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    beeadraw * between it and philosophy which enabled eaeMopmw-ttojow fatbtciihout'let-or hindrance Jrom tJu other * But what is now the case ? They WXateoyed-the line , an * d in tha attempt to noake reasonable Christians hare made- nothing . but eminently unreasonable p hilosophers , " And this would be the result o £ Wagner ' s system . He tries to settle physiological ana anthropological problems by reference to Scripture ; and actually asserts thafc Christianity must stand or Ml by the answer given to the question of the Origin of Races . A more complex and difficult problem than-this of thevorunn of the . various races of nma does not perhaps exist . Opinions &re very much divided on it , and are likely to be soon a question thus removed from direct evidence . But whether the whole human family sprang from one pair , or from several separate centres , it has long been felt by the gravest philosophers that the introduction of Scripture can only perplex the argument , and retard a settlement ; for , in the first place , there are those / even orthodox clergymen ) who question whether the language of Scripture is so explicit as to exclude the opinion of various centres ; and in the second

    place * , if . Scripture is to be appealed to at all , the labours of ethnologists may « eass at once , for no sooner do we admit the final decision of a question to lie beyond science , than science itself becomes superfluous . If , however , Scripture i& thus used in anthropology , it must also be so used in geology adA astronomy , and all our . men of science will become heretics . The mistake committed by Wagner has produced results such as might &a . ve been , anticipated . Instead of Germany accepting the position , which Wagner really , but confusedly , holds—namely , uniting " the creed of a -charcoal-burner and the philosophy of Bacon" ( i . e . Christianity and-Science)—the indignant philosophers have insisted on a choice being made fcetweenthetwo , and . they exclaim " Either Christianity or Science ! " And even a man . so eminent as Virchow feels called upon to enter his protest Against Wagner , saying that very few men of science will be found who can tkus'separate their religious and scientific individualities . " The majority wilLnotJbeiable to withstand the desire to bring their religious and scientific convictions into harmony , and when science and religion are thus opposed , the choice cannot be doubtful . "

    The error is fundamental . Theology belongs to a different order of con--ceptionsy andcannot , therefore , legitimately be employed to control science . TBe attempt to do so always has failed , and always will fail . Men wedded to science will be thrown , into antagonism with religion if their investigations are thus controlled . They will say with Vogt , Moleschott , Biichner , And the rest— " Science tells me nothing of a special soul-substance , it only tells me of nerves , and their functions . " The mass of scientific men will say the same ; although many will further add , " If science tells you nothing of U : thinking principle or of immortality , it is because these lie beyond the ^ G&Kexe of science , and are within the sphere of religion .

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    THJB-. FREN 5 CH REVOLUTION , Sidioixe d * la ! JRevoltdxonfVa * 4 aif » . Par Lonia Blanc . "VoL VIII . Paris : Langloiset Leclercq M . Iioms Blanc approaches the climax of his story . The appeal to the people has been discussed , the king is dead , La Vendee is in arms , Pitt has declared the policy , and Burke the sentiments , of the reigning class in England , the stain has been detected on Dumouriez ' s sword , the Gironde is disfiolvedj war without and dissension within protract the agony of France . To traverse this period accurately , it was essential to collate many existing narratives -with the original archives of the Revolution and the personal testimony of spectators . Not only had artists , and lyrists , and the professors of dramatic flattery conspired to draw before the decisive event of 1798 an embroidered veil of illusion—not only had pictures been hung in the

    galleries , and apostrophes declaimed in the theatres , even serious annalists had filled their frescoed space with imaginary groups , and had studiously deformed the Revolution . M . ! Louis Blanc , proposing to desoribe the acts , the passions , the 1 crimes and virtues ; the wisdom and the madness of 1789 , ¦ was beset by perplexities ; He had to give new colours to an old epic , to ¦ discredit familiar anecdotes , to deal boldly with names and reputations , to < rite his contemporaries among the authors of fallacy , to be a student , a narrator , and a-critic . His success ha » justified his courage . M .. de Lamartine * it ' was once said , writes a history m which everyone was praised , and 3 VL Louis Blanc a history in which everyone was blamed . Of neither is the observation literally true ; but it is indisputable that M . Louis Blanc has set himself to the ' task of searching out the causes and the errors of the Rovolution ; and 6 f < tryine the accuracy of its historians .. But his severity is ad

