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diff --git a/old/1185.txt b/old/1185.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d3427c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1185.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11354 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Conflict Between Religion +and Science, by John William Draper + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science + +Author: John William Draper + +Posting Date: August 21, 2008 [EBook #1185] +Release Date: February, 1998 +Last updated: March 27, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller + + + + + +HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION AND SCIENCE + +By John William Draper, M. D., LL. D. + +PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, + + AUTHOR OF A TREATISE ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY, HISTORY OF THE + INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPE, HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN + CIVIL WAR, AND OF MANY EXPERIMENTAL MEMOIRS ON CHEMICAL AND + OTHER SCIENTIFIC SUBJECTS + + + + +PREFACE. + +WHOEVER has had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the mental +condition of the intelligent classes in Europe and America, must have +perceived that there is a great and rapidly-increasing departure from +the public religious faith, and that, while among the more frank this +divergence is not concealed, there is a far more extensive and far more +dangerous secession, private and unacknowledged. + +So wide-spread and so powerful is this secession, that it can neither be +treated with contempt nor with punishment. It cannot be extinguished by +derision, by vituperation, or by force. The time is rapidly approaching +when it will give rise to serious political results. + +Ecclesiastical spirit no longer inspires the policy of the world. +Military fervor in behalf of faith has disappeared. Its only souvenirs +are the marble effigies of crusading knights, reposing in the silent +crypts of churches on their tombs. + +That a crisis is impending is shown by the attitude of the great powers +toward the papacy. The papacy represents the ideas and aspirations +of two-thirds of the population of Europe. It insists on a political +supremacy in accordance with its claims to a divine origin and mission, +and a restoration of the mediaeval order of things, loudly declaring +that it will accept no reconciliation with modern civilization. + +The antagonism we thus witness between Religion and Science is the +continuation of a struggle that commenced when Christianity began +to attain political power. A divine revelation must necessarily be +intolerant of contradiction; it must repudiate all improvement in +itself, and view with disdain that arising from the progressive +intellectual development of man. But our opinions on every subject are +continually liable to modification, from the irresistible advance of +human knowledge. + +Can we exaggerate the importance of a contention in which every +thoughtful person must take part whether he will or not? In a matter so +solemn as that of religion, all men, whose temporal interests are not +involved in existing institutions, earnestly desire to find the truth. +They seek information as to the subjects in dispute, and as to the +conduct of the disputants. + +The history of Science is not a mere record of isolated discoveries; it +is a narrative of the conflict of two contending powers, the expansive +force of the human intellect on one side, and the compression arising +from traditionary faith and human interests on the other. + +No one has hitherto treated the subject from this point of view. Yet +from this point it presents itself to us as a living issue--in fact, as +the most important of all living issues. + +A few years ago, it was the politic and therefore the proper course to +abstain from all allusion to this controversy, and to keep it as far as +possible in the background. The tranquillity of society depends so +much on the stability of its religious convictions, that no one can +be justified in wantonly disturbing them. But faith is in its nature +unchangeable, stationary; Science is in its nature progressive; and +eventually a divergence between them, impossible to conceal, must take +place. It then becomes the duty of those whose lives have made them +familiar with both modes of thought, to present modestly, but +firmly, their views; to compare the antagonistic pretensions calmly, +impartially, philosophically. History shows that, if this be not done, +social misfortunes, disastrous and enduring, will ensue. When the old +mythological religion of Europe broke down under the weight of its own +inconsistencies, neither the Roman emperors nor the philosophers of +those times did any thing adequate for the guidance of public opinion. +They left religious affairs to take their chance, and accordingly those +affairs fell into the hands of ignorant and infuriated ecclesiastics, +parasites, eunuchs, and slaves. + +The intellectual night which settled on Europe, in consequence of that +great neglect of duty, is passing away; we live in the daybreak of +better things. Society is anxiously expecting light, to see in what +direction it is drifting. It plainly discerns that the track along which +the voyage of civilization has thus far been made, has been left; and +that a new departure, on all unknown sea, has been taken. + +Though deeply impressed with such thoughts, I should not have presumed +to write this book, or to intrude on the public the ideas it presents, +had I not made the facts with which it deals a subject of long and +earnest meditation. And I have gathered a strong incentive to undertake +this duty from the circumstance that a "History of the Intellectual +Development of Europe," published by me several years ago, which has +passed through many editions in America, and has been reprinted in +numerous European languages, English, French, German, Russian, Polish, +Servian, etc., is everywhere received with favor. + +In collecting and arranging the materials for the volumes I published +under the title of "A History of the American Civil War," a work of very +great labor, I had become accustomed to the comparison of conflicting +statements, the adjustment of conflicting claims. The approval with +which that book has been received by the American public, a critical +judge of the events considered, has inspired me with additional +confidence. I had also devoted much attention to the experimental +investigation of natural phenomena, and had published many well-known +memoirs on such subjects. And perhaps no one can give himself to these +pursuits, and spend a large part of his life in the public teaching of +science, without partaking of that love of impartiality and truth which +Philosophy incites. She inspires us with a desire to dedicate our days +to the good of our race, so that in the fading light of life's evening +we may not, on looking back, be forced to acknowledge how unsubstantial +and useless are the objects that we have pursued. + +Though I have spared no pains in the composition of this book, I am +very sensible how unequal it is to the subject, to do justice to which +a knowledge of science, history, theology, politics, is required; every +page should be alive with intelligence and glistening with facts. But +then I have remembered that this is only as it were the preface, or +forerunner, of a body of literature, which the events and wants of our +times will call forth. We have come to the brink of a great intellectual +change. Much of the frivolous reading of the present will be supplanted +by a thoughtful and austere literature, vivified by endangered +interests, and made fervid by ecclesiastical passion. + +What I have sought to do is, to present a clear and impartial statement +of the views and acts of the two contending parties. In one sense I have +tried to identify myself with each, so as to comprehend thoroughly their +motives; but in another and higher sense I have endeavored to stand +aloof, and relate with impartiality their actions. + +I therefore trust that those, who may be disposed to criticise this +book, will bear in mind that its object is not to advocate the views +and pretensions of either party, but to explain clearly, and without +shrinking those of both. In the management of each chapter I have +usually set forth the orthodox view first, and then followed it with +that of its opponents. + +In thus treating the subject it has not been necessary to pay much +regard to more moderate or intermediate opinions, for, though they may +be intrinsically of great value, in conflicts of this kind it is not +with the moderates but with the extremists that the impartial reader is +mainly concerned. Their movements determine the issue. + +For this reason I have had little to say respecting the two great +Christian confessions, the Protestant and Greek Churches. As to the +latter, it has never, since the restoration of science, arrayed itself +in opposition to the advancement of knowledge. On the contrary, it has +always met it with welcome. It has observed a reverential attitude to +truth, from whatever quarter it might come. Recognizing the apparent +discrepancies between its interpretations of revealed truth and the +discoveries of science, it has always expected that satisfactory +explanations and reconciliations would ensue, and in this it has not +been disappointed. It would have been well for modern civilization if +the Roman Church had done the same. + +In speaking of Christianity, reference is generally made to the +Roman Church, partly because its adherents compose the majority of +Christendom, partly because its demands are the most pretentious, and +partly because it has commonly sought to enforce those demands by +the civil power. None of the Protestant Churches has ever occupied a +position so imperious--none has ever had such wide-spread political +influence. For the most part they have been averse to constraint, and +except in very few instances their opposition has not passed beyond the +exciting of theological odium. + +As to Science, she has never sought to ally herself to civil power. She +has never attempted to throw odium or inflict social ruin on any human +being. She has never subjected any one to mental torment, physical +torture, least of all to death, for the purpose of upholding or +promoting her ideas. She presents herself unstained by cruelties and +crimes. But in the Vatican--we have only to recall the Inquisition--the +hands that are now raised in appeals to the Most Merciful are crimsoned. +They have been steeped in blood! + +There are two modes of historical composition, the artistic and the +scientific. The former implies that men give origin to events; it +therefore selects some prominent individual, pictures him under +a fanciful form, and makes him the hero of a romance. The latter, +insisting that human affairs present an unbroken chain, in which each +fact is the offspring of some preceding fact, and the parent of some +subsequent fact, declares that men do not control events, but that +events control men. The former gives origin to compositions, which, +however much they may interest or delight us, are but a grade above +novels; the latter is austere, perhaps even repulsive, for it sternly +impresses us with a conviction of the irresistible dominion of law, and +the insignificance of human exertions. In a subject so solemn as that to +which this book is devoted, the romantic and the popular are altogether +out of place. He who presumes to treat of it must fix his eyes +steadfastly on that chain of destiny which universal history displays; +he must turn with disdain from the phantom impostures of pontiffs and +statesmen and kings. + +If any thing were needed to show us the untrustworthiness of artistic +historical compositions, our personal experience would furnish it. How +often do our most intimate friends fail to perceive the real motives of +our every-day actions; how frequently they misinterpret our intentions! +If this be the case in what is passing before our eyes, may we not +be satisfied that it is impossible to comprehend justly the doings of +persons who lived many years ago, and whom we have never seen. + +In selecting and arranging the topics now to be presented, I have been +guided in part by "the Confession" of the late Vatican Council, and in +part by the order of events in history. Not without interest will the +reader remark that the subjects offer themselves to us now as they did +to the old philosophers of Greece. We still deal with the same questions +about which they disputed. What is God? What is the soul? What is the +world? How is it governed? Have we any standard or criterion of truth? +And the thoughtful reader will earnestly ask, "Are our solutions of +these problems any better than theirs?" + +The general argument of this book, then, is as follows: + +I first direct attention to the origin of modern science as +distinguished from ancient, by depending on observation, experiment, +and mathematical discussion, instead of mere speculation, and shall show +that it was a consequence of the Macedonian campaigns, which brought +Asia and Europe into contact. A brief sketch of those campaigns, and of +the Museum of Alexandria, illustrates its character. + +Then with brevity I recall the well-known origin of Christianity, and +show its advance to the attainment of imperial power, the transformation +it underwent by its incorporation with paganism, the existing religion +of the Roman Empire. A clear conception of its incompatibility with +science caused it to suppress forcibly the Schools of Alexandria. It was +constrained to this by the political necessities of its position. + +The parties to the conflict thus placed, I next relate the story of +their first open struggle; it is the first or Southern Reformation. The +point in dispute had respect to the nature of God. It involved the rise +of Mohammedanism. Its result was, that much of Asia and Africa, with the +historic cities Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Carthage, were wrenched from +Christendom, and the doctrine of the Unity of God established in the +larger portion of what had been the Roman Empire. + +This political event was followed by the restoration of science, the +establishment of colleges, schools, libraries, throughout the dominions +of the Arabians. Those conquerors, pressing forward rapidly in their +intellectual development, rejected the anthropomorphic ideas of the +nature of God remaining in their popular belief, and accepted other more +philosophical ones, akin to those that had long previously been attained +to in India. The result of this was a second conflict, that respecting +the nature of the soul. Under the designation of Averroism, there came +into prominence the theories of Emanation and Absorption. At the +close of the middle ages the Inquisition succeeded in excluding those +doctrines from Europe, and now the Vatican Council has formally and +solemnly anathematized them. + +Meantime, through the cultivation of astronomy, geography, and other +sciences, correct views had been gained as to the position and relations +of the earth, and as to the structure of the world; and since Religion, +resting itself on what was assumed to be the proper interpretation +of the Scriptures, insisted that the earth is the central and most +important part of the universe, a third conflict broke out. In this +Galileo led the way on the part of Science. Its issue was the overthrow +of the Church on the question in dispute. Subsequently a subordinate +controversy arose respecting the age of the world, the Church insisting +that it is only about six thousand years old. In this she was again +overthrown The light of history and of science had been gradually +spreading over Europe. In the sixteenth century the prestige of Roman +Christianity was greatly diminished by the intellectual reverses it +had experienced, and also by its political and moral condition. It was +clearly seen by many pious men that Religion was not accountable for +the false position in which she was found, but that the misfortune was +directly traceable to the alliance she had of old contracted with Roman +paganism. The obvious remedy, therefore, was a return to primitive +purity. Thus arose the fourth conflict, known to us as the +Reformation--the second or Northern Reformation. The special form it +assumed was a contest respecting the standard or criterion of +truth, whether it is to be found in the Church or in the Bible. The +determination of this involved a settlement of the rights of reason, or +intellectual freedom. Luther, who is the conspicuous man of the epoch, +carried into effect his intention with no inconsiderable success; and at +the close of the struggle it was found that Northern Europe was lost to +Roman Christianity. + +We are now in the midst of a controversy respecting the mode of +government of the world, whether it be by incessant divine intervention, +or by the operation of primordial and unchangeable law. The intellectual +movement of Christendom has reached that point which Arabism had +attained to in the tenth and eleventh centuries; and doctrines which +were then discussed are presenting themselves again for review; such are +those of Evolution, Creation, Development. + +Offered under these general titles, I think it will be found that all +the essential points of this great controversy are included. By grouping +under these comprehensive heads the facts to be considered, and dealing +with each group separately, we shall doubtless acquire clear views of +their inter-connection and their historical succession. + +I have treated of these conflicts as nearly as I conveniently could in +their proper chronological order, and, for the sake of completeness, +have added chapters on-- + +An examination of what Latin Christianity has done for modern +civilization. + +A corresponding examination of what Science has done. + +The attitude of Roman Christianity in the impending conflict, as defined +by the Vatican Council. + +The attention of many truth-seeking persons has been so exclusively +given to the details of sectarian dissensions, that the long strife, to +the history of which these pages are devoted, is popularly but little +known. Having tried to keep steadfastly in view the determination to +write this work in an impartial spirit, to speak with respect of the +contending parties, but never to conceal the truth, I commit it to the +considerate judgment of the thoughtful reader. + + JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER + +UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, December, 1873. + + + + + +HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION AND SCIENCE. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + THE ORIGIN OF SCIENCE. + + Religious condition of the Greeks in the fourth century + before Christ.--Their invasion of the Persian Empire brings + them in contact with new aspects of Nature, and familiarizes + them with new religious systems.--The military, + engineering, and scientific activity, stimulated by the + Macedonian campaigns, leads to the establishment in + Alexandria of an institute, the Museum, for the cultivation + of knowledge by experiment, observation, and mathematical + discussion.--It is the origin of Science. + +GREEK MYTHOLOGY. No spectacle can be presented to the thoughtful +mind more solemn, more mournful, than that of the dying of an ancient +religion, which in its day has given consolation to many generations of +men. + +Four centuries before the birth of Christ, Greece was fast outgrowing +her ancient faith. Her philosophers, in their studies of the world, had +been profoundly impressed with the contrast between the majesty of the +operations of Nature and the worthlessness of the divinities of Olympus. +Her historians, considering the orderly course of political affairs, +the manifest uniformity in the acts of men, and that there was no event +occurring before their eyes for which they could not find an obvious +cause in some preceding event, began to suspect that the miracles and +celestial interventions, with which the old annals were filled, were +only fictions. They demanded, when the age of the supernatural had +ceased, why oracles had become mute, and why there were now no more +prodigies in the world. + +Traditions, descending from immemorial antiquity, and formerly accepted +by pious men as unquestionable truths, had filled the islands of +the Mediterranean and the conterminous countries with supernatural +wonders--enchantresses, sorcerers, giants, ogres, harpies, gorgons, +centaurs, cyclops. The azure vault was the floor of heaven; there Zeus, +surrounded by the gods with their wives and mistresses, held his court, +engaged in pursuits like those of men, and not refraining from acts of +human passion and crime. + +A sea-coast broken by numerous indentations, an archipelago with some of +the most lovely islands in the world, inspired the Greeks with a taste +for maritime life, for geographical discovery, and colonization. +Their ships wandered all over the Black and Mediterranean Seas. The +time-honored wonders that had been glorified in the "Odyssey," and +sacred in public faith, were found to have no existence. As a better +knowledge of Nature was obtained, the sky was shown to be an illusion; +it was discovered that there is no Olympus, nothing above but space and +stars. With the vanishing of their habitation, the gods disappeared, +both those of the Ionian type of Homer and those of the Doric of Hesiod. + +EFFECTS OF DISCOVERY AND CRITICISM. But this did not take place without +resistance. At first, the public, and particularly its religious +portion, denounced the rising doubts as atheism. They despoiled some +of the offenders of their goods, exiled others; some they put to death. +They asserted that what had been believed by pious men in the old times, +and had stood the test of ages, must necessarily be true. Then, as the +opposing evidence became irresistible, they were content to admit that +these marvels were allegories under which the wisdom of the ancients had +concealed many sacred and mysterious things. They tried to reconcile, +what now in their misgivings they feared might be myths, with their +advancing intellectual state. But their efforts were in vain, for there +are predestined phases through which on such an occasion public opinion +must pass. What it has received with veneration it begins to doubt, then +it offers new interpretations, then subsides into dissent, and ends with +a rejection of the whole as a mere fable. + +In their secession the philosophers and historians were followed by +the poets. Euripides incurred the odium of heresy. Aeschylus narrowly +escaped being stoned to death for blasphemy. But the frantic efforts +of those who are interested in supporting delusions must always end in +defeat. The demoralization resistlessly extended through every branch of +literature, until at length it reached the common people. + +THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. Greek philosophical criticism had lent its aid to +Greek philosophical discovery in this destruction of the national faith. +It sustained by many arguments the wide-spreading unbelief. It compared +the doctrines of the different schools with each other, and showed from +their contradictions that man has no criterion of truth; that, since his +ideas of what is good and what is evil differ according to the country +in which he lives, they can have no foundation in Nature, but must be +altogether the result of education; that right and wrong are nothing +more than fictions created by society for its own purposes. In Athens, +some of the more advanced classes had reached such a pass that they not +only denied the unseen, the supernatural, they even affirmed that the +world is only a day-dream, a phantasm, and that nothing at all exists. + +The topographical configuration of Greece gave an impress to her +political condition. It divided her people into distinct communities +having conflicting interests, and made them incapable of centralization. +Incessant domestic wars between the rival states checked her +advancement. She was poor, her leading men had become corrupt. They were +ever ready to barter patriotic considerations for foreign gold, to sell +themselves for Persian bribes. Possessing a perception of the beautiful +as manifested in sculpture and architecture to a degree never +attained elsewhere either before or since, Greece had lost a practical +appreciation of the Good and the True. + +While European Greece, full of ideas of liberty and independence, +rejected the sovereignty of Persia, Asiatic Greece acknowledged it +without reluctance. At that time the Persian Empire in territorial +extent was equal to half of modern Europe. It touched the waters of +the Mediterranean, the Aegean, the Black, the Caspian, the Indian, the +Persian, the Red Seas. Through its territories there flowed six of the +grandest rivers in the world--the Euphrates, the Tigris, the Indus, the +Jaxartes, the Oxus, the Nile, each more than a thousand miles in length. +Its surface reached from thirteen hundred feet below the sea-level to +twenty thousand feet above. It yielded, therefore, every agricultural +product. Its mineral wealth was boundless. It inherited the prestige of +the Median, the Babylonian, the Assyrian, the Chaldean Empires, whose +annals reached back through more than twenty centuries. + +THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. Persia had always looked upon European Greece as +politically insignificant, for it had scarcely half the territorial +extent of one of her satrapies. Her expeditions for compelling its +obedience had, however, taught her the military qualities of its people. +In her forces were incorporated Greek mercenaries, esteemed the very +best of her troops. She did not hesitate sometimes to give the command +of her armies to Greek generals, of her fleets to Greek captains. In the +political convulsions through which she had passed, Greek soldiers had +often been used by her contending chiefs. These military operations were +attended by a momentous result. They revealed, to the quick eye of +these warlike mercenaries, the political weakness of the empire and +the possibility of reaching its centre. After the death of Cyrus on the +battle-field of Cunaxa, it was demonstrated, by the immortal retreat of +the ten thousand under Xenophon, that a Greek army could force its way +to and from the heart of Persia. + +That reverence for the military abilities of Asiatic generals, so +profoundly impressed on the Greeks by such engineering exploits as the +bridging of the Hellespont, and the cutting of the isthmus at Mount +Athos by Xerxes, had been obliterated at Salamis, Platea, Mycale. To +plunder rich Persian provinces had become an irresistible temptation. +Such was the expedition of Agesilaus, the Spartan king, whose brilliant +successes were, however, checked by the Persian government resorting to +its time-proved policy of bribing the neighbors of Sparta to attack her. +"I have been conquered by thirty thousand Persian archers," bitterly +exclaimed Agesilaus, as he re-embarked, alluding to the Persian coin, +the Daric, which was stamped with the image of an archer. + +THE INVASION OF PERSIA BY GREECE. At length Philip, the King of Macedon, +projected a renewal of these attempts, under a far more formidable +organization, and with a grander object. He managed to have himself +appointed captain-general of all Greece not for the purpose of a mere +foray into the Asiatic satrapies, but for the overthrow of the Persian +dynasty in the very centre of its power. Assassinated while his +preparations were incomplete, he was succeeded by his son Alexander, +then a youth. A general assembly of Greeks at Corinth had unanimously +elected him in his father's stead. There were some disturbances in +Illyria; Alexander had to march his army as far north as the Danube to +quell them. During his absence the Thebans with some others conspired +against him. On his return he took Thebes by assault. He massacred +six thousand of its inhabitants, sold thirty thousand for slaves, and +utterly demolished the city. The military wisdom of this severity was +apparent in his Asiatic campaign. He was not troubled by any revolt in +his rear. + +THE MACEDONIAN CAMPAIGN. In the spring B.C. 334 Alexander crossed the +Hellespont into Asia. His army consisted of thirty-four thousand foot +and four thousand horse. He had with him only seventy talents in money. +He marched directly on the Persian army, which, vastly exceeding him in +strength, was holding the line of the Granicus. He forced the passage of +the river, routed the enemy, and the possession of all Asia Minor, with +its treasures, was the fruit of the victory. The remainder of that +year he spent in the military organization of the conquered provinces. +Meantime Darius, the Persian king, had advanced an army of six hundred +thousand men to prevent the passage of the Macedonians into Syria. In +a battle that ensued among the mountain-defiles at Issus, the Persians +were again overthrown. So great was the slaughter that Alexander, and +Ptolemy, one of his generals, crossed over a ravine choked with dead +bodies. It was estimated that the Persian loss was not less than ninety +thousand foot and ten thousand horse. The royal pavilion fell into the +conqueror's hands, and with it the wife and several of the children of +Darius. Syria was thus added to the Greek conquests. In Damascus were +found many of the concubines of Darius and his chief officers, together +with a vast treasure. + +Before venturing into the plains of Mesopotamia for the final struggle, +Alexander, to secure his rear and preserve his communications with the +sea, marched southward down the Mediterranean coast, reducing the cities +in his way. In his speech before the council of war after Issus, he told +his generals that they must not pursue Darius with Tyre unsubdued, and +Persia in possession of Egypt and Cyprus, for, if Persia should regain +her seaports, she would transfer the war into Greece, and that it was +absolutely necessary for him to be sovereign at sea. With Cyprus and +Egypt in his possession he felt no solicitude about Greece. The siege +of Tyre cost him more than half a year. In revenge for this delay, +he crucified, it is said, two thousand of his prisoners. Jerusalem +voluntarily surrendered, and therefore was treated leniently: but the +passage of the Macedonian army into Egypt being obstructed at Gaza, the +Persian governor of which, Betis, made a most obstinate defense, that +place, after a siege of two months, was carried by assault, ten thousand +of its men were massacred, and the rest, with their wives and children, +sold into slavery. Betis himself was dragged alive round the city at the +chariot-wheels of the conqueror. There was now no further obstacle. The +Egyptians, who detested the Persian rule, received their invader with +open arms. He organized the country in his own interest, intrusting +all its military commands to Macedonian officers, and leaving the civil +government in the hands of native Egyptians. + +CONQUEST OF EGYPT. While preparations for the final campaign were being +made, he undertook a journey to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, which was +situated in an oasis of the Libyan Desert, at a distance of two hundred +miles. The oracle declared him to be a son of that god who, under +the form of a serpent, had beguiled Olympias, his mother. Immaculate +conceptions and celestial descents were so currently received in those +days, that whoever had greatly distinguished himself in the affairs of +men was thought to be of supernatural lineage. Even in Rome, centuries +later, no one could with safety have denied that the city owed its +founder, Romulus, to an accidental meeting of the god Mars with the +virgin Rhea Sylvia, as she went with her pitcher for water to the +spring. The Egyptian disciples of Plato would have looked with anger on +those who rejected the legend that Perictione, the mother of that +great philosopher, a pure virgin, had suffered an immaculate conception +through the influences of Apollo, and that the god had declared to +Ariston, to whom she was betrothed, the parentage of the child. When +Alexander issued his letters, orders, and decrees, styling himself "King +Alexander, the son of Jupiter Ammon," they came to the inhabitants of +Egypt and Syria with an authority that now can hardly be realized. The +free-thinking Greeks, however, put on such a supernatural pedigree its +proper value. Olympias, who, of course, better than all others knew the +facts of the case, used jestingly to say, that "she wished Alexander +would cease from incessantly embroiling her with Jupiter's wife." +Arrian, the historian of the Macedonian expedition, observes, "I cannot +condemn him for endeavoring to draw his subjects into the belief of his +divine origin, nor can I be induced to think it any great crime, for it +is very reasonable to imagine that he intended no more by it than merely +to procure the greater authority among his soldiers." + +GREEK CONQUEST OF PERSIA. All things being thus secured in his rear, +Alexander, having returned into Syria, directed the march of his army, +now consisting of fifty thousand veterans, eastward. After crossing the +Euphrates, he kept close to the Masian hills, to avoid the intense heat +of the more southerly Mesopotamian plains; more abundant forage could +also thus be procured for the cavalry. On the left bank of the Tigris, +near Arbela, he encountered the great army of eleven hundred thousand +men brought up by Darius from Babylon. The death of the Persian monarch, +which soon followed the defeat he suffered, left the Macedonian general +master of all the countries from the Danube to the Indus. Eventually he +extended his conquest to the Ganges. The treasures he seized are almost +beyond belief. At Susa alone he found--so Arrian says--fifty thousand +talents in money. + +EVENTS OF THE CAMPAIGNS. The modern military student cannot look +upon these wonderful campaigns without admiration. The passage of the +Hellespont; the forcing of the Granicus; the winter spent in a political +organization of conquered Asia Minor; the march of the right wing and +centre of the army along the Syrian Mediterranean coast; the engineering +difficulties overcome at the siege of Tyre; the storming of Gaza; the +isolation of Persia from Greece; the absolute exclusion of her navy from +the Mediterranean; the check on all her attempts at intriguing with +or bribing Athenians or Spartans, heretofore so often resorted to with +success; the submission of Egypt; another winter spent in the political +organization of that venerable country; the convergence of the whole +army from the Black and Red Seas toward the nitre-covered plains of +Mesopotamia in the ensuing spring; the passage of the Euphrates fringed +with its weeping-willows at the broken bridge of Thapsacus; the crossing +of the Tigris; the nocturnal reconnaissance before the great and +memorable battle of Arbela; the oblique movement on the field; the +piercing of the enemy's centre--a manoeuvre destined to be repeated +many centuries subsequently at Austerlitz; the energetic pursuit of +the Persian monarch; these are exploits not surpassed by any soldier of +later times. + +A prodigious stimulus was thus given to Greek intellectual activity. +There were men who had marched with the Macedonian army from the Danube +to the Nile, from the Nile to the Ganges. They had felt the hyperborean +blasts of the countries beyond the Black Sea, the simooms and +sand-tempests of the Egyptian deserts. They had seen the Pyramids which +had already stood for twenty centuries, the hieroglyph-covered obelisks +of Luxor, avenues of silent and mysterious sphinxes, colossi of monarchs +who reigned in the morning of the world. In the halls of Esar-haddon +they had stood before the thrones of grim old Assyrian kings, guarded by +winged bulls. In Babylon there still remained its walls, once more than +sixty miles in compass, and, after the ravages of three centuries and +three conquerors, still more than eighty feet in height; there were +still the ruins of the temple of cloud encompassed Bel, on its top was +planted the observatory wherein the weird Chaldean astronomers had held +nocturnal communion with the stars; still there were vestiges of the two +palaces with their hanging gardens in which were great trees growing in +mid-air, and the wreck of the hydraulic machinery that had supplied +them with water from the river. Into the artificial lake with its vast +apparatus of aqueducts and sluices the melted snows of the Armenian +mountains found their way, and were confined in their course through +the city by the embankments of the Euphrates. Most wonderful of all, +perhaps, was the tunnel under the river-bed. + +EFFECT ON THE GREEK ARMY. If Chaldea, Assyria, Babylon, presented +stupendous and venerable antiquities reaching far back into the night of +time, Persia was not without her wonders of a later date. The pillared +halls of Persepolis were filled with miracles of art--carvings, +sculptures, enamels, alabaster libraries, obelisks, sphinxes, colossal +bulls. Ecbatana, the cool summer retreat of the Persian kings, was +defended by seven encircling walls of hewn and polished blocks, the +interior ones in succession of increasing height, and of different +colors, in astrological accordance with the seven planets. The palace +was roofed with silver tiles, its beams were plated with gold. At +midnight, in its halls the sunlight was rivaled by many a row of naphtha +cressets. A paradise--that luxury of the monarchs of the East--was +planted in the midst of the city. The Persian Empire, from the +Hellespont to the Indus, was truly the garden of the world. + +EFFECTS ON THE GREEK ARMY. I have devoted a few pages to the story of +these marvelous campaigns, for the military talent they fostered led +to the establishment of the mathematical and practical schools of +Alexandria, the true origin of science. We trace back all our exact +knowledge to the Macedonian campaigns. Humboldt has well observed that +an introduction to new and grand objects of Nature enlarges the human +mind. The soldiers of Alexander and the hosts of his camp-followers +encountered at every march unexpected and picturesque scenery. Of all +men, the Greeks were the most observant, the most readily and profoundly +impressed. Here there were interminable sandy plains, there mountains +whose peaks were lost above the clouds. In the deserts were mirages, +on the hill-sides shadows of fleeting clouds sweeping over the forests. +They were in a land of amber-colored date-palms and cypresses, of +tamarisks, green myrtles, and oleanders. At Arbela they had fought +against Indian elephants; in the thickets of the Caspian they had roused +from his lair the lurking royal tiger. They had seen animals which, +compared with those of Europe, were not only strange, but colossal--the +rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the camel, the crocodiles of the Nile +and the Ganges. They had encountered men of many complexions and many +costumes: the swarthy Syrian, the olive-colored Persian, the black +African. Even of Alexander himself it is related that on his death-bed +he caused his admiral, Nearchus, to sit by his side, and found +consolation in listening to the adventures of that sailor--the story of +his voyage from the Indus up the Persian Gulf. The conqueror had seen +with astonishment the ebbing and flowing of the tides. He had built +ships for the exploration of the Caspian, supposing that it and +the Black Sea might be gulfs of a great ocean, such as Nearchus had +discovered the Persian and Red Seas to be. He had formed a resolution +that his fleet should attempt the circumnavigation of Africa, and come +into the Mediterranean through the Pillars of Hercules--a feat which, it +was affirmed, had once been accomplished by the Pharaohs. + +INTELLECTUAL CONDITION OF PERSIA. Not only her greatest soldiers, but +also her greatest philosophers, found in the conquered empire much that +might excite the admiration of Greece. Callisthenes obtained in Babylon +a series of Chaldean astronomical observations ranging back through +1,903 years; these he sent to Aristotle. Perhaps, since they were on +burnt bricks, duplicates of them may be recovered by modern research +in the clay libraries of the Assyrian kings. Ptolemy, the Egyptian +astronomer, possessed a Babylonian record of eclipses, going back +747 years before our era. Long-continued and close observations were +necessary, before some of these astronomical results that have reached +our times could have been ascertained. Thus the Babylonians had fixed +the length of a tropical year within twenty-five seconds of the truth; +their estimate of the sidereal year was barely two minutes in excess. +They had detected the precession of the equinoxes. They knew the causes +of eclipses, and, by the aid of their cycle called Saros, could predict +them. Their estimate of the value of that cycle, which is more than +6,585 days, was within nineteen and a half minutes of the truth. + +INTELLECTUAL CONDITION OF PERSIA. Such facts furnish incontrovertible +proof of the patience and skill with which astronomy had been cultivated +in Mesopotamia, and that, with very inadequate instrumental means, it +had reached no inconsiderable perfection. These old observers had made +a catalogue of the stars, had divided the zodiac into twelve signs; they +had parted the day into twelve hours, the night into twelve. They had, +as Aristotle says, for a long time devoted themselves to observations of +star-occultations by the moon. They had correct views of the structure +of the solar system, and knew the order of the emplacement of the +planets. They constructed sundials, clepsydras, astrolabes, gnomons. + +Not without interest do we still look on specimens of their method of +printing. Upon a revolving roller they engraved, in cuneiform letters, +their records, and, running this over plastic clay formed into blocks, +produced ineffaceable proofs. From their tile-libraries we are still +to reap a literary and historical harvest. They were not without some +knowledge of optics. The convex lens found at Nimroud shows that they +were not unacquainted with magnifying instruments. In arithmetic they +had detected the value of position in the digits, though they missed the +grand Indian invention of the cipher. + +What a spectacle for the conquering Greeks, who, up to this time, had +neither experimented nor observed! They had contented themselves with +mere meditation and useless speculation. + +ITS RELIGIOUS CONDITION. But Greek intellectual development, due thus +in part to a more extended view of Nature, was powerfully aided by the +knowledge then acquired of the religion of the conquered country. The +idolatry of Greece had always been a horror to Persia, who, in her +invasions, had never failed to destroy the temples and insult the fanes +of the bestial gods. The impunity with which these sacrileges had +been perpetrated had made a profound impression, and did no little to +undermine Hellenic faith. But now the worshiper of the vile Olympian +divinities, whose obscene lives must have been shocking to every +pious man, was brought in contact with a grand, a solemn, a consistent +religious system having its foundation on a philosophical basis. Persia, +as is the case with all empires of long duration, had passed through +many changes of religion. She had followed the Monotheism of Zoroaster; +had then accepted Dualism, and exchanged that for Magianism. At the time +of the Macedonian expedition, she recognized one universal Intelligence, +the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, the most holy +essence of truth, the giver of all good. He was not to be represented by +any image, or any graven form. And, since, in every thing here below, we +see the resultant of two opposing forces, under him were two coequal and +coeternal principles, represented by the imagery of Light and Darkness. +These principles are in never-ending conflict. The world is their +battle-ground, man is their prize. + +In the old legends of Dualism, the Evil Spirit was said to have sent +a serpent to ruin the paradise which the Good Spirit had made. These +legends became known to the Jews during their Babylonian captivity. + +The existence of a principle of evil is the necessary incident of the +existence of a principle of good, as a shadow is the necessary incident +of the presence of light. In this manner could be explained the +occurrence of evil in a world, the maker and ruler of which is supremely +good. Each of the personified principles of light and darkness, Ormuzd +and Ahriman, had his subordinate angels, his counselors, his armies. It +is the duty of a good man to cultivate truth, purity, and industry. He +may look forward, when this life is over, to a life in another world, +and trust to a resurrection of the body, the immortality of the soul, +and a conscious future existence. + +In the later years of the empire, the principles of Magianism had +gradually prevailed more and more over those of Zoroaster. Magianism was +essentially a worship of the elements. Of these, fire was considered as +the most worthy representative of the Supreme Being. On altars erected, +not in temples, but under the blue canopy of the sky, perpetual fires +were kept burning, and the rising sun was regarded as the noblest object +of human adoration. In the society of Asia, nothing is visible but the +monarch; in the expanse of heaven, all objects vanish in presence of the +sun. + +DEATH OF ALEXANDER. Prematurely cut off in the midst of many great +projects Alexander died at Babylon before he had completed his +thirty-third year (B.C. 323). There was a suspicion that he had been +poisoned. His temper had become so unbridled, his passion so ferocious, +that his generals and even his intimate friends lived in continual +dread. Clitus, one of the latter, he in a moment of fury had stabbed to +the heart. Callisthenes, the intermedium between himself and Aristotle, +he had caused to be hanged, or, as was positively asserted by some who +knew the facts, had had him put upon the rack and then crucified. It +may have been in self-defense that the conspirators resolved on his +assassination. But surely it was a calumny to associate the name of +Aristotle with this transaction. He would have rather borne the worst +that Alexander could inflict, than have joined in the perpetration of so +great a crime. + +A scene of confusion and bloodshed lasting many years ensued, nor did it +cease even after the Macedonian generals had divided the empire. Among +its vicissitudes one incident mainly claims our attention. Ptolemy, who +was a son of King Philip by Arsinoe, a beautiful concubine, and who +in his boyhood had been driven into exile with Alexander, when they +incurred their father's displeasure, who had been Alexander's comrade +in many of his battles and all his campaigns, became governor and +eventually king of Egypt. + +FOUNDATION OF ALEXANDER. At the siege of Rhodes, Ptolemy had been of +such signal service to its citizens that in gratitude they paid divine +honors to him, and saluted him with the title of Soter (the Savior). +By that designation--Ptolemy Soter--he is distinguished from succeeding +kings of the Macedonian dynasty in Egypt. + +He established his seat of government not in any of the old capitals +of the country, but in Alexandria. At the time of the expedition to +the temple of Jupiter Ammon, the Macedonian conqueror had caused the +foundations of that city to be laid, foreseeing that it might be +made the commercial entrepot between Asia and Europe. It is to be +particularly remarked that not only did Alexander himself deport many +Jews from Palestine to people the city, and not only did Ptolemy Soter +bring one hundred thousand more after his siege of Jerusalem, but +Philadelphus, his successor, redeemed from slavery one hundred and +ninety-eight thousand of that people, paying their Egyptian owners a +just money equivalent for each. To all these Jews the same privileges +were accorded as to the Macedonians. In consequence of this considerate +treatment, vast numbers of their compatriots and many Syrians +voluntarily came into Egypt. To them the designation of Hellenistical +Jews was given. In like manner, tempted by the benign government of +Soter, multitudes of Greeks sought refuge in the country, and the +invasions of Perdiccas and Antigonus showed that Greek soldiers would +desert from other Macedonian generals to join is armies. + +The population of Alexandria was therefore of three distinct +nationalities: 1. Native Egyptians 2. Greeks; 3. Jews--a fact that has +left an impress on the religious faith of modern Europe. + +Greek architects and Greek engineers had made Alexandria the most +beautiful city of the ancient world. They had filled it with magnificent +palaces, temples, theatres. In its centre, at the intersection of its +two grand avenues, which crossed each other at right angles, and in the +midst of gardens, fountains, obelisks, stood the mausoleum, in +which, embalmed after the manner of the Egyptians, rested the body of +Alexander. In a funereal journey of two years it had been brought with +great pomp from Babylon. At first the coffin was of pure gold, but +this having led to a violation of the tomb, it was replaced by one of +alabaster. But not these, not even the great light-house, Pharos, built +of blocks of white marble and so high that the fire continually burning +on its top could be seen many miles off at sea--the Pharos counted +as one of the seven wonders of the world--it is not these magnificent +achievements of architecture that arrest our attention; the true, the +most glorious monument of the Macedonian kings of Egypt is the Museum. +Its influences will last when even the Pyramids have passed away. + +THE ALEXANDRIAN MUSEUM. The Alexandrian Museum was commenced by Ptolemy +Soter, and was completed by his son Ptolemy Philadelphus. It was +situated in the Bruchion, the aristocratic quarter of the city, +adjoining the king's palace. Built of marble, it was surrounded with +a piazza, in which the residents might walk and converse together. Its +sculptured apartments contained the Philadelphian library, and were +crowded with the choicest statues and pictures. This library eventually +comprised four hundred thousand volumes. In the course of time, probably +on account of inadequate accommodation for so many books, an additional +library was established in the adjacent quarter Rhacotis, and placed +in the Serapion or temple of Serapis. The number of volumes in this +library, which was called the Daughter of that in the Museum, was +eventually three hundred thousand. There were, therefore, seven hundred +thousand volumes in these royal collections. + +Alexandria was not merely the capital of Egypt, it was the intellectual +metropolis of the world. Here it was truly said the Genius of the East +met the Genius of the West, and this Paris of antiquity became a focus +of fashionable dissipation and universal skepticism. In the allurements +of its bewitching society even the Jews forgot their patriotism. They +abandoned the language of their forefathers, and adopted Greek. + +In the establishment of the Museum, Ptolemy Soter and his son +Philadelphus had three objects in view: 1. The perpetuation of such +knowledge as was then in the world; 2. Its increase; 3. Its diffusion. + +1. For the perpetuation of knowledge. Orders were given to the chief +librarian to buy at the king's expense whatever books he could. A body +of transcribers was maintained in the Museum, whose duty it was to make +correct copies of such works as their owners were not disposed to sell. +Any books brought by foreigners into Egypt were taken at once to the +Museum, and, when correct copies had been made, the transcript was given +to the owner, and the original placed in the library. Often a very large +pecuniary indemnity was paid. Thus it is said of Ptolemy Euergetes +that, having obtained from Athens the works of Euripides, Sophocles, +and Aeschylus, he sent to their owners transcripts, together with about +fifteen thousand dollars, as an indemnity. On his return from the Syrian +expedition he carried back in triumph all the Egyptian monuments from +Ecbatana and Susa, which Cambyses and other invaders had removed from +Egypt. These he replaced in their original seats, or added as adornments +to his museums. When works were translated as well as transcribed, sums +which we should consider as almost incredible were paid, as was the +case with the Septuagint translation of the Bible, ordered by Ptolemy +Philadelphus. + +2. For the increase of knowledge. One of the chief objects of the Museum +was that of serving as the home of a body of men who devoted themselves +to study, and were lodged and maintained at the king's expense. +Occasionally he himself sat at their table. Anecdotes connected with +those festive occasions have descended to our times. In the original +organization of the Museum the residents were divided into four +faculties--literature; mathematics, astronomy, medicine. Minor branches +were appropriately classified under one of these general heads; thus +natural history was considered to be a branch of medicine. An officer of +very great distinction presided over the establishment, and had general +charge of its interests. Demetrius Phalareus, perhaps the most learned +man of his age, who had been governor of Athens for many years, was the +first so appointed. Under him was the librarian, an office sometimes +held by men whose names have descended to our times, as Eratosthenes, +and Apollonius Rhodius. + +ORGANIZATION OF THE MUSEUM. In connection with the Museum were a +botanical and a zoological garden. These gardens, as their names import, +were for the purpose of facilitating the study of plants and animals. +There was also an astronomical observatory containing armillary spheres, +globes, solstitial and equatorial armils, astrolabes, parallactic +rules, and other apparatus then in use, the graduation on the divided +instruments being into degrees and sixths. On the floor of this +observatory a meridian line was drawn. The want of correct means of +measuring time and temperature was severely felt; the clepsydra of +Ctesibius answered very imperfectly for the former, the hydrometer +floating in a cup of water for the latter; it measured variations of +temperature by variations of density. Philadelphus, who toward the close +of his life was haunted with an intolerable dread of death, devoted much +of his time to the discovery of an elixir. For such pursuits the Museum +was provided with a chemical laboratory. In spite of the prejudices of +the age, and especially in spite of Egyptian prejudices, there was +in connection with the medical department an anatomical room for the +dissection, not only of the dead, but actually of the living, who for +crimes had been condemned. + +3. For the diffusion of knowledge. In the Museum was given, by lectures, +conversation, or other appropriate methods instruction in all the +various departments of human knowledge. There flocked to this great +intellectual centre, students from all countries. It is said that at one +time not fewer than fourteen thousand were in attendance. Subsequently +even the Christian church received from it some of the most eminent of +its Fathers, as Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, Athanasius. + +The library in the Museum was burnt during the siege of Alexandria by +Julius Caesar. To make amends for this great loss, that collected +by Eumenes, King of Pergamus, was presented by Mark Antony to Queen +Cleopatra. Originally it was founded as a rival to that of the +Ptolemies. It was added to the collection in the Serapion. + +SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL OF THE MUSEUM. It remains now to describe briefly the +philosophical basis of the Museum, and some of its contributions to the +stock of human knowledge. + +In memory of the illustrious founder of this most noble institution--an +institution which antiquity delighted to call "The divine school of +Alexandria"--we must mention in the first rank his "History of the +Campaigns of Alexander." Great as a soldier and as a sovereign, Ptolemy +Soter added to his glory by being an author. Time, which has not been +able to destroy the memory of our obligations to him, has dealt unjustly +by his work. It is not now extant. + +As might be expected from the friendship that existed between Alexander, +Ptolemy, and Aristotle, the Aristotelian philosophy was the intellectual +corner-stone on which the Museum rested. King Philip had committed the +education of Alexander to Aristotle, and during the Persian campaigns +the conqueror contributed materially, not only in money, but otherwise, +toward the "Natural History" then in preparation. + +The essential principle of the Aristotelian philosophy was, to rise +from the study of particulars to a knowledge of general principles or +universals, advancing to them by induction. The induction is the +more certain as the facts on which it is based are more numerous; its +correctness is established if it should enable us to predict other facts +until then unknown. This system implies endless toil in the collection +of facts, both by experiment and observation; it implies also a close +meditation on them. It is, therefore, essentially a method of labor +and of reason, not a method of imagination. The failures that Aristotle +himself so often exhibits are no proof of its unreliability, but +rather of its trustworthiness. They are failures arising from want of a +sufficiency of facts. + +ETHICAL SCHOOL OF THE MUSEUM. Some of the general results at which +Aristotle arrived are very grand. Thus, he concluded that every thing is +ready to burst into life, and that the various organic forms presented +to us by Nature are those which existing conditions permit. Should +the conditions change, the forms will also change. Hence there is an +unbroken chain from the simple element through plants and animals up to +man, the different groups merging by insensible shades into each other. + +The inductive philosophy thus established by Aristotle is a method of +great power. To it all the modern advances in science are due. In +its most improved form it rises by inductions from phenomena to their +causes, and then, imitating the method of the Academy, it descends by +deductions from those causes to the detail of phenomena. + +While thus the Scientific School of Alexandria was founded on the maxims +of one great Athenian philosopher, the Ethical School was founded on the +maxims of another, for Zeno, though a Cypriote or Phoenician, had for +many years been established at Athens. His disciples took the name of +Stoics. His doctrines long survived him, and, in times when there was no +other consolation for man, offered a support in the hour of trial, and +an unwavering guide in the vicissitudes of life, not only to illustrious +Greeks, but also to many of the great philosophers, statesmen, generals, +and emperors of Rome. + +THE PRINCIPLES OF STOICISM. The aim of Zeno was, to furnish a guide +for the daily practice of life, to make men virtuous. He insisted that +education is the true foundation of virtue, for, if we know what is +good, we shall incline to do it. We must trust to sense, to furnish the +data of knowledge, and reason will suitably combine them. In this the +affinity of Zeno to Aristotle is plainly seen. Every appetite, lust, +desire, springs from imperfect knowledge. Our nature is imposed upon +us by Fate, but we must learn to control our passions, and live free, +intelligent, virtuous, in all things in accordance with reason. Our +existence should be intellectual, we should survey with equanimity all +pleasures and all pains. We should never forget that we are freemen, not +the slaves of society. "I possess," said the Stoic, "a treasure which +not all the world can rob me of--no one can deprive me of death." We +should remember that Nature in her operations aims at the universal, and +never spares individuals, but uses them as means for the accomplishment +of her ends. It is, therefore, for us to submit to Destiny, cultivating, +as the things necessary to virtue, knowledge, temperance, fortitude, +justice. We must remember that every thing around us is in mutation; +decay follows reproduction, and reproduction decay, and that it is +useless to repine at death in a world where every thing is dying. As a +cataract shows from year to year an invariable shape, though the water +composing it is perpetually changing, so the aspect of Nature is nothing +more than a flow of matter presenting an impermanent form. The universe, +considered as a whole, is unchangeable. Nothing is eternal but +space, atoms, force. The forms of Nature that we see are essentially +transitory, they must all pass away. + +STOICISM IN THE MUSEUM. We must bear in mind that the majority of men +are imperfectly educated, and hence we must not