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3jvr« ^ fi+rtt»tv JLuroiiUn * • ' m Critics not blaa
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3 ?» A 3 Ice has just lost one of her most original and independent thinkers . On Saturday last Attgtjste Comte , author of the vast system of scientific speculation known as The Positive PMlbsojihi / , died at Paris of enlargement of the heart , after three months * illness . He retained , his faculties , and continued ' at his work to the very end , being engaged ! in ¦ writing only an hour
before his death . He was huried on Tuesday at Eere Lachaise , about fifty of Iris scientific and philosophic friends following iis remains to their last resting place ., Two ' discourses' were delivered at the grave—one by a disciple of the pure Comtists ,. the section of his disciples who remained faithful to their mastery the : other by . M . Bobis , in . the name of M . Litiile . ( unavoidably absent from Parish representing the secedera , the section of his followers who parted < iompany with GoaiiE seven years ago , when he attempted to engraft on the Positive Philosophy a new religion , of which he was to be . himself the aposble andJugh-priest .
Oun readers-will naturally be anxious to hear something touching the personal history of one who has been so often introduced to them in the pages of the .- Leader , ~ but the biography of a lonely thinker is rarely one of incident ; and CToaara , preoccupied with hi * speculations , led a " life- more tham usually retired—early became ; in fact , a philosophical recluse . The inafa facts < a £ his history are soon told . Born :, in 1797 , of Catholic and royalist parents , be was < educated at one of the Bonapabte lyceums , where he early < Ksfcihguished himself by his love of speculation , , and his profound dissatisfaction with' the existing philosophic schools and actual social condition of , " kis country . Out leaving- college he became acquainted with the celebrated . Saot-Siacos , and being-attracted : by Bis personal character , and charmed by the
eflb . tsin . the last were as we hav e said , to a great extent abortive ; but in themiddle era * , that o £ his philosophic activity ,. he accomplished * scientific reform suck a ^ few men can ever individualLj achieve . Whatever may be thought of the Positive Philosophy either as to the perfection of the parts or as to its-completeness aa a . wuoh *—and it is undoubtedly open to cri ticism in both respects—it cannot be denied that to Comtb belongs the honour of being- th first who grasped the true principle- for the co-ordination of the sciences - that in an age of vast speculative- and soientiBc activity he first rose from the empirical classification of facts to a genuine science of principles Even IV enemies allow that he possessed great general force of intellect , rare specula tive power , and that he reaches the happiest generalizations in every bran ch of science he undertakes to expound .
It would be impossible for us to attempt even- an outline of his system n is this necessary in the Leader . That system was first introduced to Englis h students through our own pages , in a series of papers by Mr . Leves , which appeared in the Leader daring the summer and autumn of 1852 , and have since been collected and published as a separate volume in Bokn ' s Scientific Library . It was Mr . Lewes , indeed , who first made Cosite's name known in this country . Long before these papers were published in the Leader , when the Positive Philosophy was altogether unknown , Mr . Lswes directed ' special attention to it in- his Biocp ^ ajihical- History of Philosophy . Tke striking chapter , in that work , which heralded Comte as the ' Bacon of the nineteenth
century , and indicated tlie scope of philosophy , excited an interest in the subject which has been steadily on the increase ever since . And Comtb has now become so well known in this country that it is unnecessary to undertake either an , exposition or a defence of . his system ..