    generous as it is impartial ; He justifies the execution of Louis XVI ., but he does not deny those better qualities that gave him a claim to the compassion of history . He confutes M . Michelet , but quotes him as a great witer . He proves that many a tale of atrocity , traditionally associated with the Revolution , is false ; yet because he denies invented crimes , he does . not palliate ! crimes'that are-proved by the record .. A master of style , he claims no rhetorical latitude , and moves rigidly within the lines he has traced by oxaot and elaborate research . This is one > of his principal merits . At the same time it-is one of his principal claims to popularity . This is a time for historical ' analysis . Historians who . are merely pictorial , or eloquent , or entertaining , havo ' no chance in the face of the orueal that must follow their thathe contra

    ohfcUenge . Thutr , the remarkable charge against Danton , , - dftjtecUand nullified his whole life bya strange declaration in the assemblya 'flhtoqgfe by * whioh' MM . Michelet and Lamartine profited to indulge at larg 0 > i # * tWinoraHties , " is dispoaedof by M . Louis Blanc , not by a fervent coiunitchr ^ lMdiiig , but by the cold method ¦ of alibi , by a proof that Daunon , nof 374 tnt ( M % taMire « k ' > th < yspeech referred to * and . that this ; was notorious to httMO 0 tttnttftttottte «»< . Xil the same way the anecdote of De Sombrouil ' a daughterdrinWon blte » djo » " 'the Abb 6 Udgeworthisaying to the king , " Son of SV . 'Loiii ^ asoettd ^ ttf ^ hMLVOTii" of the terrors amid which the Assembly pronounced * fdr th » WMHHi » toatof . 'Louis , are submitted to . the tost oficontempcffttry evidence * andt ttKpeHtodi fttKn the preoincto of- history . IV » , fjHom v one point of-vkn ^ a > graoelea * task : To strip men of their drattMtkrooataHMH- ^ o ooirortt a majestMmartyrdom into . a soene of struggling

    terror—a scene of clouds and darknessand menacing multitudes into an affair of orderly business—to reduce , instead of multiplying , anecdotes—a capacitv is required far above that inventive faculty which decorates a serious recital with the ornaments of the stage , and turns that which is tragically simple into a chimerical melodrama . Yet this has , in part , been M . Louis Blanc ' s undertaking . At the same time , however , he demonstrates that an historical narrative , to be picturesque , need not be meretricious—that its own anecdotes are more imposing than the incidents imagined for effect , or for flattery , or for libel , by writers whose books are all colour or caprice . No account of the French Revolution is more brilliant than that of M . Louis Blanc . Yet none is so moderate , or so judicial . 7

    His salient illustration in the newvolume is connected with the execution of Louis XVI . Scsevola with his Hand in the flame , Russell at the scaffold , Joan of Arc at the stake , have suggested touches for the portrait of the ' French king encountering the death decreed by the tuition . What is the popular account- —the loyal myth , which has been reiterated and authorized by successive writers ? That the king , with impassive fortitude , with the mute dignity of a martyr , with angelic serenity , or else with heroic disdain , laid his head under the blade of the guillotine . Little reproach to him if he did not . Every brave man is not a Huss or a Sydney ; but , with one school of historians it is heterodox not to falsify , exaggerate , and confuse events as well as characters .

    M . Louis Blanc ' s description of the death of Louis XVI . occupies one of the most remarkable chapters in his book . It is new in style , new in matter . The calm conversations with Malesherbes , the questions on Livy and Tacitus , the serenity of the departure from the Temple , are not forgotten ; but we now first learn that Louis XVI . shouted on the scaffold , struggled with frantic horror with his executioners , was struck with a mad despair when he at last realized his position and gave up his inveterate belief that succour was at hand , that his face was crimson with fear and passion , that he was threatened with a pistol , that he was dragged down to the plank , and that only the stroke of the machine-sword silenced his " terrible cries . " The night

    before his execution , a rumour had spread through Paris , and had even reached his cell , that he was to be rescued ; and , from the scaffold , he obviously expected to recognize his deliverers . When , early in . tbe dismal morning , two commissaries of the Commune , two ecclesiastics , and the chief of the police presented themselves in his chamber , he was shaken by a momentary terror , and retreating into his closet , locked the door and knelt down before the Abbe Firmont . Firmont , himself , however , retained some hopes , with which he probably infected the spirit of the king . The procession was formed , the inner court was traversed , and Louis , after lingering near the tower in which this wife , children , and sister were confined , approached the principal outlet from his prison : — -