needlessly offend the +religious ideas of our age. It is enough for us ourselves to know that, +though there is a Supreme Power, there is no Supreme Being. There is an +invisible principle, but not a personal God, to whom it would be not +so much blasphemy as absurdity to impute the form, the sentiments, the +passions of man. All revelation is, necessarily, a mere fiction. That +which men call chance is only the effect of an unknown cause. Even of +chances there is a law. There is no such thing as Providence, for Nature +proceeds under irresistible laws, and in this respect the universe is +only a vast automatic engine. The vital force which pervades the world +is what the illiterate call God. The modifications through which all +things are running take place in an irresistible way, and hence it may +be said that the progress of the world is, under Destiny, like a seed, +it can evolve only in a predetermined mode. + +The soul of man is a spark of the vital flame, the general vital +principle. Like heat, it passes from one to another, and is finally +reabsorbed or reunited in the universal principle from which it came. +Hence we must not expect annihilation, but reunion; and, as the tired +man looks forward to the insensibility of sleep, so the philosopher, +weary of the world, should look forward to the tranquillity of +extinction. Of these things, however, we should think doubtingly, since +the mind can produce no certain knowledge from its internal resources +alone. It is unphilosophical to inquire into first causes; we must deal +only with phenomena. Above all, we must never forget that man cannot +ascertain absolute truth, and that the final result of human inquiry +into the matter is, that we are incapable of perfect knowledge; that, +even if the truth be in our possession, we cannot be sure of it. + +What, then, remains for us? Is it not this--the acquisition of +knowledge, the cultivation of virtue and of friendship, the observance +of faith and truth, an unrepining submission to whatever befalls us, a +life led in accordance with reason? + +PLATONISM IN THE MUSEUM. But, though the Alexandrian Museum was +especially intended for the cultivation of the Aristotelian philosophy, +it must not be supposed that other systems were excluded. Platonism was +not only carried to its full development, but in the end it supplanted +Peripateticism, and through the New Academy left a permanent impress on +Christianity. The philosophical method of Plato was the inverse of that +of Aristotle. Its starting-point was universals, the very existence of +which was a matter of faith, and from these it descended to particulars, +or details. Aristotle, on the contrary, rose from particulars to +universals, advancing to them by inductions. + +Plato, therefore, trusted to the imagination, Aristotle to reason. +The former descended from the decomposition of a primitive idea into +particulars, the latter united particulars into a general conception. +Hence the method of Plato was capable of quickly producing what seemed +to be splendid, though in reality unsubstantial results; that of +Aristotle was more tardy in its operation, but much more solid. It +implied endless labor in the collection of facts, a tedious resort +to experiment and observation, the application of demonstration. The +philosophy of Plato is a gorgeous castle in the air; that of Aristotle +a solid structure, laboriously, and with many failures, founded on the +solid rock. + +An appeal to the imagination is much more alluring than the employment +of reason. In the intellectual decline of Alexandria, indolent methods +were preferred to laborious observation and severe mental exercise. The +schools of Neo-Platonism were crowded with speculative mystics, such +as Ammonius Saccas and Plotinus. These took the place of the severe +geometers of the old Museum. + +PHYSICAL SCIENCE IN THE MUSEUM. The Alexandrian school offers the first +example of that system which, in the hands of modern physicists, has +led to such wonderful results. It rejected imagination, and made its +theories the expression of facts obtained by experiment and observation, +aided by mathematical discussion. It enforced the principle that the +true method of studying Nature is by experimental interrogation. The +researches of Archimedes in specific gravity, and the works of +Ptolemy on optics, resemble our present investigations in experimental +philosophy, and stand in striking contrast with the speculative vagaries +of the older writers. Laplace says that the only observation which the +history of astronomy offers us, made by the Greeks before the school +of Alexandria, is that of the summer solstice of the year B.C. 432. +by Meton and Euctemon. We have, for the first time, in that school, +a combined system of observations made with instruments for the +measurement of angles, and calculated by trigonometrical methods. +Astronomy then took a form which subsequent ages could only perfect. + + +It does not accord with the compass or the intention of this work to +give a detailed account of the contributions of the Alexandrian Museum +to the stock of human knowledge. It is sufficient that the reader should +obtain a general impression of their character. For particulars, I +may refer him to the sixth chapter of my "History of the Intellectual +Development of Europe." + +EUCLID--ARCHIMEDES. It has just been remarked that the Stoical +philosophy doubted whether the mind can ascertain absolute truth. While +Zeno was indulging in such doubts, Euclid was preparing his great work, +destined to challenge contradiction from the whole human race. After +more than twenty-two centuries it still survives, a model of accuracy, +perspicuity, and a standard of exact demonstration. This great geometer +not only wrote on other mathematical topics, such as Conic Sections and +Prisms, but there are imputed to him treatises on Harmonics and Optics, +the latter subject being discussed on the hypothesis of rays issuing +from the eye to the object. + +With the Alexandrian mathematicians and physicists must be classed +Archimedes, though he eventually resided in Sicily. Among his +mathematical works were two books on the Sphere and Cylinder, in +which he gave the demonstration that the solid content of a sphere is +two-thirds that of its circumscribing cylinder. So highly did he esteem +this, that he directed the diagram to be engraved on his tombstone. He +also treated of the quadrature of the circle and of the parabola; he +wrote on Conoids and Spheroids, and on the spiral that bears his name, +the genesis of which was suggested to him by his friend Conon the +Alexandrian. As a mathematician, Europe produced no equal to him for +nearly two thousand years. In physical science he laid the foundation +of hydrostatics; invented a method for the determination of specific +gravities; discussed the equilibrium of floating bodies; discovered the +true theory of the lever, and invented a screw, which still bears +his name, for raising the water of the Nile. To him also are to be +attributed the endless screw, and a peculiar form of burning-mirror, by +which, at the siege of Syracuse, it is said that he set the Roman fleet +on fire. + +ERATOSTHENES--APOLLONIUS--HIPPARCHUS. Eratosthenes, who at one time had +charge of the library, was the author of many important works. Among +them may be mentioned his determination of the interval between +the tropics, and an attempt to ascertain the size of the earth. He +considered the articulation and expansion of continents, the position +of mountain-chains, the action of clouds, the geological submersion of +lands, the elevation of ancient sea-beds, the opening of the Dardanelles +and the straits of Gibraltar, and the relations of the Euxine Sea. +He composed a complete system of the earth, in three books--physical, +mathematical, historical--accompanied by a map of all the parts then +known. It is only of late years that the fragments remaining of his +"Chronicles of the Theban Kings" have been justly appreciated. For +many centuries they were thrown into discredit by the authority of our +existing absurd theological chronology. + +It is unnecessary to adduce the arguments relied upon by the +Alexandrians to prove the globular form of the earth. They had correct +ideas respecting the doctrine of the sphere, its poles, axis, equator, +arctic and antarctic circles, equinoctial points, solstices, the +distribution of climates, etc. I cannot do more than merely allude to +the treatises on Conic Sections and on Maxima and Minima by Apollonius, +who is said to have been the first to introduce the words ellipse and +hyperbola. In like manner I must pass the astronomical observations +of Alistyllus and Timocharis. It was to those of the latter on Spica +Virginis that Hipparchus was indebted for his great discovery of the +precession of the eqninoxes. Hipparchus also determined the first +inequality of the moon, the equation of the centre. He adopted the +theory of epicycles and eccentrics, a geometrical conception for the +purpose of resolving the apparent motions of the heavenly bodies on the +principle of circular movement. He also undertook to make a catalogue +of the stars by the method of alineations--that is, by indicating those +that are in the same apparent straight line. The number of stars so +catalogued was 1,080. If he thus attempted to depict the aspect of +the sky, he endeavored to do the same for the surface of the earth, by +marking the position of towns and other places by lines of latitude and +longitude. He was the first to construct tables of the sun and moon. + +THE SYNTAXIS OF PTOLEMY. In the midst of such a brilliant constellation +of geometers, astronomers, physicists, conspicuously shines forth +Ptolemy, the author of the great work, "Syntaxis," "a Treatise on the +Mathematical Construction of the Heavens." It maintained its ground +for nearly fifteen hundred years, and indeed was only displaced by the +immortal "Principia" of Newton. It commences with the doctrine that the +earth is globular and fixed in space, it describes the construction of a +table of chords, and instruments for observing the solstices, it deduces +the obliquity of the ecliptic, it finds terrestrial latitudes by the +gnomon, describes climates, shows how ordinary may be converted into +sidereal time, gives reasons for preferring the tropical to the sidereal +year, furnishes the solar theory on the principle of the sun's orbit +being a simple eccentric, explains the equation of time, advances to the +discussion of the motions of the moon, treats of the first inequality, +of her eclipses, and the motion of her nodes. It then gives Ptolemy's +own great discovery--that which has made his name immortal--the +discovery of the moon's evection or second inequality, reducing it to +the epicyclic theory. It attempts the determination of the distances of +the sun and moon from the earth--with, however, only partial success. It +considers the precession of the equinoxes, the discovery of Hipparchus, +the full period of which is twenty-five thousand years. It gives a +catalogue of 1,022 stars, treats of the nature of the milky-way, and +discusses in the most masterly manner the motions of the planets. This +point constitutes another of Ptolemy's claims to scientific fame. His +determination of the planetary orbits was accomplished by comparing +his own observations with those of former astronomers, among them the +observations of Timocharis on the planet Venus. + +INVENTION OF THE STEAM-ENGINE. In the Museum of Alexandria, Ctesibius +invented the fire-engine. His pupil, Hero, improved it by giving it two +cylinders. There, too, the first steam-engine worked. This also was the +invention of Hero, and was a reaction engine, on the principle of +the eolipile. The silence of the halls of Serapis was broken by the +water-clocks of Ctesibius and Apollonius, which drop by drop measured +time. When the Roman calendar had fallen into such confusion that it +had become absolutely necessary to rectify it, Julius Caesar brought +Sosigenes the astronomer from Alexandria. By his advice the lunar year +was abolished, the civil year regulated entirely by the sun, and the +Julian calendar introduced. + +The Macedonian rulers of Egypt have been blamed for the manner in which +they dealt with the religious sentiment of their time. They prostituted +it to the purpose of state-craft, finding in it a means of governing +their lower classes. To the intelligent they gave philosophy. + +POLICY OF THE PTOLEMIES. But doubtless they defended this policy by the +experience gathered in those great campaigns which had made the Greeks +the foremost nation of the world. They had seen the mythological +conceptions of their ancestral country dwindle into fables; the wonders +with which the old poets adorned the Mediterranean had been discovered +to be baseless illusions. From Olympus its divinities had disappeared; +indeed, Olympus itself had proved to be a phantom of the imagination. +Hades had lost its terrors; no place could be found for it. + +From the woods and grottoes and rivers of Asia Minor the local gods and +goddesses had departed; even their devotees began to doubt whether they +had ever been there. If still the Syrian damsels lamented, in their +amorous ditties, the fate of Adonis, it was only as a recollection, not +as a reality. Again and again had Persia changed her national faith. For +the revelation of Zoroaster she had substituted Dualism; then under new +political influences she had adopted Magianism. She had worshiped fire, +and kept her altars burning on mountain-tops. She had adored the sun. +When Alexander came, she was fast falling into pantheism. + +On a country to which in its political extremity the indigenous gods +have been found unable to give any protection, a change of faith is +impending. The venerable divinities of Egypt, to whose glory obelisks +had been raised and temples dedicated, had again and again submitted +to the sword of a foreign conqueror. In the land of the Pyramids, the +Colossi, the Sphinx, the images of the gods had ceased to represent +living realities. They had ceased to be objects of faith. Others of more +recent birth were needful, and Serapis confronted Osiris. In the shops +and streets of Alexandria there were thousands of Jews who had forgotten +the God that had made his habitation behind the veil of the temple. + +Tradition, revelation, time, all had lost their influence. The +traditions of European mythology, the revelations of Asia, the +time-consecrated dogmas of Egypt, all had passed or were fast passing +away. And the Ptolemies recognized how ephemeral are forms of faith. + +But the Ptolemies also recognized that there is something more durable +than forms of faith, which, like the organic forms of geological ages, +once gone, are clean gone forever, and have no restoration, no return. +They recognized that within this world of transient delusions and +unrealities there is a world of eternal truth. + +That world is not to be discovered through the vain traditions that +have brought down to us the opinions of men who lived in the morning of +civilization, nor in the dreams of mystics who thought that they were +inspired. It is to be discovered by the investigations of geometry, +and by the practical interrogation of Nature. These confer on humanity +solid, and innumerable, and inestimable blessings. + +The day will never come when any one of the propositions of Euclid will +be denied; no one henceforth will call in question the globular shape of +the earth, as recognized by Eratosthenes; the world will not permit +the great physical inventions and discoveries made in Alexandria and +Syracuse to be forgotten. The names of Hipparchus, of Apollonius, of +Ptolemy, of Archimedes, will be mentioned with reverence by men of every +religious profession, as long as there are men to speak. + +THE MUSEUM AND MODERN SCIENCE. The Museum of Alexandria was thus +the birthplace of modern science. It is true that, long before its +establishment, astronomical observations had been made in China and +Mesopotamia; the mathematics also had been cultivated with a certain +degree of success in India. But in none of these countries had +investigation assumed a connected and consistent form; in none was +physical experimentation resorted to. The characteristic feature of +Alexandrian, as of modern science, is, that it did not restrict itself +to observation, but relied on a practical interrogation of Nature. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY.--ITS TRANSFORMATION ON ATTAINING + IMPERIAL POWER.--ITS RELATIONS TO SCIENCE. + + Religious condition of the Roman Republic.--The adoption of + imperialism leads to monotheism.--Christianity spreads over + the Roman Empire.--The circumstances under which it + attained imperial power make its union with Paganism a + political necessity.--Tertullian's description of its + doctrines and practices.--Debasing effect of the policy of + Constantine on it.--Its alliance with the civil power.--Its + incompatibility with science.--Destruction of the + Alexandrian Library and prohibition of philosophy.-- + Exposition of the Augustinian philosophy and Patristic + science generally.--The Scriptures made the standard of + science. + + +IN a political sense, Christianity is the bequest of the Roman Empire to +the world. + +At the epoch of the transition of Rome from the republican to the +imperial form of government, all the independent nationalities around +the Mediterranean Sea had been brought under the control of that central +power. The conquest that had befallen them in succession had been by no +means a disaster. The perpetual wars they had maintained with each +other came to an end; the miseries their conflicts had engendered were +exchanged for universal peace. + +Not only as a token of the conquest she had made but also as a +gratification to her pride, the conquering republic brought the gods +of the vanquished peoples to Rome. With disdainful toleration, she +permitted the worship of them all. That paramount authority exercised by +each divinity in his original seat disappeared at once in the crowd of +gods and goddesses among whom he had been brought. Already, as we have +seen, through geographical discoveries and philosophical criticism, +faith in the religion of the old days had been profoundly shaken. It +was, by this policy of Rome, brought to an end. + +MONOTHEISM IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE. The kings of all the conquered provinces +had vanished; in their stead one emperor had come. The gods also had +disappeared. Considering the connection which in all ages has existed +between political and religious ideas, it was then not at all strange +that polytheism should manifest a tendency to pass into monotheism. +Accordingly, divine honors were paid at first to the deceased and at +length to the living emperor. + +The facility with which gods were thus called into existence had a +powerful moral effect. The manufacture of a new one cast ridicule on +the origin of the old Incarnation in the East and apotheosis in the West +were fast filling Olympus with divinities. In the East, gods descended +from heaven, and were made incarnate in men; in the West, men ascended +from earth, and took their seat among the gods. It was not the +importation of Greek skepticism that made Rome skeptical. The excesses +of religion itself sapped the foundations of faith. + +Not with equal rapidity did all classes of the population adopt +monotheistic views. The merchants and lawyers and soldiers, who by the +nature of their pursuits are more familiar with the vicissitudes of +life, and have larger intellectual views, were the first to be affected, +the land laborers and farmers the last. + +THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY When the empire in a military and political +sense had reached its culmination, in a religious and social aspect +it had attained its height of immorality. It had become thoroughly +epicurean; its maxim was, that life should be made a feast, that +virtue is only the seasoning of pleasure, and temperance the means of +prolonging it. Dining-rooms glittering with gold and incrusted with +gems, slaves in superb apparel, the fascinations of female society where +all the women were dissolute, magnificent baths, theatres, gladiators, +such were the objects of Roman desire. The conquerors of the world had +discovered that the only thing worth worshiping is Force. By it all +things might be secured, all that toil and trade had laboriously +obtained. The confiscation of goods and lands, the taxation of +provinces, were the reward of successful warfare; and the emperor +was the symbol of force. There was a social splendor, but it was the +phosphorescent corruption of the ancient Mediterranean world. + +In one of the Eastern provinces, Syria, some persons in very humble +life had associated themselves together for benevolent and religious +purposes. The doctrines they held were in harmony with that sentiment +of universal brotherhood arising from the coalescence of the conquered +kingdoms. They were doctrines inculcated by Jesus. + +The Jewish people at that time entertained a belief, founded on old +traditions, that a deliverer would arise among them, who would restore +them to their ancient splendor. The disciples of Jesus regarded him +as this long-expected Messiah. But the priesthood, believing that the +doctrines he taught were prejudicial to their interests, denounced +him to the Roman governor, who, to satisfy their clamors, reluctantly +delivered him over to death. + +His doctrines of benevolence and human brotherhood outlasted that +event. The disciples, instead of scattering, organized. They associated +themselves on a principle of communism, each throwing into the common +stock whatever property he possessed, and all his gains. The widows +and orphans of the community were thus supported, the poor and the sick +sustained. From this germ was developed a new, and as the events proved, +all-powerful society--the Church; new, for nothing of the kind had +existed in antiquity; powerful, for the local churches, at first +isolated, soon began to confederate for their common interest. Through +this organization Christianity achieved all her political triumphs. + +As we have said, the military domination of Rome had brought about +universal peace, and had generated a sentiment of brotherhood among the +vanquished nations. Things were, therefore, propitious for the rapid +diffusion of the newly-established--the Christian--principle +throughout the empire. It spread from Syria through all Asia Minor, +and successively reached Cyprus, Greece, Italy, eventually extending +westward as far as Gaul and Britain. + +Its propagation was hastened by missionaries who made it known in all +directions. None of the ancient classical philosophies had ever taken +advantage of such a means. + +Political conditions determined the boundaries of the new religion. Its +limits were eventually those of the Roman Empire; Rome, doubtfully the +place of death of Peter, not Jerusalem, indisputably the place of the +death of our Savior, became the religious capital. It was better to have +possession of the imperial seven hilled city, than of Gethsemane and +Calvary with all their holy souvenirs. + +IT GATHERS POLITICAL POWER. For many years Christianity manifested +itself as a system enjoining three things--toward God veneration, in +personal life purity, in social life benevolence. In its early days of +feebleness it made proselytes only by persuasion, but, as it increased +in numbers and influence, it began to exhibit political tendencies, a +disposition to form a government within the government, an empire within +the empire. These tendencies it has never since lost. They are, in +truth, the logical result of its development. The Roman emperors, +discovering that it was absolutely incompatible with the imperial +system, tried to put it down by force. This was in accordance with the +spirit of their military maxims, which had no other means but force for +the establishment of conformity. + +In the winter A.D. 302-'3, the Christian soldiers in some of the legions +refused to join in the time-honored solemnities for propitiating the +gods. The mutiny spread so quickly, the emergency became so pressing, +that the Emperor Diocletian was compelled to hold a council for the +purpose of determining what should be done. The difficulty of the +position may perhaps be appreciated when it is understood that the wife +and the daughter of Diocletian himself were Christians. He was a man +of great capacity and large political views; he recognized in the +opposition that must be made to the new party a political necessity, +yet he expressly enjoined that there should be no bloodshed. But who can +control an infuriated civil commotion? The church of Nicomedia was razed +to the ground; in retaliation the imperial palace was set on fire, an +edict was openly insulted and torn down. The Christian officers in the +army were cashiered; in all directions, martyrdoms and massacres were +taking place. So resistless was the march of events, that not even the +emperor himself could stop the persecution. + +THE FIRST CHRISTIAN EMPEROR. It had now become evident that the +Christians constituted a powerful party in the state, animated with +indignation at the atrocities they had suffered, and determined to +endure them no longer. After the abdication of Diocletian (A.D. 305), +Constantine, one of the competitors for the purple, perceiving the +advantages that would accrue to him from such a policy, put himself +forth as the head of the Christian party. This gave him, in every part +of the empire, men and women ready to encounter fire and sword in his +behalf; it gave him unwavering adherents in every legion of the armies. +In a decisive battle, near the Milvian bridge, victory crowned his +schemes. The death of Maximin, and subsequently that of Licinius, +removed all obstacles. He ascended the throne of the Caesars--the first +Christian emperor. + +Place, profit, power--these were in view of whoever now joined the +conquering sect. Crowds of worldly persons, who cared nothing about its +religious ideas, became its warmest supporters. Pagans at heart, their +influence was soon manifested in the paganization of Christianity that +forthwith ensued. The emperor, no better than they, did nothing to check +their proceedings. But he did not personally conform to the ceremonial +requirements of the Church until the close of his evil life, A.D. 337. + +TERTULLIAN'S EXPOSITION OF CHRISTIANITY. That we may clearly appreciate +the modifications now impressed on Christianity--modifications which +eventually brought it in conflict with science--we must have, as a +means of comparison, a statement of what it was in its purer days. +Such, fortunately, we find in the "Apology or Defense of the Christians +against the Accusations of the Gentiles," written by Tertullian, at +Rome, during the persecution of Severus. He addressed it, not to the +emperor, but to the magistrates who sat in judgment on the accused. It +is a solemn and most earnest expostulation, setting forth all that could +be said in explanation of the subject, a representation of the belief +and cause of the Christians made in the imperial city in the face of the +whole world, not a querulous or passionate ecclesiastical appeal, but +a grave historical document. It has ever been looked upon as one of the +ablest of the early Christian works. Its date is about A.D. 200. + +With no inconsiderable skill Tertullian opens his argument. He tells +the magistrates that Christianity is a stranger upon earth, and that she +expects to meet with enemies in a country which is not her own. She only +asks that she may not be condemned unheard, and that Roman magistrates +will permit her to defend herself; that the laws of the empire will +gather lustre, if judgment be passed upon her after she has been tried +but not if she is sentenced without a hearing of her cause; that it is +unjust to hate a thing of which we are ignorant, even though it may be a +thing worthy of hate; that the laws of Rome deal with actions, not with +mere names; but that, notwithstanding this, persons have been punished +because they were called Christians, and that without any accusation of +crime. + +He then advances to an exposition of the origin, the nature, and the +effects of Christianity, stating that it is founded on the Hebrew +Scriptures, which are the most venerable of all books. He says to the +magistrates: "The books of Moses, in which God has inclosed, as in +a treasure, all the religion of the Jews, and consequently all the +Christian religion, reach far beyond the oldest you have, even beyond +all your public monuments, the establishment of your state, the +foundation of many great cities--all that is most advanced by you in all +ages of history, and memory of times; the invention of letters, which +are the interpreters of sciences and the guardians of all excellent +things. I think I may say more--beyond your gods, your temples, your +oracles and sacrifices. The author of those books lived a thousand years +before the siege of Troy, and more than fifteen hundred before Homer." +Time is the ally of truth, and wise men believe nothing but what is +certain, and what has been verified by time. The principal authority +of these Scriptures is derived from their venerable antiquity. The most +learned of the Ptolemies, who was surnamed Philadelphus, an accomplished +prince, by the advice of Demetrius Phalareus, obtained a copy of these +holy books. It may be found at this day in his library. The divinity of +these Scriptures is proved by this, that all that is done in our days +may be found predicted in them; they contain all that has since passed +in the view of men. + +Is not the accomplishment of a prophecy a testimony to its truth? Seeing +that events which are past have vindicated these prophecies, shall we be +blamed for trusting them in events that are to come? Now, as we believe +things that have been prophesied and have come to pass, so we believe +things that have been told us, but not yet come to pass, because they +have all been foretold by the same Scriptures, as well those that are +verified every day as those that still remain to be fulfilled. + +These Holy Scriptures teach us that there is one God, who made the world +out of nothing, who, though daily seen, is invisible; his infiniteness +is known only to himself; his immensity conceals, but at the same +time discovers him. He has ordained for men, according to their lives, +rewards and punishments; he will raise all the dead that have ever lived +from the creation of the world, will command them to reassume their +bodies, and thereupon adjudge them to felicity that has so end, or to +eternal flames. The fires of hell are those hidden flames which the +earth shuts up in her bosom. He has in past times sent into the world +preachers or prophets. The prophets of those old times were Jews; they +addressed their oracles, for such they were, to the Jews, who +have stored them up in the Scriptures. On them, as has been said, +Christianity is founded, though the Christian differs in his ceremonies +from the Jew. We are accused of worshiping a man, and not the God of +the Jews. Not so. The honor we bear to Christ does not derogate from the +honor we bear to God. + +On account of the merit of these ancient patriarchs, the Jews were the +only beloved people of God; he delighted to be in communication with +them by his own mouth. By him they were raised to admirable greatness. +But with perversity they wickedly ceased to regard him; they changed +his laws into a profane worship. He warned them that he would take to +himself servants more faithful than they, and, for their crime, punished +them by driving them forth from their country. They are now spread all +over the world; they wander in all parts; they cannot enjoy the air they +breathed at their birth; they have neither man nor God for their king. +As he threatened them, so he has done. He has taken, in all nations +and countries of the earth, people more faithful than they. Through his +prophets he had declared that these should have greater favors, and that +a Messiah should come, to publish a new law among them. This Messiah was +Jesus, who is also God. For God may be derived from God, as the light +of a candle may be derived from the light of another candle. God and his +Son are the self-same God--a light is the same light as that from which +it was taken. + +The Scriptures make known two comings of the Son of God; the first in +humility, the second at the day of judgment, in power. The Jews might +have known all this from the prophets, but their sins have so blinded +them that they did not recognize him at his first coming, and are still +vainly expecting him. They believed that all the miracles wrought by +him were the work of magic. The doctors of the law and the chief priests +were envious of him; they denounced him to Pilate. He was crucified, +died, was buried, and after three days rose again. For forty days he +remained among his disciples. Then he was environed in a cloud, and +rose up to heaven--a truth far more certain than any human testimonies +touching the ascension of Romulus or of any other Roman prince mounting +up to the same place. + +Tertullian then describes the origin and nature of devils, who, under +Satan, their prince, produce diseases, irregularities of the air, +plagues, and the blighting of the blossoms of the earth, who seduce men +to offer sacrifices, that they may have the blood of the victims, which +is their food. They are as nimble as the birds, and hence know every +thing that is passing upon earth; they live in the air, and hence can +spy what is going on in heaven; for this reason they can impose on men +reigned prophecies, and deliver oracles. Thus they announced in Rome +that a victory would be obtained over King Perseus, when in truth they +knew that the battle was already won. They falsely cure diseases; for, +taking possession of the body of a man, they produce in him a distemper, +and then ordaining some remedy to be used, they cease to afflict him, +and men think that a cure has taken place. + +Though Christians deny that the emperor is a god, they nevertheless pray +for his prosperity, because the general dissolution that threatens the +universe, the conflagration of the world, is retarded so long as the +glorious majesty of the triumphant Roman Empire shall last. They desire +not to be present at the subversion of all Nature. They acknowledge +only one republic, but it is the whole world; they constitute one body, +worship one God, and all look forward to eternal happiness. Not only do +they pray for the emperor and the magistrates, but also for peace. They +read the Scriptures to nourish their faith, lift up their hope, and +strengthen the confidence they have in God. They assemble to exhort one +another; they remove sinners from their societies; they have bishops who +preside over them, approved by the suffrages of those whom they are to +conduct. At the end of each month every one contributes if he will, but +no one is constrained to give; the money gathered in this manner is +the pledge of piety; it is not consumed in eating and drinking, but +in feeding the poor, and burying them, in comforting children that are +destitute of parents and goods, in helping old men who have spent the +best of their days in the service of the faithful, in assisting those +who have lost by shipwreck what they had, and those who are condemned +to the mines, or have been banished to islands, or shut up in prisons, +because they professed the religion of the true God. There is but one +thing that Christians have not in common, and that one thing is their +wives. They do not feast as if they should die to-morrow, nor build +as if they should never die. The objects of their life are innocence, +justice, patience, temperance, chastity. + +To this noble exposition of Christian belief and life in his day, +Tertullian does not hesitate to add an ominous warning to the +magistrates he is addressing--ominous, for it was a forecast of a great +event soon to come to pass: "Our origin is but recent, yet already we +fill all that your power acknowledges--cities, fortresses, islands, +provinces, the assemblies of the people, the wards of Rome, the palace, +the senate, the public places, and especially the armies. We have +left you nothing but your temples. Reflect what wars we are able to +undertake! With what promptitude might we not arm ourselves were we not +restrained by our religion, which teaches us that it is better to be +killed than to kill!" + +Before he closes his defense, Tertullian renews an assertion which, +carried into practice, as it subsequently was, affected the intellectual +development of all Europe. He declares that the Holy Scriptures are a +treasure from which all the true wisdom in the world has been drawn; +that every philosopher and every poet is indebted to them. He labors +to show that they are the standard and measure of all truth, and that +whatever is inconsistent with them must necessarily be false. + +From Tertullian's able work we see what Christianity was while it was +suffering persecution and struggling for existence. We have now to +see what it became when in possession of imperial power. Great is the +difference between Christianity under Severus and Christianity after +Constantine. Many of the doctrines which at the latter period were +preeminent, in the former were unknown. + +PAGANIZATION OF CHRISTIANITY. Two causes led to the amalgamation of +Christianity with paganism: 1. The political necessities of the new +dynasty; 2. The policy adopted by the new religion to insure its spread. + +1. Though the Christian party had proved itself sufficiently strong to +give a master to the empire, it was never sufficiently strong to destroy +its antagonist, paganism. The issue of the struggle between them was an +amalgamation of the principles of both. In this, Christianity differed +from Mohammedanism, which absolutely annihilated its antagonist, and +spread its own doctrines without adulteration. + +Constantine continually showed by his acts that he felt he must be the +impartial sovereign of all his people, not merely the representative +of a successful faction. Hence, if he built Christian churches, he also +restored pagan temples; if he listened to the clergy, he also consulted +the haruspices; if he summoned the Council of Nicea, he also honored the +statue of Fortune; if he accepted the rite of baptism, he also struck +a medal bearing his title of "God." His statue, on the top of the great +porphyry pillar at Constantinople, consisted of an ancient image of +Apollo, whose features were replaced by those of the emperor, and +its head surrounded by the nails feigned to have been used at the +crucifixion of Christ, arranged so as to form a crown of glory. + +Feeling that there must be concessions to the defeated pagan party, +in accordance with its ideas, he looked with favor on the idolatrous +movements of his court. In fact, the leaders of these movements were +persons of his own family. + +CHRISTIANITY UNDER CONSTANTINE. 2. To the emperor--a mere worldling--a +man without any religious convictions, doubtless it appeared best for +himself, best for the empire, and best for the contending parties, +Christian and pagan, to promote their union or amalgamation as much as +possible. Even sincere Christians do not seem to have been averse to +this; perhaps they believed that the new doctrines would diffuse most +thoroughly by incorporating in themselves ideas borrowed from the old, +that Truth would assert her self in the end, and the impurity be cast +off. In accomplishing this amalgamation, Helena, the empress-mother, +aided by the court ladies, led the way. For her gratification there were +discovered, in a cavern at Jerusalem, wherein they had lain buried for +more than three centuries, the Savior's cross, and those of the two +thieves, the inscription, and the nails that had been used. They were +identified by miracle. A true relic-worship set in. The superstition of +the old Greek times reappeared; the times when the tools with which the +Trojan horse was made might still be seen at Metapontum, the sceptre of +Pelops at Chaeroneia, the spear of Achilles at Phaselis, the sword +of Memnon at Nicomedia, when the Tegeates could show the hide of the +Calydonian boar and very many cities boasted their possession of the +true palladium of Troy; when there were statues of Minerva that could +brandish spears, paintings that could blush, images that could sweat, +and endless shrines and sanctuaries at which miracle-cures could be +performed. + +As years passed on, the faith described by Tertullian was transmuted +into one more fashionable and more debased. It was incorporated with +the old Greek mythology. Olympus was restored, but the divinities passed +under other names. The more powerful provinces insisted on the adoption +of their time-honored conceptions. Views of the Trinity, in accordance +with Egyptian traditions, were established. Not only was the adoration +of Isis under a new name restored, but even her image, standing on the +crescent moon, reappeared. The well-known effigy of that goddess, +with the infant Horus in her arms, has descended to our days in +the beautiful, artistic creations of the Madonna and Child. Such +restorations of old conceptions under novel forms were everywhere +received with delight. When it was announced to the Ephesians that the +Council of that place, headed by Cyril, had decreed that the Virgin +should be called "the Mother of God," with tears of joy they embraced +the knees of their bishop; it was the old instinct peeping out; their +ancestors would have done the same for Diana. + +This attempt to conciliate worldly converts, by adopting their ideas +and practices, did not pass without remonstrance from those whose +intelligence discerned the motive. "You have," says Faustus to +Augustine, "substituted your agapae for the sacrifices of the pagans; +for their idols your martyrs, whom you serve with the very same honors. +You appease the shades of the dead with wine and feasts; you celebrate +the solemn festivities of the Gentiles, their calends, and their +solstices; and, as to their manners, those you have retained without any +alteration. Nothing distinguishes you from the pagans, except that you +hold your assemblies apart from them." Pagan observances were everywhere +introduced. At weddings it was the custom to sing hymns to Venus. + +INTRODUCTION OF ROMAN RITES. Let us pause here a moment, and see, in +anticipation, to what a depth of intellectual degradation this policy of +paganization eventually led. Heathen rites were adopted, a pompous +and splendid ritual, gorgeous robes, mitres, tiaras, wax-tapers, +processional services, lustrations, gold and silver vases, were +introduced. The Roman lituus, the chief ensign of the augurs, became the +crozier. Churches were built over the tombs of martyrs, and consecrated +with rites borrowed from the ancient laws of the Roman pontiffs. +Festivals and commemorations of martyrs multiplied with the numberless +fictitious discoveries of their remains. Fasting became the grand means +of repelling the devil and appeasing God; celibacy the greatest of +the virtues. Pilgrimages were made to Palestine and the tombs of the +martyrs. Quantities of dust and earth were brought from the Holy Land +and sold at enormous prices, as antidotes against devils. The virtues +of consecrated water were upheld. Images and relics were introduced into +the churches, and worshiped after the fashion of the heathen gods. It +was given out that prodigies and miracles were to be seen in certain +places, as in the heathen times. The happy souls of departed Christians +were invoked; it was believed that they were wandering about the world, +or haunting their graves. There was a multiplication of temples, altars, +and penitential garments. The festival of the purification of the Virgin +was invented to remove the uneasiness of heathen converts on account of +the loss of their Lupercalia, or feasts of Pan. The worship of images, +of fragments of the cross, or bones, nails, and other relics, a true +fetich worship, was cultivated. Two arguments were relied on for the +authenticity of these objects--the authority of the Church, and the +working of miracles. Even the worn-out clothing of the saints and the +earth of their graves were venerated. From Palestine were brought what +were affirmed to be the skeletons of St. Mark and St. James, and other +ancient worthies. The apotheosis of the old Roman times was replaced by +canonization; tutelary saints succeed to local mythological divinities. +Then came the mystery of transubstantiation, or the conversion of bread +and wine by the priest into the flesh and blood of Christ. As centuries +passed, the paganization became more and more complete. Festivals sacred +to the memory of the lance with which the Savior's side was pierced, +the nails that fastened him to the cross, and the crown of thorns, were +instituted. Though there were several abbeys that possessed this last +peerless relic, no one dared to say that it was impossible they could +all be authentic. + +We may read with advantage the remarks made by Bishop Newton on this +paganization of Christianity. He asks: "Is not the worship of saints and +angels now in all respects the same that the worship of demons was in +former times? The name only is different, the thing is identically +the same,... the deified men of the Christians are substituted for the +deified men of the heathens. The promoters of this worship were sensible +that it was the same, and that the one succeeded to the other; and, +as the worship is the same, so likewise it is performed with the same +ceremonies. The burning of incense or perfumes on several altars at one +and the same time; the sprinkling of holy water, or a mixture of salt +and common water, at going into and coming out of places of public +worship; the lighting up of a great number of lamps and wax-candles in +broad daylight before altars and statues of these deities; the hanging +up of votive offerings and rich presents as attestations of so many +miraculous cures and deliverances from diseases and dangers; the +canonization or deification of deceased worthies; the assigning of +distinct provinces or prefectures to departed heroes and saints; the +worshiping and adoring of the dead in their sepulchres, shrines, and +relics; the consecrating and bowing down to images; the attributing +of miraculous powers and virtues to idols; the setting up of little +oratories, altars, and statues in the streets and highways, and on +the tops of mountains; the carrying of images and relics in pompous +procession, with numerous lights and with music and singing; +flagellations at solemn seasons under the notion of penance; a great +variety of religious orders and fraternities of priests; the shaving of +priests, or the tonsure as it is called, on the crown of their heads; +the imposing of celibacy and vows of chastity on the religious of both +sexes--all these and many more rites and ceremonies are equally parts of +pagan and popish superstition. Nay, the very same temples, the very same +images, which were once consecrated to Jupiter and the other demons, are +now consecrated to the Virgin Mary and the other saints. The very same +rites and inscriptions are ascribed to both, the very same prodigies and +miracles are related of these as of those. In short, almost the whole +of paganism is converted and applied to popery; the one is manifestly +formed upon the same plan and principles as the other; so that there is +not only a conformity, but even a uniformity, in the worship of ancient +and modern, of heathen and Christian Rome." + +DEBASEMENT OF CHRISTIANITY. Thus far Bishop Newton; but to return to the +times of Constantine: though these concessions to old and popular ideas +were permitted and even encouraged, the dominant religious party never +for a moment hesitated to enforce its decisions by the aid of the civil +power--an aid which was freely given. Constantine thus carried into +effect the acts of the Council of Nicea. In the affair of Arius, he even +ordered that whoever should find a book of that heretic, and not burn +it, should be put to death. In like manner Nestor was by Theodosius the +Younger banished to an Egyptian oasis. + +The pagan party included many of the old aristocratic families of the +empire; it counted among its adherents all the disciples of the old +philosophical schools. It looked down on its antagonist with contempt. +It asserted that knowledge is to be obtained only by the laborious +exercise of human observation and human reason. + +The Christian party asserted that all knowledge is to be found in the +Scriptures and in the traditions of the Church; that, in the written +revelation, God had not only given a criterion of truth, but had +furnished us all that he intended us to know. The Scriptures, therefore, +contain the sum, the end of all knowledge. The clergy, with the emperor +at their back, would endure no intellectual competition. + +Thus came into prominence what were termed sacred and profane knowledge; +thus came into presence of each other two opposing parties, one relying +on human reason as its guide, the other on revelation. Paganism leaned +for support on the learning of its philosophers, Christianity on the +inspiration of its Fathers. + +The Church thus set herself forth as the depository and arbiter of +knowledge; she was ever ready to resort to the civil power to compel +obedience to her decisions. She thus took a course which determined her +whole future career: she became a stumbling-block in the intellectual +advancement of Europe for more than a thousand years. + +The reign of Constantine marks the epoch of the transformation of +Christianity from a religion into a political system; and though, in +one sense, that system was degraded into an idolatry, in another it had +risen into a development of the old Greek mythology. The maxim holds +good in the social as well as in the mechanical world, that, when two +bodies strike, the form of both is changed. Paganism was modified by +Christianity; Christianity by Paganism. + +THE TRINITARIAN DISPUTE. In the Trinitarian controversy, which first +broke out in Egypt--Egypt, the land of Trinities--the chief point in +discussion was to define the position of "the Son." There lived in +Alexandria a presbyter of the name of Arius, a disappointed candidate +for the office of bishop. He took the ground that there was a time when, +from the very nature of sonship, the Son did not exist, and a time at +which he commenced to be, asserting that it is the necessary condition +of the filial relation that a father must be older than his son. But +this assertion evidently denied the coeternity of the three persons of +the Trinity; it suggested a subordination or inequality among them, +and indeed implied a time when the Trinity did not exist. Hereupon, the +bishop, who had been the successful competitor against Arius, displayed +his rhetorical powers in public debates on the question, and, the strife +spreading, the Jews and pagans, who formed a very large portion of +the population of Alexandria, amused themselves with theatrical +representations of the contest on the stage--the point of their +burlesques being the equality of age of the Father and his Son. + +Such was the violence the controversy at length assumed, that the matter +had to be referred to the emperor. At first he looked upon the dispute +as altogether frivolous, and perhaps in truth inclined to the assertion +of Arius, that in the very nature of the thing a father must be older +than his son. So great, however, was the pressure laid upon him, that +he was eventually compelled to summon the Council of Nicea, which, to +dispose of the conflict, set forth a formulary or creed, and attached to +it this anathema: "The Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes +those who say that there was a time when the Son of God was not, and +that, before he was begotten, he was not, and that he was made out of +nothing, or out of another substance or essence, and is created, or +changeable, or alterable." Constantine at once enforced the decision of +the council by the civil power. + +A few years subsequently the Emperor Theodosius prohibited sacrifices, +made the inspection of the entrails of animals a capital offense, and +forbade any one entering a temple. He instituted Inquisitors of Faith, +and ordained that all who did not accord with the belief of Damasus, the +Bishop of Rome, and Peter, the Bishop of Alexandria, should be driven +into exile, and deprived of civil rights. Those who presumed to +celebrate Easter on the same day as the Jews, he condemned to death. +The Greek language was now ceasing to be known in the West, and true +learning was becoming extinct. + +At this time the bishopric of Alexandria was held by one Theophilus. An +ancient temple of Osiris having been given to the Christians of the city +for the site of a church, it happened that, in digging the foundation +for the new edifice, the obscene symbols of the former worship chanced +to be found. These, with more zeal than modesty, Theophilus exhibited +in the market-place to public derision. With less forbearance than the +Christian party showed when it was insulted in the theatre during the +Trinitarian dispute, the pagans resorted to violence, and a riot ensued. +They held the Serapion as their headquarters. Such were the disorder and +bloodshed that the emperor had to interfere. He dispatched a rescript to +Alexandria, enjoining the bishop, Theophilus, to destroy the Serapion; +and the great library, which had been collected by the Ptolemies, and +had escaped the fire of Julius Caesar, was by that fanatic dispersed. + +THE MURDER OF HYPATIA. The bishopric thus held by Theophilus was in due +time occupied by his nephew St. Cyril, who had commended himself to +the approval of the Alexandrian congregations as a successful and +fashionable preacher. It was he who had so much to do with the +introduction of the worship of the Virgin Mary. His hold upon the +audiences of the giddy city was, however, much weakened by Hypatia, the +daughter of Theon, the mathematician, who not only distinguished herself +by her expositions of the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle, but also by +her comments on the writings of Apollonius and other geometers. Each day +before her academy stood a long train of chariots; her lecture-room was +crowded with the wealth and fashion of Alexandria. They came to listen +to her discourses on those questions which man in all ages has asked, +but which never yet have been answered: "What am I? Where am I? What can +I know?" + +Hypatia and Cyril! Philosophy and bigotry. They cannot exist together. +So Cyril felt, and on that feeling he acted. As Hypatia repaired to her +academy, she was assaulted by Cyril's mob--a mob of many monks. Stripped +naked in the street, she was dragged into a church, and there killed by +the club of Peter the Reader. The corpse was cut to pieces, the flesh +was scraped from the bones with shells, and the remnants cast into a +fire. For this frightful crime Cyril was never called to account. It +seemed to be admitted that the end sanctified the means. + +So ended Greek philosophy in Alexandria, so came to an untimely close +the learning that the Ptolemies had done so much to promote. The +"Daughter Library," that of the Serapion, had been dispersed. The fate +of Hypatia was a warning to all who would cultivate profane knowledge. +Henceforth there was to be no freedom for human thought. Every one must +think as the ecclesiastical authority ordered him, A.D. 414. In Athens +itself philosophy awaited its doom. Justinian at length prohibited its +teaching, and caused all its schools in that city to be closed. + +PELAGIUS. While these events were transpiring in the Eastern provinces +of the Roman Empire, the spirit that had produced them was displaying +itself in the West. A British monk, who had assumed the name of +Pelagius, passed through Western Europe and Northern Africa, teaching +that death was not introduced into the world by the sin of Adam; that +on the contrary he was necessarily and by nature mortal, and had he not +sinned he would nevertheless have died; that the consequences of his +sins were confined to himself, and did not affect his posterity. From +these premises Pelagius drew certain important theological conclusions. + +At Rome, Pelagius had been received with favor; at Carthage, at the +instigation of St. Augustine, he was denounced. By a synod, held at +Diospolis, he was acquitted of heresy, but, on referring the matter to +the Bishop of Rome, Innocent I., he was, on the contrary, condemned. It +happened that at this moment Innocent died, and his successor, Zosimus, +annulled his judgment and declared the opinions of Pelagius to be +orthodox. These contradictory decisions are still often referred to +by the opponents of papal infallibility. Things were in this state of +confusion, when the wily African bishops, through the influence of Count +Valerius, procured from the emperor an edict denouncing Pelagins as +a heretic; he and his accomplices were condemned to exile and the +forfeiture of their goods. To affirm that death was in the world before +the fall of Adam, was a state crime. + +CONDEMNATION OF PELAGIUS. It is very instructive to consider the +principles on which this strange decision was founded. Since the +question was purely philosophical, one might suppose that it would +have been discussed on natural principles; instead of that, theological +considerations alone were adduced. The attentive reader will have +remarked, in Tertullian's statement of the principles of Christianity, +a complete absence of the doctrines of original sin, total depravity, +predestination, grace, and atonement. The intention of Christianity, +as set forth by him, has nothing in common with the plan of salvation +upheld two centuries subsequently. It is to St. Augustine, a +Carthaginian, that we are indebted for the precision of our views on +these important points. + +In deciding whether death had been in the world before the fall of Adam, +or whether it was the penalty inflicted on the world for his sin, +the course taken was to ascertain whether the views of Pelagius were +accordant or discordant not with Nature but with the theological +doctrines of St. Augustine. And the result has been such as might +be expected. The doctrine declared to be orthodox by ecclesiastical +authority is overthrown by the unquestionable discoveries of modern +science. Long before a human being had appeared upon earth, millions of +individuals--nay, more, thousands of species and even genera--had died; +those which remain with us are an insignificant fraction of the vast +hosts that have passed away. + +A consequence of great importance issued from the decision of the +Pelagian controversy. The book of Genesis had been made the basis of +Christianity. If, in a theological point of view, to its account of the +sin in the garden of Eden, and the transgression and punishment of Adam, +so much weight had been attached, it also in a philosophical point +of view became the grand authority of Patristic science. Astronomy, +geology, geography, anthropology, chronology, and indeed all the various +departments of human knowledge, were made to conform to it. + +ST. AUGUSTINE. As the doctrines of St. Augustine have had the effect of +thus placing theology in antagonism with science, it may be interesting +to examine briefly some of the more purely philosophical views of that +great man. For this purpose, we may appropriately select portions of +his study of the first chapter of Genesis, as contained in the eleventh, +twelfth, and thirteenth books of his "Confessions." + +These consist of philosophical discussions, largely interspersed +with rhapsodies. He prays that God will give him to understand the +Scriptures, and will open their meaning to him; he declares that in +them there is nothing superfluous, but that the words have a manifold +meaning. + +The face of creation testifies that there has been a Creator; but at +once arises the question, "How and when did he make heaven and earth? +They could not have been made IN heaven and earth, the world could not +have been made IN the world, nor could they have been made when there +was nothing to make them of." The solution of this fundamental inquiry +St. Augustine finds in saying, "Thou spakest, and they were made." + +But the difficulty does not end here. St. Augustine goes on to remark +that the syllables thus uttered by God came forth in succession, and +there must have been some created thing to express the words. This +created thing must, therefore, have existed before heaven and earth, and +yet there could have been no corporeal thing before heaven and earth. It +must have been a creature, because the words passed away and came to an +end but we know that "the word of the Lord endureth forever." + +Moreover, it is plain that the words thus spoken could not have been +spoken successively, but simultaneously, else there would have been time +and change--succession in its nature implying time; whereas there was +then nothing but eternity and immortality. God knows and says eternally +what takes place in time. + +CRITICISM OF ST. AUGUSTINE. St. Augustine then defines, not without +much mysticism, what is meant by the opening words of Genesis: "In +the beginning." He is guided to his conclusion by another scriptural +passage: "How wonderful are thy works, O Lord! in wisdom hast thou made +them all." This "wisdom" is "the beginning," and in that beginning the +Lord created the heaven and the earth. + +"But," he adds, "some one may ask, 'What was God doing before he made +the heaven and the earth? for, if at any particular moment he began +to employ himself, that means time, not eternity. In eternity nothing +transpires--the whole is present.'" In answering this question, he +cannot forbear one of those touches of rhetoric for which he was so +celebrated: "I will not answer this question by saying that he was +preparing hell for priers into his mysteries. I say that, before God +made heaven and earth, he did not make any thing, for no creature could +be made before any creature was made. Time itself is a creature, and +hence it could not possibly exist before creation. + +"What, then, is time? The past is not, the future is not, the +present--who can tell what it is, unless it be that which has no +duration between two nonentities? There is no such thing as 'a long +time,' or 'a short time,' for there are no such things as the past and +the future. They have no existence, except in the soul." + +The style in which St. Augustine conveyed his ideas is that of a +rhapsodical conversation with God. His works are an incoherent dream. +That the reader may appreciate this remark, I might copy almost at +random any of his paragraphs. The following is from the twelfth book: + +"This then, is what I conceive, O my God, when I hear thy Scripture +saying, In the beginning God made heaven and earth: and the earth was +invisible and without form, and darkness was upon the deep, and not +mentioning what day thou createdst them; this is what I conceive, +that because of the heaven of heavens--that intellectual heaven, whose +intelligences know all at once, not in part, not darkly, not through a +glass, but as a whole, in manifestation, face to face; not this thing +now, and that thing anon; but (as I said) know all at once, without any +succession of times; and because of the earth, invisible and without +form, without any succession of times, which succession presents 'this +thing now, that thing anon;' because, where there is no form, there +is no distinction of things; it is, then, on account of these two, a +primitive formed, and a primitive formless; the one, heaven, but the +heaven of heavens; the other, earth, but the earth movable and without +form; because of these two do I conceive, did thy Scripture say without +mention of days, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. +For, forthwith it subjoined what earth it spake of; and also in that the +firmament is recorded to be created the second day, and called heaven, +it conveys to us of which heaven he before spake, without mention of +days. + +"Wondrous depth of thy words! whose surface behold! is before us, +inviting to little ones; yet are they a wondrous depth, O my God, a +wondrous depth! It is awful to look therein; an awfulness of honor, and +a trembling of love. The enemies thereof I hate vehemently; O that thou +wouldst slay them with thy two-edged sword, that they might no longer be +enemies to it: for so do I love to have them slain unto themselves, that +they may live unto thee." + +As an example of the hermeneutical manner in which St. Augustine +unfolded the concealed facts of the Scriptures, I may cite the following +from the thirteenth book of the "Confessions;" his object is to show +that the doctrine of the Trinity is contained in the Mosaic narrative of +the creation: + +"Lo, now the Trinity appears unto me in a glass darkly, which is thou my +God, because thou, O Father, in him who is the beginning of our wisdom, +which is thy wisdom, born of thyself, equal unto thee and coeternal, +that is, in thy Son, createdst heaven and earth. Much now have we said +of the heaven of heavens, and of the earth invisible and without form, +and of the darksome deep, in reference to the wandering instability of +its spiritual deformity, unless it had been converted unto him, from +whom it had its then degree of life, and by his enlightening became a +beauteous life, and the heaven of that heaven, which was afterward +set between water and water. And under the name of God, I now held the +Father, who made these things; and under the name of the beginning, the +Son, in whom he made these things; and believing, as I did, my God as +the Trinity, I searched further in his holy words, and lo! thy Spirit +moved upon the waters. Behold the Trinity, my God!