five years, by pouring boiling oil into his throat, and her younger child, by burying it alive; or what was recently reported from Algiers: how a casual dispute between a Spaniard and an Algerine ended in a fight; and how the latter, having vanquished the other, tore out the whole of his lower jaw bone, and carried it off as a trophy, leaving his adversary still alive; — when we hear of cruelty like this, we are seized with horror, and exclaim: “How is it possible to do such a thing?” Now, let me ask what this question signifies.

Does it mean: “How is it possible to fear so little the punishments of the future life?” It is difficult to admit this interpretation. Then perhaps it intends to say: “How is it possible to act according to a principle which is so absolutely unfitted to become