves about the means of curing the patients in the hospital ; let us only care for the health of those outside . " "While we could rid ourselves of our criminals by despatching them to another quarter of the globe , we can understand that this opinion might have some plausibility , however hollow ; but now that the colonies decline to accept our refuse , and we are thus compelled to bear our own burden , we can see no rational . halting-place between the undiscriminating extermination of our criminals as if they were so many rats or spiders , and a serious inquiry into the means which will best tend towards their
reformation . The attempt to apply general principles to complex institutions which have jjrown up under the most heterogeneous influences , must always be attended with immense discouragement . The very friends of improvement will make obstructive details a ground for regarding the statement of a general scheme as chimerical . And this is especially the case in relation to the treatment of criminals . Given a wise plan of reformatory discipline , where are the instruments to carry it out ?—where are the governors of gaols ., chaplains , and physicians , possessing the wisdom , the acuteness , the moral influence , requisite for the conducting of -this most difficult species of education ? And when the reformed criminal is again thrown on his own
resources and launched into society , -where will he find the circumstances friendly to his continuance in the path of rectitude ? If , so soon as he gets work , he is to be denounced by policemen as a liberated felon and dismissed by his employer , it is difficult to see what resource is left for him but to steal the first portable thing he can lay his hands on , and get committed again , like the Edinburgh culprit of whom we read the other day . In the face of such difficulties it is no wonder that many turn away from the subject in . despair . But those who are acquainted with the subtle and sure operation of ideas in gradually moulding . life , will not be hindered from the calm inculcation of principles , by the probability , nay , the certainty , that they will have no immediate practical realisation . "It is not always necessary , " says
Goethe , " that the truth should embody itself ; enough of it hovers about spiritually , and induces agreement ; if , like the tones of a bell , it vibrates with solemn friendliness , through the air . " But all truth does embody itself in the end , and this ou <* ht to be the justification of the theorist in the eyes of the so-called practical man . The pamphlet before us is recommended to our notice not only by the name of the writer , whose extensive acquaintance with prison systems at home and abroad , and his well-known , acuteness as an observer , entitle him to especial attention , hut also by the names of seven eminent medical and scientific men—Sir Benjamin Erodie , Sir James Clark , Sir Henry Holland , Professor Owen , Sir John Forbes , Dr . Conolly , and Dr . Carpenter , who all certify their adhesion to the fundamental principle maintained by Mr .
Com ~ be , namely , " that criminal legislation and prison discipline will never attain to a scientific , consistent , practical , and efficient character , until they become based on physiology , and especially on the physiology of the brain and nervous system . " ~ We have a thorough belief in the truth of this proposition , though , as to think is the case with several of the abovenamed gentlemen , we do not agree with Mr . Combe in considering phrenology a complete physiology of the brain , or the Alpha and Omega of psychology . With this reservation we cordially concur with the positions contained in the pamphlet , and are glad to bring them before the notice of our readers . The discrepancy of opinion concerning the treatment of criminals , and the unsatisfactory results of their treatment hitherto , Mr . Combe refers to
two sources : * ' First , vague notions of the objects which , should be aimed at in prison discipline ; the consequence of which lias been constant vacillation in the public mind between the two principles of severity and humanity , or between punishment and reformation , as the chief aim . in the treatment of criminals ; and , secondly , almost a total neglect of consideration of the causes of crime in de-vising measures for its prevention . " It has ceased to be explicitly maintained that the object of criminal legislation is the infliction of vengeance or of retribution ( which is but a disguise of vengeance as a 6 ort of poetical justice ); it is no longer held , as in Fielding ' s day , that "to bring a thief to the gallows" ia a twin virtue "with " doing a service to an honest man . " But the notion of retribution virtually mingles itself with the
views of manj whose avowed theory is that the end of punishment is solely the Prevention of Crime . For , closely considered , what is the opinion so strongly insisted on by Archbishop Whatcly aixi others , that this prevention must be sought by heightening the punishment of a culprit , simply ia order to inake him an example , " but an implicit deehiration that because he has infringed the rights of his neighbour , society iiuiy—not merely restrain him from repeating the offence , l ) Ut—retaliate on him by considering him as no longer n person , but a thimj destitute oi' all rights—a sort oi
corpus vile , on which it may inflict any amount of suffering , not with reference to his otvii actual crime , but io the hypothetieiil crimes of unknown offenders . This theory is in direct antagonism with the reformation of criminals ; for to reform an offender is to confer a benefit on him , whoreiis the principle of" deterring by the terror of exninple" would , in consistency , lend to the infliction of the utmost e \ il on him for tbe sake of appalling others . No human being cim be justly punished for crimes to which he is not accessory , and since the safety of society can never be dependent on a breach of justice , the oply argument on which Archbishop Whatolys
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JritLcs are not the legislators , but the judges a-nd police of literature . They do not make lawa —they interpret an . d try to enfoice them . —Edinburgh , Review .
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544 THE LEADER . 1 _ SaTurday 5
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A definition of genius is one of the problems young metaphysicians are certain to attempt . Many nnd various Imve been the solutions , all unsatisfactory except to the propounders ; we do not remember to have met seith a more ambitious failure than the one quoted in an article on Literature , Genius , and Devotion , in the last number of Tuit . We are told that its author , after acknowled ging the difficulty of a definition , taunts lexicographers with vagueness , ridicules some common uses of the word , and then defines it aa—" brilliancy of mind ; a soul on fire ; an intensification of the mental faculties I"
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 10, 1854, page 544, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2042/page/16/
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