--Father, and Son, and +Holy Ghost Creator of all creation." + +That I might convey to my reader a just impression of the character of +St. Augustine's philosophical writings, I have, in the two quotations +here given, substituted for my own translation that of the Rev. Dr. +Pusey, as contained in Vol. I. of the "Library of Fathers of the Holy +Catholic Church," published at Oxford, 1840. + +Considering the eminent authority which has been attributed to the +writings of St. Augustine by the religious world for nearly fifteen +centuries, it is proper to speak of them with respect. And indeed it +is not necessary to do otherwise. The paragraphs here quoted criticise +themselves. No one did more than this Father to bring science and +religion into antagonism; it was mainly he who diverted the Bible +from its true office--a guide to purity of life--and placed it in the +perilous position of being the arbiter of human knowledge, an audacious +tyranny over the mind of man. The example once set, there was no want of +followers; the works of the great Greek philosophers were stigmatized +as profane; the transcendently glorious achievements of the Museum of +Alexandria were hidden from sight by a cloud of ignorance, mysticism, +and unintelligible jargon, out of which there too often flashed the +destroying lightnings of ecclesiastical vengeance. + + +A divine revelation of science admits of no improvement, no change, no +advance. It discourages as needless, and indeed as presumptuous, all new +discovery, considering it as an unlawful prying into things which it was +the intention of God to conceal. + +What, then, is that sacred, that revealed science, declared by the +Fathers to be the sum of all knowledge? + +It likened all phenomena, natural and spiritual, to human acts. It saw +in the Almighty, the Eternal, only a gigantic man. + +THE PATRISTIC PHILOSOPHY. As to the earth, it affirmed that it is a flat +surface, over which the sky is spread like a dome, or, as St. Augustine +tells us, is stretched like a skin. In this the sun and moon and stars +move, so that they may give light by day and by night to man. The earth +was made of matter created by God out of nothing, and, with all the +tribes of animals and plants inhabiting it, was finished in six days. +Above the sky or firmament is heaven; in the dark and fiery space +beneath the earth is hell. The earth is the central and most important +body of the universe, all other things being intended for and +subservient to it. + +As to man, he was made out of the dust of the earth. At first he was +alone, but subsequently woman was formed from one of his ribs. He is the +greatest and choicest of the works of God. He was placed in a paradise +near the banks of the Euphrates, and was very wise and very pure; but, +having tasted of the forbidden fruit, and thereby broken the commandment +given to him, he was condemned to labor and to death. + +The descendants of the first man, undeterred by his punishment, pursued +such a career of wickedness that it became necessary to destroy them. A +deluge, therefore, flooded the face of the earth, and rose over the tops +of the mountains. Having accomplished its purpose, the water was dried +up by a wind. + +From this catastrophe Noah and his three sons, with their wives, were +saved in an ark. Of these sons, Shem remained in Asia and repeopled it. +Ham peopled Africa; Japhet, Europe. As the Fathers were not acquainted +with the existence of America, they did not provide an ancestor for its +people. + +Let us listen to what some of these authorities say in support of their +assertions. Thus Lactantius, referring to the heretical doctrine of the +globular form of the earth, remarks: "Is it possible that men can be so +absurd as to believe that the crops and the trees on the other side of +the earth hang downward, and that men have their feet higher than their +heads? If you ask them how they defend these monstrosities, how things +do not fall away from the earth on that side, they reply that the nature +of things is such that heavy bodies tend toward the centre, like the +spokes of a wheel, while light bodies, as clouds, smoke, fire, tend from +the centre to the heavens on all sides. Now, I am really at a loss what +to say of those who, when they have once gone wrong, steadily persevere +in their folly, and defend one absurd opinion by another." On the +question of the antipodes, St. Augustine asserts that "it is impossible +there should be inhabitants on the opposite side of the earth, since +no such race is recorded by Scripture among the descendants of Adam." +Perhaps, however, the most unanswerable argument against the sphericity +of the earth was this, that "in the day of judgment, men on the other +side of a globe could not see the Lord descending through the air." + +It is unnecessary for me to say any thing respecting the introduction of +death into the world, the continual interventions of spiritual agencies +in the course of events, the offices of angels and devils, the expected +conflagration of the earth, the tower of Babel, the confusion of +tongues, the dispersion of mankind, the interpretation of natural +phenomena, as eclipses, the rainbow, etc. Above all, I abstain from +commenting on the Patristic conceptions of the Almighty; they are too +anthropomorphic, and wanting in sublimity. + +Perhaps, however, I may quote from Cosmas Indicopleustes the views +that were entertained in the sixth century. He wrote a work entitled +"Christian Topography," the chief intent of which was to confute the +heretical opinion of the globular form of the earth, and the pagan +assertion that there is a temperate zone on the southern side of the +torrid. He affirms that, according to the true orthodox system of +geography, the earth is a quadrangular plane, extending four hundred +days' journey east and west, and exactly half as much north and south; +that it is inclosed by mountains, on which the sky rests; that one on +the north side, huger than the others, by intercepting the rays of the +sun, produces night; and that the plane of the earth is not set exactly +horizontally, but with a little inclination from the north: hence the +Euphrates, Tigris, and other rivers, running southward, are rapid; but +the Nile, having to run up-hill, has necessarily a very slow current. + +The Venerable Bede, writing in the seventh century, tells us that "the +creation was accomplished in six days, and that the earth is its centre +and its primary object. The heaven is of a fiery and subtile nature, +round, and equidistant in every part, as a canopy from the centre of the +earth. It turns round every day with ineffable rapidity, only moderated +by the resistance of the seven planets, three above the sun--Saturn, +Jupiter, Mars--then the sun; three below--Venus, Mercury, the moon. The +stars go round in their fixed courses, the northern perform the shortest +circle. The highest heaven has its proper limit; it contains the angelic +virtues who descend upon earth, assume ethereal bodies, perform human +functions, and return. The heaven is tempered with glacial waters, lest +it should be set on fire. The inferior heaven is called the firmament, +because it separates the superincumbent waters from the waters below. +The firmamental waters are lower than the spiritual heaven, higher than +all corporeal beings, reserved, some say, for a second deluge; others, +more truly, to temper the fire of the fixed stars." + +Was it for this preposterous scheme--this product of ignorance and +audacity--that the works of the Greek philosophers were to be given +up? It was none too soon that the great critics who appeared at the +Reformation, by comparing the works of these writers with one another, +brought them to their proper level, and taught us to look upon them all +with contempt. + +Of this presumptuous system, the strangest part was its logic, the +nature of its proofs. It relied upon miracle-evidence. A fact was +supposed to be demonstrated by an astounding illustration of something +else! An Arabian writer, referring to this, says: "If a conjurer should +say to me, 'Three are more than ten, and in proof of it I will change +this stick into a serpent,' I might be surprised at his legerdemain, +but I certainly should not admit his assertion." Yet, for more than +a thousand years, such was the accepted logic, and all over Europe +propositions equally absurd were accepted on equally ridiculous proof. + +Since the party that had become dominant in the empire could not furnish +works capable of intellectual competition with those of the great pagan +authors, and since it was impossible for it to accept a position of +inferiority, there arose a political necessity for the discouragement, +and even persecution, of profane learning. The persecution of the +Platonists under Valentinian was due to that necessity. They were +accused of magic, and many of them were put to death. The profession +of philosophy had become dangerous--it was a state crime. In its stead +there arose a passion for the marvelous, a spirit of superstition. Egypt +exchanged the great men, who had made her Museum immortal, for bands of +solitary monks and sequestered virgins, with which she was overrun. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + CONFLICT RESPECTING THE DOCTRINE OF THE UNITY OF GOD.--THE + FIRST OR SOUTHERN REFORMATION. + + The Egyptians insist on the introduction of the worship of + the Virgin Mary--They are resisted by Nestor, the Patriarch + of Constantinople, but eventually, through their influence + with the emperor, cause Nestor's exile and the dispersion of + his followers. + + Prelude to the Southern Reformation--The Persian attack; its + moral effects. + + The Arabian Reformation.--Mohammed is brought in contact + with the Nestorians--He adopts and extends their principles, + rejecting the worship of the Virgin, the doctrine of the + Trinity, and every thing in opposition to the unity of God.-- + He extinguishes idolatry in Arabia, by force, and prepares + to make war on the Roman Empire.--His successors conquer + Syria, Egypt, Asia Minor, North Africa, Spain, and invade + France. + + As the result of this conflict, the doctrine of the unity of + God was established in the greater part of the Roman Empire-- + The cultivation of science was restored, and Christendom + lost many of her most illustrious capitals, as Alexandria, + Carthage, and, above all, Jerusalem. + + +THE policy of the Byzantine court had given to primitive Christianity a +paganized form, which it had spread over all the idolatrous populations +constituting the empire. There had been an amalgamation of the two +parties. Christianity had modified paganism, paganism had modified +Christianity. The limits of this adulterated religion were the confines +of the Roman Empire. With this great extension there had come to the +Christian party political influence and wealth. No insignificant portion +of the vast public revenues found their way into the treasuries of the +Church. As under such circumstances must ever be the case, there were +many competitors for the spoils--men who, under the mask of zeal for the +predominant faith, sought only the enjoyment of its emoluments. + +ECCLESIASTICAL DISPUTES. Under the early emperors, conquest had reached +its culmination; the empire was completed; there remained no adequate +objects for military life; the days of war-peculation, and the +plundering of provinces, were over. For the ambitious, however, another +path was open; other objects presented. A successful career in the +Church led to results not unworthy of comparison with those that in +former days had been attained by a successful career in the army. + +The ecclesiastical, and indeed, it may be said, much of the political +history of that time, turns on the struggles of the bishops of the +three great metropolitan cities--Constantinople, Alexandria, Rome--for +supremacy: Constantinople based her claims on the fact that she was +the existing imperial city; Alexandria pointed to her commercial +and literary position; Rome, to her souvenirs. But the Patriarch of +Constantinople labored under the disadvantage that he was too closely +under the eye, and, as he found to his cost, too often under the hand, +of the emperor. Distance gave security to the episcopates of Alexandria +and Rome. + +ECCLESIASTICAL DISPUTES. Religious disputations in the East have +generally turned on diversities of opinion respecting the nature and +attributes of God; in the West, on the relations and life of man. This +peculiarity has been strikingly manifested in the transformations that +Christianity has undergone in Asia and Europe respectively. Accordingly, +at the time of which we are speaking, all the Eastern provinces of +the Roman Empire exhibited an intellectual anarchy. There were fierce +quarrels respecting the Trinity, the essence of God, the position of the +Son, the nature of the Holy Spirit, the influences of the Virgin Mary. +The triumphant clamor first of one then of another sect was confirmed, +sometimes by miracle-proof, sometimes by bloodshed. No attempt was ever +made to submit the rival opinions to logical examination. All parties, +however, agreed in this, that the imposture of the old classical pagan +forms of faith was demonstrated by the facility with which they had been +overthrown. The triumphant ecclesiastics proclaimed that the images of +the gods had failed to defend themselves when the time of trial came. + +Polytheistic ideas have always been held in repute by the southern +European races, the Semitic have maintained the unity of God. Perhaps +this is due to the fact, as a recent author has suggested, that a +diversified landscape of mountains and valleys, islands, and rivers, and +gulfs, predisposes man to a belief in a multitude of divinities. A vast +sandy desert, the illimitable ocean, impresses him with an idea of the +oneness of God. + +Political reasons had led the emperors to look with favor on the +admixture of Christianity and paganism, and doubtless by this means the +bitterness of the rivalry between those antagonists was somewhat abated. +The heaven of the popular, the fashionable Christianity was the old +Olympus, from which the venerable Greek divinities had been removed. +There, on a great white throne, sat God the Father, on his right the +Son, and then the blessed Virgin, clad in a golden robe, and "covered +with various female adornments;" on the left sat God the Holy Ghost. +Surrounding these thrones were hosts of angels with their harps. The +vast expanse beyond was filled with tables, seated at which the happy +spirits of the just enjoyed a perpetual banquet. + +If, satisfied with this picture of happiness, illiterate persons never +inquired how the details of such a heaven were carried out, or how much +pleasure there could be in the ennui of such an eternally unchanging, +unmoving scene, it was not so with the intelligent. As we are soon to +see, there were among the higher ecclesiastics those who rejected with +sentiments of horror these carnal, these materialistic conceptions, and +raised their protesting voices in vindication of the attributes of the +Omnipresent, the Almighty God. + +EGYPTIAN DOCTRINES. In the paganization of religion, now in all +directions taking place, it became the interest of every bishop to +procure an adoption of the ideas which, time out of mind, had been +current in the community under his charge. The Egyptians had already +thus forced on the Church their peculiar Trinitarian views; and now they +were resolved that, under the form of the adoration of the Virgin Mary, +the worship of Isis should be restored. + +THE NESTORIANS. It so happened that Nestor, the Bishop of Antioch, who +entertained the philosophical views of Theodore of Mopsuestia, had +been called by the Emperor Theodosius the Younger to the Episcopate +of Constantinople (A.D. 427). Nestor rejected the base popular +anthropomorphism, looking upon it as little better than blasphemous, +and pictured to himself an awful eternal Divinity, who pervaded the +universe, and had none of the aspects or attributes of man. Nestor +was deeply imbued with the doctrines of Aristotle, and attempted to +coordinate them with what he considered to be orthodox Christian tenets. +Between him and Cyril, the Bishop or Patriarch of Alexandria, a +quarrel accordingly arose. Cyril represented the paganizing, Nestor the +philosophizing party of the Church. This was that Cyril who had murdered +Hypatia. Cyril was determined that the worship of the Virgin as the +Mother of God should be recognized, Nestor was determined that it should +not. In a sermon delivered in the metropolitan church at Constantinople, +he vindicated the attributes of the Eternal, the Almighty God. "And can +this God have a mother?" he exclaimed. In other sermons and writings, +he set forth with more precision his ideas that the Virgin should be +considered not as the Mother of God, but as the mother of the human +portion of Christ, that portion being as essentially distinct from the +divine as is a temple from its contained deity. + +PERSECUTION AND DEATH OF NESTOR. Instigated by the monks of Alexandria, +the monks of Constantinople took up arms in behalf of "the Mother of +God." The quarrel rose to such a pitch that the emperor was constrained +to summon a council to meet at Ephesus. In the mean time Cyril had +given a bribe of many pounds of gold to the chief eunuch of the imperial +court, and had thereby obtained the influence of the emperor's sister. +"The holy virgin of the court of heaven thus found an ally of her own +sex in the holy virgin of the emperor's court." Cyril hastened to the +council, attended by a mob of men and women of the baser sort. He +at once assumed the presidency, and in the midst of a tumult had the +emperor's rescript read before the Syrian bishops could arrive. A single +day served to complete his triumph. All offers of accommodation on the +part of Nestor were refused, his explanations were not read, he was +condemned unheard. On the arrival of the Syrian ecclesiastics, a meeting +of protest was held by them. A riot, with much bloodshed, ensued in the +cathedral of St. John. Nestor was abandoned by the court, and eventually +exiled to an Egyptian oasis. His persecutors tormented him as long as +he lived, by every means in their power, and at his death gave out that +"his blasphemous tongue had been devoured by worms, and that from the +heats of an Egyptian desert he had escaped only into the hotter torments +of hell!" + +The overthrow and punishment of Nestor, however, by no means destroyed +his opinions. He and his followers, insisting on the plain inference of +the last verse of the first chapter of St. Matthew, together with the +fifty-fifth and fifty-sixth verses of the thirteenth of the same gospel, +could never be brought to an acknowledgment of the perpetual virginity +of the new queen of heaven. Their philosophical tendencies were soon +indicated by their actions. While their leader was tormented in an +African oasis, many of them emigrated to the Euphrates, and established +the Chaldean Church. Under their auspices the college of Edessa was +founded. From the college of Nisibis issued those doctors who spread +Nestor's tenets through Syria, Arabia, India, Tartary, China, Egypt. +The Nestorians, of course, adopted the philosophy of Aristotle, and +translated the works of that great writer into Syriac and Persian. They +also made similar translations of later works, such as those of +Pliny. In connection with the Jews they founded the medical college +of Djondesabour. Their missionaries disseminated the Nestorian form of +Christianity to such an extent over Asia, that its worshipers eventually +outnumbered all the European Christians of the Greek and Roman Churches +combined. It may be particularly remarked that in Arabia they had a +bishop. + +THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGN. The dissensions between Constantinople and +Alexandria had thus filled all Western Asia with sectaries, ferocious +in their contests with each other, and many of them burning with hatred +against the imperial power for the persecutions it had inflicted on +them. A religious revolution, the consequences of which are felt in our +own times, was the result. It affected the whole world. + +We shall gain a clear view of this great event, if we consider +separately the two acts into which it may be decomposed: 1. The +temporary overthrow of Asiatic Christianity by the Persians; 2. The +decisive and final reformation under the Arabians. + +1. It happened (A.D. 590) that, by one of those revolutions so frequent +in Oriental courts, Chosroes, the lawful heir to the Persian throne, was +compelled to seek refuge in the Byzantine Empire, and implore the aid +of the Emperor Maurice. That aid was cheerfully given. A brief and +successful campaign restored Chosroes to the throne of his ancestors. + +But the glories of this generous campaign could not preserve Maurice +himself. A mutiny broke out in the Roman army, headed by Phocas, a +centurion. The statues of the emperor were overthrown. The Patriarch +of Constantinople, having declared that he had assured himself of the +orthodoxy of Phocas, consecrated him emperor. The unfortunate Maurice +was dragged from a sanctuary, in which he had sought refuge; his five +sons were beheaded before his eyes, and then he was put to death. His +empress was inveigled from the church of St. Sophia, tortured, and +with her three young daughters beheaded. The adherents of the massacred +family were pursued with ferocious vindictiveness; of some the eyes were +blinded, of others the tongues were torn out, or the feet and hands cut +off, some were whipped to death, others were burnt. + +When the news reached Rome, Pope Gregory received it with exultation, +praying that the hands of Phocas might be strengthened against all his +enemies. As an equivalent for this subserviency, he was greeted with the +title of "Universal Bishop." The cause of his action, as well as of that +of the Patriarch of Constantinople, was doubtless the fact that Maurice +was suspected of Magrian tendencies, into which he had been lured by the +Persians. The mob of Constantinople had hooted after him in the streets, +branding him as a Marcionite, a sect which believed in the Magian +doctrine of two conflicting principles. + +With very different sentiments Chosroes heard of the murder of his +friend. Phocas had sent him the heads of Maurice and his sons. The +Persian king turned from the ghastly spectacle with horror, and at once +made ready to avenge the wrongs of his benefactor by war. + +THE EXPEDITION OF HERACLIUS. The Exarch of Africa, Heraclius, one of +the chief officers of the state, also received the shocking tidings with +indignation. He was determined that the imperial purple should not be +usurped by an obscure centurion of disgusting aspect. "The person of +this Phocas was diminutive and deformed; the closeness of his shaggy +eyebrows, his red hair, his beardless chin, were in keeping with his +cheek, disfigured and discolored by a formidable scar. Ignorant of +letters, of laws, and even of arms, he indulged in an ample privilege of +lust and drunkenness." At first Heraclius refused tribute and obedience +to him; then, admonished by age and infirmities, he committed the +dangerous enterprise of resistance to his son of the same name. A +prosperous voyage from Carthage soon brought the younger Heraclius in +front of Constantinople. The inconstant clergy, senate, and people of +the city joined him, the usurper was seized in his palace and beheaded. + +INVASION OF CHOSROES. But the revolution that had taken place in +Constantinople did not arrest the movements of the Persian king. His +Magian priests had warned him to act independently of the Greeks, +whose superstition, they declared, was devoid of all truth and justice. +Chosroes, therefore, crossed the Euphrates; his army was received with +transport by the Syrian sectaries, insurrections in his favor everywhere +breaking out. In succession, Antioch, Caesarea, Damascus fell; Jerusalem +itself was taken by storm; the sepulchre of Christ, the churches of +Constantine and of Helena were given to the flames; the Savior's cross +was sent as a trophy to Persia; the churches were rifled of their +riches; the sacred relics, collected by superstition, were dispersed. +Egypt was invaded, conquered, and annexed to the Persian Empire; the +Patriarch of Alexandria escaped by flight to Cyprus; the African coast +to Tripoli was seized. On the north, Asia Minor was subdued, and for +ten years the Persian forces encamped on the shores of the Bosporus, in +front of Constantinople. + +In his extremity Heraclius begged for peace. "I will never give peace +to the Emperor of Rome," replied the proud Persian, "till he has abjured +his crucified God, and embraced the worship of the sun." After a long +delay terms were, however, secured, and the Roman Empire was ransomed at +the price of "a thousand talents of gold, a thousand talents of silver, +a thousand silk robes, a thousand horses, and a thousand virgins." + +But Heraclius submitted only for a moment. He found means not only +to restore his affairs but to retaliate on the Persian Empire. The +operations by which he achieved this result were worthy of the most +brilliant days of Rome. + +INVASION OF CHOSROES Though her military renown was thus recovered, +though her territory was regained, there was something that the Roman +Empire had irrecoverably lost. Religious faith could never be restored. +In face of the world Magianism had insulted Christianity, by profaning +her most sacred places--Bethlehem, Gethsemane, Calvary--by burning +the sepulchre of Christ, by rifling and destroying the churches, by +scattering to the winds priceless relics, by carrying off, with shouts +of laughter, the cross. + +Miracles had once abounded in Syria, in Egypt, in Asia Minor; there was +not a church which had not its long catalogue of them. Very often they +were displayed on unimportant occasions and in insignificant cases. In +this supreme moment, when such aid was most urgently demanded, not a +miracle was worked. + +Amazement filled the Christian populations of the East when they +witnessed these Persian sacrileges perpetrated with impunity. The +heavens should have rolled asunder, the earth should have opened her +abysses, the sword of the Almighty should have flashed in the sky, the +fate of Sennacherib should have been repeated. But it was not so. In the +land of miracles, amazement was followed by consternation--consternation +died out in disbelief. + +2. But, dreadful as it was, the Persian conquest was but a prelude to +the great event, the story of which we have now to relate--the Southern +revolt against Christianity. Its issue was the loss of nine-tenths of +her geographical possessions--Asia, Africa, and part of Europe. + +MOHAMMED. In the summer of 581 of the Christian era, there came to +Bozrah, a town on the confines of Syria, south of Damascus, a caravan +of camels. It was from Mecca, and was laden with the costly products of +South Arabia--Arabia the Happy. The conductor of the caravan, one Abou +Taleb, and his nephew, a lad of twelve years, were hospitably received +and entertained at the Nestorian convent of the town. + +The monks of this convent soon found that their young visitor, Halibi or +Mohammed, was the nephew of the guardian of the Caaba, the sacred temple +of the Arabs. One of them, by name Bahira, spared no pains to secure his +conversion from the idolatry in which he had been brought up. He found +the boy not only precociously intelligent, but eagerly desirous of +information, especially on matters relating to religion. + +In Mohammed's own country the chief object of Meccan worship was a +black meteoric stone, kept in the Caaba, with three hundred and sixty +subordinate idols, representing the days of the year, as the year was +then counted. + +At this time, as we have seen, the Christian Church, through the +ambition and wickedness of its clergy, had been brought into a condition +of anarchy. Councils had been held on various pretenses, while the real +motives were concealed. Too often they were scenes of violence, bribery, +corruption. In the West, such were the temptations of riches, luxury, +and power, presented by the episcopates, that the election of a bishop +was often disgraced by frightful murders. In the East, in consequence of +the policy of the court of Constantinople, the Church had been torn in +pieces by contentions and schisms. Among a countless host of disputants +may be mentioned Arians, Basilidians, Carpocratians, Collyridians, +Eutychians, Gnostics, Jacobites, Marcionites, Marionites, Nestorians, +Sabellians, Valentinians. Of these, the Marionites regarded the Trinity +as consisting of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Virgin Mary; +the Collyridians worshiped the Virgin as a divinity, offering her +sacrifices of cakes; the Nestorians, as we have seen, denied that God +had "a mother." They prided themselves on being the inheritors, the +possessors of the science of old Greece. + +But, though they were irreconcilable in matters of faith, there was one +point in which all these sects agreed--ferocious hatred and persecution +of each other. Arabia, an unconquered land of liberty, stretching from +the Indian Ocean to the Desert of Syria, gave them all, as the tide +of fortune successively turned, a refuge. It had been so from the old +times. Thither, after the Roman conquest of Palestine, vast numbers of +Jews escaped; thither, immediately after his conversion, St. Paul +tells the Galatians that he retired. The deserts were now filled with +Christian anchorites, and among the chief tribes of the Arabs many +proselytes had been made. Here and there churches had been built. The +Christian princes of Abyssinia, who were Nestorians, held the southern +province of Arabia--Yemen--in possession. + +By the monk Bahira, in the convent at Bozrah, Mohammed was taught the +tenets of the Nestorians; from them the young Arab learned the story of +their persecutions. It was these interviews which engendered in him a +hatred of the idolatrous practices of the Eastern Church, and indeed of +all idolatry; that taught him, in his wonderful career, never to speak +of Jesus as the Son of God, but always as "Jesus, the son of Mary." His +untutored but active mind could not fail to be profoundly impressed not +only with the religious but also with the philosophical ideas of +his instructors, who gloried in being the living representatives of +Aristotelian science. His subsequent career shows how completely their +religious thoughts had taken possession of him, and repeated acts +manifest his affectionate regard for them. His own life was devoted to +the expansion and extension of their theological doctrine, and, that +once effectually established, his successors energetically adopted and +diffused their scientific, their Aristotelian opinions. + +As Mohammed grew to manhood, he made other expeditions to Syria. +Perhaps, we may suppose, that on these occasions the convent and its +hospitable in mates were not forgotten. He had a mysterious reverence +for that country. A wealthy Meccan widow Chadizah, had intrusted him +with the care of her Syrian trade. She was charmed with his capacity +and fidelity, and (since he is said to have been characterized by the +possession of singular manly beauty and a most courteous demeanor) +charmed with his person. The female heart in all ages and countries is +the same. She caused a slave to intimate to him what was passing in her +mind, and, for the remaining twenty-four years of her life, Mohammed was +her faithful husband. In a land of polygamy, he never insulted her by +the presence of a rival. Many years subsequently, in the height of his +power, Ayesha, who was one of the most beautiful women in Arabia, said +to him: "Was she not old? Did not God give you in me a better wife in +her place?" "No, by God!" exclaimed Mohammed, and with a burst of honest +gratitude, "there never can be a better. She believed in me when men +despised me, she relieved me when I was poor and persecuted by the +world." + +His marriage with Chadizah placed him in circumstances of ease, and gave +him an opportunity of indulging his inclination to religious meditation. +It so happened that her cousin Waraka, who was a Jew, had turned +Christian. He was the first to translate the Bible into Arabic. By his +conversation Mohammed's detestation of idolatry was confirmed. + +After the example of the Christian anchorites in their hermitages in +the desert, Mohammed retired to a grotto in Mount Hera, a few miles from +Mecca, giving himself up to meditation and prayer. In this seclusion, +contemplating the awful attributes of the Omnipotent and Eternal God, he +addressed to his conscience the solemn inquiry, whether he could adopt +the dogmas then held in Asiatic Christendom respecting the Trinity, the +sonship of Jesus as begotten by the Almighty, the character of Mary as +at once a virgin, a mother, and the queen of heaven, without incurring +the guilt and the peril of blasphemy. + +By his solitary meditations in the grotto Mohammed was drawn to the +conclusion that, through the cloud of dogmas and disputations around +him, one great truth might be discerned--the unity of God. Leaning +against the stem of a palm-tree, he unfolded his views on this subject +to his neighbors and friends, and announced to them that he should +dedicate his life to the preaching of that truth. Again and again, in +his sermons and in the Koran, he declared: "I am nothing but a public +preacher.... I preach the oneness of God." Such was his own conception +of his so-called apostleship. Henceforth, to the day of his death, he +wore on his finger a seal-ring on which was engraved, "Mohammed, the +messenger of God." + +VICTORIES OF MOHAMMED. It is well known among physicians that prolonged +fasting and mental anxiety inevitably give rise to hallucination. +Perhaps there never has been any religious system introduced by +self-denying, earnest men that did not offer examples of supernatural +temptations and supernatural commands. Mysterious voices encouraged the +Arabian preacher to persist in his determination; shadows of strange +forms passed before him. He heard sounds in the air like those of a +distant bell. In a nocturnal dream he was carried by Gabriel from Mecca +to Jerusalem, and thence in succession through the six heavens. Into the +seventh the angel feared to intrude and Mohammed alone passed into the +dread cloud that forever enshrouds the Almighty. "A shiver thrilled his +heart as he felt upon his shoulder the touch of the cold hand of God." + +His public ministrations met with much resistance and little success at +first. Expelled from Mecca by the upholders of the prevalent idolatry, +he sought refuge in Medina, a town in which there were many Jews and +Nestorians; the latter at once became proselytes to his faith. He had +already been compelled to send his daughter and others of his disciples +to Abyssinia, the king of which was a Nestorian Christian. At the end of +six years he had made only fifteen hundred converts. But in three little +skirmishes, magnified in subsequent times by the designation of the +battles of Beder, of Ohud, and of the Nations, Mohammed discovered that +his most convincing argument was his sword. Afterward, with Oriental +eloquence, he said, "Paradise will be found in the shadow of the +crossing of swords." By a series of well-conducted military operations, +his enemies were completely overthrown. Arabian idolatry was absolutely +exterminated; the doctrine he proclaimed, that "there is but one God," +was universally adopted by his countrymen, and his own apostleship +accepted. + +DEATH OF MOHAMMED. Let us pass over his stormy life, and hear what +he says when, on the pinnacle of earthly power and glory, he was +approaching its close. + +Steadfast in his declaration of the unity of God, he departed from +Medina on his last pilgrimage to Mecca, at the head of one hundred +and fourteen thousand devotees, with camels decorated with garlands of +flowers and fluttering streamers. When he approached the holy city, he +uttered the solemn invocation: "Here am I in thy service, O God! Thou +hast no companion. To thee alone belongeth worship. Thine alone is the +kingdom. There is none to share it with thee." + +With his own hand he offered up the camels in sacrifice. He considered +that primeval institution to be equally sacred as prayer, and that no +reason can be alleged in support of the one which is not equally strong +in support of the other. + +From the pulpit of the Caaba he reiterated, "O my hearers, I am only a +man like yourselves." They remembered that he had once said to one who +approached him with timid steps: "Of what dost thou stand in awe? I am +no king. I am nothing but the son of an Arab woman, who ate flesh dried +in the sun." + +He returned to Medina to die. In his farewell to his congregation, he +said: "Every thing happens according to the will of God, and has its +appointed time, which can neither be hastened nor avoided. I return to +him who sent me, and my last command to you is, that ye love, honor, and +uphold each other, that ye exhort each other to faith and constancy in +belief, and to the performance of pious deeds. My life has been for your +good, and so will be my death." + +In his dying agony, his head was reclined on the lap of Ayesha. From +time to time he had dipped his hand in a vase of water, and moistened +his face. At last he ceased, and, gazing steadfastly upward, said, in +broken accents: "O God--forgive my sins--be it so. I come." + +Shall we speak of this man with disrespect? His precepts are, at this +day, the religious guide of one-third of the human race. + +DOCTRINES OF MOHAMMED. In Mohammed, who had already broken away from the +ancient idolatrous worship of his native country, preparation had been +made for the rejection of those tenets which his Nestorian teachers +had communicated to him, inconsistent with reason and conscience. And, +though, in the first pages of the Koran, he declares his belief in what +was delivered to Moses and Jesus, and his reverence for them personally, +his veneration for the Almighty is perpetually displayed. He is +horror-stricken at the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus, the Worship of +Mary as the mother of God, the adoration of images and paintings, in +his eyes a base idolatry. He absolutely rejects the Trinity, of which +he seems to have entertained the idea that it could not be interpreted +otherwise than as presenting three distinct Gods. + +His first and ruling idea was simply religious reform--to overthrow +Arabian idolatry, and put an end to the wild sectarianism of +Christianity. That he proposed to set up a new religion was a calumny +invented against him in Constantinople, where he was looked upon with +detestation, like that with which in after ages Luther was regarded in +Rome. + +But, though he rejected with indignation whatever might seem to +disparage the doctrine of the unity of God, he was not able to +emancipate himself from anthropomorphic conceptions. The God of the +Koran is altogether human, both corporeally and mentally, if such +expressions may with propriety be used. Very soon, however, the +followers of Mohammed divested themselves of these base ideas and rose +to nobler ones. + +The view here presented of the primitive character of Mohammedanism +has long been adopted by many competent authorities. Sir William +Jones, following Locke, regards the main point in the divergence of +Mohammedanism from Christianity to consist "in denying vehemently the +character of our Savior as the Son, and his equality as God with the +Father, of whose unity and attributes the Mohammedans entertain and +express the most awful ideas." This opinion has been largely entertained +in Italy. Dante regarded Mohammed only as the author of a schism, and +saw in Islamism only an Arian sect. In England, Whately views it as a +corruption of Christianity. It was an offshoot of Nestorianism, and not +until it had overthrown Greek Christianity in many great battles, was +spreading rapidly over Asia and Africa, and had become intoxicated +with its wonderful successes, did it repudiate its primitive limited +intentions, and assert itself to be founded on a separate and distinct +revelation. + +THE FIRST KHALIF. Mohammed's life had been almost entirely consumed +in the conversion or conquest of his native country. Toward its close, +however, he felt himself strong enough to threaten the invasion of Syria +and Persia. He had made no provision for the perpetuation of his own +dominion, and hence it was not without a struggle that a successor was +appointed. At length Abubeker, the father of Ayesha, was selected. He +was proclaimed the first khalif, or successor of the Prophet. + +There is a very important difference between the spread of Mohammedanism +and the spread of Christianity. The latter was never sufficiently +strong to over throw and extirpate idolatry in the Roman Empire. As it +advanced, there was an amalgamation, a union. The old forms of the one +were vivified by the new spirit of the other, and that paganization to +which reference has already been made was the result. + +THE MOHAMMEDAN HEAVEN. But, in Arabia, Mohammed overthrew and absolutely +annihilated the old idolatry. No trace of it is found in the doctrines +preached by him and his successors. The black stone that had fallen from +heaven--the meteorite of the Caaba--and its encircling idols, passed +totally out of view. The essential dogma of the new faith--"There is but +one God"--spread without any adulteration. Military successes had, in a +worldly sense made the religion of the Koran profitable; and, no matter +what dogmas may be, when that is the case, there will be plenty of +converts. + +As to the popular doctrines of Mohammedanism, I shall here have nothing +to say. The reader who is interested in that matter will find an account +of them in a review of the Koran in the eleventh chapter of my "History +of the Intellectual Development of Europe." It is enough now to remark +that their heaven was arranged in seven stories, and was only a palace +of Oriental carnal delight. It was filled with black-eyed concubines +and servants. The form of God was, perhaps, more awful than that +of paganized Christianity. Anthropomorphism will, however, never be +obliterated from the ideas of the unintellectual. Their God, at the +best, will never be any thing more than the gigantic shadow of a man--a +vast phantom of humanity--like one of those Alpine spectres seen in the +midst of the clouds by him who turns his back on the sun. + +Abubeker had scarcely seated himself in the khalifate, when he put forth +the following proclamation: + +In the name of the most merciful God! Abubeker to the rest of the true +believers, health and happiness. The mercy and blessing of God be upon +you. I praise the most high God. I pray for his prophet Mohammed. + +INVASION OF SYRIA. "This is to inform you that I intend to send the true +believers into Syria, to take it out of the hands of the infidels. And +I would have you know that the fighting for religion is an act of +obedience to God." + +On the first encounter, Khaled, the Saracen general, hard pressed, +lifted up his hands in the midst of his army and said: "O God! these +vile wretches pray with idolatrous expressions and take to themselves +another God besides thee, but we acknowledge thy unity and affirm that +there is no other God but thee alone. Help us, we beseech thee, for the +sake of thy prophet Mohammed, against these idolaters." On the part of +the Saracens the conquest of Syria was conducted with ferocious piety. +The belief of the Syrian Christians aroused in their antagonists +sentiments of horror and indignation. "I will cleave the skull of any +blaspheming idolater who says that the Most Holy God, the Almighty +and Eternal, has begotten a son." The Khalif Omar, who took Jerusalem, +commences a letter to Heraclius, the Roman emperor: "In the name of the +most merciful God! Praise be to God, the Lord of this and of the other +world, who has neither female consort nor son." The Saracens nicknamed +the Christians "Associators," because they joined Mary and Jesus as +partners with the Almighty and Most Holy God. + +It was not the intention of the khalif to command his army; that duty +was devolved on Abou Obeidah nominally, on Khaled in reality. In a +parting review the khalif enjoined on his troops justice, mercy, and the +observance of fidelity in their engagements he commanded them to abstain +from all frivolous conversation and from wine, and rigorously to observe +the hours of prayer; to be kind to the common people among whom they +passed, but to show no mercy to their priests. + +FALL OF BOZRAH. Eastward of the river Jordan is Bozrah, a strong town +where Mohammed had first met his Nestorian Christian instructors. It was +one of the Roman forts with which the country was dotted over. Before +this place the Saracen army encamped. The garrison was strong, the +ramparts were covered with holy crosses and consecrated banners. It +might have made a long defense. But its governor, Romanus, betrayed his +trust, and stealthily opened its gates to the besiegers. His conduct +shows to what a deplorable condition the population of Syria had come. +After the surrender, in a speech he made to the people he had betrayed, +he said: "I renounce your society, both in this world and that to come. +And I deny him that was crucified, and whosoever worships him. And I +choose God for my Lord, Islam for my faith, Mecca for my temple, the +Moslems for my brethren, Mohammed for my prophet, who was sent to lead +us in the right way, and to exalt the true religion in spite of those +who join partners with God." Since the Persian invasion, Asia Minor, +Syria, and even Palestine, were full of traitors and apostates, ready to +join the Saracens. Romanus was but one of many thousands who had fallen +into disbelief through the victories of the Persians. + +FALL OF DAMASCUS. From Bozrah it was only seventy miles northward to +Damascus, the capital of Syria. Thither, without delay, the Saracen army +marched. The city was at once summoned to take its option--conversion, +tribute, or the sword. In his palace at Antioch, barely one hundred and +fifty miles still farther north, the Emperor Heraclius received tidings +of the alarming advance of his assailants. He at once dispatched an army +of seventy thousand men. The Saracens were compelled to raise the +siege. A battle took place in the plains of Aiznadin, the Roman army +was overthrown and dispersed. Khaled reappeared before Damascus with his +standard of the black eagle, and after a renewed investment of seventy +days Damascus surrendered. + +From the Arabian historians of these events we may gather that thus far +the Saracen armies were little better than a fanatic mob. Many of the +men fought naked. It was not unusual for a warrior to stand forth in +front and challenge an antagonist to mortal duel. Nay, more, even the +women engaged in the combats. Picturesque narratives have been +handed down to us relating the gallant manner in which they acquitted +themselves. + +FALL OF JERUSALEM. From Damascus the Saracen army advanced northward, +guided by the snow-clad peaks of Libanus and the beautiful river +Orontes. It captured on its way Baalbec, the capital of the Syrian +valley, and Emesa, the chief city of the eastern plain. To resist its +further progress, Heraclius collected an army of one hundred and forty +thousand men. A battle took place at Yermuck; the right wing of the +Saracens was broken, but the soldiers were driven back to the field by +the fanatic expostulations of their women. The conflict ended in +the complete overthrow of the Roman army. Forty thousand were taken +prisoners, and a vast number killed. The whole country now lay open to +the victors. The advance of their army had been east of the Jordan. +It was clear that, before Asia Minor could be touched, the strong and +important cities of Palestine, which was now in their rear, must be +secured. There was a difference of opinion among the generals in the +field as to whether Caesarea or Jerusalem should be assailed first. The +matter was referred to the khalif, who, rightly preferring the moral +advantages of the capture of Jerusalem to the military advantages of the +capture of Caesarea, ordered the Holy City to be taken, and that at any +cost. Close siege was therefore laid to it. The inhabitants, remembering +the atrocities inflicted by the Persians, and the indignities that had +been offered to the Savior's sepulchre, prepared now for a vigorous +defense. But, after an investment of four months, the Patriarch +Sophronius appeared on the wall, asking terms of capitulation. There had +been misunderstandings among the generals at the capture of Damascus, +followed by a massacre of the fleeing inhabitants. Sophronius, +therefore, stipulated that the surrender of Jerusalem should take place +in presence of the khalif himself Accordingly, Omar, the khalif, came +from Medina for that purpose. He journeyed on a red camel, carrying +a bag of corn and one of dates, a wooden dish, and a leathern +water-bottle. The Arab conqueror entered the Holy City riding by the +side of the Christian patriarch and the transference of the capital of +Christianity to the representative of Mohammedanism was effected without +tumult or outrage. Having ordered that a mosque should be built on the +site of the temple of Solomon, the khalif returned to the tomb of the +Prophet at Medina. + +Heraclius saw plainly that the disasters which were fast settling on +Christianity were due to the dissensions of its conflicting sects; and +hence, while he endeavored to defend the empire with his armies, he +sedulously tried to compose those differences. With this view he pressed +for acceptance the Monothelite doctrine of the nature of Christ. But it +was now too late. Aleppo and Antioch were taken. Nothing could prevent +the Saracens from overrunning Asia Minor. Heraclius himself had to seek +safety in flight. Syria, which had been added by Pompey the Great, +the rival of Caesar, to the provinces of Rome, seven hundred years +previously--Syria, the birthplace of Christianity, the scene of its most +sacred and precious souvenirs, the land from which Heraclius himself had +once expelled the Persian intruder--was irretrievably lost. Apostates +and traitors had wrought this calamity. We are told that, as the ship +which bore him to Constantinople parted from the shore, Heraclius +gazed intently on the receding hills, and in the bitterness of anguish +exclaimed, "Farewell, Syria, forever farewell!" + +It is needless to dwell on the remaining details of the Saracen +conquest: how Tripoli and Tyre were betrayed; how Caesarea was captured; +how with the trees of Libanus and the sailors of Phoenicia a Saracen +fleet was equipped, which drove the Roman navy into the Hellespont; how +Cyprus, Rhodes, and the Cyclades, were ravaged, and the Colossus, which +was counted as one of the wonders of the world, sold to a Jew, who +loaded nine hundred camels with its brass; how the armies of the khalif +advanced to the Black Sea, and even lay in front of Constantinople--all +this was as nothing after the fall of Jerusalem. + +OVERTHROW OF THE PERSIANS. The fall of Jerusalem! the loss of +the metropolis of Christianity! In the ideas of that age the two +antagonistic forms of faith had submitted themselves to the ordeal of +the judgment of God. Victory had awarded the prize of battle, Jerusalem, +to the Mohammedan; and, notwithstanding the temporary successes of the +Crusaders, after much more than a thousand years in his hands it remains +to this day. The Byzantine historians are not without excuse for the +course they are condemned for taking: "They have wholly neglected the +great topic of the ruin of the Eastern Church." And as for the Western +Church, even the debased popes of the middle ages--the ages of the +Crusades--could not see without indignation that they were compelled +to rest the claims of Rome as the metropolis of Christendom on a false +legendary story of a visit of St. Peter to that city; while the true +metropolis, the grand, the sacred place of the birth, the life, the +death of Christ himself, was in the hands of the infidels! It has not +been the Byzantine historians alone who have tried to conceal this great +catastrophe. The Christian writers of Europe on all manner of subjects, +whether of history, religion, or science, have followed a similar +course against their conquering antagonists. It has been their constant +practice to hide what they could not depreciate, and depreciate what +they could not hide. + +INVASION OF EGYPT. I have not space, nor indeed does it comport with the +intention of this work, to relate, in such detail as I have given to +the fall of Jerusalem, other conquests of the Saracens--conquests which +eventually established a Mohammedan empire far exceeding in geographical +extent that of Alexander, and even that of Rome. But, devoting a few +words to this subject, it may be said that Magianism received a worse +blow than that which had been inflicted on Christianity; The fate of +Persia was settled at the battle of Cadesia. At the sack of Ctesiphon, +the treasury, the royal arms, and an unlimited spoil, fell into the +hands of the Saracens. Not without reason do they call the battle of +Nehavend the "victory of victories." In one direction they advanced to +the Caspian, in the other southward along the Tigris to Persepolis. +The Persian king fled for his life over the great Salt Desert, from the +columns and statues of that city which had lain in ruins since the night +of the riotous banquet of Alexander. One division of the Arabian army +forced the Persian monarch over the Oxus. He was assassinated by the +Turks. His son was driven into China, and became a captain in the +Chinese emperor's guards. The country beyond the Oxus was reduced. +It paid a tribute of two million pieces of gold. While the emperor +at Peking was demanding the friendship of the khalif at Medina, the +standard of the Prophet was displayed on the banks of the Indus. + +Among the generals who had greatly distinguished themselves in the +Syrian wars was Amrou, destined to be the conqueror of Egypt; for the +khalifs, not content with their victories on the North and East, now +turned their eyes to the West, and prepared for the annexation of +Africa. As in the former cases, so in this, sectarian treason assisted +them. The Saracen army was hailed as the deliverer of the Jacobite +Church; the Monophysite Christians of Egypt, that is, they who, in the +language of the Athanasian Creed, confounded the substance of the +Son, proclaimed, through their leader, Mokaukas, that they desired no +communion with the Greeks, either in this world or the next, that they +abjured forever the Byzantine tyrant and his synod of Chalcedon. They +hastened to pay tribute to the khalif, to repair the roads and bridges, +and to supply provisions and intelligence to the invading army. + +FALL OF ALEXANDRIA. Memphis, one of the old Pharaonic capitals, soon +fell, and Alexandria was invested. The open sea behind gave opportunity +to Heraclius to reenforce the garrison continually. On his part, Omar, +who was now khalif sent to the succor of the besieging army the veteran +troops of Syria. There were many assaults and many sallies. In one Amrou +himself was taken prisoner by the besieged, but, through the dexterity +of a slave, made his escape. After a siege of fourteen months, and a +loss of twenty-three thousand men, the Saracens captured the city. In +his dispatch to the Khalif, Amrou enumerated the splendors of the great +city of the West "its four thousand palaces, four thousand baths, four +hundred theatres, twelve thousand shops for the sale of vegetable food, +and forty thousand tributary Jews." + +So fell the second great city of Christendom--the fate of Jerusalem had +fallen on Alexandria, the city of Athanasius, and Arius, and Cyril; the +city that had imposed Trinitarian ideas and Mariolatry on the Church. +In his palace at Constantinople Heraclius received the fatal tidings. +He was overwhelmed with grief. It