originality of Iis views , Ire joined the band of brilliant disciples which the genius and ambition of that distinguished social reformer gathered around Aim- Being the youngest amongst "them he was known , as the Benjamin of the Saint-Simonian school—a sobriquet whiclt his enemies maliciously said Eis subsequent career fully justified , his philosophical sjstem . being ; according to tliem ,, a genuine Bektjajiin's mess . As a favourite pupil of Salnx-Simon , Comxe not onlj assisted him in the preparation of his text-books , but undertook , 1 B . 182 Q ,. at the suggestion of the mastec ,, anindependent work designed as an . exposition of . the scientific , basis of the-system ., This work , entitled Systeme de J ? oUtiqp , e Positive ,, while ., approved of int the main bje Saxnt ^ -Simomt :, was described by him as defective in its exposition of tjiei religious and sentimental aspeet of his views . Oil the-death- of its founder nv 1825 , Comtk deserted the ¦ Saint-Sinionian school , to found one of his own ; and during the next twenty
jea « si devoted himself to the' elaboration . of an original system of scientific thought—since known as the ' Positive Philosophy-. ' The great texttook of his system , entitled Cours de PHUsophie Positive , extending to six "thick volumes ,- gradually appeared at intervals between the years 1830 4 and 1842 . During this time he led a quiet , scientific life , as Professor of Mathematics in the Ecole Polyteclmique ; and almost immediately after the conclusion of his great work published two popular treatises connected " vdtli the-subject of his chair , one on Analytical Geometry , the other on Astronomy , both of which were- very successful . In 1844 he issued an outline and defence of his system in a single volume , entitled Biscours sur VEnsemble du Pasitivisme . Soon , after the publication of this work , au emotional crisis happened in hishistory , through which he became conscious that his own . system -was defective—as his early exposition of Saint-Simonism had been— on . the religious side . The occasion of this was an ardent but virtuous attachment to
a lady named Cxotilde , whose death , a year after he had first met her , left him miserable in himself , and dissatisfied with his- philosophy . The influence of this aipw experience , is thua described by Mr . Lewes ,: — € ) taei whole year of chaste and exquisite affection changed Mb life . He had complete * His great work on Positive Philosophy . His scientific : elaboration waa . over . Hfc' -vrns now tcr enter upon the great problems of Social Life ; , and , by a fortunate coincidence ; it -was at this moment that he fell in lbve . It waa then this Philosopher
vrna toyee ? in _ airita intensity the troth -which He before had perceived , —viz ., that in the mass , as In the individual , predominance is due tt >< tho affections , becauBe the intellect is really no more than the servant of the affections . A now influence * penetrating like sunshine into the very depths-of his being ; awakened thero the feelings dormant since childhood ; and by their light he savr the world under new aspects . Ho grew religioua . He learned to appreciate the abiding and universal influence of the aflfectfons . He gained 1 a new glimpse inttr man'ii destiny ; He aspired to- become the founder of a nemr religion—the religion of Humanity .
While the spirit in . which , tliia effort originated is worthy of all honour , the : attempt itself- must be pronounced a » failure . It not only gained no new dsaciplea-,, but alienated some of Gomte's firmest friends and most devoted followers . Even M . IjIttjie , the enthusiastic disciple vvlio had devoted himself for , years to the exposition and de £ enoo of tho Positive Philosophy , fell , obliged to > desert Iub master when he attempted to inaugurate a new religion , which in tlie judgment of charity-was at best but self-idolatry thinly disguised . ¦ Comik ' s life thua divides itself into three , eras ; : in the first ,, lio is a disciple cxqp « . unding the views of others ; ixhtheacoond a master ,, a philosophic , legislator , unfolding a system of hia own ; in tlie third an apostle ,, proclaiming a »> cw religion . In tho first period lie naturally accomplished but little and his
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LOUIS BLANC'S NEW VOLUME . History , of the French Revolution ( Histoire , # c ) . By M . Louis Blanc . Vol . IX . Paris ; JLanglois et Leclercq . Amotheht volume will complete this great history , the only faithful record of the French Revolution . M . Louis Blanc Is indebted' to his exile for furnishing himwith a rich , accession of documentary evidence in tlie British Museum ^ moreover , he has ; made- use of important manuscript collections which have been , especially confided to him . The result is that new aspects of the Revolution are developed ,, and that numerous , traditional fallacies are altogether exploded . We have to repeat ^ therefore , what , we have already said—that the grandest event in the annals of France is not to be understood unless it be studied in these pages .. We have now before us the ninth volume , one of the most remarkable in the series . It contains fourteen