    At the entrance of the great court , a green carriage was waiting , with , two gendarmes holding open the do ' or . Louis entered ; his confessor took a seat by his side , the soldiers mounted in front . The signal is given , and the cortege moves on . It wa 8 a mournful scene . From the prison to the place of death was ranged a double line of pikes or guns , borne by men who , in their immovable silence , seemed like armed statues . The weather was cold and misty . A leaden stillness , only once broken at the gates of the Temple by a cry of "Mercy ! mercy ! " uttered by the trembling voices of some women , reigned along the entire line of march . Here and there a few shops were half open ; everywhere the shutters were closed . For the footpassenger there were no means of issue ; nor was a single carriage in those streets , except that one which rolled on amid universal silence , bearing the miserable man , then called Louis the Last .

    While he still hoped—and , reading the service for the dying , meditated wistfully on life—while his confessor counted the minutes , and watched in anguish for some sign of the promised plot , Leduc was petitioning the Convention for permission to bury in his family tomb at Sens the body of the condemned king . He was better informed than the confessor . He hud no expectation of a rescue . At tbe place of execution not more than twentyfive friends of the fallen throne had assembled : — At ten minutes past ten they reached the foot of the scaffold . It had boon erected in front of the Palace of the Tuileries , in the square called after Louis XV ., and near the spot where stood the statuo of the most impure of kings—a king who died

    tranquilly in his bed . The condemned man was threo minutes descending from the carriage . Upon quitting the Temple he had refused the rcdingote which CleYy had offered him , and now appeared in a brown coat , white -waistcoat , grey breeches , ami whito stockings . His hair was not disordered , nor was any change perceptible in his countenance . The Abbe" Firmont was dressed in black . A large open space had been kept round the scaffold , —with cannon ranged on all sitl ^ a , —while beyond , as far as the eye could reach , stood an unarmed multitude . The executioner had opened the door of tho coach , and descending , Louis fixed his eyes upon the soldiers who surrounded him , and with a torrible voice cried , " Silence ! " Tho drums ceased to beat , but at a signal from their officer , tha drummers nguin went on . " What treason is this ? " he shouted . " I am lost ! I am lost !"—For it was evident

    that up to this moment ho had been clinging to hope . Tho executioners now approached to take off a part of his clothes ; he repulsed them fiercely , and himself removed tho collar from his neck . But all tho blood in his body seemed to be ; turned into firo when they sought to tie his hands . " Tic my hands ! " he shrieked . A struggle was inevitable : it came . It is indisputable , says Mercier , that Louis fought with his executioners . Tho Abbe" Edgowortli stood by , perplexed , horrified , speechless . At last , as his master seemed to look inquiringly at him , he said , " , ii » thla additional outrage I only seo a last trait of the reaembianco between your majesty ana the God who will give you your reward . " At these words , tho indignuti «>« ot the man gave way to the humility of the Chritttian , and Louis said to tho ux » 'ouUonors , his luuand

    " I will drain the oup to the dregs . " They tied his hands , they cut off r , then , loaning on the arm of his confessor , ho began , with a slow trend and sinking demeanour , to mount the steps , then very steep , of tho guillotine . Upon tu 0 la 8 t stop , however , ho eoemod suddenly to rouso , and walked rapidly across to I ho otlier side of the scaffold ; when , by a sign commanding silence ,, he exclaimed , " 1 die innocent of tho crimes imputed to me . " His face was now very red , and , according to the narrative of his confessor , his yoke was bo loud that it could be hoard throug h tho Btreots us faros tho Pont-Tournant . Some other expressions were distinctly hounl , " 1 pardon tho authors of my death , and I pray Heaven that tho blood you are about , to « hed may never bo visited uppn Franco . " Ho was nbout to continue , when his voice was drowned by tho renewed rolling of tho drums , at a Bignal which , it is affirmed , wan given by the comedian Dugayon ^ in anticipation of the orders of Santerro . " SHoneo ! bo silent ! " cried LouiB . JLVI ., losing alLflolf ^ oontrol , and stamping violently with his loot-

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    7 TBB LBADiEiR . [ No . 884 ., Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 16, 1856, page 786, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2154/page/18/