seemed as if his reign was to be +disgraced by the downfall of Christianity. He lived scarcely a month +after the loss of the town. + +But if Alexandria had been essential to Constantinople in the supply +of orthodox faith, she was also essential in the supply of daily food. +Egypt was the granary of the Byzantines. For this reason two attempts +were made by powerful fleets and armies for the recovery of the place, +and twice had Amrou to renew his conquest. He saw with what facility +these attacks could be made, the place being open to the sea; he saw +that there was but one and that a fatal remedy. "By the living God, if +this thing be repeated a third time I will make Alexandria as open to +anybody as is the house of a prostitute!" He was better than his word, +for he forthwith dismantled its fortifications, and made it an untenable +place. + +FALL OF CARTHAGE. It was not the intention of the khalifs to limit their +conquest to Egypt. Othman contemplated the annexation of the entire +North-African coast. His general, Abdallah, set out from Memphis with +forty thousand men, passed through the desert of Barca, and besieged +Tripoli. But, the plague breaking out in his army, he was compelled to +retreat to Egypt. + +All attempts were now suspended for more than twenty years. Then Akbah +forced his way from the Nile to the Atlantic Ocean. In front of the +Canary Islands he rode his horse into the sea, exclaiming: "Great God! +if my course were not stopped by this sea, I would still go on to the +unknown kingdoms of the West, preaching the unity of thy holy name, and +putting to the sword the rebellious nations who worship any other gods +than thee." + +These Saracen expeditions had been through the interior of the country, +for the Byzantine emperors, controlling for the time the Mediterranean, +had retained possession of the cities on the coast. The Khalif +Abdalmalek at length resolved on the reduction of Carthage, the most +important of those cities, and indeed the capital of North Africa. +His general, Hassan, carried it by escalade; but reenforcements from +Constantinople, aided by some Sicilian and Gothic troops, compelled +him to retreat. The relief was, however, only temporary. Hassan, in the +course of a few months renewed his attack. It proved successful, and he +delivered Carthage to the flames. + +Jerusalem, Alexandria, Carthage, three out of the five great Christian +capitals, were lost. The fall of Constantinople was only a question of +time. After its fall, Rome alone remained. + +In the development of Christianity, Carthage had played no insignificant +part. It had given to Europe its Latin form of faith, and some of its +greatest theologians. It was the home of St. Augustine. + +Never in the history of the world had there been so rapid and extensive +a propagation of any religion as Mohammedanism. It was now dominating +from the Altai Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, from the centre of Asia +to the western verge of Africa. + +CONQUEST OF SPAIN. The Khalif Alwalid next authorized the invasion of +Europe, the conquest of Andalusia, or the Region of the Evening. +Musa, his general, found, as had so often been the case elsewhere, two +effective allies sectarianism and treason--the Archbishop of Toledo and +Count Julian the Gothic general. Under their lead, in the very crisis +of the battle of Xeres, a large portion of the army went over to the +invaders; the Spanish king was compelled to flee from the field, and in +the pursuit he was drowned in the waters of the Guadalquivir. + +With great rapidity Tarik, the lieutenant of Musa, pushed forward from +the battle-field to Toledo, and thence northward. On the arrival of Musa +the reduction of the Spanish peninsula was completed, and the wreck of +the Gothic army driven beyond the Pyrenees into France. Considering the +conquest of Spain as only the first step in his victories, he announced +his intention of forcing his way into Italy, and preaching the unity of +God in the Vatican. Thence he would march to Constantinople, and, having +put all end to the Roman Empire and Christianity, would pass into Asia +and lay his victorious sword on the footstool of the khalif at Damascus. + +But this was not to be. Musa, envious of his lieutenant, Tarik, had +treated him with great indignity. The friends of Tarik at the court of +the khalif found means of retaliation. An envoy from Damascus arrested +Musa in his camp; he was carried before his sovereign, disgraced by a +public whipping, and died of a broken heart. + +INVASION OF FRANCE. Under other leaders, however, the Saracen conquest +of France was attempted. In a preliminary campaign the country from the +mouth of the Garonne to that of the Loire was secured. Then Abderahman, +the Saracen commander, dividing his forces into two columns, with one +on the east passed the Rhone, and laid siege to Arles. A Christian army, +attempting the relief of the place, was defeated with heavy loss. +His western column, equally successful, passed the Dordogne, defeated +another Christian army, inflicting on it such dreadful loss that, +according to its own fugitives, "God alone could number the slain." All +Central France was now overrun; the banks of the Loire were reached; +the churches and monasteries were despoiled of their treasures; and +the tutelar saints, who had worked so many miracles when there was no +necessity, were found to want the requisite power when it was so greatly +needed. + +The progress of the invaders was at length stopped by Charles Martel +(A.D. 732). Between Tours and Poictiers, a great battle, which lasted +seven days, was fought. Abderahman was killed, the Saracens retreated, +and soon afterward were compelled to recross the Pyrenees. + +The banks of the Loire, therefore, mark the boundary of the Mohammedan +advance in Western Europe. Gibbon, in his narrative of these great +events, makes this remark: "A victorious line of march had been +prolonged above a thousand miles from the rock of Gibraltar to the banks +of the Loire--a repetition of an equal space would have carried the +Saracens to the confines of Poland and the Highlands of Scotland." + +INSULT TO ROME. It is not necessary for me to add to this sketch of the +military diffusion of Mohammedanism, the operations of the Saracens on +the Mediterranean Sea, their conquest of Crete and Sicily, their insult +to Rome. It will be found, however, that their presence in Sicily +and the south of Italy exerted a marked influence on the intellectual +development of Europe. + +Their insult to Rome! What could be more humiliating than the +circumstances under which it took place (A.D. 846)? An insignificant +Saracen expedition entered the Tiber and appeared before the walls of +the city. Too weak to force an entrance, it insulted and plundered the +precincts, sacrilegiously violating the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul. +Had the city itself been sacked, the moral effect could not have been +greater. From the church of St. Peter its altar of silver was torn +away and sent to Africa--St. Peter's altar, the very emblem of Roman +Christianity! + +Constantinople had already been besieged by the Saracens more than once; +its fall was predestined, and only postponed. Rome had received the +direst insult, the greatest loss that could be inflicted upon it; +the venerable churches of Asia Minor had passed out of existence; no +Christian could set his foot in Jerusalem without permission; the Mosque +of Omar stood on the site of the Temple of Solomon. Among the ruins of +Alexandria the Mosque of Mercy marked the spot where a Saracen general, +satiated with massacre, had, in contemptuous compassion, spared the +fugitive relics of the enemies of Mohammed; nothing remained of Carthage +but her blackened ruins. The most powerful religious empire that the +world had ever seen had suddenly come into existence. It stretched from +the Atlantic Ocean to the Chinese Wall, from the shores of the Caspian +to those of the Indian Ocean, and yet, in one sense, it had not reached +its culmination. The day was to come when it was to expel the successors +of the Caesars from their capital, and hold the peninsula of Greece in +subjection, to dispute with Christianity the empire of Europe in the +very centre of that continent, and in Africa to extend its dogmas and +faith across burning deserts and through pestilential forests from the +Mediterranean to regions southward far beyond the equinoctial line. + +DISSENSIONS OF THE ARABS. But, though Mohammedanism had not reached its +culmination, the dominion of the khalifs had. Not the sword of Charles +Martel, but the internal dissension of the vast Arabian Empire, was the +salvation of Europe. Though the Ommiade Khalifs were popular in Syria, +elsewhere they were looked upon as intruders or usurpers; the kindred +of the apostle was considered to be the rightful representative of his +faith. Three parties, distinguished by their colors, tore the khalifate +asunder with their disputes, and disgraced it by their atrocities. The +color of the Ommiades was white, that of the Fatimites green, that of +the Abassides black; the last represented the party of Abbas, the uncle +of Mohammed. The result of these discords was a tripartite division +of the Mohammedan Empire in the tenth century into the khalifates of +Bagdad, of Cairoan, and of Cordova. Unity in Mohammedan political action +was at an end, and Christendom found its safeguard, not in supernatural +help, but in the quarrels of the rival potentates. To internal +animosities foreign pressures were eventually added and Arabism, which +had done so much for the intellectual advancement of the world, came to +an end when the Turks and the Berbers attained to power. + +The Saracens had become totally regardless of European opposition--they +were wholly taken up with their domestic quarrels. Ockley says with +truth, in his history: "The Saracens had scarce a deputy lieutenant or +general that would not have thought it the greatest affront, and such +as ought to stigmatize him with indelible disgrace, if he should have +suffered himself to have been insulted by the united forces of all +Europe. And if any one asks why the Greeks did not exert themselves +more, in order to the extirpation of these insolent invaders, it is a +sufficient answer to any person that is acquainted with the characters +of those men to say that Amrou kept his residence at Alexandria, and +Moawyah at Damascus." + +As to their contempt, this instance may suffice: Nicephorus, the Roman +emperor, had sent to the Khalif Haroun-al-Raschid a threatening +letter, and this was the reply: "In the name of the most merciful God, +Haroun-al-Raschid, commander of the faithful, to Nicephorus, the Roman +dog! I have read thy letter, O thou son of an unbelieving mother. Thou +shalt not hear, thou shalt behold my reply!" It was written in letters +of blood and fire on the plains of Phrygia. + +POLITICAL EFFECT OF POLYGAMY. A nation may recover the confiscation +of its provinces, the confiscation of its wealth; it may survive the +imposition of enormous war-fines; but it never can recover from that +most frightful of all war-acts, the confiscation of its women. When +Abou Obeidah sent to Omar news of his capture of Antioch, Omar gently +upbraided him that he had not let the troops have the women. "If they +want to marry in Syria, let them; and let them have as many female +slaves as they have occasion for." It was the institution of polygamy, +based upon the confiscation of the women in the vanquished countries, +that secured forever the Mohammedan rule. The children of these unions +gloried in their descent from their conquering fathers. No better proof +can be given of the efficacy of this policy than that which is furnished +by North Africa. The irresistible effect of polygamy in consolidating +the new order of things was very striking. In little more than a single +generation, the Khalif was informed by his officers that the tribute +must cease, for all the children born in that region were Mohammedans, +and all spoke Arabic. + +MOHAMMEDANISM. Mohammedanism, as left by its founder, was an +anthropomorphic religion. Its God was only a gigantic man, its heaven +a mansion of carnal pleasures. From these imperfect ideas its more +intelligent classes very soon freed themselves, substituting for them +others more philosophical, more correct. Eventually they attained to an +accordance with those that have been pronounced in our own times by the +Vatican Council as orthodox. Thus Al-Gazzali says: "A knowledge of God +cannot be obtained by means of the knowledge a man has of himself, or +of his own soul. The attributes of God cannot be determined from +the attributes of man. His sovereignty and government can neither be +compared nor measured." + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + THE RESTORATION OF SCIENCE IN THE SOUTH. + + By the influence of the Nestorians and Jews, the Arabians + are turned to the cultivation of Science.--They modify + their views as to the destiny of man, and obtain true + conceptions respecting the structure of the world.--They + ascertain the size of the earth, and determine its shape.-- + Their khalifs collect great libraries, patronize every + department of science and literature, establish astronomical + observatories.--They develop the mathematical sciences, + invent algebra, and improve geometry and trigonometry.--They + collect and translate the old Greek mathematical and + astronomical works, and adopt the inductive method of + Aristotle.--They establish many colleges, and, with the aid + of the Nestorians, organize a public-school system.--They + introduce the Arabic numerals and arithmetic, and catalogue + and give names to the stars.--They lay the foundation of + modern astronomy, chemistry, and physics, and introduce + great improvements in agriculture and manufactures. + + +"IN the course of my long life," said the Khalif Ali, "I have often +observed that men are more like the times they live in than they +are like their fathers." This profoundly philosophical remark of the +son-in-law of Mohammed is strictly true; for, though the personal, the +bodily lineaments of a man may indicate his parentage, the constitution +of his mind, and therefore the direction of his thoughts, is determined +by the environment in which he lives. + +When Amrou, the lieutenant of the Khalif Omar, conquered Egypt, and +annexed it to the Saracenic Empire, he found in Alexandria a Greek +grammarian, John surnamed Philoponus, or the Labor-lover. Presuming on +the friendship which had arisen between them, the Greek solicited as a +gift the remnant of the great library--a remnant which war and time and +bigotry had spared. Amrou, therefore, sent to the khalif to ascertain +his pleasure. "If," replied the khalif, "the books agree with the Koran, +the Word of God, they are useless, and need not be preserved; if +they disagree with it, they are pernicious. Let them be destroyed." +Accordingly, they were distributed among the baths of Alexandria, and it +is said that six months were barely sufficient to consume them. + +Although the fact has been denied, there can be little doubt that Omar +gave this order. The khalif was an illiterate man; his environment +was an environment of fanaticism and ignorance. Omar's act was an +illustration of Ali's remark. + +THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY BURNT. But it must not be supposed that the +books which John the Labor-lover coveted were those which constituted +the great library of the Ptolemies, and that of Eumenes, King of +Pergamus. Nearly a thousand years had elapsed since Philadelphus began +his collection. Julius Caesar had burnt more than half; the Patriarchs +of Alexandria had not only permitted but superintended the dispersion +of almost all the rest. Orosius expressly states that he saw the empty +cases or shelves of the library twenty years after Theophilus, the uncle +of St. Cyril, had procured from the Emperor Theodosius a rescript for +its destruction. Even had this once noble collection never endured such +acts of violence, the mere wear and tear, and perhaps, I may add, the +pilfering of a thousand years, would have diminished it sadly. +Though John, as the surname he received indicates, might rejoice in a +superfluity of occupation, we may be certain that the care of a library +of half a million books would transcend even his well-tried powers; and +the cost of preserving and supporting it, that had demanded the ample +resources of the Ptolemies and the Caesars, was beyond the means of a +grammarian. Nor is the time required for its combustion or destruction +any indication of the extent of the collection. Of all articles of +fuel, parchment is, perhaps, the most wretched. Paper and papyrus do +excellently well as kindling-materials, but we may be sure that the +bath-men of Alexandria did not resort to parchment so long as they could +find any thing else, and of parchment a very large portion of these +books was composed. + +There can, then, be no more doubt that Omar did order the destruction of +this library, under an impression of its uselessness or its irreligious +tendency, than that the Crusaders burnt the library of Tripoli, +fancifully said to have consisted of three million volumes. The first +apartment entered being found to contain nothing but the Koran, all the +other books were supposed to be the works of the Arabian impostor, +and were consequently committed to the flames. In both cases the story +contains some truth and much exaggeration. Bigotry, however, has often +distinguished itself by such exploits. The Spaniards burnt in Mexico +vast piles of American picture-writings, an irretrievable loss; and +Cardinal Ximenes delivered to the flames, in the squares of Granada, +eighty thousand Arabic manuscripts, many of them translations of +classical authors. + +We have seen how engineering talent, stimulated by Alexander's Persian +campaign, led to a wonderful development of pure science under the +Ptolemies; a similar effect may be noted as the result of the Saracenic +military operations. + +The friendship contracted by Amrou, the conqueror of Egypt, with John +the Grammarian, indicates how much the Arabian mind was predisposed to +liberal ideas. Its step from the idolatry of the Caaba to the monotheism +of Mohammed prepared it to expatiate in the wide and pleasing fields +of literature and philosophy. There were two influences to which it +was continually exposed. They conspired in determining its path. These +were--1. That of the Nestorians in Syria; 2. That of the Jews in Egypt. + +INFLUENCE OF THE NESTORIANS AND JEWS. In the last chapter I have briefly +related the persecution of Nestor and his disciples. They bore testimony +to the oneness of God, through many sufferings and martyrdoms. They +utterly repudiated an Olympus filled with gods and goddesses. "Away from +us a queen of heaven!" + +Such being their special views, the Nestorians found no difficulty in +affiliating with their Saracen conquerors, by whom they were treated +not only with the highest respect, but intrusted with some of the most +important offices of the state. Mohammed, in the strongest manner, +prohibited his followers from committing any injuries against them. +Jesuiabbas, their pontiff, concluded treaties both with the Prophet and +with Omar, and subsequently the Khalif Haroun-al-Raschid placed all his +public schools under the superintendence of John Masue, a Nestorian. + +To the influence of the Nestorians that of the Jews was added. When +Christianity displayed a tendency to unite itself with paganism, the +conversion of the Jews was arrested; it totally ceased when Trinitarian +ideas were introduced. The cities of Syria and Egypt were full of Jews. +In Alexandria alone, at the time of its capture by Amrou, there were +forty thousand who paid tribute. Centuries of misfortune and persecution +had served only to confirm them in their monotheism, and to strengthen +that implacable hatred of idolatry which they had cherished ever +since the Babylonian captivity. Associated with the Nestorians, they +translated into Syriac many Greek and Latin philosophical works, which +were retranslated into Arabic. While the Nestorian was occupied with +the education of the children of the great Mohammedan families, the Jew +found his way into them in the character of a physician. + +FATALISM OF THE ARABIANS. Under these influences the ferocious +fanaticism of the Saracens abated, their manners were polished, their +thoughts elevated. They overran the realms of Philosophy and Science +as quickly as they had overrun the provinces of the Roman Empire. They +abandoned the fallacies of vulgar Mohammedanism, accepting in their +stead scientific truth. + +In a world devoted to idolatry, the sword of the Saracen had vindicated +the majesty of God. The doctrine of fatalism, inculcated by the Koran, +had powerfully contributed to that result. "No man can anticipate or +postpone his predetermined end. Death will overtake us even in lofty +towers. From the beginning God hath settled the place in which each man +shall die." In his figurative language the Arab said: "No man can by +flight escape his fate. The Destinies ride their horses by night.... +Whether asleep in bed or in the storm of battle, the angel of death will +find thee." "I am convinced," said Ali, to whose wisdom we have already +referred--"I am convinced that the affairs of men go by divine decree, +and not by our administration." The Mussulmen are those who submissively +resign themselves to the will of God. They reconciled fate and free-will +by saying, "The outline is given us, we color the picture of life as we +will." They said that, if we would overcome the laws of Nature, we must +not resist, we must balance them against each other. + +This dark doctrine prepared its devotees for the accomplishment of great +things--things such as the Saracens did accomplish. It converted despair +into resignation, and taught men to disdain hope. There was a proverb +among them that "Despair is a freeman, Hope is a slave." + +But many of the incidents of war showed plainly that medicines +may assuage pain, that skill may close wounds, that those who are +incontestably dying may be snatched from the grave. The Jewish physician +became a living, an accepted protest against the fatalism of the Koran. +By degrees the sternness of predestination was mitigated, and it was +admitted that in individual life there is an effect due to free-will; +that by his voluntary acts man may within certain limits determine his +own course. But, so far as nations are concerned, since they can yield +no personal accountability to God, they are placed under the control of +immutable law. + +In this respect the contrast between the Christian and the Mohammedan +nations was very striking: The Christian was convinced of incessant +providential interventions; he believed that there was no such thing as +law in the government of the world. By prayers and entreaties he might +prevail with God to change the current of affairs, or, if that failed, +he might succeed with Christ, or perhaps with the Virgin Mary, or +through the intercession of the saints, or by the influence of their +relics or bones. If his own supplications were unavailing, he might +obtain his desire through the intervention of his priest, or through +that of the holy men of the Church, and especially if oblations or gifts +of money were added. Christendom believed that she could change the +course of affairs by influencing the conduct of superior beings. Islam +rested in a pious resignation to the unchangeable will of God. The +prayer of the Christian was mainly an earnest intercession for benefits +hoped for, that of the Saracen a devout expression of gratitude for the +past. Both substituted prayer for the ecstatic meditation of India. +To the Christian the progress of the world was an exhibition of +disconnected impulses, of sudden surprises. To the Mohammedan that +progress presented a very different aspect. Every corporeal motion was +due to some preceding motion; every thought to some preceding thought; +every historical event was the offspring of some preceding event; every +human action was the result of some foregone and accomplished action. In +the long annals of our race, nothing has ever been abruptly introduced. +There has been an orderly, an inevitable sequence from event to event. +There is an iron chain of destiny, of which the links are facts; each +stands in its preordained place--not one has ever been disturbed, not +one has ever been removed. Every man came into the world without his own +knowledge, he is to depart from it perhaps against his own wishes. Then +let him calmly fold his hands, and expect the issues of fate. + +Coincidently with this change of opinion as to the government of +individual life, there came a change as respects the mechanical +construction of the world. According to the Koran, the earth is a square +plane, edged with vast mountains, which serve the double purpose of +balancing it in its seat, and of sustaining the dome of the sky. Our +devout admiration of the power and wisdom of God should be excited by +the spectacle of this vast crystalline brittle expanse, which has been +safely set in its position without so much as a crack or any other +injury. Above the sky, and resting on it, is heaven, built in seven +stories, the uppermost being the habitation of God, who, under the form +of a gigantic man, sits on a throne, having on either side winged bulls, +like those in the palaces of old Assyrian kings. + +THEY MEASURE THE EARTH. These ideas, which indeed are not peculiar to +Mohammedanism, but are entertained by all men in a certain stage of +their intellectual development as religious revelations, were +very quickly exchanged by the more advanced Mohammedans for others +scientifically correct. Yet, as has been the case in Christian +countries, the advance was not made without resistance on the part +of the defenders of revealed truth. Thus when Al-Mamun, having become +acquainted with the globular form of the earth, gave orders to his +mathematicians and astronomers to measure a degree of a great circle +upon it, Takyuddin, one of the most celebrated doctors of divinity +of that time, denounced the wicked khalif, declaring that God would +assuredly punish him for presumptuously interrupting the devotions +of the faithful by encouraging and diffusing a false and atheistical +philosophy among them. Al-Mamun, however, persisted. On the shores of +the Red Sea, in the plains of Shinar, by the aid of an astrolabe, the +elevation of the pole above the horizon was determined at two stations +on the same meridian, exactly one degree apart. The distance between +the two stations was then measured, and found to be two hundred thousand +Hashemite cubits; this gave for the entire circumference of the earth +about twenty-four thousand of our miles, a determination not far +from the truth. But, since the spherical form could not be positively +asserted from one such measurement, the khalif caused another to be made +near Cufa in Mesopotamia. His astronomers divided themselves into two +parties, and, starting from a given point, each party measured an arc +of one degree, the one northward, the other southward. Their result +is given in cubits. If the cubit employed was that known as the royal +cubit, the length of a degree was ascertained within one-third of a mile +of its true value. From these measures the khalif concluded that the +globular form was established. + +THEIR PASSION FOR SCIENCE. It is remarkable how quickly the ferocious +fanaticism of the Saracens was transformed into a passion for +intellectual pursuits. At first the Koran was an obstacle to +literature and science. Mohammed had extolled it as the grandest of all +compositions, and had adduced its unapproachable excellence as a proof +of his divine mission. But, in little more than twenty years after his +death, the experience that had been acquired in Syria, Persia, Asia +Minor, Egypt, had produced a striking effect, and Ali the khalif +reigning at that time, avowedly encouraged all kinds of literary +pursuits. Moawyah, the founder of the Ommiade dynasty, who followed in +661, revolutionized the government. It had been elective, he made it +hereditary. He removed its seat from Medina to a more central position +at Damascus, and entered on a career of luxury and magnificence. He +broke the bonds of a stern fanaticism, and put himself forth as a +cultivator and patron of letters. Thirty years had wrought a wonderful +change. A Persian satrap who had occasion to pay homage to Omar, the +second khalif, found him asleep among the beggars on the steps of the +Mosque of Medina; but foreign envoys who had occasion to seek Moawyah, +the sixth khalif, were presented to him in a magnificent palace, +decorated with exquisite arabesques, and adorned with flower-gardens and +fountains. + +THEIR LITERATURE. In less than a century after the death of Mohammed, +translations of the chief Greek philosophical authors had been made into +Arabic; poems such as the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," being considered +to have an irreligious tendency from their mythological allusions, were +rendered into Syriac, to gratify the curiosity of the learned. Almansor, +during his khalifate (A.D. 753-775), transferred the seat of government +to Bagdad, which he converted into a splendid metropolis; he gave much +of his time to the study and promotion of astronomy, and established +schools of medicine and law. His grandson, Haroun-al-Raschid (A.D. 786), +followed his example, and ordered that to every mosque in his dominions +a school should be attached. But the Augustan age of Asiatic learning +was during the khalifate of Al-Mamun (A.D. 813-832). He made Bagdad the +centre of science, collected great libraries, and surrounded himself +with learned men. + +The elevated taste thus cultivated continued after the division of the +Saracen Empire by internal dissensions into three parts. The Abasside +dynasty in Asia, the Fatimite in Egypt, and the Ommiade in Spain, became +rivals not merely in politics, but also in letters and science. + +THEY ORIGINATE CHEMISTRY. In letters the Saracens embraced every topic +that can amuse or edify the mind. In later times, it was their boast +that they had produced more poets than all other nations combined. In +science their great merit consists in this, that they cultivated it +after the manner of the Alexandrian Greeks, not after the manner of the +European Greeks. They perceived that it can never be advanced by mere +speculation; its only sure progress is by the practical interrogation of +Nature. The essential characteristics of their method are experiment and +observation. Geometry and the mathematical sciences they looked upon +as instruments of reasoning. In their numerous writings on mechanics, +hydrostatics, optics, it is interesting to remark that the solution of +a problem is always obtained by performing an experiment, or by an +instrumental observation. It was this that made them the originators of +chemistry, that led them to the invention of all kinds of apparatus for +distillation, sublimation, fusion, filtration, etc.; that in astronomy +caused them to appeal to divided instruments, as quadrants and +astrolabes; in chemistry, to employ the balance, the theory of which +they were perfectly familiar with; to construct tables of specific +gravities and astronomical tables, as those of Bagdad, Spain, Samarcand; +that produced their great improvements in geometry, trigonometry, the +invention of algebra, and the adoption of the Indian numeration in +arithmetic. Such were the results of their preference of the inductive +method of Aristotle, their declining the reveries of Plato. + +THEIR GREAT LIBRARIES. For the establishment and extension of the public +libraries, books were sedulously collected. Thus the khalif Al-Mamun +is reported to have brought into Bagdad hundreds of camel-loads of +manuscripts. In a treaty he made with the Greek emperor, Michael III., +he stipulated that one of the Constantinople libraries should be given +up to him. Among the treasures he thus acquired was the treatise of +Ptolemy on the mathematical construction of the heavens. He had it +forthwith translated into Arabic, under the title of "Al-magest." The +collections thus acquired sometimes became very large; thus the Fatimite +Library at Cairo contained one hundred thousand volumes, elegantly +transcribed and bound. Among these, there were six thousand five hundred +manuscripts on astronomy and medicine alone. The rules of this library +permitted the lending out of books to students resident at Cairo. It +also contained two globes, one of massive silver and one of brass; the +latter was said to have been constructed by Ptolemy, the former cost +three thousand golden crowns. The great library of the Spanish khalifs +eventually numbered six hundred thousand volumes; its catalogue alone +occupied forty-four. Besides this, there were seventy public libraries +in Andalusia. The collections in the possession of individuals were +sometimes very extensive. A private doctor refused the invitation of a +Sultan of Bokhara because the carriage of his books would have required +four hundred camels. + +There was in every great library a department for the copying or +manufacture of translations. Such manufactures were also often an +affair of private enterprise. Honian, a Nestorian physician, had an +establishment of the kind at Bagdad (A.D. 850). He issued versions of +Aristotle, Plato, Hippocrates, Galen, etc. As to original works, it was +the custom of the authorities of colleges to require their professors +to prepare treatises on prescribed topics. Every khalif had his own +historian. Books of romances and tales, such as "The Thousand and One +Arabian Nights' Entertainments," bear testimony to the creative fancy +of the Saracens. Besides these, there were works on all kinds of +subjects--history, jurisprudence, politics, philosophy, biographies not +only of illustrious men, but also of celebrated horses and camels. These +were issued without any censorship or restraint, though, in later times, +works on theology required a license for publication. Books of reference +abounded, geographical, statistical, medical, historical dictionaries, +and even abridgments or condensations of them, as the "Encyclopedic +Dictionary of all the Sciences," by Mohammed Abu Abdallah. Much pride +was taken in the purity and whiteness of the paper, in the skillful +intermixture of variously-colored inks, and in the illumination of +titles by gilding and other adornments. + +The Saracen Empire was dotted all over with colleges. They were +established in Mongolia, Tartary, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, +North Africa, Morocco, Fez, Spain. At one extremity of this vast region, +which far exceeded the Roman Empire in geographical extent, were the +college and astronomical observatory of Samarcand, at the other the +Giralda in Spain. Gibbon, referring to this patronage of learning, says: +"The same royal prerogative was claimed by the independent emirs of the +provinces, and their emulation diffused the taste and the rewards of +science from Samarcand and Bokhara to Fez and Cordova. The vizier of a +sultan consecrated a sum of two hundred thousand pieces of gold to +the foundation of a college at Bagdad, which he endowed with an annual +revenue of fifteen thousand dinars. The fruits of instruction were +communicated, perhaps, at different times, to six thousand disciples +of every degree, from the son of the noble to that of the mechanic; a +sufficient allowance was provided for the indigent scholars, and the +merit or industry of the professors was repaid with adequate stipends. +In every city the productions of Arabic literature were copied and +collected, by the curiosity of the studious and the vanity of the rich." +The superintendence of these schools was committed with noble liberality +sometimes to Nestorians, sometimes to Jews. It mattered not in what +country a man was born, nor what were his religious opinions; his +attainment in learning was the only thing to be considered. The great +Khalif Al-Mamun had declared that "they are the elect of God, his best +and most useful servants, whose lives are devoted to the improvement +of their rational faculties; that the teachers of wisdom are the true +luminaries and legislators of this world, which, without their aid, +would again sink into ignorance and barbarism." + +After the example of the medical college of Cairo, other medical +colleges required their students to pass a rigid examination. The +candidate then received authority to enter on the practice of his +profession. The first medical college established in Europe was that +founded by the Saracens at Salerno, in Italy. The first astronomical +observatory was that erected by them at Seville, in Spain. + +THE ARABIAN SCIENTIFIC MOVEMENT. It would far transcend the limits of +this book to give an adequate statement of the results of this imposing +scientific movement. The ancient sciences were greatly extended--new +ones were brought into existence. The Indian method of arithmetic was +introduced, a beautiful invention, which expresses all numbers by ten +characters, giving them an absolute value, and a value by position, +and furnishing simple rules for the easy performance of all kinds +of calculations. Algebra, or universal arithmetic--the method of +calculating indeterminate quantities, or investigating the relations +that subsist among quantities of all kinds, whether arithmetical or +geometrical--was developed from the germ that Diophantus had left. +Mohammed Ben Musa furnished the solution of quadratic equations, +Omar Ben Ibra him that of cubic equations. The Saracens also gave to +trigonometry its modern form, substituting sines for chords, which had +been previously used; they elevated it into a separate science. +Musa, above mentioned, was the author of a "Treatise on Spherical +Trigonometry." Al-Baghadadi left one on land-surveying, so excellent, +that by some it has been declared to be a copy of Euclid's lost work on +that subject. + +ARABIAN ASTRONOMY. In astronomy, they not only made catalogues, but +maps of the stars visible in their skies, giving to those of the larger +magnitudes the Arabic names they still bear on our celestial globes. +They ascertained, as we have seen, the size of the earth by the +measurement of a degree on her surface, determined the obliquity of +the ecliptic, published corrected tables of the sun and moon fixed +the length of the year, verified the precession of the equinoxes. The +treatise of Albategnius on "The Science of the Stars" is spoken of by +Laplace with respect; he also draws attention to an important fragment +of Ibn-Junis, the astronomer of Hakem, the Khalif of Egypt, A.D. 1000, +as containing a long series of observations from the time of Almansor, +of eclipses, equinoxes, solstices, conjunctions of planets, occultations +of stars--observations which have cast much light on the great +variations of the system of the world. The Arabian astronomers also +devoted themselves to the construction and perfection of astronomical +instruments, to the measurement of time by clocks of various kinds, by +clepsydras and sun-dials. They were the first to introduce, for this +purpose, the use of the pendulum. + +In the experimental sciences, they originated chemistry; they discovered +some of its most important reagents--sulphuric acid, nitric acid, +alcohol. They applied that science in the practice of medicine, being +the first to publish pharmacopoeias or dispensatories, and to include in +them mineral preparations. In mechanics, they had determined the laws +of falling bodies, had ideas, by no means indistinct, of the nature of +gravity; they were familiar with the theory of the mechanical powers. In +hydrostatics they constructed the first tables of the specific gravities +of bodies, and wrote treatises on the flotation and sinking of bodies +in water. In optics, they corrected the Greek misconception, that a +ray proceeds from the eye, and touches the object seen, introducing +the hypothesis that the ray passes from the object to the eye. They +understood the phenomena of the reflection and refraction of light. +Alhazen made the great discovery of the curvilinear path of a ray of +light through the atmosphere, and proved that we see the sun and moon +before they have risen, and after they have set. + +AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURE. The effects of this scientific activity are +plainly perceived in the great improvements that took place in many +of the industrial arts. Agriculture shows it in better methods of +irrigation, the skillful employment of manures, the raising of improved +breeds of cattle, the enactment of wise codes of rural laws, the +introduction of the culture of rice, and that of sugar and coffee. The +manufactures show it in the great extension of the industries of silk, +cotton, wool; in the fabrication of cordova and morocco leather, and +paper; in mining, casting, and various metallurgic operations; in the +making of Toledo blades. + +Passionate lovers of poetry and music, they dedicated much of their +leisure time to those elegant pursuits. They taught Europe the game of +chess; they gave it its taste for works of fiction--romances and novels. +In the graver domains of literature they took delight: they had many +admirable compositions on such subjects as the instability of human +greatness; the consequences of irreligion; the reverses of fortune; the +origin, duration, and end of the world. Sometimes, not without surprise, +we meet with ideas which we flatter ourselves have originated in our +own times. Thus our modern doctrines of evolution and development were +taught in their schools. In fact, they carried them much farther than we +are disposed to do, extending them even to inorganic or mineral +things. The fundamental principle of alchemy was the natural process of +development of metalline bodies. "When common people," says Al-Khazini, +writing in the twelfth century, "hear from natural philosophers that +gold is a body which has attained to perfection of maturity, to the +goal of completeness, they firmly believe that it is something which has +gradually come to that perfection by passing through the forms of all +other metallic bodies, so that its gold nature was originally lead, +afterward it became tin, then brass, then silver, and finally reached +the development of gold; not knowing that the natural philosophers mean, +in saying this, only something like what they mean when they speak of +man, and attribute to him a completeness and equilibrium in nature and +constitution--not that man was once a bull, and was changed into an +ass, and afterward into a horse, and after that into an ape, and finally +became a man." + + + +CHAPTER V. + + CONFLICT RESPECTING THE NATURE OF THE SOUL.--DOCTRINE OF + EMANATION AND ABSORPTION. + + European ideas respecting the soul.--It resembles the form + of the body. + + Philosophical views of the Orientals.--The Vedic theology + and Buddhism assert the doctrine of emanation and + absorption.--It is advocated by Aristotle, who is followed + by the Alexandrian school, and subsequently by the Jews and + Arabians.--It is found in the writings of Erigena. + + Connection of this doctrine with the theory of conservation + and correlation of force.--Parallel between the origin and + destiny of the body and the soul.--The necessity of founding + human on comparative psychology. + + Averroism, which is based on these facts, is brought into + Christendom through Spain and Sicily. + + History of the repression of Averroism.--Revolt of Islam + against it.--Antagonism of the Jewish synagogues.--Its + destruction undertaken by the papacy.--Institution of the + Inquisition in Spain.--Frightful persecutions and their + results.--Expulsion of the Jews and Moors.--Overthrow of + Averroism in Europe.--Decisive action of the late Vatican + Council. + + +THE pagan Greeks and Romans believed that the spirit of man resembles +his bodily form, varying its appearance with his variations, and growing +with his growth. Heroes, to whom it had been permitted to descend into +Hades, had therefore without difficulty recognized their former friends. +Not only had the corporeal aspect been retained, but even the customary +raiment. + +THE SOUL. The primitive Christians, whose conceptions of a future life +and of heaven and hell, the abodes of the blessed and the sinful, were +far more vivid than those of their pagan predecessors, accepted and +intensified these ancient ideas. They did not doubt that in the world +to come they should meet their friends, and hold converse with them, as +they had done here upon earth--an expectation that gives consolation to +the human heart, reconciling it to the most sorrowful bereavements, and +restoring to it its dead. + +In the uncertainty as to what becomes of the soul in the interval +between its separation from the body and the judgment-day, many +different opinions were held. Some thought that it hovered over the +grave, some that it wandered disconsolate through the air. In the +popular belief, St. Peter sat as a door-keeper at the gate of heaven. To +him it had been given to bind or to loose. He admitted or excluded the +Spirits of men at his pleasure. Many persons, however, were disposed to +deny him this power, since his decisions would be anticipatory of the +judgment-day, which would thus be rendered needless. After the time +of Gregory the Great, the doctrine of purgatory met with general +acceptance. A resting-place was provided for departed spirits. + +That the spirits of the dead occasionally revisit the living, or haunt +their former abodes, has been in all ages, in all European countries, +a fixed belief, not confined to rustics, but participated in by the +intelligent. A pleasing terror gathers round the winter's-evening +fireside at the stories of apparitions, goblins, ghosts. In the old +times the Romans had their lares, or spirits of those who had led +virtuous lives; their larvae or lemures, the spirits of the wicked; +their manes, the spirits of those of whom the merits were doubtful. If +human testimony on such subjects can be of any value, there is a body +of evidence reaching from the remotest ages to the present time, as +extensive and unimpeachable as is to be found in support of any thing +whatever, that these shades of the dead congregate near tombstones, +or take up their secret abode in the gloomy chambers of dilapidated +castles, or walk by moonlight in moody solitude. + +ASIATIC PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEWS. While these opinions have universally found +popular acceptance in Europe, others of a very different nature have +prevailed extensively in Asia, and indeed very generally in the higher +regions of thought. Ecclesiastical authority succeeded in repressing +them in the sixteenth century, but they never altogether disappeared. +In our own times so silently and extensively have they been diffused in +Europe, that it was found expedient in the papal Syllabus to draw +them in a very conspicuous manner into the open light; and the Vatican +Council, agreeing in that view of their obnoxious tendency and secret +spread, has in an equally prominent and signal manner among its first +canons anathematized all persons who hold them. "Let him be anathema who +says that spiritual things are emanations of the divine substance, or +that the divine essence by manifestation or development becomes all +things." In view of this authoritative action, it is necessary now to +consider the character and history of these opinions. + +Ideas respecting the nature of God necessarily influence ideas +respecting the nature of the soul. The eastern Asiatics had adopted the +conception of an impersonal God, and, as regards the soul, its necessary +consequence, the doctrine of emanation and absorption. + +EMANATION AND ABSORPTION. Thus the Vedic theology is based on the +acknowledgment of a universal spirit pervading all things. "There is in +truth but one Deity, the supreme Spirit; he is of the same nature as the +soul of man." Both the Vedas and the Institutes of Menu affirm that +the soul is an emanation of the all-pervading Intellect, and that it is +necessarily destined to be reabsorbed. They consider it to be without +form, and that visible Nature, with all its beauties and harmonies, is +only the shadow of God. + +Vedaism developed itself into Buddhism, which has become the faith of +a majority of the human race. This system acknowledges that there is a +supreme Power, but denies that there is a supreme Being. It contemplates +the existence of Force, giving rise as its manifestation to matter. It +adopts the theory of emanation and absorption. In a burning taper it +sees an effigy of man--an embodiment of matter, and an evolution of +force. If we interrogate it respecting the destiny of the soul, it +demands of us what has become of the flame when it is blown out, and in +what condition it was before the taper was lighted. Was it a nonentity? +Has it been annihilated? It admits that the idea of personality which +has deluded us through life may not be instantaneously extinguished at +death, but may be lost by slow degrees. On this is founded the doctrine +of transmigration. But at length reunion with the universal Intellect +takes place, Nirwana is reached, oblivion is attained, a state that has +no relation to matter, space, or time, the state into which the departed +flame of the extinguished taper has gone, the state in which we were +before we were born. This is the end that we ought to hope for; it is +reabsorption in the universal Force--supreme bliss, eternal rest. + +Through Aristotle these doctrines were first introduced into Eastern +Europe; indeed, eventually, as we shall see, he was regarded as the +author of them. They exerted a dominating influence in the later period +of the Alexandrian school. Philo, the Jew, who lived in the time of +Caligula, based his philosophy on the theory of emanation. Plotinus +not only accepted that theory as applicable to the soul of man, but as +affording an illustration of the nature of the Trinity. For, as a beam +of light emanates from the sun, and as warmth emanates from the beam +when it touches material bodies, so from the Father the Son emanates, +and thence the Holy Ghost. From these views Plotinus derived a practical +religious system, teaching the devout how to pass into a condition of +ecstasy, a foretaste of absorption into the universal mundane soul. +In that condition the soul loses its individual consciousness. In like +manner Porphyry sought absorption in or union with God. He was a Tyrian +by birth, established a school at Rome, and wrote against Christianity; +his treatise on that subject was answered by Eusebius and St. Jerome, +but the Emperor Theodosius silenced it more effectually by causing all +the copies to be burnt. Porphyry bewails his own unworthiness, saying +that he had been united to God in ecstasy but once in eighty-six years, +whereas his master Plotinus had been so united six times in sixty years. +A complete system of theology, based on the theory of emanation, was +constructed by Proclus, who speculated on the manner in which absorption +takes place: whether the soul is instantly reabsorbed and reunited in +the moment of death, or whether it retains the sentiment of personality +for a time, and subsides into complete reunion by successive steps. + +ARABIC PSYCHOLOGY. From the Alexandrian Greeks these ideas passed to +the Saracen philosophers, who very soon after the capture of the great +Egyptian city abandoned to the lower orders their anthropomorphic +notions of the nature of God and the simulachral form of the spirit of +man. As Arabism developed itself into a distinct scientific system, +the theories of emanation and absorption were among its characteristic +features. In this abandonment of vulgar Mohammedanism, the example of +the Jews greatly assisted. They, too, had given up the anthropomorphism +of their ancestors; they had exchanged the God who of old lived behind +the veil of the temple for an infinite Intelligence pervading the +universe, and, avowing their inability to conceive that any thing +which had on a sudden been called into existence should be capable of +immortality, they affirmed that the soul of man is connected with a past +of which there was no beginning, and with a future to which there is no +end. + +In the intellectual history of Arabism the Jew and the Saracen are +continually seen together. It was the same in their political history, +whether we consider it in Syria, in Egypt, or in Spain. From them +conjointly Western Europe derived its philosophical ideas, which in +the course of time culminated in Averroism; Averroism is philosophical +Islamism. Europeans generally regarded Averroes as the author of these +heresies, and the orthodox branded him accordingly, but he was nothing +more than their collector and commentator. His works invaded Christendom +by two routes: from Spain through Southern France they reached Upper +Italy, engendering numerous heresies on their way; from Sicily they +passed to Naples and South Italy, under the auspices of Frederick II. + +But, long before Europe suffered this great intellectual invasion, there +were what might, perhaps, be termed sporadic instances of Orientalism. +As an example I may quote the views of John Erigena (A.D. 800) He had +adopted and taught the philosophy of Aristotle had made a pilgrimage +to the birthplace of that philosopher, and indulged a hope of uniting +philosophy and religion in the manner proposed by the Christian +ecclesiastics who were then studying in the Mohammedan universities of +Spain. He was a native of Britain. + +In a letter to Charles the Bald, Anastasius expresses his astonishment +"how such a barbarian man, coming from the very ends of the earth, and +remote from human conversation, could comprehend things so clearly, and +transfer them into another language so well." The general intention of +his writings was, as we have said, to unite philosophy with religion, +but his treatment of these subjects brought him under ecclesiastical +censure, and some of his works were adjudged to the flames. His most +important book is entitled "De Divisione Nature." + +Erigena's philosophy rests upon the observed and admitted fact that +every living thing comes from something that had previously lived. The +visible world, being a world of life, has therefore emanated necessarily +from some primordial existence, and that existence is God, who is thus +the originator and conservator of all. Whatever we see maintains itself +as a visible thing through force derived from him, and, were that force +withdrawn, it must necessarily disappear. Erigena thus conceives of +the Deity as an unceasing participator in Nature, being its preserver, +maintainer, upholder, and in that respect answering to the soul of the +world of the Greeks. The particular life of individuals is therefore a +part of general existence, that is, of the mundane soul. + +If ever there were a withdrawal of the maintaining power, all things +must return to the source from which they issued--that is, they must +return to God, and be absorbed in him. All visible Nature must thus +pass back into "the Intellect" at last. "The death of the flesh is the +auspices of the restitution of things, and of a return to their ancient +conservation. So sounds revert back to the air in which they were born, +and by which they were maintained, and they are heard no more; no man +knows what has become of them. In that final absorption which, after +a lapse of time, must necessarily come, God will be all in all, and +nothing exist but him alone." "I contemplate him as the beginning and +cause of all things; all things that are and those that have been, but +now are not, were created from him, and by him, and in him. I also view +him as the end and intransgressible term of all things.... There is a +fourfold conception of universal Nature--two views of divine Nature, as +origin and end; two also of framed Nature, causes and effects. There is +nothing eternal but God." + +The return of the soul to the universal Intellect is designated by +Erigena as Theosis, or Deification. In that final absorption all +remembrance of its past experiences is lost. The soul reverts to the +condition in which it was before it animated the body. Necessarily, +therefore, Erigena fell under the displeasure of the Church. + +It was in India that men first recognized the fact that force is +indestructible and eternal. This implies ideas more or less distinct +of that which we now term its "correlation and conservation." +Considerations connected with the stability of the universe give +strength to this view, since it is clear that, were there either +an increase or a diminution, the order of the world must cease. The +definite and invariable amount of energy in the universe must therefore +be accepted as a scientific fact. The changes we witness are in its +distribution. + +But, since the soul must be regarded as an active principle, to call a +new one into existence out of nothing is necessarily to add to the force +previously in the world. And, if this has been done in the case of every +individual who has been born, and is to be repeated for every individual +hereafter, the totality of force must be continually increasing. + +Moreover, to many devout persons there is something very revolting in +the suggestion that the Almighty is a servitor to the caprices and lusts +of man, and that, at a certain term after its origin, it is necessary +for him to create for the embryo a soul. + +Considering man as composed of two portions, a soul and a body, the +obvious relations of the latter may cast much light on the mysterious, +the obscure relations of the former. Now, the substance of which the +body consists is obtained from the general mass of matter around us, +and after death to that general mass it is restored. Has Nature, then, +displayed before our eyes in the origin, mutations, and destiny of the +material part, the body, a revelation that may guide us to a knowledge +of the origin and destiny of the companion, the spiritual part, the +soul? + +Let us listen for a moment to one of the most powerful of Mohammedan +writers: + +"God has created the spirit of man out of a drop of his own light; +its destiny is to return to him. Do not deceive yourself with the vain +imagination that it will die when the body dies. The form you had on +your entrance into this world, and your present form, are not the +same; hence there is no necessity of your perishing, on account of the +perishing of your body. Your spirit came into this world a stranger, it +is only sojourning, in a temporary home. From the trials and tempests +of this troublesome life, our refuge is in God. In reunion with him we +shall find eternal rest--a rest without sorrow, a joy without pain, a +strength without infirmity, a knowledge without doubt, a tranquil and +yet an ecstatic vision of the source of life and light and glory, the +source from which we came." So says the Saracen philosopher, Al-Gazzali +(A.D. 1010). + +In a stone the material particles are in a state of stable equilibrium; +it may, therefore, endure forever. An animal is in reality only a form +through which a stream of matter is incessantly flowing. It receives its +supplies, and dismisses its wastes. In this it resembles a cataract, +a river, a flame. The particles that compose it at one instant have +departed from it the next. It depends for its continuance on exterior +supplies. It has a definite duration in time, and an inevitable moment +comes in which it must die. + +In the great problem of psychology we cannot expect to reach a +scientific result, if we persist in restricting ourselves to the +contemplation of one fact. We must avail ourselves of all accessible +facts. Human psychology can never be completely resolved except through +comparative psychology. With Descartes, we must inquire whether the +souls of animals be relations of the human soul, less perfect members in +the same series of development. We must take account of what we discover +in the intelligent principle of the ant, as well as what we discern in +the intelligent principle of man. Where would human physiology be, if +it were not illuminated by the bright irradiations of comparative +physiology? + +Brodie, after an exhaustive consideration of the facts, affirms that +the mind of animals is essentially the same as that of man. Every one +familiar with the dog will admit that that creature knows right from +wrong, and is conscious when he has committed a fault. Many domestic +animals have reasoning powers, and employ proper means for the +attainment of ends. How numerous are the anecdotes related of the +intentional actions of the elephant and the ape! Nor is this apparent +intelligence due to imitation, to their association with man, for +wild animals that have no such relation exhibit similar properties. In +different species, the capacity and character greatly vary. Thus the dog +is not only more intelligent, but has