chapters . In the first , M . Louis Blanc analyzes tlie deliberations which established the constitution of I 793 i Hence the transition is rapid to the horrors of the Vendean war . The , ' story of Marat is told calmly but brilliantly . One chapter is devoted to the insurrection ^ and another to the suppression of the Lyonnese ^ ' The Coalition advances , ' leads up to c the Coalition , repulsed , ' through several descriptive interludes : on tlie convulsions in La Vendee , and the mighty efforts of the patriotic party at home . Three elaborate passages in vivid contrast are—the death of Marie Antoinette , the social and scientific labours of the Convention , and the necrology of the Revolution * The volume closes with- a chapter entitled ' Hebertisin . ' We have already noticed- then views enunciated by M . Louis Blanc on the subject of political assassination ., From , the- points of view of morals anil policy he equally condemns ib , and' his- argument ia the refutation of a thousand calumnies directed agoinat himself and his- party . Nowhere , however , do we find the narrative of Charlotte Corday's career so picturesquely yet minutely
traced . 1 * or ourselves ,, we have even less sympathy than M . Louis Blanc with the young Normai \ murderess , with her insane and ferocious desire to avenge the sufferings brought by the Girondists upon themselves . She made her way by lies to Marat ' s chamber in the old house , still to be seen in the Rue de l'Ecoie- de Medecine . There she found lier fancied enemy , not among lustres ,. silken hangings , and luxurious Ottomans , as . Madame Roland haa it ,, but surrounded by the emblems of poverty . With the knife hidden in , her bosom , she approached the helpless man , and it was her intention , as she confessed , to escape when the crime had been committed . We
recognize little of the heroine in Chnrlotte Corday . When , in the assassin ' s red garment , she mounted the scaffold , it was with neither more nor less intrepidity than was displayed by a hundred other victims . Throughout tho scenes preceding ' her execution the populace behaved with exemplary delicacy , and when an assistant of the executioner , upon displaying her beautitul head to the spectators , slapped ; the cheek , ho was dragged to prison and publicly ; branded . Ml Louia Blanc ' s commentary upon this tragic episode is , " Of all the discipleaof Marat the most illustrious was—Charlotte Corday .
It was demonstrated in a former volume that the excesses in La Vendee originated with the Royalists . It is now proved , upon incontestable evidence , that the guillotine was not first set up at Lyons by the Republicans . Chaulier was one of tone earliest victims , and it was the Convention that endeavoured to save liim ; the Reign of Terror was inaugurated by the Jiourbon faction ; the confusion began with the Giroiule ; it was Couthon who set tho example of mercy and moderation . These certainly are startling novelties in the stocy of the Revolution . M . Louia Blanc appeal * , however , not to opinion but to authority , sind invites the production of testimony that will contradict or invalidate his own . Again , tho advance of the h ? rvo , "S 1 CS IIn ViCi r ?" epulse BU PPty "wgnfficcnt chapters to the historv , especially when the wntor lias to depict ' the supreme effort of France , n ,. f «? i im , i ! ltme ( 1 by so n » a » y enemies , with treason at home , a queen doing , all in . her power to lure on the invadera of the state , and the Linnoutaoi m incorrig . ble autocracy stimulating in all directions miserable llll Jw r i -T f tllOlr bliud ftnd brutl » l « gotiaur . We have not been so wolUatwfiea with the , narrative of Marie Antoinette ' s trial and execution ;
3jvr« ^ Fi+Rtt»Tv Jluroiiun * • ' M Critics Not Blaa
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Critics are not tua legislators ,. but the jsidges and police of literature . They do not make la- « rs—they interpret and try to enforce . them . —Edinburgh Review . ?>
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. 883 THE LEADER , [ No , g 90 y Ssfdexbbr 12 , 1857 .
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 12, 1857, page 882, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2209/page/18/
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