social and moral qualities that +the cat does not possess; the former loves his master, the latter her +home. + +Du Bois-Reymond makes this striking remark: "With awe and wonder must +the student of Nature regard that microscopic molecule of nervous +substance which is the seat of the laborious, constructive, orderly, +loyal, dauntless soul of the ant. It has developed itself to its present +state through a countless series of generations." What an impressive +inference we may draw from the statement of Huber, who has written so +well on this subject: "If you will watch a single ant at work, you can +tell what he will next do!" He is considering the matter, and reasoning +as you are doing. Listen to one of the many anecdotes which Huber, at +once truthful and artless, relates: "On the visit of an overseer ant to +the works, when the laborers had begun the roof too soon, he examined it +and had it taken down, the wall raised to the proper height, and a new +ceiling constructed with the fragments of the old one." Surely these +insects are not automata, they show intention. They recognize their old +companions, who have been shut up from them for many months, and exhibit +sentiments of joy at their return. Their antennal language is capable +of manifold expression; it suits the interior of the nest, where all is +dark. + +While solitary insects do not live to raise their young, social insects +have a longer term, they exhibit moral affections and educate +their offspring. Patterns of patience and industry, some of these +insignificant creatures will work sixteen or eighteen hours a day. Few +men are capable of sustained mental application more than four or five +hours. + +Similarity of effects indicates similarity of causes; similarity of +actions demands similarity of organs. I would ask the reader of these +paragraphs, who is familiar with the habits of animals, and especially +with the social relations of that wonderful insect to which reference +has been made, to turn to the nineteenth chapter of my work on +the "Intellectual Development of Europe," in which he will find a +description of the social system of the Incas of Peru. Perhaps, then, in +view of the similarity of the social institutions and personal conduct +of the insect, and the social institutions and personal conduct of the +civilized Indian--the one an insignificant speck, the other a man--he +will not be disposed to disagree with me in the opinion that "from bees, +and wasps, and ants, and birds, from all that low animal life on which +he looks with supercilious contempt, man is destined one day to learn +what in truth he really is." + +The views of Descartes, who regarded all insects as automata, can +scarcely be accepted without modification. Insects are automata only +so far as the action of their ventral cord, and that portion of their +cephalic ganglia which deals with contemporaneous impressions, is +concerned. + +It is one of the functions of vesicular-nervous material to retain +traces or relics of impressions brought to it by the organs of sense; +hence, nervous ganglia, being composed of that material, may be +considered as registering apparatus. They also introduce the element +of time into the action of the nervous mechanism. An impression, which +without them might have forthwith ended in reflex action, is delayed, +and with this duration come all those important effects arising through +the interaction of many impressions, old and new, upon each other. + +There is no such thing as a spontaneous, or self-originated, thought. +Every intellectual act is the consequence of some preceding act. It +comes into existence in virtue of something that has gone before. Two +minds constituted precisely alike, and placed under the influence of +precisely the same environment, must give rise to precisely the same +thought. To such sameness of action we allude in the popular expression +"common-sense"--a term full of meaning. In the origination of a +thought there are two distinct conditions: the state of the organism +as dependent on antecedent impressions, and on the existing physical +circumstances. + +In the cephalic ganglia of insects are stored up the relics of +impressions that have been made upon the common peripheral nerves, and +in them are kept those which are brought in by the organs of special +sense--the visual, olfactive, auditory. The interaction of these raises +insects above mere mechanical automata, in which the reaction instantly +follows the impression. + +In all cases the action of every nerve-centre, no matter what its stage +of development may be, high or low, depends upon an essential chemical +condition--oxidation. Even in man, if the supply of arterial blood +be stopped but for a moment, the nerve-mechanism loses its power; if +diminished, it correspondingly declines; if, on the contrary, it +be increased--as when nitrogen monoxide is breathed--there is more +energetic action. Hence there arises a need of repair, a necessity for +rest and sleep. + +Two fundamental ideas are essentially attached to all our perceptions +of external things: they are SPACE and TIME, and for these provision is +made in the nervous mechanism while it is yet in an almost rudimentary +state. The eye is the organ of space, the ear of time; the perceptions +of which by the elaborate mechanism of these structures become +infinitely more precise than would be possible if the sense of touch +alone were resorted to. + +There are some simple experiments which illustrate the vestiges of +ganglionic impressions. If on a cold, polished metal, as a new razor, +any object, such as a wafer, be laid, and the metal be then breathed +upon, and, when the moisture has had time to disappear, the wafer be +thrown off, though now the most critical inspection of the polished +surface can discover no trace of any form, if we breathe once more upon +it, a spectral image of the wafer comes plainly into view; and this may +be done again and again. Nay, more, if the polished metal be carefully +put aside where nothing can deteriorate its surface, and be so kept for +many months, on breathing again upon it the shadowy form emerges. + +Such an illustration shows how trivial an impression may be thus +registered and preserved. But, if, on such an inorganic surface, an +impression may thus be indelibly marked, how much more likely in the +purposely-constructed ganglion! A shadow never falls upon a wall without +leaving thereupon a permanent trace, a trace which might be made visible +by resorting to proper processes. Photographic operations are cases in +point. The portraits of our friends, or landscape views, may be hidden +on the sensitive surface from the eye, but they are ready to make their +appearance as soon as proper developers are resorted to. A spectre is +concealed on a silver or glassy surface until, by our necromancy, we +make it come forth into the visible world. Upon the walls of our most +private apartments, where we think the eye of intrusion is altogether +shut out and our retirement can never be profaned, there exist the +vestiges of all our acts, silhouettes of whatever we have done. + +If, after the eyelids have been closed for some time, as when we +first awake in the morning, we suddenly and steadfastly gaze at a +brightly-illuminated object and then quickly close the lids again, a +phantom image is perceived in the indefinite darkness beyond us. We may +satisfy ourselves that this is not a fiction, but a reality, for many +details that we had not time to identify in the momentary glance may +be contemplated at our leisure in the phantom. We may thus make out the +pattern of such an object as a lace curtain hanging in the window, or +the branches of a tree beyond. By degrees the image becomes less and +less distinct; in a minute or two it has disappeared. It seems to have a +tendency to float away in the vacancy before us. If we attempt to follow +it by moving the eyeball, it suddenly vanishes. + +Such a duration of impressions on the retina proves that the effect of +external influences on nerve-vesicles is not necessarily transitory. +In this there is a correspondence to the duration, the emergence, the +extinction, of impressions on photographic preparations. Thus, I have +seen landscapes and architectural views taken in Mexico developed, as +artists say, months subsequently in New York--the images coming out, +after the long voyage, in all their proper forms and in all their proper +contrast of light and shade. The photograph had forgotten nothing. It +had equally preserved the contour of the everlasting mountains and the +passing smoke of a bandit-fire. + +Are there, then, contained in the brain more permanently, as in the +retina more transiently, the vestiges of impressions that have been +gathered by the sensory organs? Is this the explanation of memory--the +Mind contemplating such pictures of past things and events as have +been committed to her custody. In her silent galleries are there hung +micrographs of the living and the dead, of scenes that we have +visited, of incidents in which we have borne a part? Are these abiding +impressions mere signal-marks, like the letters of a book, which impart +ideas to the mind? or are they actual picture-images, inconceivably +smaller than those made for us by artists, in which, by the aid of a +microscope, we can see, in a space not bigger than a pinhole, a whole +family group at a glance? + +The phantom images of the retina are not perceptible in the light of the +day. Those that exist in the sensorium in like manner do not attract our +attention so long as the sensory organs are in vigorous operation, and +occupied in bringing new impressions in. But, when those organs become +weary or dull, or when we experience hours of great anxiety, or are +in twilight reveries, or are asleep, the latent apparitions have their +vividness increased by the contrast, and obtrude themselves on the +mind. For the same reason they occupy us in the delirium of fevers, and +doubtless also in the solemn moments of death. During a third part of +our life, in sleep, we are withdrawn from external influences; hearing +and sight and the other senses are inactive, but the never-sleeping Mind, +that pensive, that veiled enchantress, in her mysterious retirement, +looks over the ambrotypes she has collected--ambrotypes, for they are +truly unfading impressions--and, combining them together, as they chance +to occur, constructs from them the panorama of a dream. + +Nature has thus implanted in the organization of every man means which +impressively suggest to him the immortality of the soul and a future +life. Even the benighted savage thus sees in his visions the fading +forms of landscapes, which are, perhaps, connected with some of his +most pleasant recollections; and what other conclusion can be possibly +extract from those unreal pictures than that they are the foreshadowings +of another land beyond that in which his lot is cast? At intervals he is +visited in his dreams by the resemblances of those whom he has loved +or hated while they were alive; and these manifestations are to him +incontrovertible proofs of the existence and immortality of the soul. +In our most refined social conditions we are never able to shake off the +impressions of these occurrences, and are perpetually drawing from +them the same conclusions that our uncivilized ancestors did. Our more +elevated condition of life in no respect relieves us from the inevitable +operation of our own organization, any more than it relieves us from +infirmities and disease. In these respects, all over the globe men are +on an equality. Savage or civilized, we carry within us a mechanism +which presents us with mementoes of the most solemn facts with which we +can be concerned. It wants only moments of repose or sickness, when the +influence of external things is diminished, to come into full play, and +these are precisely the moments when we are best prepared for the truths +it is going to suggest. That mechanism is no respecter of persons. It +neither permits the haughtiest to be free from the monitions, nor leaves +the humblest without the consolation of a knowledge of another life. +Open to no opportunities of being tampered with by the designing or +interested, requiring no extraneous human agency for its effect, +out always present with every man wherever he may go, it marvelously +extracts from vestiges of the impressions of the past overwhelming +proofs of the realities of the future, and, gathering its power from +what would seem to be a most unlikely source, it insensibly leads us, no +matter who or where we may be, to a profound belief in the immortal and +imperishable, from phantoms which have scarcely made their appearance +before they are ready to vanish away. + +The insect differs from a mere automaton in this, that it is influenced +by old, by registered impressions. In the higher forms of animated life +that registration becomes more and more complete, memory becomes more +perfect. There is not any necessary resemblance between an external form +and its ganglionic impression, any more than there is between the words +of a message delivered in a telegraphic office and the signals which +the telegraph may give to the distant station; any more than there +is between the letters of a printed page and the acts or scenes they +describe, but the letters call up with clearness to the mind of the +reader the events and scenes. + +An animal without any apparatus for the retention of impressions must +be a pure automaton--it cannot have memory. From insignificant and +uncertain beginnings, such an apparatus is gradually evolved, and, as +its development advances, the intellectual capacity increases. In man, +this retention or registration reaches perfection; he guides, himself by +past as well as by present impressions; he is influenced by experience; +his conduct is determined by reason. + +A most important advance is made when the capability is acquired by any +animal of imparting a knowledge of the impressions stored up in its own +nerve-centres to another of the same kind. This marks the extension of +individual into social life, and indeed is essential thereto. In the +higher insects it is accomplished by antennal contacts, in man by +speech. Humanity, in its earlier, its savage stages, was limited to +this: the knowledge of one person could be transmitted to another by +conversation. The acts and thoughts of one generation could be imparted +to another, and influence its acts and thoughts. + +But tradition has its limit. The faculty of speech makes society +possible--nothing more. + +Not without interest do we remark the progress of development of +this function. The invention of the art of writing gave extension and +durability to the registration or record of impressions. These, which +had hitherto been stored up in the brain of one man, might now be +imparted to the whole human race, and be made to endure forever. +Civilization became possible--for civilization cannot exist without +writing, or the means of record in some shape. + +From this psychological point of view we perceive the real significance +of the invention of printing--a development of writing which, by +increasing the rapidity of the diffusion of ideas, and insuring their +permanence, tends to promote civilization and to unify the human race. + +In the foregoing paragraphs, relating to nervous impressions, their +registry, and the consequences, that spring from them, I have given an +abstract of views presented in my work on "Human Physiology," published +in 1856, and may, therefore, refer the reader to the chapter on "Inverse +Vision, or Cerebral Sight;" to Chapter XIV., Book I.; and to Chapter +VIII., Book II.; of that work, for other particulars. + + +The only path to scientific human psychology is through comparative +psychology. It is a long and wearisome path, but it leads to truth. + +Is there, then, a vast spiritual existence pervading the universe, even +as there is a vast existence of matter pervading it--a spirit which, +as a great German author tells us, "sleeps in the stone, dreams in the +animal, awakes in man?" Does the soul arise from the one as the body +arises from the other? Do they in like manner return, each to the source +from which it has come? If so, we can interpret human existence, and our +ideas may still be in unison with scientific truth, and in accord with +our conception of the stability, the unchangeability of the universe. + +To this spiritual existence the Saracens, following Eastern nations, +gave the designation "the Active Intellect." They believed that the soul +of man emanated from it, as a rain-drop comes from the sea, and, after a +season, returns. So arose among them the imposing doctrines of emanation +and absorption. The active intellect is God. + +In one of its forms, as we have seen, this idea was developed by Chakia +Mouni, in India, in a most masterly manner, and embodied in the vast +practical system of Buddhism; in another, it was with less power +presented among the Saracens by Averroes. + +But, perhaps we ought rather to say that Europeans hold Averroes as +the author of this doctrine, because they saw him isolated from his +antecedents. But Mohammedans gave him little credit for originality. +He stood to them in the light of a commentator on Aristotle, and as +presenting the opinions of the Alexandrian and other philosophical +schools up to his time. The following excerpts from the "Historical +Essay on Averroism," by M. Renan, will show how closely the Sarscenic +ideas approached those presented above: + +This system supposes that, at the death of an individual, his +intelligent principle or soul no longer possesses a separate existence, +but returns to or is absorbed in the universal mind, the active +intelligence, the mundane soul, which is God; from whom, indeed, it had +originally emanated or issued forth. + +The universal, or active, or objective intellect, is uncreated, +impassible, incorruptible, has neither beginning nor end; nor does it +increase as the number of individual souls increases. It is altogether +separate from matter. It is, as it were, a cosmic principle. This +oneness of the active intellect, or reason, is the essential principle +of the Averroistic theory, and is in harmony with the cardinal doctrine +of Mohammedanism--the unity of God. + +The individual, or passive, or subjective intellect, is an emanation +from the universal, and constitutes what is termed the soul of man. In +one sense it is perishable and ends with the body, but in a higher +sense it endures; for, after death, it returns to or is absorbed in the +universal soul, and thus of all human souls there remains at last +but one--the aggregate of them all, life is not the property of the +individual, it belongs to Nature. The end of, man is to enter into union +more and more complete with the active intellect--reason. In that the +happiness of the soul consists. Our destiny is quietude. It was the +opinion of Averroes that the transition from the individual to the +universal is instantaneous at death, but the Buddhists maintain that +human personality continues in a declining manner for a certain term +before nonentity, or Nirwana, is attained. + +Philosophy has never proposed but two hypotheses to explain the system +of the world: first, a personal God existing apart, and a human soul +called into existence or created, and thenceforth immortal; second, an +impersonal intelligence, or indeterminate God, and a soul emerging from +and returning to him. As to the origin of beings, there are two opposite +opinions: first, that they are created from nothing; second, that they +come by development from pre-existing forms. The theory of creation +belongs to the first of the above hypotheses, that of evolution to the +last. + +Philosophy among the Arabs thus took the same direction that it had +taken in China, in India, and indeed throughout the East. Its whole +spirit depended on the admission of the indestructibility of matter and +force. It saw an analogy between the gathering of the material of which +the body of man consists from the vast store of matter in Nature, and +its final restoration to that store, and the emanation of the spirit +of man from the universal Intellect, the Divinity, and its final +reabsorption. + + +Having thus indicated in sufficient detail the philosophical +characteristics of the doctrine of emanation and absorption, I have in +the next place to relate its history. It was introduced into Europe by +the Spanish Arabs. Spain was the focal point from which, issuing forth, +it affected the ranks of intelligence and fashion all over Europe, and +in Spain it had a melancholy end. + +The Spanish khalifs had surrounded themselves with all the luxuries +of Oriental life. They had magnificent palaces, enchanting gardens, +seraglios filled with beautiful women. Europe at the present day does +not offer more taste, more refinement, more elegance, than might have +been seen, at the epoch of which we are speaking, in the capitals of the +Spanish Arabs. Their streets were lighted and solidly paved. The houses +were frescoed and carpeted; they were warmed in winter by furnaces, and +cooled in summer with perfumed air brought by underground pipes from +flower-beds. They had baths, and libraries, and dining-halls, fountains +of quicksilver and water. City and country were full of conviviality, +and of dancing to the lute and mandolin. Instead of the drunken and +gluttonous wassail orgies of their Northern neighbors, the feasts of the +Saracens were marked by sobriety. Wine was prohibited. The enchanting +moonlight evenings of Andalusia were spent by the Moors in sequestered, +fairy-like gardens or in orange-groves, listening to the romances of +the story-teller, or engaged in philosophical discourse; consoling +themselves for the disappointments of this life by such reflections +as that, if virtue were rewarded in this world, we should be without +expectations in the life to come; and reconciling themselves to their +daily toil by the expectation that rest will be found after death--a +rest never to be succeeded by labor. + +In the tenth century the Khalif Hakein II. had made beautiful Andalusia +the paradise of the world. Christians, Mussulmen, Jews, mixed together +without restraint. There, among many celebrated names that have +descended to our times, was Gerbert, destined subsequently to +become pope. There, too, was Peter the Venerable, and many Christian +ecclesiastics. Peter says that he found learned men even from Britain +pursuing astronomy. All learned men, no matter from what country they +came, or what their religious views, were welcomed. The khalif had in +his palace a manufactory of books, and copyists, binders, illuminators. +He kept book-buyers in all the great cities of Asia and Africa. His +library contained four hundred thousand volumes, superbly bound and +illuminated. + +Throughout the Mohammedan dominions in Asia, in Africa, and in Spain, +the lower order of Mussulmen entertained a fanatical hatred against +learning. Among the more devout--those who claimed to be orthodox--there +were painful doubts as to the salvation of the great Khalif +Al-Mamun--the wicked khalif, as they called him--for he had not only +disturbed the people by introducing the writings of Aristotle and other +Greek heathens, but had even struck at the existence of heaven and +hell by saying that the earth is a globe, and pretending that he could +measure its size. These persons, from their numbers, constituted a +political power. + +Almansor, who usurped the khalifate to the prejudice of Hakem's son, +thought that his usurpation would be sustained if he put himself at +the head of the orthodox party. He therefore had the library of Hakem +searched, and all works of a scientific or philosophical nature carried +into the public places and burnt, or thrown into the cisterns of the +palace. By a similar court revolution Averroes, in his old age--he died +A.D. 1193--was expelled from Spain; the religious party had triumphed +over the philosophical. He was denounced as a traitor to religion. +An opposition to philosophy had been organized all over the Mussulman +world. There was hardly a philosopher who was not punished. Some +were put to death, and the consequence was, that Islam was full of +hypocrites. + +Into Italy, Germany, England, Averroism had silently made its way. +It found favor in the eyes of the Franciscans, and a focus in the +University of Paris. By very many of the leading minds it had been +accepted. But at length the Dominicans, the rivals of the Franciscans, +sounded an alarm. They said it destroys all personality, conducts +to fatalism, and renders inexplicable the difference and progress +of individual intelligences. The declaration that there is but one +intellect is an error subversive of the merits of the saints, it is +an assertion that there is no difference among men. What! is there no +difference between the holy soul of Peter and the damned soul of Judas? +are they identical? Averroes in this his blasphemous doctrine denies +creation, providence, revelation, the Trinity, the efficacy of prayers, +of alms, and of litanies; he disbelieves in the resurrection and +immortality; he places the summum bonum in mere pleasure. + +So, too, among the Jews who were then the leading intellects of the +world, Averroism had been largely propagated. Their great writer +Maimonides had thoroughly accepted it; his school was spreading it in +all directions. A furious persecution arose on the part of the orthodox +Jews. Of Maimonides it had been formerly their delight to declare that +he was "the Eagle of the Doctors, the Great Sage, the Glory of the West, +the Light of the East, second only to Moses." Now, they proclaimed that +he had abandoned the faith of Abraham; had denied the possibility of +creation, believed in the eternity of the world; had given himself up to +the manufacture of atheists; had deprived God of his attributes; made a +vacuum of him; had declared him inaccessible to prayer, and a stranger +to the government of the world. The works of Maimonides were committed +to the flames by the synagogues of Montpellier, Barcelona, and Toledo. + +Scarcely had the conquering arms of Ferdinand and Isabella overthrown +the Arabian dominion in Spain, when measures were taken by the papacy +to extinguish these opinions, which, it was believed, were undermining +European Christianity. + +Until Innocent IV. (1243), there was no special tribunal against +heretics, distinct from those of the bishops. The Inquisition, then +introduced, in accordance with the centralization of the times, was +a general and papal tribunal, which displaced the old local ones. +The bishops, therefore, viewed the innovation with great dislike, +considering it as an intrusion on their rights. It was established in +Italy, Spain, Germany, and the southern provinces of France. + +The temporal sovereigns were only too desirous to make use of this +powerful engine for their own political purposes. Against this the popes +strongly protested. They were not willing that its use should pass out +of the ecclesiastical hand. + +The Inquisition, having already been tried in the south of France, had +there proved to be very effective for the suppression of heresy. It had +been introduced into Aragon. Now was assigned to it the duty of dealing +with the Jews. + +In the old times under Visigothic rule these people had greatly +prospered, but the leniency that had been shown to them was succeeded by +atrocious persecution, when the Visigoths abandoned their Arianism and +became orthodox. The most inhuman ordinances were issued against them--a +law was enacted condemning them all to be slaves. It was not to be +wondered at that, when the Saracen invasion took place, the Jews did +whatever they could to promote its success. They, like the Arabs, were +an Oriental people, both traced their lineage to Abraham, their common +ancestor; both were believers in the unity of God. It was their +defense of that doctrine that had brought upon them the hatred of their +Visigothic masters. + +Under the Saracen rule they were treated with the highest consideration. +They became distinguished for their wealth and their learning. For +the most part they were Aristotelians. They founded many schools and +colleges. Their mercantile interests led them to travel all over the +world. They particularly studied the science of medicine. Throughout the +middle ages they were the physicians and bankers of Europe. Of all men +they saw the course of human affairs from the most elevated point of +view. Among the special sciences they became proficient in mathematics +and astronomy; they composed the tables of Alfonso, and were the cause +of the voyage of De Gama. They distinguished themselves greatly in light +literature. From the tenth to the fourteenth century their literature +was the first in Europe. They were to be found in the courts of princes +as physicians, or as treasurers managing the public finances. + +The orthodox clergy in Navarre had excited popular prejudices against +them. To escape the persecutions that arose, many of them feigned to +turn Christians, and of these many apostatized to their former +faith. The papal nuncio at the court of Castile raised a cry for the +establishment of the Inquisition. The poorer Jews were accused of +sacrificing Christian children at the Passover, in mockery of the +crucifixion; the richer were denounced as Averroists. Under the +influence of Torquemada, a Dominican monk, the confessor of Queen +Isabella, that princess solicited a bull from the pope for the +establishment of the Holy Office. A bull was accordingly issued in +November, 1478, for the detection and suppression of heresy. In the +first year of the operation of the Inquisition, 1481, two thousand +victims were burnt in Andalusia; besides these, many thousands were dug +up from their graves and burnt; seventeen thousand were fined or +imprisoned for life. Whoever of the persecuted race could flee, escaped +for his life. Torquemada, now appointed inquisitor-general for Castile +and Leon, illustrated his office by his ferocity. Anonymous accusations +were received, the accused was not confronted by witnesses, torture was +relied upon for conviction; it was inflicted in vaults where no one +could hear the cries of the tormented. As, in pretended mercy, it was +forbidden to inflict torture a second time, with horrible duplicity it +was affirmed that the torment had not been completed at first, but had +only been suspended out of charity until the following day! The families +of the convicted were plunged into irretrievable ruin. Llorente, the +historian of the Inquisition, computes that Torquemada and his +collaborators, in the course of eighteen years, burnt at the stake ten +thousand two hundred and twenty persons, six thousand eight hundred and +sixty in effigy, and otherwise punished ninety-seven thousand three +hundred and twenty-one. This frantic priest destroyed Hebrew Bibles +wherever he could find them, And burnt six thousand volumes of Oriental +literature at Salamanca, under an imputation that they inculcated +Judaism. With unutterable disgust and indignation, we learn that the +papal government realized much money by selling to the rich +dispensations to secure them from the Inquisition. + +But all these frightful atrocities proved failures. The conversions +were few. Torquemada, therefore, insisted on the immediate banishment +of every unbaptized Jew. On March 30, 1492, the edict of expulsion was +signed. All unbaptized Jews, of whatever age, sex, or condition, were +ordered to leave the realm by the end of the following July. If they +revisited it, they should suffer death. They might sell their effects +and take the proceeds in merchandise or bills of exchange, but not in +gold or silver. Exiled thus suddenly from the land of their birth, the +land of their ancestors for hundreds of years, they could not in +the glutted market that arose sell what they possessed. Nobody would +purchase what could be got for nothing after July. The Spanish clergy +occupied themselves by preaching in the public squares sermons filled +with denunciations against their victims, who, when the time for +expatriation came, swarmed in the roads and filled the air with their +cries of despair. Even the Spanish onlookers wept at the scene of agony. +Torquemada, however, enforced the ordinance that no one should afford +them any help. + +Of the banished persons some made their way into Africa, some into +Italy; the latter carried with them to Naples ship-fever, which +destroyed not fewer than twenty thousand in that city, and devastated +that peninsula; some reached Turkey, a few England. Thousands, +especially mothers with nursing children, infants, and old people, died +by the way; many of them in the agonies of thirst. + +This action against the Jews was soon followed by one against the Moors. +A pragmatica was issued at Seville, February, 1502, setting forth the +obligations of the Castilians to drive the enemies of God from the land, +and ordering that all unbaptized Moors in the kingdoms of Castile and +Leon above the age of infancy should leave the country by the end of +April. They might sell their property, but not take away any gold or +silver; they were forbidden to emigrate to the Mohammedan dominions; the +penalty of disobedience was death. Their condition was thus worse than +that of the Jews, who had been permitted to go where they chose. Such +was the fiendish intolerance of the Spaniards, that they asserted the +government would be justified in taking the lives of all the Moors for +their shameless infidelity. + +What an ungrateful return for the toleration that the Moors in their +day of power had given to the Christians! No faith was kept with the +victims. Granada had surrendered under the solemn guarantee of the full +enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. At the instigation of +Cardinal Ximenes that pledge was broken, and, after a residence of eight +centuries, the Mohammedans were driven out of the land. + + +The coexistence of three religions in Andalusia--the Christian, the +Mohammedan, the Mosaic--had given opportunity for the development of +Averroism or philosophical Arabism. This was a repetition of what had +occurred at Rome, when the gods of all the conquered countries were +confronted in that capital, and universal disbelief in them all ensued. +Averroes himself was accused of having been first a Mussulman, then a +Christian, then a Jew, and finally a misbeliever. It was affirmed that +he was the author of the mysterious book "De Tribus Impostoribus." + +In the middle ages there were two celebrated heretical books, "The +Everlasting Gospel," and the "De Tribus Impostoribus." The latter was +variously imputed to Pope Gerbert, to Frederick II., and to Averroes. +In their unrelenting hatred the Dominicans fastened all the blasphemies +current in those times on Averroes; they never tired of recalling the +celebrated and outrageous one respecting the eucharist. His writings had +first been generally made known to Christian Europe by the translation +of Michael Scot in the beginning of the thirteenth century, but long +before his time the literature of the West, like that of Asia, was full +of these ideas. We have seen how broadly they were set forth by Erigena. +The Arabians, from their first cultivation of philosophy, had been +infected by them; they were current in all the colleges of the three +khalifates. Considered not as a mode of thought, that will spontaneously +occur to all men at a certain stage of intellectual development, but as +having originated with Aristotle, they continually found favor with men +of the highest culture. We see them in Robert Grostete, in Roger Bacon, +and eventually in Spinoza. Averroes was not their inventor, he merely +gave them clearness and expression. Among the Jews of the thirteenth +century, he had completely supplanted his imputed master. Aristotle had +passed away from their eyes; his great commentator, Averroes, stood in +his place. So numerous were the converts to the doctrine of emanation +in Christendom, that Pope Alexander IV. (1255) found it necessary to +interfere. By his order, Albertus Magnus composed a work against the +"Unity of the Intellect." Treating of the origin and nature of the +soul, he attempted to prove that the theory of "a separate intellect, +enlightening man by irradiation anterior to the individual and surviving +the individual, is a detestable error." But the most illustrious +antagonist of the great commentator was St. Thomas Aquinas, the +destroyer of all such heresies as the unity of the intellect, the denial +of Providence, the impossibility of creation; the victories of "the +Angelic Doctor" were celebrated not only in the disputations of the +Dominicans, but also in the works of art of the painters of Florence +and Pisa. The indignation of that saint knew no bounds when Christians +became the disciples of an infidel, who was worse than a Mohammedan. +The wrath of the Dominicans, the order to which St. Thomas belonged, was +sharpened by the fact that their rivals, the Franciscans, inclined to +Averroistic views; and Dante, who leaned to the Dominicans, denounced +Averroes as the author of a most dangerous system. The theological odium +of all three dominant religions was put upon him; he was pointed out +as the originator of the atrocious maxim that "all religions are false, +although all are probably useful." An attempt was made at the Council +of Vienne to have his writings absolutely suppressed, and to forbid all +Christians reading them. The Dominicans, armed with the weapons of +the Inquisition, terrified Christian Europe with their unrelenting +persecutions. They imputed all the infidelity of the times to the +Arabian philosopher. But he was not without support. In Paris and in the +cities of Northern Italy the Franciscans sustained his views, and all +Christendom was agitated with these disputes. + +Under the inspiration of the Dominicans, Averroes became to the Italian +painters the emblem of unbelief. Many of the Italian towns had pictures +or frescoes of the Day of Judgment and of Hell. In these Averroes not +unfrequently appears. Thus, in one at Pisa, he figures with Arius, +Mohammed, and Antichrist. In another he is represented as overthrown by +St. Thomas. He had become an essential element in the triumphs of the +great Dominican doctor. He continued thus to be familiar to the Italian +painters until the sixteenth century. His doctrines were maintained in +the University of Padua until the seventeenth. + +Such is, in brief, the history of Averroism as it invaded Europe from +Spain. Under the auspices of Frederick II., it, in a less imposing +manner, issued from Sicily. That sovereign bad adopted it fully. In his +"Sicilian Questions" he had demanded light on the eternity of the world, +and on the nature of the soul, and supposed he had found it in the +replies of Ibn Sabin, an upholder of these doctrines. But in his +conflict with the papacy be was overthrown, and with him these heresies +were destroyed. + +In Upper Italy, Averroism long maintained its ground. It was so +fashionable in high Venetian society that every gentleman felt +constrained to profess it. At length the Church took decisive action +against it. The Lateran Council, A.D. 1512, condemned the abettors of +these detestable doctrines to be held as heretics and infidels. As +we have seen, the late Vatican Council has anathematized them. +Notwithstanding that stigma, it is to be borne in mind that these +opinions are held to be true by a majority of the human race. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + CONFLICT RESPECTING THE NATURE OF THE WORLD. + + Scriptural view of the world: the earth a flat surface; + location of heaven and hell. + + Scientific view: the earth a globe; its size determined; its + position in and relations to the solar system.--The three + great voyages.--Columbus, De Gama, Magellan.-- + Circumnavigation of the earth.--Determination of its + curvature by the measurement of a degree and by the + pendulum. + + The discoveries of Copernicus.--Invention of the telescope.-- + Galileo brought before the Inquisition.--His punishment.-- + Victory over the Church. + + Attempts to ascertain the dimensions of the solar system.-- + Determination of the sun's parallax by the transits of + Venus.--Insignificance, of the earth and man. + + Ideas respecting the dimensions of the universe.--Parallax + of the stars.--The plurality of worlds asserted by Bruno.-- + He is seized and murdered by the Inquisition. + + +I HAVE now to present the discussions that arose respecting the third +great philosophical problem--the nature of the world. + +An uncritical observation of the aspect of Nature persuades us that the +earth is an extended level surface which sustains the dome of the sky, +a firmament dividing the waters above from the waters beneath; that the +heavenly bodies--the sun, the moon, the stars--pursue their way, +moving from east to west, their insignificant size and motion round the +motionless earth proclaiming their inferiority. Of the various organic +forms surrounding man none rival him in dignity, and hence he seems +justified in concluding that every thing has been created for his +use--the sun for the purpose of giving him light by day, the moon and +stars by night. + +Comparative theology shows us that this is the conception of Nature +universally adopted in the early phase of intellectual life. It is the +belief of all nations in all parts of the world in the beginning of +their civilization: geocentric, for it makes the earth the centre of the +universe; anthropocentric, for it makes man the central object of the +earth. And not only is this the conclusion spontaneously come to from +inconsiderate glimpses of the world, it is also the philosophical basis +of various religious revelations, vouchsafed to man from time to time. +These revelations, moreover, declare to him that above the crystalline +dome of the sky is a region of eternal light and happiness--heaven--the +abode of God and the angelic hosts, perhaps also his own abode after +death; and beneath the earth a region of eternal darkness and misery, +the habitation of those that are evil. In the visible world is thus seen +a picture of the invisible. + +On the basis of this view of the structure of the world great religious +systems have been founded, and hence powerful material interests have +been engaged in its support. These have resisted, sometimes by resorting +to bloodshed, attempts that have been made to correct its incontestable +errors--a resistance grounded on the suspicion that the localization of +heaven and hell and the supreme value of man in the universe might be +affected. + +That such attempts would be made was inevitable. As soon as men began +to reason on the subject at all, they could not fail to discredit the +assertion that the earth is an indefinite plane. No one can doubt that +the sun we see to-day is the self-same sun that we saw yesterday. His +reappearance each morning irresistibly suggests that he has passed on +the underside of the earth. But this is incompatible with the reign of +night in those regions. It presents more or less distinctly the idea of +the globular form of the earth. + +The earth cannot extend indefinitely downward; for the sun cannot go +through it, nor through any crevice or passage in it, Since he rises and +sets in different positions at different seasons of the year. The stars +also move under it in countless courses. There must, therefore, be a +clear way beneath. + +To reconcile revelation with these innovating facts, schemes, such +as that of Cosmas Indicopleustes in his Christian Topography, were +doubtless often adopted. To this in particular we have had occasion on a +former page to refer. It asserted that in the northern parts of the flat +earth there is an immense mountain, behind which the sun passes, and +thus produces night. + +At a very remote historical period the mechanism of eclipses had been +discovered. Those of the moon demonstrated that the shadow of the earth +is always circular. The form of the earth must therefore be globular. +A body which in all positions casts a circular shadow must itself be +spherical. Other considerations, with which every one is now familiar, +could not fail to establish that such is her figure. + +But the determination of the shape of the earth by no means deposed +her from her position of superiority. Apparently vastly larger than all +other things, it was fitting that she should be considered not merely as +the centre of the world, but, in truth, as--the world. All other objects +in their aggregate seemed utterly unimportant in comparison with her. + +Though the consequences flowing from an admission of the globular figure +of the earth affected very profoundly existing theological ideas, they +were of much less moment than those depending on a determination of her +size. It needed but an elementary knowledge of geometry to perceive that +correct ideas on this point could be readily obtained by measuring a +degree on her surface. Probably there were early attempts to accomplish +this object, the results of which have been lost. But Eratosthenes +executed one between Syene and Alexandria, in Egypt, Syene being +supposed to be exactly under the tropic of Cancer. The two places are, +however, not on the same meridian, and the distance between them was +estimated, not measured. Two centuries later, Posidonius made another +attempt between Alexandria and Rhodes; the bright star Canopus just +grazed the horizon at the latter place, at Alexandria it rose 7 1/2 +degrees. In this instance, also, since the direction lay across the sea, +the distance was estimated, not measured. Finally, as we have already +related, the Khalif Al-Mamun made two sets of measures, one on the shore +of the Red Sea, the other near Cufa, in Mesopotamia. The general result +of these various observations gave for the earth's diameter between +seven and eight thousand miles. + +This approximate determination of the size of the earth tended to +depose her from her dominating position, and gave rise to very serious +theological results. In this the ancient investigations of Aristarchus +of Samos, one of the Alexandrian school, 280 B.C., powerfully aided. +In his treatise on the magnitudes and distances of the sun and moon, he +explains the ingenious though imperfect method to which he had resorted +for the solution of that problem. Many ages previously a speculation had +been brought from India to Europe by Pythagoras. It presented the sun +as the centre of the system. Around him the planets revolved in circular +orbits, their order of position being Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, +Jupiter, Saturn, each of them being supposed to rotate on its axis as it +revolved round the sun. According to Cicero, Nicetas suggested that, +if it were admitted that the earth revolves on her axis, the difficulty +presented by the inconceivable velocity of the heavens would be avoided. + +There is reason to believe that the works of Aristarchus, in the +Alexandrian Library, were burnt at the time of the fire of Caesar. The +only treatise of his that has come down to us is that above mentioned, +on the size and distance of the sun and moon. + +Aristarchus adopted the Pythagorean system as representing the actual +facts. This was the result of a recognition of the sun's amazing +distance, and therefore of his enormous size. The heliocentric system, +thus regarding the sun as the central orb, degraded the earth to a very +subordinate rank, making her only one of a company of six revolving +bodies. + +But this is not the only contribution conferred on astronomy by +Aristarchus, for, considering that the movement of the earth does not +sensibly affect the apparent position of the stars, he inferred that +they are incomparably more distant from us than the sun. He, therefore, +of all the ancients, as Laplace remarks, had the most correct ideas of +the grandeur of the universe. He saw that the earth is of absolutely +insignificant size, when compared with the stellar distances. He saw, +too, that there is nothing above us but space and stars. + +But the views of Aristarchus, as respects the emplacement of the +planetary bodies, were not accepted by antiquity; the system proposed by +Ptolemy, and incorporated in his "Syntaxis," was universally preferred. +The physical philosophy of those times was very imperfect--one of +Ptolemy's objections to the Pythagorean system being that, if the earth +were in motion, it would leave the air and other light bodies behind it. +He therefore placed the earth in the central position, and in succession +revolved round her the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, +Saturn; beyond the orbit of Saturn came the firmament of the fixed +stars. As to the solid crystalline spheres, one moving from east to +west, the other from north to south, these were a fancy of Eudoxus, to +which Ptolemy does not allude. + +The Ptolemaic system is, therefore, essentially a geocentric system. It +left the earth in her position of superiority, and hence gave no cause +of umbrage to religious opinions, Christian or Mohammedan. The immense +reputation of its author, the signal ability of his great work on the +mechanism of the heavens, sustained it for almost fourteen hundred +years--that is, from the second to the sixteenth century. + +In Christendom, the greater part of this long period was consumed +in disputes respecting the nature of God, and in struggles for +ecclesiastical power. The authority of the Fathers, and the prevailing +belief that the Scriptures contain the sum, of all knowledge, +discouraged any investigation of Nature. If by chance a passing interest +was taken in some astronomical question, it was at once settled by +a reference to such authorities as the writings of Augustine or +Lactantius, not by an appeal to the phenomena of the heavens. So +great was the preference given to sacred over profane learning that +Christianity had been in existence fifteen hundred years, and had not +produced a single astronomer. + +The Mohammedan nations did much better. Their cultivation of science +dates from the capture of Alexandria, A.D. 638. This was only six years +after the death of the Prophet. In less than two centuries they had +not only become acquainted with, but correctly appreciated, the Greek +scientific writers. As we have already mentioned, by his treaty with +Michael III., the khalif Al-Mamun had obtained a copy of the "Syntaxis" +of Ptolemy. He had it forthwith translated into Arabic. It became at +once the great authority of Saracen astronomy. From this basis the +Saracens had advanced to the solution of some of the most important +scientific problems. They had ascertained the dimensions of the earth; +they had registered or catalogued all the stars visible in their +heavens, giving to those of the larger magnitudes the names they still +bear on our maps and globes; they determined the true length of the +year, discovered astronomical refraction, invented the pendulum-clock, +improved the photometry of the stars, ascertained the curvilinear +path of a ray of light through the air, explained the phenomena of the +horizontal sun and moon, and why we see those bodies before they have +risen and after they have set; measured the height of the atmosphere, +determining it to be fifty-eight miles; given the true theory of the +twilight, and of the twinkling of the stars. They had built the first +observatory in Europe. So accurate were they in their observations, that +the ablest modern mathematicians have made use of their results. +Thus Laplace, in his "Systeme du Monde," adduces the observations of +Al-Batagni as affording incontestable proof of the diminution of the +eccentricity of the earth's orbit. He uses those of Ibn-Junis in his +discussion of the obliquity of the ecliptic, and also in the case of the +problems of the greater inequalities of Jupiter and Saturn. + +These represent but a part, and indeed but a small part, of the services +rendered by the Arabian astronomers, in the solution of the problem of +the nature of the world. Meanwhile, such was the benighted condition of +Christendom, such its deplorable ignorance, that it cared nothing +about the matter. Its attention was engrossed by image-worship, +transubstantiation, the merits of the saints, miracles, shrine-cures. + +This indifference continued until the close of the fifteenth century. +Even then there was no scientific inducement. The inciting motives were +altogether of a different kind. They originated in commercial rivalries, +and the question of the shape of the earth was finally settled by three +sailors, Columbus, De Gama, and, above all, by Ferdinand Magellan. + +The trade of Eastern Asia has always been a source of immense wealth to +the Western nations who in succession have obtained it. In the middle +ages it had centred in Upper Italy. It was conducted along two lines--a +northern, by way of the Black and Caspian Seas, and camel-caravans +beyond--the headquarters of this were at Genoa; and a southern, through +the Syrian and Egyptian ports, and by the Arabian Sea, the headquarters +of this being at Venice. The merchants engaged in the latter traffic had +also made great gains in the transport service of the Crusade-wars. + +The Venetians had managed to maintain amicable relations with the +Mohammedan powers of Syria and Egypt; they were permitted to have +consulates at Alexandria and Damascus, and, notwithstanding the military +commotions of which those countries had been the scene, the trade was +still maintained in a comparatively flourishing condition. But the +northern or Genoese line had been completely broken up by the +irruptions of the Tartars and the Turks, and the military and political +disturbances of the countries through which it passed. The Eastern trade +of Genoa was not merely in a precarious condition--it was on the brink +of destruction. + +The circular visible horizon and its dip at sea, the gradual appearance +and disappearance of ships in the offing, cannot fail to incline +intelligent sailors to a belief in the globular figure of the earth. +The writings of the Mohammedan astronomers and philosophers had given +currency to that doctrine throughout Western Europe, but, as might be +expected, it was received with disfavor by theologians. When Genoa was +thus on the very brink of ruin, it occurred to some of her mariners +that, if this view were correct, her affairs might be re-established. +A ship sailing through the straits of Gibraltar westward, across the +Atlantic, would not fail to reach the East Indies. There were apparently +other great advantages. Heavy cargoes might be transported without +tedious and expensive land-carriage, and without breaking bulk. + +Among the Genoese sailors who entertained these views was Christopher +Columbus. + +He tells us that his attention was drawn to this subject by the writings +of Averroes, but among his friends he numbered Toscanelli, a Florentine, +who had turned his attention to astronomy, and had become a strong +advocate of the globular form. In Genoa itself Columbus met with but +little encouragement. He then spent many years in trying to interest +different princes in his proposed attempt. Its irreligious tendency was +pointed out by the Spanish ecclesiastics, and condemned by the Council +of Salamanca; its orthodoxy was confuted from the Pentateuch, the +Psalms, the Prophecies, the Gospels, the Epistles, and the writings of +the Fathers--St. Chrysostom, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Gregory, St. +Basil, St Ambrose. + +At length, however, encouraged by the Spanish Queen Isabella, and +substantially aided by a wealthy seafaring family, the Pinzons of Palos, +some of whom joined him personally, he sailed on August 3, 1492, with +three small ships, from Palos, carrying with him a letter from King +Ferdinand to the Grand-Khan of Tartary, and also a chart, or map, +constructed on the basis of that of Toscanelli. A little before +midnight, October 11, 1492, he saw from the forecastle of his ship a +moving light at a distance. Two hours subsequently a signal-gun from +another of the ships announced that they had descried land. At sunrise +Columbus landed in the New World. + +On his return to Europe it was universally supposed that he had reached +the eastern parts of Asia, and that therefore his voyage had been +theoretically successful. Columbus himself died in that belief. But +numerous voyages which were soon undertaken made known the general +contour of the American coast-line, and the discovery of the Great South +Sea by Balboa revealed at length the true facts of the case, and the +mistake into which both Toscanelli and Columbus had fallen, that in a +voyage to the West the distance from Europe to Asia could not exceed +the distance passed over in a voyage from Italy to the Gulf of Guinea--a +voyage that Columbus had repeatedly made. + +In his first voyage, at nightfall on September 13, 1492, being then two +and a half degrees east of Corvo, one of the Azores, Columbus observed +that the compass needles of the ships no longer pointed a little to the +east of north, but were varying to the west. The deviation became more +and more marked as the expedition advanced. He was not the first to +detect the fact of variation, but he was incontestably the first to +discover the line of no variation. On the return-voyage the reverse +was observed; the variation westward diminished until the meridian in +question was reached, when the needles again pointed due north. Thence, +as the coast of Europe was approached, the variation was to the +east. Columbus, therefore, came to the conclusion that the line of +no variation was a fixed geographical line, or boundary, between +the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. In the bull of May, 1493, Pope +Alexander VI. accordingly adopted this line as the perpetual boundary +between the possessions of Spain and Portugal, in his settlement of the +disputes of those nations. Subsequently, however, it was discovered that +the line was moving eastward. It coincided with the meridian of London +in 1662. + +By the papal bull the Portuguese possessions were limited to the east of +the line of no variation. Information derived from certain Egyptian +Jews had reached that government, that it was possible to sail round the +continent of Africa, there being at its extreme south a cape which could +be easily doubled. An expedition of three ships under Vasco de Gama set +sail, July 9, 1497; it doubled the cape on November 20th, and reached +Calicut, on the coast of India, May 19, 1498. Under the bull, this +voyage to the East gave to the Portuguese the right to the India trade. + +Until the cape was doubled, the course of De Gama's ships was in a +general manner southward. Very soon, it was noticed that the elevation +of the pole-star above the horizon was diminishing, and, soon after the +equator was reached, that star had ceased to be visible. Meantime other +stars, some of them forming magnificent constellations, had come into +view--the stars of the Southern Hemisphere. All this was in conformity +to theoretical expectations founded on the admission of the globular +form of the earth. + +The political consequences that at once ensued placed the Papal +Government in a position of great embarrassment. Its traditions and +policy forbade it to admit any other than the flat figure of the earth, +as revealed in the Scriptures. Concealment of the facts was impossible, +sophistry was unavailing. Commercial prosperity now left Venice as well +as Genoa. The front of Europe was changed. Maritime power had departed +from the Mediterranean countries, and passed to those upon the Atlantic +coast. + +But the Spanish Government did not submit to the advantage thus +gained by its commercial rival without an effort. It listened to the +representations of one Ferdinand Magellan, that India and the Spice +Islands could be reached by sailing to the west, if only a strait or +passage through what had now been recognized as "the American Continent" +could be discovered; and, if this should be accomplished, Spain, +under the papal bull, would have as good a right to the India trade as +Portugal. Under the command of Magellan, an expedition of five ships, +carrying two hundred and thirty-seven men, was dispatched from Seville, +August 10, 1519. + +Magellan at once struck boldly for the South American coast, hoping to +find some cleft or passage through the continent by which he might reach +the great South Sea. For seventy days he was becalmed on the line; his +sailors were appalled by the apprehension that they had drifted into a +region where the winds never blew, and that it was impossible for them +to escape. Calms, tempests, mutiny, desertion, could not shake his +resolution. After more than a year he discovered the strait which +now bears his name, and, as Pigafetti, an Italian, who was with him, +relates, he shed fears of joy when he found that it had pleased God at +length to bring him where he might grapple with the unknown dangers of +the South Sea, "the Great and Pacific Ocean." + +Driven by famine to eat scraps of skin and leather with which his +rigging was here and there bound, to drink water that had gone putrid, +his crew dying of hunger and scurvy, this man, firm in his belief of the +globular figure of the earth, steered steadily to the northwest, and for +nearly four months never saw inhabited land. He estimated that he had +sailed over the Pacific not less than twelve thousand miles. He crossed +the equator, saw once more the pole-star, and at length made land--the +Ladrones. Here he met with adventurers from Sumatra. Among these islands +he was killed, either by the savages or by his own men. His lieutenant, +Sebastian d'Elcano, now took command of the ship, directing her course +for the Cape of Good Hope, and encountering frightful hardships. He +doubled the cape at last, and then for the fourth time crossed the +equator. On September 7, 1522, after a voyage of more than three years, +he brought his ship, the San Vittoria, to anchor in the port of St. +Lucar, near Seville. She had accomplished the greatest achievement in +the history of the human race. She had circumnavigated the earth. + +The San Vittoria, sailing westward, had come back to her starting-point. +Henceforth the theological doctrine of the flatness of the earth was +irretrievably overthrown. + +Five years after the completion of the voyage of Magellan, was made the +first attempt in Christendom to ascertain the size of the earth. This +was by Fernel, a French physician, who, having observed the height of +the pole at Paris, went thence northward until he came to a place where +the height of the pole was exactly one degree more than at that city. +He measured the distance between the two stations by the number of +revolutions of one of the wheels of his carriage, to which a proper +indicator bad been attached, and came to the conclusion that the earth's +circumference is about twenty-four thousand four hundred and eighty +Italian miles. + +Measures executed more and more carefully were made in many countries: +by Snell in Holland; by Norwood between London and York in England; by +Picard, under the auspices of the French Academy of Sciences, in France. +Picard's plan was to connect two points by a series of triangles, +and, thus ascertaining the length of the arc of a meridian intercepted +between them, to compare it with the difference of latitudes found from +celestial observations. The stations were Malvoisine in the vicinity +of Paris, and Sourdon near Amiens. The difference of latitudes was +determined by observing the zenith-distances, of delta Cassiopeia. There +are two points of interest connected with Picard's operation: it was the +first in which instruments furnished with telescopes were employed; +and its result, as we shall shortly see, was to Newton the first +confirmation of the theory of universal gravitation. + +At this time it had become clear from mechanical considerations, more +especially such as had been deduced by Newton, that, since the earth is +a rotating body, her form cannot be that of a perfect sphere, but +must be that of a spheroid, oblate or flattened at the poles. It would +follow, from this, that the length of a degree must be greater near the +poles than at the equator. + +The French Academy resolved to extend Picard's operation, by prolonging +the measures in each direction, and making the result the basis of a +more accurate map of France. Delays, however, took place, and it was not +until 1718 that the measures, from Dunkirk on the north to the southern +extremity of France, were completed. A discussion arose as to the +interpretation of these measures, some affirming that they indicated a +prolate, others an oblate spheroid; the former figure may be popularly +represented by a lemon, the latter by an orange. To settle this, the +French Government, aided by the Academy, sent out two expeditions to +measure degrees of the meridian--one under the equator, the other as +far north as possible; the former went to Peru, the latter to Swedish +Lapland. Very great difficulties were encountered by both parties. The +Lapland commission, however, completed its observations long before the +Peruvian, which consumed not less than nine years. The results of the +measures thus obtained confirmed the theoretical expectation of the +oblate form. Since that time many extensive and exact repetitions of the +observation have been made, among which may be mentioned those of the +English in England and in India, and particularly that of the French +on the occasion of the introduction of the metric system of weights +and measures. It was begun by Delambre and Mechain, from Dunkirk to +Barcelona, and thence extended, by Biot and Arago, to the island +of Formentera near Minorea. Its length was nearly twelve and a half +degrees. + +Besides this method of direct measurement, the figure of the earth +may be determined from the observed number of oscillations made by a +pendulum of invariable length in different latitudes. These, though they +confirm the foregoing results, give a somewhat greater ellipticity +to the earth than that found by the measurement of degrees. Pendulums +vibrate more slowly the nearer they are to the equator. It follows, +therefore, that they are there farther from the centre of the earth. + +From the most reliable measures that have been made, the dimensions of +the earth may be thus stated: + + + Greater or equatorial diameter..............7,925 miles. + Less or polar diameter......................7,899 " + Difference or polar compression............. 26 " + + +Such was the result of the discussion respecting the figure and size +of the earth. While it was yet undetermined, another controversy arose, +fraught with even more serious consequences. This was the conflict +respecting the earth's position with regard to the sun and the planetary +bodies. + +Copernicus, a Prussian, about the year 1507, had completed a book "On +the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies." He had journeyed to Italy +in his youth, had devoted his attention to astronomy, and had taught +mathematics at Rome. From a profound study of the Ptolemaic and +Pythagorean systems, he had come to a conclusion in favor of the latter, +the object of his book being to sustain it. Aware that his doctrines +were totally opposed to revealed truth, and foreseeing that they would +bring upon him the punishments of the Church, he expressed himself in +a cautious and apologetic manner, saying that he had only taken the +liberty of trying whether, on the supposition of the earth's motion, it +was possible to find better explanations than the ancient ones of the +revolutions of the celestial orbs; that in doing this he had only +taken the privilege that had been allowed to others, of feigning what +hypothesis they chose. The preface was addressed to Pope Paul III. + +Full of misgivings as to what might be the result, he refrained from +publishing his book for thirty-six years, thinking that "perhaps it +might be better to follow the examples of the Pythagoreans and others, +who delivered their doctrine only by tradition and to friends." At the +entreaty of Cardinal Schomberg he at length published it in 1543. A copy +of it was brought to him on his death-bed. Its fate was such as he had +anticipated. The Inquisition condemned it as heretical. In their decree, +prohibiting it, the Congregation of the Index denounced his system +as "that false Pythagorean doctrine utterly contrary to the Holy +Scriptures." + +Astronomers justly affirm that the book of Copernicus, "De +Revolutionibus," changed the face of their science. It incontestably +established the heliocentric theory. It showed that the distance of the +fixed stars is infinitely great, and that the earth is a mere point in +the heavens. Anticipating Newton, Copernicus imputed gravity to the sun, +the moon, and heavenly bodies, but he was led astray by assuming that +the celestial motions must be circular. Observations on the orbit of +Mars, and his different diameters at different times, had led Copernicus +to his theory. + +In thus denouncing the Copernican system as being in contradiction to +revelation, the ecclesiastical authorities were doubtless deeply moved +by inferential considerations. To dethrone the earth from her central +dominating position, to give her many equals and not a few superiors, +seemed to diminish her claims upon the Divine regard. If each of the +countless myriads of stars was a sun, surrounded by revolving globes, +peopled with responsible beings like ourselves, if we had fallen so +easily and had been redeemed at so stupendous a price as the death of +the Son of God, how was it with them? Of them were there none who had +fallen or might fall like us? Where, then, for them could a Savior be +found? + +During the year 1608 one Lippershey, a Hollander, discovered that, by +looking through two glass lenses, combined in a certain manner together, +distant objects were magnified and rendered very plain. He had invented +the telescope. In the following year Galileo, a Florentine, greatly +distinguished by his mathematical and scientific writings, hearing +of the circumstance, but without knowing the particulars of the +construction, invented a form of the instrument for himself. Improving +it gradually, he succeeded in making one that could magnify thirty +times. Examining the moon, he found that she had valleys like those of +the earth, and mountains casting shadows. It had been said in the old +times that in the Pleiades there were formerly seven stars, but a legend +related that one of them had mysteriously disappeared. On turning his +telescope toward them, Galileo found that he could easily count not +fewer than forty. In whatever direction he looked, he discovered stars +that were totally invisible to the naked eye. + +On the night of January 7, 1610, he perceived three small stars in +a straight line, adjacent to the planet Jupiter, and, a few evenings +later, a fourth. He found that these were revolving in orbits round the +body of the planet, and, with transport, recognized that they presented +a miniature representation of the Copernican system. + +The announcement of these wonders at once attracted universal attention. +The spiritual authorities were not slow to detect their tendency, as +endangering the doctrine that the universe was made for man. In the +creation of myriads of stars, hitherto invisible, there must surely have +been some other motive than that of illuminating the nights for him. + +It had been objected to the Copernican theory that, if the planets +Mercury and Venus move round the sun in orbits interior to that of the +earth, they ought to show phases like those of the moon; and that in +the case of Venus, which is so brilliant and conspicuous, these phases +should be very obvious. Copernicus himself had admitted the force of +the objection, and had vainly tried to find an explanation. Galileo, on +turning his telescope to the planet, discovered that the expected phases +actually exist; now she was a crescent, then half-moon, then gibbous, +then full. Previously to Copernicus, it was supposed that the planets +shine by their own light, but the phases of Venus and Mars proved that +their light is reflected. The Aristotelian notion, that celestial differ +from terrestrial bodies in being incorruptible, received a rude shock +from the discoveries of Galileo, that there are mountains and valleys in +the moon like those of the earth, that the sun is not perfect, but has +spots on his face, and that he turns on his axis instead of being in a +state of majestic rest. The apparition of new stars had already thrown +serious doubts on this theory of incorruptibility. + +These and many other beautiful telescopic discoveries tended to the +establishment of the truth of the Copernican theory and gave unbounded +alarm to the Church. By the low and ignorant ecclesiastics they were +denounced as deceptions or frauds. Some affirmed that the telescope +might be relied on well enough for terrestrial objects, but with the +heavenly bodies it was altogether a different affair. Others declared +that its invention was a mere application of Aristotle's remark that +stars could be seen in the daytime from the bottom of a deep well. +Galileo was accused of imposture, heresy, blasphemy, atheism. With a +view of defending himself, he addressed a letter to the Abbe Castelli, +suggesting that the Scriptures were never intended to be a scientific +authority, but only a moral guide. This made matters worse. He was +summoned before the Holy Inquisition, under an accusation of having +taught that the earth moves round the sun, a doctrine "utterly contrary +to the Scriptures." He was ordered to renounce that heresy, on pain of +being imprisoned. He was directed to desist from teaching and advocating +the Copernican theory, and pledge himself that he would neither publish +nor defend it for the future. Knowing well that Truth has no need of +martyrs, he assented to the required recantation, and gave the promise +demanded. + +For sixteen years the Church had rest. But in 1632 Galileo ventured +on the publication of his work entitled "The System of the World," its +object being the vindication of the Copernican doctrine. He was again +summoned before the Inquisition at Rome, accused of having asserted +that the earth moves round the sun. He was declared to have brought +upon himself the penalties of heresy. On his knees, with his hand on the +Bible, he was compelled to abjure and curse the doctrine of the movement +of the earth. What a spectacle! This venerable man, the most illustrious +of his age, forced by the threat of death to deny facts which his judges +as well as himself knew to be true! He was then committed to prison, +treated with remorseless severity during the remaining ten years of +his life, and was denied burial in consecrated ground. Must not that +be false which requires for its support so much imposture, so much +barbarity? The opinions thus defended by the Inquisition are now objects +of derision to the whole civilized world. + +One of the greatest of modern mathematicians, referring to this subject, +says that the point here contested was one which is for mankind of the +highest interest, because of the rank it assigns to the globe that we +inhabit. If the earth be immovable in the midst of the universe, man has +a right to regard himself as the principal object of the care of Nature. +But if the earth be only one of the planets revolving round the sun, an +insignificant body in the solar system, she will disappear entirely +in the immensity of the heavens, in which this system, vast as it may +appear to us, is nothing but an insensible point. + +The triumphant establishment of the Copernican doctrine dates from the +invention of the telescope. Soon there was not to be found in all Europe +an astronomer who had not accepted the heliocentric theory with its +essential postulate, the double motion of the earth--movement of +rotation on her axis, and a movement of revolution round the sun. +If additional proof of the latter were needed, it was furnished by +Bradley's great discovery of the aberration of the fixed stars, an +aberration depending partly on the progressive motion of light, and +partly on the revolution of the earth. Bradley's discovery ranked +in importance with that of the precession of the equinoxes. Roemer's +discovery of the progressive motion of light, though denounced by +Fontenelle as a seductive error, and not admitted by Cassini, at length +forced its way to universal acceptance. + + +Next it was necessary to obtain correct ideas of the dimensions of the +solar system, or, putting the problem under a more limited form, to +determine the distance of the earth from the sun. + +In the time of Copernicus it was supposed that the sun's distance could +not exceed five million miles, and indeed there were many who thought +that estimate very extravagant. From a review of the observations of +Tycho Brahe, Kepler, however, concluded that the error was actually in +the opposite direction, and that the estimate must be raised to at +least thirteen million. In 1670 Cassini showed that these numbers were +altogether inconsistent with the facts, and gave as his conclusion +eighty-five million. + +The transit of Venus over the face of the sun, June 3, 1769, had been +foreseen, and its great value in the solution of this fundamental +problem in astronomy appreciated. With commendable alacrity various +governments contributed their assistance in making observations, so that +in Europe there were fifty stations, in Asia six, in America seventeen. +It was for this purpose that the English Government dispatched Captain +Cook on his celebrated first voyage. He went to Otaheite. His voyage +was crowned with success. The sun rose without a cloud, and the sky +continued equally clear throughout the day. The transit at Cook's +station lasted from about half-past nine in the morning until about +half-past three in the afternoon, and all the observations were made in +a satisfactory manner. + +But, on the discussion of the observations made at the different +stations, it was found that there was not the accordance that could have +been desired--the result varying from eighty-eight to one hundred and +nine million. The celebrated mathematician, Encke, therefore reviewed +them in 1822-'24, and came to the conclusion that the sun's horizontal +parallax, that is, the angle under which the semi-diameter of the earth +is seen from the sun, is 8 576/1000 seconds; this gave as the distance +95,274,000 miles. Subsequently the observations were reconsidered +by Hansen, who gave as their result 91,659,000 miles. Still later, +Leverrier made it 91,759,000. Airy and Stone, by another method, made +it 91,400,000; Stone alone, by a revision of the old observations, +91,730,000; and finally, Foucault and Fizeau, from physical experiments, +determining the velocity of light, and therefore in their nature +altogether differing from transit observations, 91,400,000. Until the +results of the transit of next year (1874) are ascertained, it must +therefore be admitted that the distance of the earth from the sun is +somewhat less than ninety-two million miles. + +This distance once determined, the dimensions of the solar system may +be ascertained with ease and precision. It is enough to mention that +the distance of Neptune from the sun, the most remote of the planets at +present known, is about thirty times that of the earth. + +By the aid of these numbers we may begin to gain a just appreciation of +the doctrine of the human destiny of the universe--the doctrine that all +things were made for man. Seen from the sun, the earth dwindles away to +a mere speck, a mere dust-mote glistening in his beams. If the reader +wishes a more precise valuation, let him hold a page of this book a +couple of feet from his eye; then let him consider one of its dots or +full stops; that dot is several hundred times larger in surface than is +the earth as seen from the sun! + +Of what consequence, then, can such an almost imperceptible particle be? +One might think that it could be removed or even annihilated, and yet +never be missed. Of what consequence is one of those human monads, of +whom more than a thousand millions swarm on the surface of this all +but invisible speck, and of a million of whom scarcely one will leave +a trace that he has ever existed? Of what consequence is man, his +pleasures or his pains? + +Among the arguments brought forward against the Copernican system at the +time of its promulgation, was one by the great Danish astronomer, Tycho +Brahe, originally urged by Aristarchus against the Pythagorean system, +to the effect that, if, as was alleged, the earth moves round the sun, +there ought to be a change of the direction in which the fixed stars +appear. At one time we are nearer to a particular region of the heavens +by a distance equal to the whole diameter of the earth's orbit than we +were six months previously, and hence there ought to be a change in +the relative position of the stars; they should seem to separate as we +approach them, and to close together as we recede from them; or, to use +the astronomical expression, these stars should have a yearly parallax. + +The parallax of a star is the angle contained between two lines drawn +from it--one to the sun, the other to the earth. + +At that time, the earth's distance from the sun was greatly +under-estimated. Had it been known, as it is now, that that distance +exceeds ninety million miles, or that the diameter of the orbit is more +than one hundred and eighty million, that argument would doubtless have +had very great weight. + +In reply to Tycho, it was said that, since the parallax of a body +diminishes as its distance increases, a star may be so far off that its +parallax may be imperceptible. This answer proved to be correct. The +detection of the parallax of the stars depended on the improvement of +instruments for the measurement of angles. + +The parallax of alpha Centauri, a fine double star of the Southern +Hemisphere, at present considered to be the nearest of the fixed stars, +was first determined by Henderson and Maclear at the Cape of Good Hope +in 1832-'33. It is about nine-tenths of a second. Hence this star is +almost two hundred and thirty thousand times as far from us as the sun. +Seen from it, if the sun were even large enough to fill the whole orbit +of the earth, or one hundred and eighty million miles in diameter, +he would be a mere point. With its companion, it revolves round their +common centre of gravity in eighty-one years, and hence it would seem +that their conjoint mass is less than that of the sun. + +The star 61 Cygni is of the sixth magnitude. Its parallax was first +found by Bessel in 1838, and is about one-third of a second. The +distance from us is, therefore, much more than five hundred thousand +times that of the sun. With its companion, it revolves round their +common centre of gravity in five hundred and twenty years. Their +conjoint weight is about one-third that of the sun. + +There is reason to believe that the great star Sirius, the brightest +in the heavens, is about six times as far off as alpha Centauri. His +probable diameter is twelve million miles, and the light he emits two +hundred times more brilliant than that of the sun. Yet, even through the +telescope, he has no measurable diameter; he looks merely like a very +bright spark. + +The stars, then, differ not merely in visible magnitude, but also in +actual size. As the spectroscope shows, they differ greatly in chemical +and physical constitution. That instrument is also revealing to us the +duration of the life of a star, through changes in the refrangibility of +the emitted light. Though, as we have seen, the nearest to us is at +an enormous and all but immeasurable distance, this is but the first +step--there are others the rays of which have taken thousands, perhaps +millions, of years to reach us! The limits of our own system are far +beyond the range of our greatest telescopes; what, then, shall we say of +other systems beyond? Worlds are scattered like dust in the abysses in +space. + +Have these gigantic bodies--myriads of which are placed at so vast a +distance that our unassisted eyes cannot perceive them--have these no +other purpose than that assigned by theologians, to give light to us? +Does not their enormous size demonstrate that, as they are centres of +force, so they must be centres of motion--suns for other systems of +worlds? + +While yet these facts were very imperfectly known--indeed, were rather +speculations than facts--Giordano Bruno, an Italian, born seven years +after the death of Copernicus, published a work on the "Infinity of +the Universe and of Worlds;" he was also the author of "Evening +Conversations on Ash-Wednesday," an apology for the Copernican system, +and of "The One Sole Cause of Things." To these may be added an allegory +published in 1584, "The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast." He had also +collected, for the use of future astronomers, all the observations he +could find respecting the new star that suddenly appeared in Cassiopeia, +A.D. 1572, and increased in brilliancy, until it surpassed all the other +stars. It could be plainly seen in the daytime. On a sudden, November +11th, it was as bright as Venus at her brightest. In the following March +it was of the first magnitude. It exhibited various hues of color in a +few months, and disappeared in March, 1574. + +The star that suddenly appeared in Serpentarius, in Kepler's time +(1604), was at first brighter than Venus. It lasted more than a year, +and, passing through various tints of purple, yellow, red, became +extinguished. + +Originally, Bruno was intended for the Church. He had become a +Dominican, but was led into doubt by his meditations on the subjects of +transubstantiation and the immaculate conception. Not caring to +conceal his opinions, he soon fell under the censure of the spiritual +authorities, and found it necessary to seek refuge successively in +Switzerland, France, England, Germany. The cold-scented sleuth-hounds of +the Inquisition followed his track remorselessly, and eventually hunted +him back to Italy. He was arrested in Venice, and confined in the Piombi +for six years, without books, or paper, or friends. + +In England he had given lectures on the plurality of worlds, and in that +country had written, in Italian, his most important works. It added +not a little to the exasperation against him, that he was perpetually +declaiming against the insincerity; the impostures, of his +persecutors--that wherever he went he found skepticism varnished over +and concealed by hypocrisy; and that it was not against the belief of +men, but against their pretended belief, that he was fighting; that he +was struggling with an orthodoxy that had neither morality nor faith. + +In his "Evening Conversations" he had insisted that the Scriptures were +never intended to teach science, but morals only; and that they cannot +be received as of any authority on astronomical and physical subjects. +Especially must we reject the view they reveal to us of the constitution +of the world, that the earth is a flat surface, supported on pillars; +that the sky is a firmament--the floor of heaven. On the contrary, we +must believe that the universe is infinite, and that it is filled with +self-luminous and opaque worlds, many of them inhabited; that there +is nothing above and around us but space and stars. His meditations +on these subjects had brought him to the conclusion that the views of +Averroes are not far from the truth--that there is an Intellect which +animates the universe, and of this Intellect the visible world is only +an emanation or manifestation, originated and sustained by force derived +from it, and, were that force withdrawn, all things would disappear. +This ever-present, all-pervading Intellect is God, who lives in all +things, even such as seem not to live; that every thing is ready to +become organized, to burst into life. God is, therefore, "the One Sole +Cause of Things," "the All in All." + +Bruno may hence be considered among philosophical writers as +intermediate between Averroes and Spinoza. The latter held that God and +the Universe are the same, that all events happen by an immutable law +of Nature, by an unconquerable necessity; that God is the Universe, +producing a series of necessary movements or acts, in consequence of +intrinsic, unchangeable, and irresistible energy. + +On the demand of the spiritual authorities, Bruno was removed from +Venice to Rome, and confined in the prison of the Inquisition, accused +not only of being a heretic, but also a heresiarch, who had written +things unseemly concerning religion; the special charge against him +being that he had taught the plurality of worlds, a doctrine repugnant +to the whole tenor of Scripture and inimical to revealed religion, +especially as regards the plan of salvation. After an imprisonment of +two years he was brought before his judges, declared guilty of the +acts alleged, excommunicated, and, on his nobly refusing to recant, was +delivered over to the secular authorities to be punished "as mercifully +as possible, and without the shedding of his blood," the horrible +formula for burning a prisoner at the stake. Knowing well that though +his tormentors might destroy his body, his thoughts would still live +among men, he said to his judges, "Perhaps it is with greater fear +that you pass the sentence upon me than I receive it." The sentence was +carried into effect, and he was burnt at Rome, February 16th, A.D. 1600. + +No one can recall without sentiments of pity the sufferings of those +countless martyrs, who first by one party, and then by another, have +been brought for their religious opinions to the stake. But each of +these had in his supreme moment a powerful and unfailing support. The +passage from this life to the next, though through a hard trial, was the +passage from a transient trouble to eternal happiness, an escape from +the cruelty of earth to the charity of heaven. On his way through the +dark valley the martyr believed that there was an invisible hand that +would lead him, a friend that would guide him all the more gently and +firmly because of the terrors of the flames. For Bruno there was no +such support. The philosophical opinions, for the sake of which he +surrendered his life, could give him no consolation. He must fight the +last fight alone. Is there not something very grand in the attitude of +this solitary man, something which human nature cannot help admiring, as +he stands in the gloomy hall before his inexorable judges? No accuser, +no witness, no advocate is present, but the familiars of the Holy +Office, clad in black, are stealthily moving about. The tormentors and +the rack are in the vaults below. He is simply told that he has brought +upon himself strong suspicions of heresy, since he has said that there +are other worlds than ours. He is asked if he will recant and abjure +his error. He cannot and will not deny what he knows to be true, and +perhaps--for he had often done so before--he tells his judges that they, +too, in their hearts are of the same belief. What a contrast between +this scene of manly honor, of unshaken firmness, of inflexible adherence +to the truth, and that other scene which took place more than fifteen +centuries previously by the fireside in the hall of Caiaphas the +high-priest, when the cock crew, and "the Lord turned and looked upon +Peter" (Luke xxii. 61)! And yet it is upon Peter that the Church has +grounded her right to act as she did to Bruno. But perhaps the day +approaches when posterity will offer an expiation for this great +ecclesiastical crime, and a statue of Bruno be unveiled under the dome +of St. Peter's at Rome. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE AGE OF THE EARTH. + + Scriptural view that the Earth is only six thousand years + old, and that it was made in a week.--Patristic chronology + founded on the ages of the patriarchs.--Difficulties arising + from different estimates in different versions of the Bible. + + Legend of the Deluge.--The repeopling.--The Tower of Babel; + the confusion of tongues.--The primitive language. + + Discovery by Cassini of the oblateness of the planet + Jupiter.--Discovery by Newton of the oblateness of the + Earth.--Deduction that she has been modeled by mechanical + causes.--Confirmation of this by geological discoveries + respecting aqueous rocks; corroboration by organic remains.-- + The necessity of admitting enormously long periods of + time.--Displacement of the doctrine of Creation by that of + Evolution--Discoveries respecting the Antiquity of Man. + + The time-scale and space-scale of the world are infinite.-- + Moderation with which the discussion of the Age of the World + has been conducted. + + +THE true position of the earth in the universe was established only +after a long and severe conflict. The Church used whatever power she +had, even to the infliction of death, for sustaining her ideas. But +it was in vain. The evidence in behalf of the Copernican theory became +irresistible. It was at length universally admitted that the sun is the +central, the ruling body of our system; the earth only one, and by no +means the largest, of a family of encircling planets. Taught by the +issue of that dispute, when the question of the age of the world +presented itself for consideration, the Church did not exhibit the +active resistance she had displayed on the former occasion. For, +though her traditions were again put in jeopardy, they were not, in her +judgment, so vitally assailed. To dethrone the Earth from her dominating +position was, so the spiritual authorities declared, to undermine the +very foundation of revealed truth; but discussions respecting the date +of creation might within certain limits be permitted. Those limits were, +however, very quickly overpassed, and thus the controversy became as +dangerous as the former one had been. + +It was not possible to adopt the advice given by Plato in his "Timaeus," +when treating of this subject--the origin of the universe: "It is proper +that both I who speak and you who judge should remember that we are but +men, and therefore, receiving the probable mythological tradition, it +is meet that we inquire no further into it." Since the time of St. +Augustine the Scriptures had been made the great and final authority in +all matters of science, and theologians had deduced from them schemes of +chronology and cosmogony which had proved to be stumbling-blocks to the +advance of real knowledge. + +It is not necessary for us to do more than to allude to some of the +leading features of these schemes; their peculiarities will be easily +discerned with sufficient clearness. Thus, from the six days of creation +and the Sabbath-day of rest, since we are told that a day is with the +Lord as a thousand years, it was inferred that the duration of the +world will be through six thousand years of suffering, and an additional +thousand, a millennium of rest. It was generally admitted that the +earth was about four thousand years old at the birth of Christ, but, so +careless had Europe been in the study of its annals, that not Until +A.D. 627 had it a proper chronology of its own. A Roman abbot, Dionysius +Exiguus, or Dennis the Less, then fixed the vulgar era, and gave Europe +its present Christian chronology. + +The method followed in obtaining the earliest chronological dates was +by computations, mainly founded on the lives of the patriarchs. Much +difficulty was encountered in reconciling numerical discrepancies. Even +if, as was taken for granted in those uncritical ages, Moses was the +author of the books imputed to him, due weight was not given to the fact +that he related events, many of which took place more than two thousand +years before he was born. It scarcely seemed necessary to regard the +Pentateuch as of plenary inspiration, since no means had been provided +to perpetuate its correctness. The different copies which had escaped +the chances of time varied very much; thus the Samaritan made thirteen +hundred and seven years from the Creation to the Deluge, the Hebrew +sixteen hundred and fifty-six, the Septuagint twenty-two hundred and +sixty-three. The Septuagint counted fifteen hundred years more from the +Creation to Abraham than the Hebrew. In general, however, there was +an inclination to the supposition that the Deluge took place about two +thousand years after the Creation, and, after another interval of two +thousand years, Christ was born. Persons who had given much attention +to the subject affirmed that there were not less than one hundred +and thirty-two different opinions as to the year in which the Messiah +appeared, and hence they declared that it was inexpedient to press for +acceptance the Scriptural numbers too closely, since it was plain, +from the great differences in different copies, that there had been no +providential intervention to perpetuate a correct reading, nor was there +any mark by which men could be guided to the only authentic version. +Even those held in the highest esteem contained undeniable errors. Thus +the Septuagint made Methuselah live until after the Deluge. + +It was thought that, in the antediluvian world, the year consisted +of three hundred and sixty days. Some even affirmed that this was +the origin of the division of the circle into three hundred and sixty +degrees. At the time of the Deluge, so many theologians declared, the +motion of the sun was altered, and the year became five days and six +hours longer. There was a prevalent opinion that that stupendous event +occurred on November 2d, in the year of the world 1656. Dr. Whiston, +however, disposed to greater precision, inclined to postpone it to +November 28th. Some thought that the rainbow was not seen until after +the flood; others, apparently with better reason, inferred that it was +then first established as a sign. On coming forth from the ark, men +received permission to use flesh as food, the antediluvians having been +herbivorous! It would seem that the Deluge had not occasioned any great +geographical changes, for Noah, relying on his antediluvian knowledge, +proceeded to divide the earth among his three sons, giving to Japhet +Europe, to Shem Asia, to Ham Africa. No provision was made for America, +as he did not know of its existence. These patriarchs, undeterred by the +terrible solitudes to which they were going, by the undrained swamps +and untracked forests, journeyed to their allotted possessions, and +commenced the settlement of the continents. + +In seventy years the Asiatic family had increased to several hundred. +They had found their way to the plains of Mesopotamia, and there, for +some motive that we cannot divine, began building a tower "whose top +might reach to heaven." Eusebius informs us that the work continued for +forty years. They did not abandon it until a miraculous confusion of +their language took place and dispersed them all over the earth. St. +Ambrose shows that this confusion could not have been brought about by +men. Origen believes that not even the angels accomplished it. + +The confusion of tongues has given rise to many curious speculations +among divines as to the primitive speech of man. Some have thought +that the language of Adam consisted altogether of nouns, that they were +monosyllables, and that the confusion was occasioned by the introduction +of polysyllables. But these learned men must surely have overlooked the +numerous conversations reported in Genesis, such as those between the +Almighty and Adam, the serpent and Eve, etc. In these all the various +parts of speech occur. There was, however, a coincidence of opinion +that the primitive language was Hebrew. On the general principles of +patristicism, it was fitting that this should be the case. + +The Greek Fathers computed that, at the time of the dispersion, +seventy-two nations were formed, and in this conclusion St. Augustine +coincides. But difficulties seem to have been recognized in these +computations; thus the learned Dr. Shuckford, who has treated very +elaborately on all the foregoing points in his excellent work "On the +Sacred and Profane History of the World connected," demonstrates that +there could not have been more than twenty-one or twenty-two men, women, +and children, in each of those kingdoms. + +A very vital point in this system of chronological computation, based +upon the ages of the patriarchs, was the great length of life to which +those worthies attained. It was generally supposed that before the Flood +"there was a perpetual equinox," and no vicissitudes in Nature. After +that event the standard of life diminished one-half, and in the time of +the Psalmist it had sunk to seventy years, at which it still remains. +Austerities of climate were affirmed to have arisen through the shifting +of the earth's axis at the Flood, and to this ill effect were added the +noxious influences of that universal catastrophe, which, "converting the +surface of the earth into a vast swamp, gave rise to fermentations of +the blood and a weakening of the fibres." + +With a view of avoiding difficulties arising from the extraordinary +length of the patriarchal lives, certain divines suggested that the +years spoken of by the sacred penman were not ordinary but lunar years. +This, though it might bring the age of those venerable men within +the recent term of life, introduced, however, another insuperable +difficulty, since it made them have children when only five or six years +old. + +Sacred science, as interpreted by the Fathers of the Church, +demonstrated these facts: 1. That the date of Creation was comparatively +recent, not more than four or five thousand years before Christ; 2. That +the act of Creation occupied the space of six ordinary days; 3. That +the Deluge was universal, and that the animals which survived it were +preserved in an ark; 4. That Adam was created perfect in morality and +intelligence, that he fell, and that his descendants have shared in his +sin and his fall. + +Of these points and others that might be mentioned there were two on +which ecclesiastical authority felt that it must insist. These were: +1. The recent date of Creation; for, the remoter that event, the more +urgent the necessity of vindicating the justice of God, who apparently +had left the majority of our race to its fate, and had reserved +salvation for the few who were living in the closing ages of the +world; 2. The perfect condition of Adam at his creation, since this was +necessary to the theory of the fall, and the plan of salvation. + +Theological authorities were therefore constrained to look with disfavor +on any attempt to carry back the origin of the earth, to an epoch +indefinitely remote, and on the Mohammedan theory of the evolution +of man from lower forms, or his gradual development to his present +condition in the long lapse of time. + + +From the puerilities, absurdities, and contradictions of the foregoing +statement, we may gather how very unsatisfactory this so-called sacred +science was. And perhaps we may be brought to the conclusion to +which Dr. Shuckford, above quoted, was constrained to come, after his +wearisome and unavailing attempt to coordinate its various parts: "As to +the Fathers of the first ages of the Church, they were good men, but not +men of universal learning." + +Sacred cosmogony regards the formation and modeling of the earth as the +direct act of God; it rejects the intervention of secondary causes in +those events. + +Scientific cosmogony dates from the telescopic discovery made by +Cassini--an Italian astronomer, under whose care Louis XIV. placed the +Observatory of Paris--that the planet Jupiter is not a sphere, but +an oblate spheroid, flattened at the poles. Mechanical philosophy +demonstrated that such a figure is the necessary result of the rotation +of a yielding mass, and that the more rapid the rotation the greater the +flattening, or, what comes to the same thing, the greater the equatorial +bulging must be. + +From considerations--purely of a mechanical kind--Newton had foreseen +that such likewise, though to a less striking extent, must be the figure +of the earth. To the protuberant mass is due the precession of the +equinoxes, which requires twenty-five thousand eight hundred and +sixty-eight years for its completion, and also the nutation of the +earth's axis, discovered by Bradley. We have already had occasion to +remark that the earth's equatorial diameter exceeds the polar by about +twenty-six miles. + +Two facts are revealed by the oblateness of the earth: 1. That she has +formerly been in a yielding or plastic condition; 2. That she has been +modeled by a mechanical and therefore a secondary cause. + +But this influence of mechanical causes is manifested not only in +the exterior configuration of the globe of the earth as a spheroid of +revolution, it also plainly appears on an examination of the arrangement +of her substance. + +If we consider the aqueous rocks, their aggregate is many miles in +thickness; yet they undeniably have been of slow deposit. The material +of which they consist has been obtained by the disintegration of ancient +lands; it has found its way into the water-courses, and by them been +distributed anew. Effects of this kind, taking place before our eyes, +require a very considerable lapse of time to produce a well-marked +result--a water deposit may in this manner measure in thickness a few +inches in a century--what, then, shall we say as to the time consumed in +the formation of deposits of many thousand yards? + +The position of the coast-line of Egypt has been known for much more +than two thousand years. In that time it has made, by reason of the +detritus brought down by the Nile, a distinctly-marked encroachment on +the Mediterranean. But all Lower Egypt has had a similar origin. The +coast-line near the mouth of the Mississippi has been well known +for three hundred years, and during that time has scarcely made a +perceptible advance on the Gulf of Mexico; but there was a time when the +delta of that river was at St. Louis, more than seven hundred miles +from its present position. In Egypt and in America--in fact, in all +countries--the rivers have been inch by inch prolonging the land into +the sea; the slowness of their work and the vastness of its extent +satisfy us that we must concede for the operation enormous periods of +time. + +To the same conclusion we are brought if we consider the filling of +lakes, the deposit of travertines, the denudation of hills, the +cutting action of the sea on its shores, the undermining of cliffs, the +weathering of rocks by atmospheric water and carbonic acid. + +Sedimentary strata must have been originally deposited in planes nearly +horizontal. Vast numbers of them have been forced, either by paroxysms +at intervals or by gradual movement, into all manner of angular +inclinations. Whatever explanations we may offer of these innumerable +and immense tilts and fractures, they would seem to demand for their +completion an inconceivable length of time. + +The coal-bearing strata in Wales, by their gradual submergence, have +attained a thickness of 12,000 feet; in Nova Scotia of 14,570 feet. +So slow and so steady was this submergence, that erect trees stand one +above another on successive levels; seventeen such repetitions may be +counted in a thickness of 4,515 feet. The age of the trees is proved +by their size, some being four feet in diameter. Round them, as they +gradually went down with the subsiding soil, calamites grew, at one +level after another. In the Sydney coal-field fifty-nine fossil forests +occur in superposition. + +Marine shells, found on mountain-tops far in the interior of continents, +were regarded by theological writers as an indisputable illustration of +the Deluge. But when, as geological studies became more exact, it was +proved that in the crust of the earth vast fresh-water formations are +repeatedly intercalated with vast marine ones, like the leaves of a +book, it became evident that no single cataclysm was sufficient +to account for such results; that the same region, through gradual +variations of its level and changes in its topographical surroundings, +had sometimes been dry land, sometimes covered with fresh and sometimes +with sea water. It became evident also that, for the completion of these +changes, tens of thousands of years were required. + +To this evidence of a remote origin of the earth, derived from the vast +superficial extent, the enormous thickness, and the varied characters of +its strata, was added an imposing body of proof depending on its fossil +remains. The relative ages of formations having been ascertained, it +was shown that there has been an advancing physiological progression of +organic forms, both vegetable and animal, from the oldest to the most +recent; that those which inhabit the surface in our times are but an +insignificant fraction of the prodigious multitude that have inhabited +it heretofore; that for each species now living there are thousands +that have become extinct. Though special formations are so strikingly +characterized by some predominating type of life as to justify such +expressions as the age of mollusks, the age of reptiles, the age of +mammals, the introduction of the new-comers did not take place abruptly. +as by sudden creation. They gradually emerged in an antecedent age, +reached their culmination in the one which they characterize, and then +gradually died out in a succeeding. There is no such thing as a +sudden creation, a sudden strange appearance--but there is a slow +metamorphosis, a slow development from a preexisting form. Here again +we encounter the necessity of admitting for such results long periods +of time. Within the range of history no well-marked instance of such +development has been witnessed, and we speak with hesitation of doubtful +instances of extinction. Yet in geological times myriads of evolutions +and extinctions have occurred. + +Since thus, within the experience of man, no case of metamorphosis +or development has been observed, some have been disposed to deny its +possibility altogether, affirming that all the different species have +come into existence by separate creative acts. But surely it is less +unphilosophical to suppose that each species has been evolved from a +predecessor by a modification of its parts, than that it has suddenly +started into existence out of nothing. Nor is there much weight in +the remark that no man has ever witnessed such a transformation taking +place. Let it be remembered that no man has ever witnessed an act +of creation, the sudden appearance of an organic form, without any +progenitor. + +Abrupt, arbitrary, disconnected creative acts may serve to illustrate +the Divine power; but that continuous unbroken chain of organisms which +extends from palaeozoic formations to the formations of recent times, a +chain in which each link hangs on a preceding and sustains a succeeding +one, demonstrates to us not only that the production of animated beings +is governed by law, but that it is by law that has undergone no change. +In its operation, through myriads of ages, there has been no variation, +no suspension. + +The foregoing paragraphs may serve to indicate the character of a +portion of the evidence with which we must deal in considering the +problem of the age of the earth. Through the unintermitting labors of +geologists, so immense a mass has been accumulated, that many volumes +would be required to contain the details. It is drawn from the phenomena +presented by all kinds of rocks, aqueous, igneous, metamorphic. Of +aqueous rocks it investigates the thickness, the inclined positions, +and how they rest unconformably on one another; how those that are of +fresh-water origin are intercalated with those that are marine; how +vast masses of material have been removed by slow-acting causes of +denudation, and extensive geographical surfaces have been remodeled; how +continents have undergone movements of elevation and depression, their +shores sunk under the ocean, or sea-beaches and sea-cliffs carried far +into the interior. It considers the zoological and botanical facts, the +fauna and flora of the successive ages, and how in an orderly manner the +chain of organic forms, plants, and animals, has been extended, from its +dim and doubtful beginnings to our own times. From facts presented by +the deposits of coal-coal which, in all its varieties, has originated +from the decay of plants--it not only demon strates the changes that +have taken place in the earth's atmosphere, but also universal changes +of climate. From other facts it proves that there have been oscillations +of temperature, periods in which the mean heat has risen, and periods +in which the polar ices and snows have covered large portions of the +existing continents--glacial periods, as they are termed. + +One school of geologists, resting its argument on very imposing +evidence, teaches that the whole mass of the earth, from being in a +molten, or perhaps a vaporous condition, has cooled by radiation in the +lapse of millions of ages, until it has reached its present equilibrium +of temperature. Astronomical observations give great weight to this +interpretation, especially so far as the planetary bodies of the solar +system are concerned. It is also supported by such facts as the small +mean density of the earth, the increasing temperature at increasing +depths, the phenomena of volcanoes and injected veins, and those of +igneous and metamorphic rocks. To satisfy the physical changes which +this school of geologists contemplates, myriads of centuries are +required. + +But, with the views that the adoption of the Copernican system has given +us, it is plain that we cannot consider the origin and biography of the +earth in an isolated way; we must include with her all the other members +of the system or family to which she belongs. Nay, more, we cannot +restrict ourselves to the solar system; we must embrace in our +discussions the starry worlds. And, since we have become familiarized +with their almost immeasurable distances from one another, we are +prepared to accept for their origin an immeasurably remote time. There +are stars so far off that their light, fast as it travels, has taken +thousands of years to reach us, and hence they must have been in +existence many thousands of years ago. + +Geologists having unanimously agreed--for perhaps there is not a single +dissenting voice--that the chronology of the earth must be greatly +extended, attempts have been made to give precision to it. Some of +these have been based on astronomical, some on physical principles. Thus +calculations founded on the known changes of the eccentricity of the +earth's orbit, with a view of determining the lapse of time since the +beginning of the last glacial period, have given two hundred and +forty thousand years. Though the general postulate of the immensity of +geological times may be conceded, such calculations are on too uncertain +a theoretical basis to furnish incontestable results. + +But, considering the whole subject from the present scientific +stand-point, it is very clear that the views presented by theological +writers, as derived from the Mosaic record, cannot be admitted. Attempts +have been repeatedly made to reconcile the revealed with the discovered +facts, but they have proved to be unsatisfactory. The Mosaic time is +too short, the order of creation incorrect, the divine interventions +too anthropomorphic; and, though the presentment of the subject is in +harmony with the ideas that men have entertained, when first their +minds were turned to the acquisition of natural knowledge, it is not in +accordance with their present conceptions of the insignificance of the +earth and the grandeur of the universe. + + +Among late geological discoveries is one of special interest; it is the +detection of human remains and human works in formations which, though +geologically recent, are historically very remote. + +The fossil remains of men, with rude implements of rough or chipped +flint, of polished stone, of bone, of bronze, are found in Europe in +caves, in drifts, in peat-beds. They indicate a savage life, spent in +hunting and fishing. Recent researches give reason to believe that, +under low and base grades, the existence of man can be traced back into +the tertiary times. He was contemporary with the southern elephant, +the rhinoceros leptorhinus, the great hippopotamus, perhaps even in the +miocene contemporary with the mastodon. + +At the close of the Tertiary period, from causes not yet determined, the +Northern Hemisphere underwent a great depression of temperature. From +a torrid it passed to a glacial condition. After a period of prodigious +length, the temperature again rose, and the glaciers that had so +extensively covered the surface receded. Once more there was a decline +in the heat, and the glaciers again advanced, but this time not so far +as formerly. This ushered in the Quaternary period, during which very +slowly the temperature came to its present degree. The water deposits +that were being made required thousands of centuries for their +completion. At the beginning of the Quaternary period there were +alive the cave-bear, the cave-lion, the amphibious hippopotamus, the +rhinoceros with chambered nostrils, the mammoth. In fact, the mammoth +swarmed. He delighted in a boreal climate. By degrees the reindeer, the +horse, the ox, the bison, multiplied, and disputed with him his food. +Partly for this reason, and partly because of the increasing heat, he +became extinct. From middle Europe, also, the reindeer retired. His +departure marks the end of the Quaternary period. + +Since the advent of man on the earth, we have, therefore, to deal with +periods of incalculable length. Vast changes in the climate and fauna +were produced by the slow operation of causes such as are in action at +the present day. Figures cannot enable us to appreciate these enormous +lapses of time. + +It seems to be satisfactorily established, that a race allied to the +Basques may be traced back to the Neolithic age. At that time the +British Islands were undergoing a change of level, like that at present +occurring in the Scandinavian Peninsula. Scotland was rising, England +was sinking. In the Pleistocene age there existed in Central Europe a +rude race of hunters and fishers closely allied to the Esquimaux. + +In the old glacial drift of Scotland the relics of man are found along +with those of the fossil elephant. This carries us back to that time +above referred to, when a large portion of Europe was covered with ice, +which had edged down from the polar regions to southerly latitudes, and, +as glaciers, descended from the summits of the mountain-chains into the +plains. Countless species of animals perished in this cataclysm of ice +and snow, but man survived. + +In his primitive savage condition, living for the most part on fruits, +roots, shell-fish, man was in possession of a fact which was certain +eventually to insure his civilization. He knew how to make a fire. In +peat-beds, under the remains of trees that in those localities have +long ago become extinct, his relics are still found, the implements +that accompany him indicating a distinct chronological order. Near the +surface are those of bronze, lower down those of bone or horn, still +lower those of polished stone, and beneath all those of chipped or rough +stone. The date of the origin of some of these beds cannot be estimated +at less than forty or fifty thousand years. + +The caves that have been examined in France and elsewhere have furnished +for the Stone age axes, knives, lance and arrow points, scrapers, +hammers. The change from what may be termed the chipped to the polished +stone period is very gradual. It coincides with the domestication of the +dog, an epoch in hunting-life. It embraces thousands of centuries. The +appearance of arrow-heads indicates the invention of the bow, and +the rise of man from a defensive to an offensive mode of life. The +introduction of barbed arrows shows how inventive talent was displaying +itself; bone and horn tips, that the huntsman was including smaller +animals, and perhaps birds, in his chase; bone whistles, his +companionship with other huntsmen or with his dog. The scraping-knives +of flint indicate the use of skin for clothing, and rude bodkins and +needles its manufacture. Shells perforated for bracelets and necklaces +prove how soon a taste for personal adornment was acquired; the +implements necessary for the preparation of pigments suggest the +painting of the body, and perhaps tattooing; and batons of rank bear +witness to the beginning of a social organization. + +With the utmost interest we look upon the first germs of art among these +primitive men. They have left its rude sketches on pieces of ivory and +flakes of bone, and carvings, of the animals contemporary with them. In +these prehistoric delineations, sometimes not without spirit, we have +mammoths, combats of reindeer. One presents us with a man harpooning a +fish, another a hunting-scene of naked men armed with the dart. Man is +the only animal who has the propensity of depicting external forms, and +of availing himself of the use of fire. + +Shell-mounds, consisting of bones and shells, some of which may be +justly described as of vast extent, and of a date anterior to the Bronze +age, and full of stone implements, bear in all their parts indications +of the use of fire. These are often adjacent to the existing coasts +sometimes, however, they are far inland, in certain instances as far +as fifty miles. Their contents and position indicate for them a date +posterior to that of the great extinct mammals, but prior to the +domesticated. Some of these, it is said, cannot be less than one hundred +thousand years old. + +The lake-dwellings in Switzerland--huts built on piles or logs, wattled +with boughs--were, as may be inferred from the accompanying implements, +begun in the Stone age, and continued into that of Bronze. In the latter +period the evidences become numerous of the adoption of an agricultural +life. + +It must not be supposed that the periods into which geologists have +found it convenient to divide the progress of man in civilization are +abrupt epochs, which hold good simultaneously for the whole human race. +Thus the wandering Indians of America are only at the present moment +emerging from the Stone age. They are still to be seen in many places +armed with arrows, tipped with flakes of flint. It is but as yesterday +that some have obtained, from the white man, iron, fire-arms, and the +horse. + +So far as investigations have gone, they indisputably refer the +existence of man to a date remote from us by many hundreds of thousands +of years. It must be borne in mind that these investigations are quite +recent, and confined to a very limited geographical space. No researches +have yet been made in those regions which might reasonably be regarded +as the primitive habitat of man. + +We are thus carried back immeasurably beyond the six thousand years of +Patristic chronology. It is difficult to assign a shorter date for the +last glaciation of Europe than a quarter of a million of years, and +human existence antedates that. But not only is it this grand fact that +confronts us, we have to admit also a primitive animalized state, and a +slow, a gradual development. But this forlorn, this savage condition +of humanity is in strong contrast to the paradisiacal happiness of the +garden of Eden, and, what is far more serious, it is inconsistent with +the theory of the Fall. + + +I have been induced to place the subject of this chapter out of its +proper chronological order, for the sake of presenting what I had to +say respecting the nature of the world more completely by itself. The +discussions that arose as to the age of the earth were long after the +conflict as to the criterion of truth--that is, after the Reformation; +indeed, they were substantially included in the present century. They +have been conducted with so much moderation as to justify the term +I have used in the title of this chapter, "Controversy," rather than +"Conflict." Geology has not had to encounter the vindictive opposition +with which astronomy was assailed, and, though, on her part, she has +insisted on a concession of great antiquity for the earth, she has +herself pointed out the unreliability of all numerical estimates thus +far offered. The attentive reader of this chapter cannot have failed to +observe inconsistencies in the numbers quoted. Though wanting the +merit of exactness, those numbers, however, justify the claim of vast +antiquity, and draw us to the conclusion that the time-scale of the +world answers to the space-scale in magnitude. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + CONFLICT RESPECTING THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. + + Ancient philosophy declares that man has no means of + ascertaining the truth. + + Differences of belief arise among the early Christians--An + ineffectual attempt is made to remedy them by Councils.-- + Miracle and ordeal proof introduced. + + The papacy resorts to auricular confession and the + Inquisition.--It perpetrates frightful atrocities for the + suppression of differences of opinion. + + Effect of the discovery of the Pandects of Justinian and + development of the canon law on the nature of evidence.--It + becomes more scientific. + + The Reformation establishes the rights of individual + reason.--Catholicism asserts that the criterion of truth is + in the Church. It restrains the reading of books by the + Index Expurgatorius, and combats dissent by such means as + the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve. + + Examination of the authenticity of the Pentateuch as the + Protestant criterion.--Spurious character of those books. + + For Science the criterion of truth is to be found in the + revelations of Nature: for the Protestant, it is in the + Scriptures; for the Catholic, in an infallible Pope. + + +"WHAT is truth?" was the passionate demand of a Roman procurator on one +of the most momentous occasions in history. And the Divine Person who +stood before him, to whom the interrogation was addressed, made no +reply--unless, indeed, silence contained the reply. + +Often and vainly had that demand been made before--often and vainly has +it been made since. No one has yet given a satisfactory answer. + +When, at the dawn of science in Greece, the ancient religion was +disappearing like a mist at sunrise, the pious and thoughtful men of +that country were thrown into a condition of intellectual despair. +Anaxagoras plaintively exclaims, "Nothing can be known, nothing can be +learned, nothing can be certain, sense is limited, intellect is weak, +life is short." Xenophanes tells us that it is impossible for us to be +certain even when we utter the truth. Parmenides declares that the +very constitution of man prevents him from ascertaining absolute truth. +Empedocles affirms that all philosophical and religious systems must +be unreliable, because we have no criterion by which to test them. +Democritus asserts that even things that are true cannot impart +certainty to us; that the final result of human inquiry is the discovery +that man is incapable of absolute knowledge; that, even if the truth be +in his possession, he cannot be certain of it. Pyrrho bids us reflect +on the necessity of suspending our judgment of things, since we have no +criterion of truth; so deep a distrust did he impart to his followers, +that they were in the habit of saying, "We assert nothing; no, not even +that we assert nothing." Epicurus taught his disciples that truth can +never be determined by reason. Arcesilaus, denying both intellectual and +sensuous knowledge, publicly avowed that he knew nothing, not even his +own ignorance! The general conclusion to which Greek philosophy came was +this--that, in view of the contradiction of the evidence of the +senses, we cannot distinguish the true from the false; and such is the +imperfection of reason, that we cannot affirm the correctness of any +philosophical deduction. + +It might be supposed that a revelation from God to man would come with +such force and clearness as to settle all uncertainties and overwhelm +all opposition. A Greek philosopher, less despairing than others, had +ventured to affirm that the coexistence of two forms of faith, both +claiming to be revealed by the omnipotent God, proves that neither of +them is true. But let us remember that it is difficult for men to come +to the same conclusion as regards even material and visible things, +unless they stand at the same point of view. If discord and distrust +were the condition of philosophy three hundred years before the birth +of Christ, discord and distrust were the condition of religion three +hundred years after his death. This is what Hilary, the Bishop of +Poictiers, in his well-known passage written about the time of the +Nicene Council, says: + +"It is a thing equally deplorable and dangerous that there are, as many +creeds as opinions among men, as many doctrines as inclinations, and as +many sources of blasphemy as there are faults among us, because we make +creeds arbitrarily and explain them as arbitrarily. Every year, nay, +every moon, we make new creeds to describe invisible mysteries; we +repent of what we have done; we defend those who repent; we anathematize +those whom we defend; we condemn either the doctrines of others in +ourselves, or our own in that of others; and, reciprocally tearing each +other to pieces, we have been the cause of each other's ruin." + +These are not mere words; but the import of this self-accusation can +be realized fully only by such as are familiar with the ecclesiastical +history of those times. As soon as the first fervor of Christianity as a +system of benevolence had declined, dissensions appeared. Ecclesiastical +historians assert that "as early as the second century began the contest +between faith and reason, religion and philosophy, piety and genius." To +compose these dissensions, to obtain some authoritative expression, some +criterion of truth, assemblies for consultation were resorted to, which +eventually took the form of councils. For a long time they had nothing +more than an advisory authority; but, when, in the fourth century, +Christianity had attained to imperial rule, their dictates became +compulsory, being enforced by the civil power. By this the whole face +of the Church was changed. Oecumenical councils--parliaments of +Christianity--consisting of delegates from all the churches in the +world, were summoned by the authority of the emperor; he presided either +personally or nominally in them--composed all differences, and was, in +fact, the Pope of Christendom. Mosheim, the historian, to whom I have +more particularly referred above, speaking of these times, remarks +that "there was nothing to exclude the ignorant from ecclesiastical +preferment; the savage and illiterate party, who looked on all kinds +of learning, particularly philosophy, as pernicious to piety, was +increasing;" and, accordingly, "the disputes carried on in the Council +of Nicea offered a remarkable example of the greatest ignorance and +utter confusion of ideas, particularly in the language and explanations +of those who approved of the decisions of that council." Vast as its +influence has been, "the ancient critics are neither agreed concerning +the time nor place in which it was assembled, the number of those who +sat in it, nor the bishop who presided. No authentic acts of its famous +sentence have been committed to writing, or, at least, none have been +transmitted to our times." The Church had now become what, in the +language of modern politicians, would be called "a confederated +republic." The will of the council was determined by a majority vote, +and, to secure that, all manner of intrigues and impositions were +resorted to; the influence of court females, bribery, and violence, were +not spared. The Council of Nicea had scarcely adjourned,--when it was +plain to all impartial men that, as a method of establishing a criterion +of truth in religious matters, such councils were a total failure. The +minority had no rights which the majority need respect. The protest of +many good men, that a mere majority vote given by delegates, whose right +to vote had never been examined and authorized, could not be received +as ascertaining absolute truth, was passed over with contempt, and the +consequence was, that council was assembled against council, and their +jarring and contradictory decrees spread perplexity and confusion +throughout the Christian world. In the fourth century alone there were +thirteen councils adverse to Arius, fifteen in his favor, and seventeen +for the semi-Arians--in all, forty-five. Minorities were perpetually +attempting to use the weapon which majorities had abused. + +The impartial ecclesiastical historian above quoted, moreover, says +that "two monstrous and calamitous errors were adopted in this fourth +century: 1. That it was an act of virtue to deceive and lie when, by +that means, the interests of the Church might be promoted. 2. That +errors in religion, when maintained and adhered to after proper +admonition, were punishable with civil penalties and corporal tortures." + +Not without astonishment can we look back at what, in those times, were +popularly regarded as criteria of truth. Doctrines were considered +as established by the number of martyrs who had professed them, by +miracles, by the confession of demons, of lunatics, or of persons +possessed of evil spirits: thus, St. Ambrose, in his disputes with the +Arians, produced men possessed by devils, who, on the approach of the +relics of certain martyrs, acknowledged, with loud cries, that the +Nicean doctrine of the three persons of the Godhead was true. But +the Arians charged him with suborning these infernal witnesses with a +weighty bribe. Already, ordeal tribunals were making their appearance. +During the following six centuries they were held as a final resort for +establishing guilt or innocence, under the forms of trial by cold water, +by duel, by the fire, by the cross. + +What an utter ignorance of the nature of evidence and its laws have we +here! An accused man sinks or swims when thrown into a pond of water; +he is burnt or escapes unharmed when he holds a piece of red-hot iron +in his hand; a champion whom he has hired is vanquished or vanquishes in +single fight; he can keep his arms outstretched like a cross, or fails +to do so longer than his accuser, and his innocence or guilt of some +imputed crime is established! Are these criteria of truth? + +Is it surprising that all Europe was filled with imposture miracles +during those ages?--miracles that are a disgrace to the common-sense of +man! + +But the inevitable day came at length. Assertions and doctrines based +upon such preposterous evidence were involved in the discredit that fell +upon the evidence itself. As the thirteenth century is approached, we +find unbelief in all directions setting in. First, it is plainly seen +among the monastic orders, then it spreads rapidly among the common +people. Books, such as "The Everlasting Gospel," appear among the +former; sects, such as the Catharists, Waldenses, Petrobrussians, arise +among the latter. They agreed in this, "that the public and established +religion was a motley system of errors and superstitions, and that the +dominion which the pope had usurped over Christians was unlawful and +tyrannical; that the claim put forth by Rome, that the Bishop of Rome is +the supreme lord of the universe, and that neither princes nor bishops, +civil governors nor ecclesiastical rulers, have any lawful power in +church or state but what they receive from him, is utterly without +foundation, and a usurpation of the rights of man." + +To withstand this flood of impiety, the papal government established two +institutions: 1. The Inquisition; 2. Auricular confession--the latter as +a means of detection, the former as a tribunal for punishment. + +In general terms, the commission of the Inquisition was, to extirpate +religious dissent by terrorism, and surround heresy with the most +horrible associations; this necessarily implied the power of determining +what constitutes heresy. The criterion of truth was thus in possession +of this tribunal, which was charged "to discover and bring to judgment +heretics lurking in towns, houses, cellars, woods, caves, and fields." +With such savage alacrity did it carry out its object of protecting the +interests of religion, that between 1481 and 1808 it had punished three +hundred and forty thousand persons, and of these nearly thirty-two +thousand had been burnt! In its earlier days, when public opinion could +find no means of protesting against its atrocities, "it often put to +death, without appeal, on the very day that they were accused, nobles, +clerks, monks, hermits, and lay persons of every rank." In whatever +direction thoughtful men looked, the air was full of fearful shadows. No +one could indulge in freedom of thought without expecting punishment. So +dreadful were the proceedings of the Inquisition, that the exclamation +of Pagliarici was the exclamation of thousands: "It is hardly possible +for a man to be a Christian, and die in his bed." + +The Inquisition destroyed the sectaries of Southern France in the +thirteenth century. Its unscrupulous atrocities extirpated Protestantism +in Italy and Spain. Nor did it confine itself to religious affairs; it +engaged in the suppression of political discontent. Nicolas Eymeric, who +was inquisitor-general of the kingdom of Aragon for nearly fifty years, +and who died in 1399, has left a frightful statement of its conduct and +appalling cruelties in his "Directorium Inquisitorum." + +This disgrace of Christianity, and indeed of the human race, had +different constitutions in different countries. The papal Inquisition +continued the tyranny, and eventually superseded the old episcopal +inquisitions. The authority of the bishops was unceremoniously put aside +by the officers of the pope. + +By the action of the fourth Lateran Council, A.D. 1215, the power of +the Inquisition was frightfully increased, the necessity of private +confession to a priest--auricular confession--being at that time +formally established. This, so far as domestic life was concerned, gave +omnipresence and omniscience to the Inquisition. Not a man was safe. +In the hands of the priest, who, at the confessional, could extract or +extort from them their most secret thoughts, his wife and his servants +were turned into spies. Summoned before the dread tribunal, he was +simply informed that he lay under strong suspicions of heresy. No +accuser was named; but the thumb-screw, the stretching-rope, the boot +and wedge, or other enginery of torture, soon supplied that defect, and, +innocent or guilty, he accused himself! + +Notwithstanding all this power, the Inquisition failed of its purpose. +When the heretic could no longer confront it, he evaded it. A dismal +disbelief stealthily pervaded all Europe,--a denial of Providence, +of the immortality of the soul, of human free-will, and that man can +possibly resist the absolute necessity, the destiny which envelops him. +Ideas such as these were cherished in silence by multitudes of persons +driven to them by the tyrannical acts of ecclesiasticism. In spite of +persecution, the Waldenses still survived to propagate their declaration +that the Roman Church, since Constantine, had degenerated from its +purity and sanctity; to protest against the sale of indulgences, which +they said had nearly abolished prayer, fasting, alms; to affirm that it +was utterly useless to pray for the souls of the dead, since they must +already have gone either to heaven or hell. Though it was generally +believed that philosophy or science was pernicious to the interests of +Christianity or true piety, the Mohammedan literature then prevailing +in Spain was making converts among all classes of society. We see very +plainly its influence in many of the sects that then arose; thus, "the +Brethren and Sisters of the Free. Spirit" held that "the universe came +by emanation from God, and would finally return to him by absorption; +that rational souls are so many portions of the Supreme Deity; and that +the universe, considered as one great whole, is God." These are ideas +that can only be entertained in an advanced intellectual condition. Of +this sect it is said that many suffered burning with unclouded serenity, +with triumphant feelings of cheerfulness and joy. Their orthodox enemies +accused them of gratifying their passions at midnight assemblages in +darkened rooms, to which both sexes in a condition of nudity repaired. A +similar accusation, as is well known, was brought against the primitive +Christians by the fashionable society of Rome. + +The influences of the Averroistic philosophy were apparent in many of +these sects. That Mohammedan system, considered from a Christian point +of view, led to the heretical belief that the end of the precepts of +Christianity is the union of the soul with the Supreme Being; that God +and Nature have the same relations to each other as the soul and the +body; that there is but one individual intelligence; and that one soul +performs all the spiritual and rational functions in all the human race. +When, subsequently, toward the time of the Reformation, the Italian +Averroists were required by the Inquisition to give an account of +themselves, they attempted to show that there is a wide distinction +between philosophical and religious truth; that things may be +philosophically true, and yet theologically false--an exculpatory device +condemned at length by the Lateran Council in the time of Leo X. + +But, in spite of auricular confession, and the Inquisition, these +heretical tendencies survived. It has been truly said that, at the +epoch of the Reformation, there lay concealed, in many parts of Europe, +persons who entertained the most virulent enmity against Christianity. +In this pernicious class were many Aristotelians, such as Pomponatius; +many philosophers and wits, such as Bodin, Rabelais, Montaigne; many +Italians, as Leo X., Bembo, Bruno. + +Miracle-evidence began to fall into discredit during the eleventh and +twelfth centuries. The sarcasms of the Hispano-Moorish philosophers +had forcibly drawn the attention of many of the more enlightened +ecclesiastics to its illusory nature. The discovery of the Pandects +of Justinian, at Amalfi, in 1130, doubtless exerted a very powerful +influence in promoting the study of Roman jurisprudence, and +disseminating better notions as to the character of legal or +philosophical evidence. Hallam has cast some doubt on the well-known +story of this discovery, but he admits that the celebrated copy in the +Laurentian library, at Florence, is the only one containing the entire +fifty books. Twenty years subsequently, the monk Gratian collected +together the various papal edicts, the canons of councils, the +declarations of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, in a volume +called "The Decretum," considered as the earliest authority in canon +law. In the next century Gregory IX. published five books of Decretals, +and Boniface VIII. subsequently added a sixth. To these followed the +Clementine Constitutions, a seventh book of Decretals, and "A Book of +Institutes," published together, by Gregory XIII., in 1580, under the +title of "Corpus Juris Canonici." The canon law had gradually gained +enormous power through the control it had obtained over wills, the +guardianship of orphans, marriages, and divorces. + +The rejection of miracle-evidence, and the substitution of legal +evidence in its stead, accelerated the approach of the Reformation. No +longer was it possible to admit the requirement which, in former days, +Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his treatise, "Cur Deus Homo," +had enforced, that we must first believe without examination, and +may afterward endeavor to understand what we have thus believed. When +Cajetan said to Luther, "Thou must believe that one single drop of +Christ's blood is sufficient to redeem the whole human race, and the +remaining quantity that was shed in the garden and on the cross was left +as a legacy to the pope, to be a treasure from which indulgences were +to be drawn," the soul of the sturdy German monk revolted against such +a monstrous assertion, nor would he have believed it though a thousand +miracles had been worked in its support. This shameful practice of +selling indulgences for the commission of sin originated among the +bishops, who, when they had need of money for their private pleasures, +obtained it in that way. Abbots and monks, to whom this gainful commerce +was denied, raised funds by carrying about relics in solemn procession, +and charging a fee for touching them. The popes, in their pecuniary +straits, perceiving how lucrative the practice might become, deprived +the bishops of the right of making such sales, and appropriated it to +themselves, establishing agencies, chiefly among the mendicant orders, +for the traffic. Among these orders there was a sharp competition, each +boasting of the superior value of its indulgences through its greater +influence at the court of heaven, its familiar connection with the +Virgin Mary and the saints in glory. Even against Luther himself, who +had been an Augustinian monk, a calumny was circulated that he was +first alienated from the Church by a traffic of this kind having been +conferred on the Dominicans, instead of on his own order, at the time +when Leo X. was raising funds by this means for building St. Peter's, at +Rome, A.D. 1517. and there is reason to think that Leo himself, in the +earlier stages of the Reformation, attached weight to that allegation. + +Indulgences were thus the immediate inciting cause of the Reformation, +but very soon there came into light the real principle that was +animating the controversy. It lay in the question, Does the Bible owe +its authenticity to the Church? or does the Church owe her authenticity +to the Bible? Where is the criterion of truth? + +It is not necessary for me here to relate the well known particulars of +that controversy, the desolating wars and scenes of blood to which it +gave rise: how Luther posted on the door of the cathedral of Wittemberg +ninety-five theses, and was summoned to Rome to answer for his offense; +how he appealed from the pope, ill-informed at the time, to the pope +when he should have been better instructed; how he was condemned as a +heretic, and thereupon appealed to a general council; how, through the +disputes about purgatory, transubstantiation, auricular confession, +absolution, the fundamental idea which lay at the bottom of the whole +movement came into relief, the right of individual judgment; how Luther +was now excommunicated, A.D. 1520, and in defiance burnt the bull of +excommunication and the volumes of the canon law, which he denounced as +aiming at the subversion of all civil government, and the exaltation of +the papacy; how by this skillful manoeuvre he brought over many of the +German princes to his views; how, summoned before the Imperial Diet at +Worms, he refused to retract, and, while he was bidden in the castle of +Wartburg, his doctrines were spreading, and a reformation under Zwingli +broke out in Switzerland; how the principle of sectarian decomposition +embedded in the movement gave rise to rivalries and dissensions between +the Germans and the Swiss, and even divided the latter among themselves +under the leadership of Zwingli and of Calvin; how the Conference of +Marburg, the Diet of Spires, and that at Augsburg, failed to compose +the troubles, and eventually the German Reformation assumed a political +organization at Smalcalde. The quarrels between the Lutherans and the +Calvinists gave hopes to Rome that she might recover her losses. + +Leo was not slow to discern that the Lutheran Reformation was something +more serious than a squabble among some monks about the profits of +indulgence-sales, and the papacy set itself seriously at work to +overcome the revolters. It instigated the frightful wars that for so +many years desolated Europe, and left animosities which neither the +Treaty of Westphalia, nor the Council of Trent after eighteen years of +debate, could compose. No one can read without a shudder the attempts +that were made to extend the Inquisition in foreign countries. All +Europe, Catholic and Protestant, was horror-stricken at the Huguenot +massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve (A.D. 1572). For perfidy and atrocity +it has no equal in the annals of the world. + +The desperate attempt in which the papacy had been engaged to put down +its opponents by instigating civil wars, massacres, and assassinations, +proved to be altogether abortive. Nor had the Council of Trent any +better result. Ostensibly summoned to correct, illustrate, and fix with +perspicacity the doctrine of the Church, to restore the vigor of +its discipline, and to reform the lives of its ministers, it was so +manipulated that a large majority of its members were Italians, and +under the influence of the pope. Hence the Protestants could not +possibly accept its decisions. + +The issue of the Reformation was the acceptance by all the Protestant +Churches of the dogma that the Bible is a sufficient guide for every +Christian man. Tradition was rejected, and the right of private +interpretation assured. It was thought that the criterion of truth had +at length been obtained. + +The authority thus imputed to the Scriptures was not restricted +to matters of a purely religious or moral kind; it extended over +philosophical facts and to the interpretation of Nature. Many went as +far as in the old times Epiphanius had done: he believed that the Bible +contained a complete system of mineralogy! The Reformers would tolerate +no science that was not in accordance with Genesis. Among them there +were many who maintained that religion and piety could never flourish +unless separated from learning and science. The fatal maxim that the +Bible contained the sum and substance of all knowledge, useful or +possible to man--a maxim employed with such pernicious effect of old by +Tertullian and by St. Augustine, and which had so often been enforced +by papal authority--was still strictly insisted upon. The leaders of +the Reformation, Luther and Melanchthon, were determined to banish +philosophy from the Church. Luther declared that the study of Aristotle +is wholly useless; his vilification of that Greek philosopher knew no +bounds. He is, says Luther, "truly a devil, a horrid calumniator, a +wicked sycophant, a prince of darkness, a real Apollyon, a beast, a +most horrid impostor on mankind, one in whom there is scarcely any +philosophy, a public and professed liar, a goat, a complete epicure, +this twice execrable Aristotle." The schoolmen were, so Luther said, +"locusts, caterpillars, frogs, lice." He entertained an abhorrence +for them. These opinions, though not so emphatically expressed, were +entertained by Calvin. So far as science is concerned, nothing is owed +to the Reformation. The Procrustean bed of the Pentateuch was still +before her. + +In the annals of Christianity the most ill-omened day is that in which +she separated herself from science. She compelled Origen, at that time +(A.D. 231) its chief representative and supporter in the Church, to +abandon his charge in Alexandria, and retire to Caesarea. In vain +through many subsequent centuries did her leading men spend themselves +in--as the phrase then went--"drawing forth the internal juice and +marrow of the Scriptures for the explaining of things." Universal +history from the third to the sixteenth century shows with what result. +The dark ages owe their darkness to this fatal policy. Here and there, +it is true, there were great men, such as Frederick II. and Alphonso X., +who, standing at a very elevated and general point of view, had detected +the value of learning to civilization, and, in the midst of the dreary +prospect that ecclesiasticism had created around them, had recognized +that science alone can improve the social condition of man. + +The infliction of the death-punishment for difference of opinion was +still resorted to. When Calvin caused Servetus to be burnt at Geneva, it +was obvious to every one that the spirit of persecution was unimpaired. +The offense of that philosopher lay in his belief. This was, that the +genuine doctrines of Christianity had been lost even before the time of +the Council of Nicea; that the Holy Ghost animates the whole system of +Nature, like a soul of the world, and that, with the Christ, it will +be absorbed, at the end of all things, into the substance of the Deity, +from which they had emanated. For this he was roasted to death over a +slow fire. Was there any distinction between this Protestant auto-da-fe +and the Catholic one of Vanini, who was burnt at Toulouse, by the +Inquisition, in 1629, for his "Dialogues concerning Nature?" + +The invention of printing, the dissemination of books, had introduced +a class of dangers which the persecution of the Inquisition could not +reach. In 1559, Pope Paul IV. instituted the Congregation of the Index +Expurgatorius. "Its duty is to examine books and manuscripts intended +for publication, and to decide whether the people may be permitted to +read them; to correct those books of which the errors are not numerous, +and which contain certain useful and salutary truths, so as to bring +them into harmony with the doctrines of the Church; to condemn those +of which the principles are heretical and pernicious; and to grant the +peculiar privilege of perusing heretical books to certain persons. +This congregation, which is sometimes held in presence of the pope, but +generally in the palace of the Cardinal-president, has a more extensive +jurisdiction than that of the Inquisition, as it not only takes +cognizance of those books that contain doctrines contrary to the Roman +Catholic faith, but of those that concern the duties of morality, the +discipline of the Church, the interests of society. Its name is derived +from the alphabetical tables or indexes of heretical books and authors +composed by its appointment." + +The Index Expurgatorius of prohibited books at first indicated +those works which it was unlawful to read; but, on this being found +insufficient, whatever was not permitted was prohibited--an audacious +attempt to prevent all knowledge, except such as suited the purposes of +the Church, from reaching the people. + +The two rival divisions of the Christian Church--Protestant and +Catholic--were thus in accord on one point: to tolerate no science +except such as they considered to be agreeable to the Scriptures. The +Catholic, being in possession of centralized power, could make its +decisions respected wherever its sway was acknowledged, and enforce the +monitions of the Index Expurgatorius; the Protestant, whose influence +was diffused among many foci in different nations, could not act in such +a direct and resolute manner. Its mode of procedure was, by raising a +theological odium against an offender, to put him under a social ban--a +course perhaps not less effectual than the other. + +As we have seen in former chapters, an antagonism between religion and +science had existed from the earliest days of Christianity. On every +occasion permitting its display it may be detected through successive +centuries. We witness it in the downfall of the Alexandrian Museum, in +the cases of Erigena and Wiclif, in the contemptuous rejection by the +heretics of the thirteenth century of the Scriptural account of the +Creation; but it was not until the epoch of Copernicus, Kepler, and +Galileo, that the efforts of Science to burst from the thraldom in which +she was fettered became uncontrollable. In all countries the political +power of the Church had greatly declined; her leading men perceived +that the cloudy foundation on which she had stood was dissolving away. +Repressive measures against her antagonists, in old times resorted +to with effect, could be no longer advantageously employed. To her +interests the burning of a philosopher here and there did more harm than +good. In her great conflict with astronomy, a conflict in which Galileo +stands as the central figure, she received an utter overthrow; and, as +we have seen, when the immortal work of Newton was printed, she could +offer no resistance, though Leibnitz affirmed, in the face of Europe, +that "Newton had robbed the Deity of some of his most excellent +attributes, and had sapped the foundation of natural religion." + +From the time of Newton to our own time, the divergence of science from +the dogmas of the Church has continually increased. The Church declared +that the earth is the central and most important body in the universe; +that the sun and moon and stars are tributary to it. On these points +she was worsted by astronomy. She affirmed that a universal deluge had +covered the earth; that the only surviving animals were such as had +been saved in an ark. In this her error was established by geology. She +taught that there was a first man, who, some six or eight thousand years +ago, was suddenly created or called into existence in a condition of +physical and moral perfection, and from that condition he fell. But +anthropology has shown that human beings existed far back in geological +time, and in a savage state but little better than that of the brute. + +Many good and well-meaning men have attempted to reconcile the +statements of Genesis with the discoveries of science, but it is in +vain. The divergence has increased so much, that it has become an +absolute opposition. One of the antagonists must give way. + +May we not, then, be permitted to examine the authenticity of this book, +which, since the second century, has been put forth as the criterion of +scientific truth? To maintain itself in a position so exalted, it must +challenge human criticism. + +In the early Christian ages, many of the most eminent Fathers of the +Church had serious doubts respecting the authorship of the entire +Pentateuch. I have not space, in the limited compass of these pages, to +present in detail the facts and arguments that were then and have since +been adduced. The literature of the subject is now very extensive. I +may, however, refer the reader to the work of the pious and learned Dean +Prideaux, on "The Old and New Testament connected," a work which is one +of the literary ornaments of the last century. He will also find the +subject more recently and exhaustively discussed by Bishop Colenso. The +following paragraphs will convey a sufficiently distinct impression of +the present state of the controversy: + +The Pentateuch is affirmed to have been written by Moses, under the +influence of divine inspiration. Considered thus, as a record vouchsafed +and dictated by the Almighty, it commands not only scientific but +universal consent. + +But here, in the first place, it may be demanded, Who or what is it that +has put forth this great claim in its behalf? + +Not the work itself. It nowhere claims the authorship of one man, or +makes the impious declaration that it is the writing of Almighty God. + +Not until after the second century was there any such extravagant +demand on human credulity. It originated, not among the higher ranks of +Christian philosophers, but among the more fervid Fathers of the Church, +whose own writings prove them to have been unlearned and uncritical +persons. + +Every age, from the second century to our times, has offered men of +great ability, both Christian and Jewish, who have altogether repudiated +these claims. Their decision has been founded upon the intrinsic +evidence of the books themselves. These furnish plain indications of at +least two distinct authors, who have been respectively termed Elohistic +and Jehovistic. Hupfeld maintains that the Jehovistic narrative bears +marks of having been a second original record, wholly independent of the +Elohistic. The two sources from which the narratives have been derived +are, in many respects, contradictory of each other. Moreover, it is +asserted that the books of the Pentateuch are never ascribed to Moses +in the inscriptions of Hebrew manuscripts, or in printed copies of the +Hebrew Bible, nor are they styled "Books of Moses" in the Septuagint or +Vulgate, but only in modern translations. + +It is clear that they cannot be imputed to the sole authorship of Moses, +since they record his death. It is clear that they were not written +until many hundred years after that event, since they contain references +to facts which did not occur until after the establishment of the +government of kings among the Jews. + +No man may dare to impute them to the inspiration of Almighty God--their +inconsistencies, incongruities, contradictions, and impossibilities, as +exposed by many learned and pious moderns, both German and English, +are so great. It is the decision of these critics that Genesis is a +narrative based upon legends; that Exodus is not historically true; that +the whole Pentateuch is unhistoric and non-Mosaic; it contains the most +extraordinary contradictions and impossibilities, sufficient to involve +the credibility of the whole--imperfections so many and so conspicuous +that they would destroy the authenticity of any modern historical work. + +Hengstenberg, in his "Dissertations on the Genuineness of the +Pentateuch," says: "It is the unavoidable fate of a spurious historical +work of any length to be involved in contradictions. This must be the +case to a very great extent with the Pentateuch, if it be not genuine. +If the Pentateuch is spurious, its histories and laws have been +fabricated in successive portions, and were committed to writing in the +course of many centuries by different individuals. From such a mode of +origination, a mass of contradictions is inseparable, and the improving +hand of a later editor could never be capable of entirely obliterating +them." + +To the above conclusions I may add that we are expressly told by Ezra +(Esdras ii. 14) that he himself, aided by five other persons, wrote +these books in the space of forty days. He says that at the time of the +Babylonian captivity the ancient sacred writings of the Jews were burnt, +and gives a particular detail of the circumstances under which these +were composed. He sets forth that he undertook to write all that had +been done in the world since the beginning. It may be said that the +books of Esdras are apocryphal, but in return it may be demanded, Has +that conclusion been reached on evidence that will withstand modern +criticism? In the early ages of Christianity, when the story of the fall +of man was not considered as essential to the Christian system, and the +doctrine of the atonement had not attained that precision which Anselm +eventually gave it, it was very generally admitted by the Fathers of the +Church that Ezra probably did so compose the Pentateuch. Thus St. Jerome +says, "Sive Mosem dicere volueris auctorem Pentateuchi, sive Esdram +ejusdem instauratorem operis, non recuso." Clemens Alexandrinus +says that when these books had been destroyed in the captivity of +Nebuchadnezzar, Esdras, having become inspired prophetically, reproduced +them. Irenaeus says the same. + +The incidents contained in Genesis, from the first to the tenth chapters +inclusive (chapters which, in their bearing upon science, are of more +importance than other portions of the Pentateuch), have been obviously +compiled from short, fragmentary legends of various authorship. To the +critical eye they all, however, present peculiarities which demonstrate +that they were written on the banks of the Euphrates, and not in the +Desert of Arabia. They contain many Chaldaisms. An Egyptian would not +speak of the Mediterranean Sea as being west of him, an Assyrian would. +Their scenery and machinery, if such expressions may with propriety be +used, are altogether Assyrian, not Egyptian. They were such records as +one might expect to meet with in the cuneiform impressions of the +tile libraries of the Mesopotamian kings. It is affirmed that one such +legend, that of the Deluge, has already been exhumed, and it is not +beyond the bounds of probability that the remainder may in like manner +be obtained. + +From such Assyrian sources, the legends of the creation of the earth and +heaven, the garden of Eden, the making of man from clay, and of woman +from one of his ribs, the temptation by the serpent, the naming of +animals, the cherubim and flaming sword, the Deluge and the ark, the +drying up of the waters by the wind, the building of the Tower of +Babel, and the confusion of tongues, were obtained by Ezra. He commences +abruptly the proper history of the Jews in the eleventh chapter. At that +point his universal history ceases; he occupies himself with the story +of one family, the descendants of Shem. + +It is of this restriction that the Duke of Argyll, in his book on +"Primeval Man," very graphically says: + +In the genealogy of the family of Shem we have a list of names which are +names, and nothing more to us. It is a genealogy which neither does, nor +pretends to do, more than to trace the order of succession among a few +families only, out of the millions then already existing in the world. +Nothing but this order of succession is given, nor is it at all certain +that this order is consecutive or complete. Nothing is told us of all +that lay behind that curtain of thick darkness, in front of which +these names are made to pass; and yet there are, as it were, momentary +liftings, through which we have glimpses of great movements which were +going on, and had been long going on beyond. No shapes are distinctly +seen. Even the direction of those movements can only be guessed. But +voices are heard which are "as the voices of many waters." I agree in +the opinion of Hupfeld, that "the discovery that the Pentateuch is put +together out of various sources, or original documents, is beyond +all doubt not only one of the most important and most pregnant with +consequences for the interpretation of the historical books of the Old +Testament, or rather for the whole of theology and history, but it is +also one of the most certain discoveries which have been made in +the domain of criticism and the history of literature. Whatever the +anticritical party may bring forward to the contrary, it will maintain +itself, and not retrograde again through any thing, so long as there +exists such a thing as criticism; and it will not be easy for a reader +upon the stage of culture on which we stand in the present day, if he +goes to the examination unprejudiced, and with an uncorrupted power of +appreciating the truth, to be able to ward off its influence." + +What then? shall we give up these books? Does not the admission that the +narrative of the fall in Eden is legendary carry with it the surrender +of that most solemn and sacred of Christian doctrines, the atonement? + +Let us reflect on this! Christianity, in its earliest days, when it was +converting and conquering the world, knew little or nothing about that +doctrine. We have seen that, in his "Apology," Tertullian did not +think it worth his while to mention it. It originated among the Gnostic +heretics. It was not admitted by the Alexandrian theological school. It +was never prominently advanced by the Fathers. It was not brought into +its present commanding position until the time of Anselm Philo Judaeus +speaks of the story of the fall as symbolical; Origen regarded it as an +allegory. Perhaps some of the Protestant churches may, with reason, be +accused of inconsistency, since in part they consider it as mythical, in +part real. But, if, with them, we admit that the serpent is symbolical +of Satan, does not that cast an air of allegory over the whole +narrative? + +It is to be regretted that the Christian Church has burdened itself with +the defense of these books, and voluntarily made itself answerable for +their manifest contradictions and errors. Their vindication, if it +were possible, should have been resigned to the Jews, among whom they +originated, and by whom they have been transmitted to us. Still more, it +is to be deeply regretted that the Pentateuch, a production so imperfect +as to be unable to stand the touch of modern criticism, should be put +forth as the arbiter of science. Let it be remembered that the exposure +of the true character of these books has been made, not by captious +enemies, but by pious and learned churchmen, some of them of the highest +dignity. + +While thus the Protestant churches have insisted on the acknowledgment +of the Scriptures as the criterion of truth, the Catholic has, in our +own times, declared the infallibility of the pope. It may be said that +this infallibility applies only to moral or religious things; but where +shall the line of separation be drawn? Onmiscience cannot be limited +to a restricted group of questions; in its very nature it implies the +knowledge of all, and infallibility means omniscience. + +Doubtless, if the fundamental principles of Italian Christianity be +admitted, their logical issue is an infallible pope. There is no need to +dwell on the unphilosophical nature of this conception; it is destroyed +by an examination of the political history of the papacy, and the +biography of the popes. The former exhibits all the errors and mistakes +to which institutions of a confessedly human character have been found +liable; the latter is only too frequently a story of sin and shame. + +It was not possible that the authoritative promulgation of the dogma of +papal infallibility should meet among enlightened Catholics universal +acceptance. Serious and wide-spread dissent has been produced. A +doctrine so revolting to common-sense could not find any other result. +There are many who affirm that, if infallibility exists anywhere, it is +in oecumenical councils, and yet such councils have not always agreed +with each other. There are also many who remember that councils +have deposed popes, and have passed judgment on their clamors and +contentions. Not without reason do Protestants demand, What proof can +be given that infallibility exists in the Church at all? what proof is +there that the Church has ever been fairly or justly represented in +any council? and why should the truth be ascertained by the vote of a +majority rather than by that of a minority? How often it has happened +that one man, standing at the right point of view, has descried the +truth, and, after having been denounced and persecuted by all others, +they have eventually been constrained to adopt his declarations! Of many +great discoveries, has not this been the history? + +It is not for Science to compose these contesting claims; it is not for +her to determine whether the criterion of truth for the religious man +shall be found in the Bible, or in the oecumenical council, or in the +pope. She only asks the right, which she so willingly accords to others, +of adopting a criterion of her own. If she regards unhistorical +legends with disdain; if she considers the vote of a majority in the +ascertainment of truth with supreme indifference; if she leaves the +claim of infallibility in any human being to be vindicated by the stern +logic of coming events--the cold impassiveness which in these matters +she maintains is what she displays toward her own doctrines. Without +hesitation she would give up the theories of gravitation or undulations, +if she found that they were irreconcilable with facts. For her the +volume of inspiration is the book of Nature, of which the open scroll +is ever spread forth before the eyes of every man. Confronting all, it +needs no societies for its dissemination. Infinite in extent, eternal +in duration, human ambition and human fanaticism have never been able +to tamper with it. On the earth it is illustrated by all that is +magnificent and beautiful, on the heavens its letters are suns and +worlds. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNIVERSE. + + There are two conceptions of the government of the world: 1. + By Providence; 2. By Law.--The former maintained by the + priesthood.--Sketch of the introduction of the latter. + + Kepler discovers the laws that preside over the solar + system.--His works are denounced by papal authority.--The + foundations of mechanical philosophy are laid by Da Vinci.-- + Galileo discovers the fundamental laws of Dynamics.--Newton + applies them to the movements of the celestial bodies, and + shows that the solar system is governed by mathematical + necessity.--Herschel extends that conclusion to the + universe.--The nebular hypothesis.--Theological exceptions + to it. + + Evidences of the control of law in the construction of the + earth, and in the development of the animal and plant + series.--They arose by Evolution, not by Creation. + + The reign of law is exhibited by the historic career of + human societies, and in the case of individual man. + + Partial adoption of this view by some of the Reformed + Churches. + + +Two interpretations may be given of the mode of government of the world. +It may be by incessant divine interventions, or by the operation of +unvarying law. + +To the adoption of the former a priesthood will always incline, since +it must desire to be considered as standing between the prayer of the +votary and the providential act. Its importance is magnified by the +power it claims of determining what that act shall be. In the pre +Christian (Roman) religion, the grand office of the priesthood was the +discovery of future events by oracles, omens, or an inspection of the +entrails of animals, and by the offering of sacrifices to propitiate the +gods. In the later, the Christian times, a higher power was claimed; the +clergy asserting that, by their intercessions, they could regulate the +course of affairs, avert dangers, secure benefits, work miracles, and +even change the order of Nature. + +Not without reason, therefore, did they look upon the doctrine of +government by unvarying law with disfavor. It seemed to depreciate +their dignity, to lessen their importance. To them there was something +shocking in a God who cannot be swayed by human entreaty, a cold, +passionless divinity--something frightful in fatalism, destiny. + +But the orderly movement of the heavens could not fail in all ages to +make a deep impression on thoughtful observers--the rising and setting +of the sun; the increasing or diminishing light of the day; the waxing +and waning of the moon; the return of the seasons in their proper +courses; the measured march of the wandering planets in the sky--what +are all these, and a thousand such, but manifestations of an orderly and +unchanging procession of events? The faith of early observers in this +interpretation may perhaps have been shaken by the occurrence of such a +phenomenon as an eclipse, a sudden and mysterious breach of the ordinary +course of natural events; but it would be resumed in tenfold strength as +soon as the discovery was made that eclipses themselves recur, and may +be predicted. + +Astronomical predictions of all kinds depend upon the admission of this +fact--that there never has been and never will be any intervention in +the operation of natural laws. The scientific philosopher affirms that +the condition of the world at any given moment is the direct result +of its condition in the preceding moment, and the direct cause of its +condition in the subsequent moment. Law and chance are only different +names for mechanical necessity. + +About fifty years after the death of Copernicus, John Kepler, a native +of Wurtemberg, who had adopted the heliocentric theory, and who was +deeply impressed with the belief that relationships exist in the +revolutions of the planetary bodies round the sun, and that these if +correctly examined would reveal the laws under which those movements +take place, devoted himself to the study of the distances, times, and +velocities of the planets, and the form of their orbits. His method +was, to submit the observations to which he had access, such as those +of Tycho Brahe, to computations based first on one and then on another +hypothesis, rejecting the hypothesis if he found that the calculations +did not accord with the observations. The incredible labor he had +undergone (he says, "I considered, and I computed, until I almost went +mad") was at length rewarded, and in 1609 he published his book, "On the +Motions of the Planet Mars." In this he had attempted to reconcile the +movements of that planet to the hypothesis of eccentrics and epicycles, +but eventually discovered that the orbit of a planet is not a circle but +an ellipse, the sun being in one of the foci, and that the areas swept +over by a line drawn from the planet to the sun are proportional to the +times. These constitute what are now known as the first and second laws +of Kepler. Eight years subsequently, he was rewarded by the discovery +of a third law, defining the relation between the mean distances of the +planets from the sun and the times of their revolutions; "the squares of +the periodic times are proportional to the cubes of the distances." In +"An Epitome of the Copernican System," published in 1618, he announced +this law, and showed that it holds good for the satellites of Jupiter as +regards their primary. Hence it was inferred that the laws which preside +over the grand movements of the solar system preside also over the less +movements of its constituent parts. + +The conception of law which is unmistakably conveyed by Kepler's +discoveries, and the evidence they gave in support of the heliocentric +as against the geocentric theory, could not fail to incur the +reprehension of the Roman authorities. The congregation of the Index, +therefore, when they denounced the Copernican system as utterly contrary +to the Holy Scriptures, prohibited Kepler's "Epitome" of that system. It +was on this occasion that Kepler submitted his celebrated remonstrance: +"Eighty years have elapsed during which the doctrines of Copernicus +regarding the movement of the earth and the immobility of the sun have +been promulgated without hinderance, because it was deemed allowable to +dispute concerning natural things, and to elucidate the works of God, +and now that new testimony is discovered in proof of the truth of those +doctrines--testimony which was not known to the spiritual judges--ye +would prohibit the promulgation of the true system of the structure of +the universe." + +None of Kepler's contemporaries believed the law of the areas, nor was +it accepted until the publication of the "Principia" of Newton. In fact, +no one in those times understood the philosophical meaning of Kepler's +laws. He himself did not foresee what they must inevitably lead to. His +mistakes showed how far he was from perceiving their result. Thus he +thought that each planet is the seat of an intelligent principle, and +that there is a relation between the magnitudes of the orbits of the +five principal planets and the five regular solids of geometry. At first +he inclined to believe that the orbit of Mars is oval, nor was it until +after a wearisome study that he detected the grand truth, its elliptical +form. An idea of the incorruptibility of the celestial objects had +led to the adoption of the Aristotelian doctrine of the perfection of +circular motions, and to the belief that there were none but circular +motions in the heavens. He bitterly complains of this as having been a +fatal "thief of his time." His philosophical daring is illustrated in +his breaking through this time-honored tradition. + +In some most important particulars Kepler anticipated Newton. He was the +first to give clear ideas respecting gravity. He says every particle of +matter will rest until it is disturbed by some other particle--that the +earth attracts a stone more than the stone attracts the earth, and that +bodies move to each other in proportion to their masses; that the earth +would ascend to the moon one-fifty-fourth of the distance, and the moon +would move toward the earth the other fifty-three. He affirms that the +moon's attraction causes the tides, and that the planets must impress +irregularities on the moon's motions. + +The progress of astronomy is obviously divisible into three periods: + +1. The period of observation of the apparent motions of the heavenly +bodies. + +2. The period of discovery of their real motions, and particularly of +the laws of the planetary revolutions; this was signally illustrated by +Copernicus and Kepler. + +3. The period of the ascertainment of the causes of those laws. It was +the epoch of Newton. + +The passage of the second into the third period depended on the +development of the Dynamical branch of mechanics, which had been in +a stagnant condition from the time of Archimedes or the Alexandrian +School. + +In Christian Europe there had not been a cultivator of mechanical +philosophy until Leonardo da Vinci, who was born A.D. 1452. To him, and +not to Lord Bacon, must be attributed the renaissance of science. Bacon +was not only ignorant of mathematics, but depreciated its application +to physical inquiries. He contemptuously rejected the Copernican system, +alleging absurd objections to it. While Galileo was on the brink of +his great telescopic discoveries, Bacon was publishing doubts as to +the utility of instruments in scientific investigations. To ascribe the +inductive method to him is to ignore history. His fanciful philosophical +suggestions have never been of the slightest practical use. No one has +ever thought of employing them. Except among English readers, his name +is almost unknown. + +To Da Vinci I shall have occasion to allude more particularly on a +subsequent page. Of his works still remaining in manuscript, two volumes +are at Milan, and one in Paris, carried there by Napoleon. After an +interval of about seventy years, Da Vinci was followed by the Dutch +engineer, Stevinus, whose work on the principles of equilibrium was +published in 1586. Six years afterward appeared Galileo's treatise on +mechanics. + +To this great Italian is due the establishment of the three fundamental +laws of dynamics, known as the Laws of Motion. + +The consequences of the establishment of these laws were very important. + +It had been supposed that continuous movements, such, for instance, as +those of the celestial bodies, could only be maintained by a perpetual +consumption and perpetual application of force, but the first of +Galileo's laws declared that every body will persevere in its state of +rest, or of uniform motion in a right line, until it is compelled to +change that state by disturbing forces. A clear perception of this +fundamental principle is essential to a comprehension of the elementary +facts of physical astronomy. Since all the motions that we witness +taking place on the surface of the earth soon come to an end, we are +led to infer that rest is the natural condition of things. We have made, +then, a very great advance when we have become satisfied that a body is +equally indifferent to rest as to motion, and that it equally perseveres +in either state until disturbing forces are applied. Such disturbing +forces in the case of common movements are friction and the resistance +of the air. When no such resistances exist, movement must be perpetual, +as is the case with the heavenly bodies, which are moving in a void. + +Forces, no matter what their difference of magnitude may be, will exert +their full influence conjointly, each as though the other did not exist. +Thus, when a ball is suffered to drop from the mouth of a cannon, it +falls to the ground in a certain interval of time through the influence +of gravity upon it. If, then, it be fired from the cannon, though now +it may be projected some thousands of feet in a second, the effect +of gravity upon it will be precisely the same as before. In the +intermingling of forces there is no deterioration; each produces its own +specific effect. + +In the latter half of the seventeenth century, through the works of +Borelli, Hooke, and Huyghens, it had become plain that circular motions +could be accounted for by the laws of Galileo. Borelli, treating of the +motions of Jupiter's satellites, shows how a circular movement may arise +under the influence of a central force. Hooke exhibited the inflection +of a direct motion into a circular by a supervening central attraction. + +The year 1687 presents, not only an epoch in European science, but also +in the intellectual development of man. It is marked by the publication +of the "Principia" of Newton, an incomparable, an immortal work. + +On the principle that all bodies attract each other with forces directly +as their masses, and inversely as the squares of their distances, Newton +showed that all the movements of the celestial bodies may be accounted +for, and that Kepler's laws might all have been predicted--the elliptic +motions--the described areas the relation of the times and distances. As +we have seen, Newton's contemporaries had perceived how circular motions +could be explained; that was a special case, but Newton furnished the +solution of the general problem, containing all special cases of motion +in circles, ellipses, parabolas, hyperbolas--that is, in all the conic +sections. + +The Alexandrian mathematicians had shown that the direction of movement +of falling bodies is toward the centre of the earth. Newton proved that +this must necessarily be the case, the general effect of the attraction +of all the particles of a sphere being the same as if they were all +concentrated in its centre. To this central force, thus determining the +fall of bodies, the designation of gravity was given. Up to this time, +no one, except Kepler, had considered how far its influence reached. It +seemed to Newton possible that it might extend as far as the moon, and +be the force that deflects her from a rectilinear path, and makes her +revolve in her orbit round the earth. It was easy to compute, on the +principle of the law of inverse squares, whether the earth's attraction +was sufficient to produce the observed effect. Employing the measures +of the size of the earth accessible at the time, Newton found that the +moon's deflection was only thirteen feet in a minute; whereas, if his +hypothesis of gravitation were true, it should be fifteen feet. But in +1669 Picard, as we have seen, executed the measurement of a degree more +carefully than had previously been done; this changed the estimate of +the magnitude of the earth, and, therefore, of the distance of the moon; +and, Newton's attention having been directed to it by some discussions +that took place at the Royal Society in 1679, he obtained Picard's +results, went home, took out his old papers, and resumed his +calculations. As they drew to a close, he became so much agitated +that he was obliged to desire a friend to finish them. The expected +coincidence was established. It was proved that the moon is retained +in her orbit and made to revolve round the earth by the force of +terrestrial gravity. The genii of Kepler had given place to the vortices +of Descartes, and these in their turn to the central force of Newton. + +In like manner the earth, and each of the planets, are made to move +in an elliptic orbit round the sun by his attractive force, and +perturbations arise by reason of the disturbing action of the planetary +masses on one another. Knowing the masses and the distances, these +disturbances may be computed. Later astronomers have even succeeded with +the inverse problem, that is, knowing the perturbations or disturbances, +to find the place and the mass of the disturbing body. Thus, from the +deviations of Uranus from his theoretical position, the discovery of +Neptune was accomplished. + +Newton's merit consisted in this, that he applied the laws of dynamics +to the movements of the celestial bodies, and insisted that scientific +theories must be substantiated by the agreement of observations with +calculations. + +When Kepler announced his three laws, they were received with +condemnation by the spiritual authorities, not because of any error they +were supposed to present or to contain, but partly because they gave +support to the Copernican system, and partly because it was judged +inexpedient to admit the prevalence of law of any kind as opposed to +providential intervention. The world was regarded as the theatre in +which the divine will was daily displayed; it was considered derogatory +to the majesty of God that that will should be fettered in any way. The +power of the clergy was chiefly manifested in the influence the were +alleged to possess in changing his arbitrary determinations. It was thus +that they could abate the baleful action of comets, secure fine weather +or rain, prevent eclipses, and, arresting the course of Nature, work all +manner of miracles; it was thus that the shadow had been made to go back +on the dial, and the sun and the moon stopped in mid-career. + +In the century preceding the epoch of Newton, a great religious and +political revolution had taken place--the Reformation. Though its +effect had not been the securing of complete liberty for thought, it had +weakened many of the old ecclesiastical bonds. In the reformed countries +there was no power to express a condemnation of Newton's works, and +among the clergy there was no disposition to give themselves any concern +about the matter. At first the attention of the Protestant was engrossed +by the movements of his great enemy the Catholic, and when that source +of disquietude ceased, and the inevitable partitions of the Reformation +arose, that attention was fastened upon the rival and antagonistic +Churches. The Lutheran, the Calvinist, the Episcopalian, the +Presbyterian, had something more urgent on hand than Newton's +mathematical demonstrations. + +So, uncondemned, and indeed unobserved, in this clamor of fighting +sects, Newton's grand theory solidly established itself. Its +philosophical significance was infinitely more momentous than the dogmas +that these persons were quarreling about. It not only accepted the +heliocentric theory and the laws discovered by Kepler, but it proved +that, no matter what might be the weight of opposing ecclesiastical +authority, the sun MUST be the centre of our system, and that Kepler's +laws are the result of a mathematical necessity. It is impossible that +they should be other than they are. + +But what is the meaning of all this? Plainly that the solar system +is not interrupted by providential interventions, but is under the +government of irreversible law--law that is itself the issue of +mathematical necessity. + +The telescopic observations of Herschel I. satisfied him that there are +very many double stars--double not merely because they are accidentally +in the same line of view, but because they are connected physically, +revolving round each other. These observations were continued and +greatly extended by Herschel II. The elements of the elliptic orbit of +the double star zeta of the Great Bear were determined by Savary, its +period being fifty-eight and one-quarter years; those of another, sigma +Coronae, were determined by Hind, its period being more than seven +hundred and thirty-six years. The orbital movement of these double suns +in ellipses compels us to admit that the law of gravitation holds good +far beyond the boundaries of the solar system; indeed, as far as the +telescope can reach, it demonstrates the reign of law. D'Alembert, in +the Introduction to the Encyclopaedia, says: "The universe is but a +single fact; it is only one great truth." + +Shall we, then, conclude that the solar and the starry systems have been +called into existence by God, and that he has then imposed upon them by +his arbitrary will laws under the control of which it was his pleasure +that their movements should be made? + +Or are there reasons for believing that these several systems came into +existence not by such an arbitrary fiat, but through the operation of +law? + +The following are some peculiarities displayed by the solar system as +enumerated by Laplace. All the planets and their satellites move in +ellipses of such small eccentricity that they are nearly circles. All +the planets move in the same direction and nearly in the same plane. The +movements of the satellites are in the same direction as those of the +planets. The movements of rotation of the sun, of the planets, and the +satellites, are in the same direction as their orbital motions, and in +planes little different. + +It is impossible that so many coincidences could be the result of +chance! Is it not plain that there must have been a common tie among +all these bodies, that they are only parts of what must once have been a +single mass? + +But if we admit that the substance of which the solar system consists +once existed in a nebulous condition, and was in rotation, all the above +peculiarities follow as necessary mechanical consequences. Nay, more, +the formation of planets, the formation of satellites and of asteroids, +is accounted for. We see why the outer planets and satellites are larger +than the interior ones; why the larger planets rotate rapidly, and the +small ones slowly; why of the satellites the outer planets have more, +the inner fewer. We are furnished with indications of the time of +revolution of the planets in their orbits, and of the satellites in +theirs; we perceive the mode of formation of Saturn's rings. We find an +explanation of the physical condition of the sun, and the transitions of +condition through which the earth and moon have passed, as indicated by +their geology. + +But two exceptions to the above peculiarities have been noted; they are +in the cases of Uranus and Neptune. + +The existence of such a nebulous mass once admitted, all the rest +follows as a matter of necessity. Is there not, however, a most serious +objection in the way? Is not this to exclude Almighty God from the +worlds he has made? + +First, we must be satisfied whether there is any solid evidence for +admitting the existence of such a nebulous mass. + +The nebular hypothesis rests primarily on the telescopic discovery made +by Herschel I., that there are scattered here and there in the heavens +pale, gleaming patches of light, a few of which are large enough to be +visible to the naked eye. Of these, many may be resolved by a sufficient +telescopic power into a congeries of stars, but some, such as the great +nebula in Orion, have resisted the best instruments hitherto made. + +It was asserted by those who were indisposed to accept the nebular +hypothesis, that the non-resolution was due to imperfection in the +telescopes used. In these instruments two distinct functions may be +observed: their light-gathering power depends on the diameter of their +object mirror or lens, their defining power depends on the exquisite +correctness of their optical surfaces. Grand instruments may possess +the former quality in perfection by reason of their size, but the latter +very imperfectly, either through want of original configuration, or +distortion arising from flexure through their own weight. But, unless an +instrument be perfect in this respect, as well as adequate in the other, +it may fail to decompose a nebula into discrete points. + +Fortunately, however, other means for the settlement of this question +are available. In 1846, it was discovered by the author of this book +that the spectrum of an ignited solid is continuous--that is, has +neither dark nor bright lines. Fraunhofer had previously made known that +the spectrum of ignited gases is discontinuous. Here, then, is the means +of determining whether the light emitted by a given nebula comes from an +incandescent gas, or from a congeries of ignited solids, stars, or +suns. If its spectrum be discontinuous, it is a true nebula or gas; if +continuous, a congeries of stars. + +In 1864, Mr. Huggins made this examination in the case of a nebula in +the constellation Draco. It proved to be gaseous. + +Subsequent observations have shown that, of sixty nebulae examined, +nineteen give discontinuous or gaseous spectra--the remainder continuous +ones. + +It may, therefore, be admitted that physical evidence has at length +been obtained, demonstrating the existence of vast masses of matter in a +gaseous condition, and at a temperature of incandescence. The hypothesis +of Laplace has thus a firm basis. In such a nebular mass, cooling by +radiation is a necessary incident, and condensation and rotation the +inevitable results. There must be a separation of rings all lying in +one plane, a generation of planets and satellites all rotating alike, +a central sun and engirdling globes. From a chaotic mass, through the +operation of natural laws, an organized system has been produced. An +integration of matter into worlds has taken place through a decline of +heat. + +If such be the cosmogony of the solar system, such the genesis of the +planetary worlds, we are constrained to extend our views of the dominion +of law, and to recognize its agency in the creation as well as in the +conservation of the innumerable orbs that throng the universe. + +But, again, it may be asked: "Is there not something profoundly impious +in this? Are we not excluding Almighty God from the world he has made?" + +We have often witnessed the formation of a cloud in a serene sky. A hazy +point, barely perceptible--a little wreath of mist--increases in volume, +and becomes darker and denser, until it obscures a large portion of the +heavens. It throws itself into fantastic shapes, it gathers a glory +from the sun, is borne onward by the wind, and, perhaps, as it gradually +came, so it gradually disappears, melting away in the untroubled air. + +Now, we say that the little vesicles of which this cloud was composed +arose from the condensation of water-vapor preexisting in the +atmosphere, through reduction of temperature; we show how they assumed +the form they present. We assign optical reasons for the brightness +or blackness of the cloud; we explain, on mechanical principles, its +drifting before the wind; for its disappearance we account on +the principles of chemistry. It never occurs to us to invoke the +interposition of the Almighty in the production and fashioning of this +fugitive form. We explain all the facts connected with it by physical +laws, and perhaps should reverentially hesitate to call into operation +the finger of God. + +But the universe is nothing more than such a cloud--a cloud of suns and +worlds. Supremely grand though it may seem to us, to the Infinite and +Eternal Intellect it is no more than a fleeting mist. If there be a +multiplicity of worlds in infinite space, there is also a succession of +worlds in infinite time. As one after another cloud replaces cloud in +the skies, so this starry system, the universe, is the successor of +countless others that have preceded it--the predecessor of countless +others that will follow. There is an unceasing metamorphosis, a sequence +of events, without beginning or end. + +If, on physical principles, we account for minor meteorological +incidents, mists and clouds, is it not permissible for us to appeal to +the same principle in the origin of world-systems and universes, which +are only clouds on a space-scale somewhat larger, mists on a time-scale +somewhat less transient? Can any man place the line which bounds +the physical on one side, the supernatural on the other? Do not our +estimates of the extent and the duration of things depend altogether +on our point of view? Were we set in the midst of the great nebula +of Orion, how transcendently magnificent the scene! The vast +transformations, the condensations of a fiery mist into worlds, might +seem worthy of the immediate presence, the supervision of God; here, at +our distant station, where millions of miles are inappreciable to our +eyes, and suns seem no bigger than motes in the air, that nebula is more +insignificant than the faintest cloud. Galileo, in his description of +the constellation of Orion, did not think it worth while so much as to +mention it. The most rigorous theologian of those days would have seen +nothing to blame in imputing its origin to secondary causes, nothing +irreligious in failing to invoke the arbitrary interference of God in +its metamorphoses. If such be the conclusion to which we come respecting +it, what would be the conclusion to which an Intelligence seated in it +might come respecting us? It occupies an extent of space millions of +times greater than that of our solar system; we are invisible from it, +and therefore absolutely insignificant. Would such an Intelligence think +it necessary to require for our origin and maintenance the immediate +intervention of God? + + +From the solar system let us descend to what is still more +insignificant--a little portion of it; let us descend to our own earth. +In the lapse of time it has experienced great changes. Have these been +due to incessant divine interventions, or to the continuous operation of +unfailing law? The aspect of Nature perpetually varies under our eyes, +still more grandly and strikingly has it altered in geological +times. But the laws guiding those changes never exhibit the slightest +variation. In the midst of immense vicissitudes they are immutable. +The present order of things is only a link in a vast connected chain +reaching back to an incalculable past, and forward to an infinite +future. + +There is evidence, geological and astronomical, that the temperature of +the earth and her satellite was in the remote past very much higher than +it is now. A decline so slow as to be imperceptible at short intervals, +but manifest enough in the course of many ages, has occurred. The heat +has been lost by radiation into space. + +The cooling of a mass of any kind, no matter whether large or small, is +not discontinuous; it does not go on by fits and starts; it takes +place under the operation of a mathematical law, though for such mighty +changes as are here contemplated neither the formula of Newton, nor that +of Dulong and Petit, may apply. It signifies nothing that periods of +partial decline, glacial periods, or others of temporary elevation, have +been intercalated; it signifies nothing whether these variations may +have arisen from topographical variations, as those of level, or from +periodicities in the radiation of the sun. A periodical sun would act as +a mere perturbation in the gradual decline of heat. The perturbations of +the planetary motions are a confirmation, not a disproof, of gravity. + +Now, such a decline of temperature must have been attended by +innumerable changes of a physical character in our globe. Her dimensions +must have diminished through contraction, the length of her day must +have lessened, her surface must have collapsed, and fractures taken +place along the lines of least resistance; the density of the sea must +have increased, its volume must have become less; the constitution of +the atmosphere must have varied, especially in the amount of water-vapor +and carbonic acid that it contained; the barometric pressure must have +declined. + +These changes, and very many more that might be mentioned, must have +taken place not in a discontinuous but in an orderly manner, since the +master-fact, the decline of heat, that was causing them, was itself +following a mathematical law. + +But not alone did lifeless Nature submit to these inevitable mutations; +living Nature was also simultaneously affected. + +An organic form of any kind, vegetable or animal, will remain unchanged +only so long as the environment in which it is placed remains unchanged. +Should an alteration in the environment occur, the organism will either +be modified or destroyed. + +Destruction is more likely to happen as the change in the environment +is more sudden; modification or transformation is more possible as that +change is more gradual. + +Since it is demonstrably certain that lifeless Nature has in the lapse +of ages undergone vast modifications; since the crust of the earth, and +the sea, and the atmosphere, are no longer such as they once were; since +the distribution of the land and the ocean and all manner of physical +conditions have varied; since there have been such grand changes in +the environment of living things on the surface of our planet--it +necessarily follows that organic Nature must have passed through +destructions and transformations in correspondence thereto. + +That such extinctions, such modifications, have taken place, how +copious, how convincing, is the evidence! + +Here, again, we must observe that, since the disturbing agency +was itself following a mathematical law, these its results must be +considered as following that law too. + +Such considerations, then, plainly force upon us the conclusion that +the organic progress of the world has been guided by the operation of +immutable law--not determined by discontinuous, disconnected, arbitrary +interventions of God. They incline us to view favorably the idea of +transmutations of one form into another, rather than that of sudden +creations. + +Creation implies an abrupt appearance, transformation a gradual change. + +In this manner is presented to our contemplation the great theory of +Evolution. Every organic being has a place in a chain of events. It is +not an isolated, a capricious fact, but an unavoidable phenomenon. It +has its place in that vast, orderly concourse which has successively +risen in the past, has introduced the present, and is preparing the way +for a predestined future. From point to point in this vast progression +there has been a gradual, a definite, a continuous unfolding, a +resistless order of evolution. But in the midst of these mighty changes +stand forth immutable the laws that are dominating over all. + +If we examine the introduction of any type of life in the animal series, +we find that it is in accordance with transformation, not with creation. +Its beginning is under an imperfect form in the midst of other forms, +of which the time is nearly complete, and which are passing into +extinction. By degrees, one species after another in succession more and +more perfect arises, until, after many ages, a culmination is reached. +From that there is, in like manner, a long, a gradual decline. + +Thus, though the mammal type of life is the characteristic of the +Tertiary and post-Tertiary periods, it does not suddenly make its +appearance without premonition in those periods. Far back, in the +Secondary, we find it under imperfect forms, struggling, as it were, to +make good a foothold. At length it gains a predominance under higher and +better models. + +So, too, of reptiles, the characteristic type of life of the Secondary +period. As we see in a dissolving view, out of the fading outlines of +a scene that is passing away, the dim form of a new one emerging, which +gradually gains strength, reaches its culmination, and then melts +away in some other that is displacing it, so reptile-life doubtfully, +appears, reaches its culmination, and gradually declines. In all this +there is nothing abrupt; the changes shade into each other by insensible +degrees. + +How could it be otherwise? The hot-blooded animals could not exist in +an atmosphere so laden with carbonic acid as was that of the primitive +times. But the removal of that noxious ingredient from the air by the +leaves of plants under the influence of sunlight, the enveloping of its +carbon in the earth under the form of coal, the disengagement of its +oxygen, permitted their life. As the atmosphere was thus modified, +the sea was involved in the change; it surrendered a large part of its +carbonic acid, and the limestone hitherto held in solution by it was +deposited in the solid form. For every equivalent of carbon buried in +the earth, there was an equivalent of carbonate of lime separated from +the sea--not necessarily in an amorphous condition, most frequently +under an organic form. The sunshine kept up its work day by day, but +there were demanded myriads of days for the work to be completed. It was +a slow passage from a noxious to a purified atmosphere, and an equally +slow passage from a cold-blooded to a hot-blooded type of life. But the +physical changes were taking place under the control of law, and the +organic transformations were not sudden or arbitrary providential acts. +They were the immediate, the inevitable consequences of the physical +changes, and therefore, like them, the necessary issue of law. + +For a more detailed consideration of this subject, I may refer the +reader to Chapters I, II., VII, of the second book of my "Treatise on +Human Physiology," published in 1856. + + +Is the world, then, governed by law or by providential interventions, +abruptly breaking the proper sequence of events? + +To complete our view of this question, we turn finally to what, in one +sense, is the most insignificant, in another the most important, case +that can be considered. Do human societies, in their historic career, +exhibit the marks of a predetermined progress in an unavoidable track? +Is there any evidence that the life of nations is under the control of +immutable law? + +May we conclude that, in society, as in the individual man, parts never +spring from nothing, but are evolved or developed from parts that are +already in existence? + +If any one should object to or deride the doctrine of the evolution +or successive development of the animated forms which constitute that +unbroken organic chain reaching from the beginning of life on the globe +to the present times, let him reflect that he has himself passed through +modifications the counterpart of those he disputes. For nine months +his type of life was aquatic, and during that time he assumed, in +succession, many distinct but correlated forms. At birth his type of +life became aerial; he began respiring the atmospheric air; new elements +of food were supplied to him; the mode of his nutrition changed; but +as yet he could see nothing, hear nothing, notice nothing. By degrees +conscious existence was assumed; he became aware that there is an +external world. In due time organs adapted to another change of food, +the teeth, appeared, and a change of food ensued. He then passed through +the stages of childhood and youth, his bodily form developing, and with +it his intellectual powers. At about fifteen years, in consequence of +the evolution which special parts of his system had attained, his moral +character changed. New ideas, new passions, influenced him. And that +that was the cause, and this the effect, is demonstrated when, by the +skill of the surgeon, those parts have been interfered with. Nor does +the development, the metamorphosis, end here; it requires many years +for the body to reach its full perfection, many years for the mind. A +culmination is at length reached, and then there is a decline. I need +not picture its mournful incidents--the corporeal, the intellectual +enfeeblement. Perhaps there is little exaggeration in saying that in +less than a century every human being on the face of the globe, if not +cut off in an untimely manner, has passed through all these changes. + +Is there for each of us a providential intervention as we thus pass +from stage to stage of life? or shall we not rather believe that the +countless myriads of human beings who have peopled the earth have been +under the guidance of an unchanging, a universal law? + +But individuals are the elementary constituents of communities--nations. +They maintain therein a relation like that which the particles of the +body maintain to the body itself. These, introduced into it, commence +and complete their function; they die, and are dismissed. + +Like the individual, the nation comes into existence without its own +knowledge, and dies without its own consent, often against its own will. +National life differs in no particular from individual, except in this, +that it is spread over a longer span, but no nation can escape its +inevitable term. Each, if its history be well considered, shows its +time of infancy, its time of youth, its time of maturity, its time of +decline, if its phases of life be completed. + +In the phases of existence of all, so far as those phases are +completed, there are common characteristics, and, as like accordances in +individuals point out that all are living under a reign of law, we +are justified in inferring that the course of nations, and indeed the +progress of humanity, does not take place in a chance or random way, +that supernatural interventions never break the chain of historic acts, +that every historic event has its warrant in some preceding event, and +gives warrant to others that are to follow.. + +But this conclusion is the essential principle of Stoicism--that Grecian +philosophical system which, as I have already said, offered a support in +their hour of trial and an unwavering guide in the vicissitudes of +life, not only to many illustrious Greeks, but also to some of the great +philosophers, statesmen, generals, and emperors of Rome; a system which +excluded chance from every thing, and asserted the direction of all +events by irresistible necessity, to the promotion of perfect good; a +system of earnestness, sternness, austerity, virtue--a protest in favor +of the common-sense of mankind. And perhaps we shall not dissent from +the remark of Montesquieu, who affirms that the destruction of the +Stoics was a great calamity to the human race; for they alone made great +citizens, great men. + +To the principle of government by law, Latin Christianity, in its papal +form, is in absolute contradiction. The history of this branch of +the Christian Church is almost a diary of miracles and supernatural +interventions. These show that the supplications of holy men have often +arrested the course of Nature--if, indeed, there be any such course; +that images and pictures have worked wonders; that bones, hairs, and +other sacred relics, have wrought miracles. The criterion or proof of +the authenticity of many of these objects is, not an unchallengeable +record of their origin and history, but an exhibition of their +miracle-working powers. + +Is not that a strange logic which finds proof of an asserted fact in an +inexplicable illustration of something else? + +Even in the darkest ages intelligent Christian men must have had +misgivings as to these alleged providential or miraculous interventions. +There is a solemn grandeur in the orderly progress of Nature which +profoundly impresses us; and such is the character of continuity in the +events of our individual life that we instinctively doubt the occurrence +of the supernatural in that of our neighbor. The intelligent man knows +well that, for his personal behoof, the course of Nature has never been +checked; for him no miracle has ever been worked; he attributes justly +every event of his life to some antecedent event; this he looks upon +as the cause, that as the consequence. When it is affirmed that, in his +neighbor's behalf, such grand interventions have been vouchsafed, he +cannot do otherwise than believe that his neighbor is either deceived, +or practising deception. + +As might, then, have been anticipated, the Catholic doctrine of +miraculous intervention received a rude shock at the time of the +Reformation, when predestination and election were upheld by some of the +greatest theologians, and accepted by some of the greatest Protestant +Churches. With stoical austerity Calvin declares: "We were elected from +eternity, before the foundation of the world, from no merit of our own, +but according to the purpose of the divine pleasure." In affirming this, +Calvin was resting on the belief that God has from all eternity decreed +whatever comes to pass. Thus, after the lapse of many ages, were again +emerging into prominence the ideas of the Basilidians wad Valentinians, +Christian sects of the second century, whose Gnostical views led to the +engraftment of the great doctrine of the Trinity upon Christianity. They +asserted that all the actions of men are necessary, that even faith is +a natural gift, to which men are forcibly determined, and must therefore +be saved, though their lives be ever so irregular. From the Supreme God +all things proceeded. Thus, also, came into prominence the views which +were developed by Augustine in his work, "De dono perseverantiae." These +were: that God, by his arbitrary will, has selected certain persons +without respect to foreseen faith or good works, and has infallibly +ordained to bestow upon them eternal happiness; other persons, in like +manner, he has condemned to eternal reprobation. The Sublapsarians +believed that "God permitted the fall of Adam;" the Supralapsarians that +"he predestinated it, with all its pernicious consequences, from all +eternity, and that our first parents had no liberty from the beginning." +In this, these sectarians disregarded the remark of St. Augustine: +"Nefas est dicere Deum aliquid nisi bonum predestinare." + +Is it true, then, that "predestination to eternal happiness is the +everlasting purpose of God, whereby, before the foundations of the world +were laid, he hath constantly decreed by his council, secret to us, +to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen out of +mankind?" Is it true that of the human family there are some who, in +view of no fault of their own, Almighty God has condemned to unending +torture, eternal misery? + +In 1595 the Lambeth Articles asserted that "God from eternity hath +predestinated certain men unto life; certain he hath reprobated." In +1618 the Synod of Dort decided in favor of this view. It condemned the +remonstrants against it, and treated them with such severity, that many +of them had to flee to foreign countries. Even in the Church of England, +as is manifested by its seventeenth Article of Faith, these doctrines +have found favor. + +Probably there was no point which brought down from the Catholics on the +Protestants severer condemnation than this, their partial acceptance +of the government of the world by law. In all Reformed Europe miracles +ceased. But, with the cessation of shrine-cure, relic-cure, great +pecuniary profits ended. Indeed, as is well known, it was the sale +of indulgences that provoked the Reformation--indulgences which are +essentially a permit from God for the practice of sin, conditioned on +the payment of a certain sum of money to the priest. + +Philosophically, the Reformation implied a protest against the Catholic +doctrine of incessant divine intervention in human affairs, invoked by +sacerdotal agency; but this protest was far from being fully made by +all the Reforming Churches. The evidence in behalf of government by law, +which has of late years been offered by science, is received by many of +them with suspicion, perhaps with dislike; sentiments which, however, +must eventually give way before the hourly-increasing weight of +evidence. + +Shall we not, then, conclude with Cicero, who, quoted by Lactantius, +says: "One eternal and immutable law embraces all things and all times?" + + + +CHAPTER X. + + LATIN CHRISTIANITY IN RELATION TO MODERN CIVILIZATION. + + For more than a thousand years Latin Christianity controlled + the intelligence of Europe, and is responsible for the + result. + + That result is manifested by the condition of the city of + Rome at the Reformation, and by the condition of the + Continent of Europe in domestic and social life.--European + nations suffered under the coexistence of a dual government, + a spiritual and a temporal.--They were immersed in + ignorance, superstition, discomfort.--Explanation of the + failure of Catholicism--Political history of the papacy: it + was transmuted from a spiritual confederacy into an absolute + monarchy.--Action of the College of Cardinals and the Curia-- + Demoralization that ensued from the necessity of raising + large revenues. + + The advantages accruing to Europe during the Catholic rule + arose not from direct intention, but were incidental. + + The general result is, that the political influence of + Catholicism was prejudicial to modern civilization. + + +LATIN Christianity is responsible for the condition and progress of +Europe from the fourth to the sixteenth century. We have now to examine +how it discharged its trust. + +It will be convenient to limit to the case of Europe what has here to +be presented, though, from the claim of the papacy to superhuman origin, +and its demand for universal obedience, it should strictly be held to +account for the condition of all mankind. Its inefficacy against the +great and venerable religions of Southern and Eastern Asia would furnish +an important and instructive theme for consideration, and lead us to +the conclusion that it has impressed itself only where Roman imperial +influences have prevailed; a political conclusion which, however, it +contemptuously rejects. + +Doubtless at the inception of the Reformation there were many persons +who compared the existing social condition with what it had been in +ancient times. Morals had not changed, intelligence had not advanced, +society had little improved. From the Eternal City itself its splendors +had vanished. The marble streets, of which Augustus had once boasted, +had disappeared. Temples, broken columns, and the long, arcaded vistas +of gigantic aqueducts bestriding the desolate Campagna, presented a +mournful scene. From the uses to which they had been respectively put, +the Capitol had been known as Goats' Hill, and the site of the Roman +Forum, whence laws had been issued to the world, as Cows' Field. The +palace of the Caesars was hidden by mounds of earth, crested with +flowering shrubs. The baths of Caracalla, with their porticoes, gardens, +reservoirs, had long ago become useless through the destruction of their +supplying aqueducts. On the ruins of that grand edifice, "flowery glades +and thickets of odoriferous trees extended in ever-winding labyrinths +upon immense platforms, and dizzy arches suspended in the air." Of +the Coliseum, the most colossal of Roman ruins, only about one-third +remained. Once capable of accommodating nearly ninety thousand +spectators, it had, in succession, been turned into a fortress in the +middle ages, and then into a stone-quarry to furnish material for the +palaces of degenerate Roman princes. Some of the popes had occupied it +as a woollen-mill, some as a saltpetre factory; some had planned the +conversion of its magnificent arcades into shops for tradesmen. The iron +clamps which bound its stones together had been stolen. The walls were +fissured and falling. Even in our own times botanical works have been +composed on the plants which have made this noble wreck their home. "The +Flora of the Coliseum" contains four hundred and twenty species. +Among the ruins of classical buildings might be seen broken columns, +cypresses, and mouldy frescoes, dropping from the walls. Even the +vegetable world participated in the melancholy change: the myrtle, which +once flourished on the Aventine, had nearly become extinct; the laurel, +which once gave its leaves to encircle the brows of emperors, had been +replaced by ivy--the companion of death. + +But perhaps it may be said the popes were not responsible for all this. +Let it be remembered that in less than one hundred and forty years the +city had been successively taken by Alaric, Genseric, Rieimer, Vitiges, +Totila; that many of its great edifices had been converted into +defensive works. The aqueducts were destroyed by Vitiges, who ruined the +Campagna; the palace of the Caesars was ravaged by Totila; then there +had been the Lombard sieges; then Robert Guiscard and his Normans had +burnt the city from the Antonine Column to the Flaminian Gate, from +the Lateran to the Capitol; then it was sacked and mutilated by the +Constable Bourbon; again and again it was flooded by inundations of the +Tiber and shattered by earthquakes. We must, however, bear in mind the +accusation of Machiavelli, who says, in his "History of Florence," that +nearly all the barbarian invasions of Italy were by the invitations of +the pontiffs, who called in those hordes! It was not the Goth, nor +the Vandal, nor the Norman, nor the Saracen, but the popes and their +nephews, who produced the dilapidation of Rome! Lime-kilns had been fed +from the ruins, classical buildings had become stone-quarries for the +palaces of Italian princes, and churches were decorated from the old +temples. + +Churches decorated from the temples! It is for this and such as this +that the popes must be held responsible. Superb Corinthian columns bad +been chiseled into images of the saints. Magnificent Egyptian obelisks +had been dishonored by papal inscriptions. The Septizonium of Severus +had been demolished to furnish materials for the building of St. +Peter's; the bronze roof of the Pantheon had been melted into columns to +ornament the apostle's tomb. + +The great bell of Viterbo, in the tower of the Capitol, had announced +the death of many a pope, and still desecration of the buildings +and demoralization of the people went on. Papal Rome manifested no +consideration, but rather hatred, for classical Rome, The pontiffs had +been subordinates of the Byzantine sovereigns, then lieutenants of the +Frankish kings, then arbiters of Europe; their government had changed as +much as those of any of the surrounding nations; there had been complete +metamorphoses in its maxims, objects, claims. In one point only it had +never changed--intolerance. Claiming to be the centre of the religious +life of Europe, it steadfastly refused to recognize any religious +existence outside of itself, yet both in a political and theological +sense it was rotten to the core. Erasmus and Luther heard with amazement +the blasphemies and witnessed with a shudder the atheism of the city. + +The historian Ranke, to whom I am indebted for many of these facts, +has depicted in a very graphic manner the demoralization of the great +metropolis. The popes were, for the most part, at their election, aged +men. Power was, therefore, incessantly passing into new hands. Every +election was a revolution in prospects and expectations. In a community +where all might rise, where all might aspire to all, it necessarily +followed that every man was occupied in thrusting some other into the +background. Though the population of the city at the inception of the +Reformation had sunk to eighty thousand, there were vast crowds of +placemen, and still greater ones of aspirants for place. The +successful occupant of the pontificate had thousands of offices to give +away--offices from many of which the incumbents had been remorselessly +ejected; many had been created for the purpose of sale. The integrity +and capacity of an applicant were never inquired into; the points +considered were, what services has he rendered or can he render to the +party? how much can he pay for the preferment? An American reader can +thoroughly realize this state of things. At every presidential election +he witnesses similar acts. The election of a pope by the Conclave is not +unlike the nomination of an American president by a convention. In both +cases there are many offices to give away. + +William of Malmesbury says that in his day the Romans made a sale of +whatever was righteous and sacred for gold. After his time there was +no improvement; the Church degenerated into an instrument for the +exploitation of money. Vast sums were collected in Italy; vast sums +were drawn under all manner of pretenses from surrounding and reluctant +countries. Of these the most nefarious was the sale of indulgences +for the perpetration of sin. Italian religion had become the art of +plundering the people. + +For more than a thousand years the sovereign pontiffs had been rulers +of the city. True, it had witnessed many scenes of devastation for which +they were not responsible; but they were responsible for this, that they +had never made any vigorous, any persistent effort for its material, its +moral improvement. Instead of being in these respects an exemplar for +the imitation of the world, it became an exemplar of a condition that +ought to be shunned. Things steadily went on from bad to worse, until +at the epoch of the Reformation no pious stranger could visit it without +being shocked. + +The papacy, repudiating science as absolutely incompatible with its +pretensions, had in later years addressed itself to the encouragement of +art. But music and painting, though they may be exquisite adornments +of life, contain no living force that can develop a weak nation into a +strong one; nothing that can permanently assure the material well-being +or happiness of communities; and hence at the time of the Reformation, +to one who thoughtfully considered her condition, Rome had lost all +living energy. She was no longer the arbiter of the physical or the +religious progress of the world. For the progressive maxims of the +republic and the empire, she had substituted the stationary maxims of +the papacy. She had the appearance of piety and the possession of art. +In this she resembled one of those friar-corpses which we still see in +their brown cowls in the vaults of the Cappuccini, with a breviary or +some withered flowers in its hands. + +From this view of the Eternal City, this survey of what Latin +Christianity had done for Rome itself, let us turn to the whole European +Continent. Let us try to determine the true value of the system that was +guiding society; let us judge it by its fruits. + +The condition of nations as to their well-being is most precisely +represented by the variations of their population. Forms of government +have very little influence on population, but policy may control it +completely. + +It has been very satisfactorily shown by authors who have given +attention to the subject, that the variations of population depend +upon the interbalancing of the generative force of society and the +resistances to life. + +By the generative force of society is meant that instinct which +manifests itself in the multiplication of the race. To some extent it +depends on climate; but, since the climate of Europe did not sensibly +change between the fourth and the sixteenth centuries, we may regard +this force as having been, on that continent, during the period under +consideration, invariable. + +By the resistances to life is meant whatever tends to make individual +existence more difficult of support. Among such may be enumerated +insufficient food, inadequate clothing, imperfect shelter. + +It is also known that, if the resistances become inappreciable, the +generative force will double a population in twenty-five years. + +The resistances operate in two modes: 1. Physically; since they diminish +the number of births, and shorten the term of the life of all. 2. +Intellectually; since, in a moral, and particularly in a religious +community, they postpone marriage, by causing individuals to decline +its responsibilities until they feel that they are competent to meet +the charges and cares of a family. Hence the explanation of a +long-recognized fact, that the number of marriages during a given period +has a connection with the price of food. + +The increase of population keeps pace with the increase of food; and, +indeed, such being the power of the generative force, it overpasses the +means of subsistence, establishing a constant pressure upon them. Under +these circumstances, it necessarily happens that a certain amount of +destitution must occur. Individuals have come into existence who must be +starved. + +As illustrations of the variations that have occurred in the population +of different countries, may be mentioned the immense diminution of that +of Italy in consequence of the wars of Justinian; the depopulation of +North Africa in consequence of theological quarrels; its restoration +through the establishment of Mohammedanism; the increase of that of all +Europe through the feudal system, when estates became more valuable in +proportion to the number of retainers they could supply. The crusades +caused a sensible diminution, not only through the enormous army losses, +but also by reason of the withdrawal of so many able-bodied men +from marriage-life. Similar variations have occurred on the American +Continent. The population of Mexico was very quickly diminished by two +million through the rapacity and atrocious cruelty of the Spaniards, who +drove the civilized Indians to despair. The same happened in Peru. + +The population of England at the Norman conquest was about two million. +In five hundred years it had scarcely doubled. It may be supposed that +this stationary condition was to some extent induced by the papal policy +of the enforcement of celibacy in the clergy. The "legal generative +force" was doubtless affected by that policy, the "actual generative +force" was not. For those who have made this subject their study have +long ago been satisfied that public celibacy is private wickedness. This +mainly determined the laity, as well as the government in England, to +suppress the monasteries. It was openly asserted that there were one +hundred thousand women in England made dissolute by the clergy. + +In my history of the "American Civil War," I have presented some +reflections on this point, which I will take the liberty of quoting +here: "What, then, does this stationary condition of the population +mean? It means, food obtained with hardship, insufficient clothing, +personal uncleanness, cabins that could not keep out the weather, +the destructive effects of cold and heat, miasm, want of sanitary +provisions, absence of physicians, uselessness of shrine-cure, the +deceptiveness of miracles, in which society was putting its trust; or, +to sum up a long catalogue of sorrows, wants, and sufferings, in one +term--it means a high death-rate. + +"But more; it means deficient births. And what does that point out? +Marriage postponed, licentious life, private wickedness, demoralized +society. + +"To an American, who lives in a country that was yesterday an +interminable and impenetrable desert, but which to-day is filling with +a population doubling itself every twenty-five years at the prescribed +rate, this awful waste of actual and contingent life cannot but be a +most surprising fact. His curiosity will lead him to inquire what kind +of system that could have been which was pretending to guide and +develop society, but which must be held responsible for this prodigious +destruction, excelling, in its insidious result, war, pestilence, and +famine combined; insidious, for men were actually believing that it +secured their highest temporal interests. How different now! In England, +the same geographical surface is sustaining ten times the population +of that day, and sending forth its emigrating swarms. Let him, who looks +back, with veneration on the past, settle in his own mind what such a +system could have been worth." + +These variations in the population of Europe have been attended with +changes in distribution. The centre of population has passed northward +since the establishment of Christianity in the Roman Empire. It +has since passed westward, in consequence of the development of +manufacturing industry. + + +We may now examine somewhat more minutely the character of the +resistances which thus, for a thousand years, kept the population of +Europe stationary. The surface of the Continent was for the most +part covered with pathless forests; here and there it was dotted with +monasteries and towns. In the lowlands and along the river-courses were +fens, sometimes hundreds of miles in extent, exhaling their pestiferous +miasms, and spreading agues far and wide. In Paris and London, the +houses were of wood daubed with clay, and thatched with straw or reeds. +They had no windows, and, until the invention of the saw-mill, very +few had wooden floors. The luxury of a carpet was unknown; some straw, +scattered in the room, supplied its place. There were no chimneys; the +smoke of the ill-fed, cheerless fire escaped through a hole in the roof. +In such habitations there was scarcely any protection from the weather. +No attempt was made at drainage, but the putrefying garbage and rubbish +were simply thrown out of the door. Men, women, and children, slept +in the same apartment; not unfrequently, domestic animals were their +companions; in such a confusion of the family, it was impossible that +modesty or morality could be maintained. The bed was usually a bag of +straw, a wooden log served as a pillow. Personal cleanliness was utterly +unknown; great officers of state, even dignitaries so high as the +Archbishop of Canterbury, swarmed with vermin; such, it is related, was +the condition of Thomas a Becket, the antagonist of an English king. To +conceal personal impurity, perfumes were necessarily and profusely +used. The citizen clothed himself in leather, a garment which, with its +ever-accumulating impurity, might last for many years. He was considered +to be in circumstances of ease, if he could procure fresh meat once +a week for his dinner. The streets had no sewers; they were without +pavement or lamps. After nightfall, the chamber-shatters were thrown +open, and slops unceremoniously emptied down, to the discomfiture of the +wayfarer tracking his path through the narrow streets, with his dismal +lantern in his hand. + +Aeneas Sylvius, who afterward became Pope Pius II., and was therefore a +very competent and impartial writer, has left us a graphic account of +a journey he made to the British Islands, about 1430. He describes the +houses of the peasantry as constructed of stones put together without +mortar; the roofs were of turf, a stiffened bull's-hide served for a +door. The food consisted of coarse vegetable products, such as peas, +and even the bark of trees. In some places they were unacquainted with +bread. + +Cabins of reeds plastered with mud, houses of wattled stakes, +chimneyless peat-fires from which there was scarcely an escape for the +smoke, dens of physical and moral pollution swarming with vermin, wisps +of straw twisted round the limbs to keep off the cold, the ague-stricken +peasant, with no help except shrine-cure! How was it possible that the +population could increase? Shall we, then, wonder that, in the famine of +1030, human flesh was cooked and sold; or that, in that of 1258, fifteen +thousand persons died of hunger in London? Shall we wonder that, in some +of the invasions of the plague, the deaths were so frightfully numerous +that the living could hardly bury the dead? By that of 1348, which came +from the East along the lines of commercial travel, and spread all over +Europe, one-third of the population of France was destroyed. + +Such was the condition of the peasantry, and of the common inhabitants +of cities. Not much better was that of the nobles. William of +Malmesbury, speaking of the degraded manners of the Anglo-Saxons, says: +"Their nobles, devoted to gluttony and voluptuousness, never visited the +church, but the matins and the mass were read over to them by a hurrying +priest in their bedchambers, before they rose, themselves not listening. +The common people were a prey to the more powerful; their property was +seized, their bodies dragged away to distant countries; their maidens +were either thrown into a brothel, or sold for slaves. Drinking day +and night was the general pursuit; vices, the companions of inebriety, +followed, effeminating the manly mind." The baronial castles were dens +of robbers. The Saxon chronicler records how men and women were caught +and dragged into those strongholds, hung up by their thumbs or feet, +fire applied to them, knotted strings twisted round their heads, and +many other torments inflicted to extort ransom. + +All over Europe, the great and profitable political offices were filled +by ecclesiastics. In every country there was a dual government: 1. +That of a local kind, represented by a temporal sovereign; 2. That of +a foreign kind, acknowledging the authority of the pope, This Roman +influence was, in the nature of things, superior to the local; it +expressed the sovereign will of one man over all the nations of +the continent conjointly, and gathered overwhelming power from its +compactness and unity. The local influence was necessarily of a feeble +nature, since it was commonly weakened by the rivalries of conterminous +states, and the dissensions dexterously provoked by its competitor. On +not a single occasion could the various European states form a coalition +against their common antagonist. Whenever a question arose, they were +skillfully taken in detail, and commonly mastered. The ostensible +object of papal intrusion was to secure for the different peoples moral +well-being; the real object was to obtain large revenues, and give +support to vast bodies of ecclesiastics. The revenues thus abstracted +were not infrequently many times greater than those passing into the +treasury of the local power. Thus, on the occasion of Innocent IV. +demanding provision to be made for three hundred additional Italian +clergy by the Church of England, and that one of his nephews--a mere +boy--should have a stall in Lincoln Cathedral, it was found that the sum +already annually abstracted by foreign ecclesiastics from England was +thrice that which went into the coffers of the king. + +While thus the higher clergy secured every political appointment +worth having, and abbots vied with counts in the herds of slaves +they possessed--some, it is said, owned not fewer than twenty +thousand--begging friars pervaded society in all directions, picking +up a share of what still remained to the poor. There was a vast body of +non-producers, living in idleness and owning a foreign allegiance, who +were subsisting on the fruits of the toil of the laborers. It could not +be otherwise than that small farms should be unceasingly merged into +the larger estates; that the poor should steadily become poorer; that +society, far from improving, should exhibit a continually increasing +demoralization. Outside the monastic institutions no attempt at +intellectual advancement was made; indeed, so far as the laity were +concerned, the influence of the Church was directed to an opposite +result, for the maxim universally received was, that "ignorance is the +mother of devotion." + +The settled practice of republican and imperial Rome was to have swift +communication with all her outlying provinces, by means of substantial +bridges and roads. One of the prime duties of the legions was to +construct them and keep them in repair. By this, her military authority +was assured. But the dominion of papal Rome, depending upon a different +principle, had no exigencies of that kind, and this duty accordingly +was left for the local powers to neglect. And so, in all directions, +the roads were almost impassable for a large part of the year. A common +means of transportation was in clumsy carts drawn by oxen, going at the +most but three or four miles an hour. Where boat-conveyance along +rivers could not be had, pack-horses and mules were resorted to for +the transportation of merchandise, an adequate means for the slender +commerce of the times. When large bodies of men had to be moved, the +difficulties became almost insuperable. Of this, perhaps, one of the +best illustrations may be found in the story of the march of the first +Crusaders. These restraints upon intercommunication tended powerfully to +promote the general benighted condition. Journeys by individuals could +not be undertaken without much risk, for there was scarcely a moor or a +forest that had not its highwaymen. + +An illiterate condition everywhere prevailing, gave opportunity for the +development of superstition. Europe was full of disgraceful miracles. On +all the roads pilgrims were wending their way to the shrines of saints, +renowned for the cures they had wrought. It had always been the policy +of the Church to discourage the physician and his art; he interfered too +much with the gifts and profits of the shrines. Time has brought this +once lucrative imposture to its proper value. How many shrines are there +now in successful operation in Europe? + +For patients too sick to move or be moved, there were no remedies except +those of a ghostly kind--the Pater-noster or the Ave. For the prevention +of diseases, prayers were put up in the churches, but no sanitary +measures were resorted to. From cities reeking with putrefying filth +it was thought that the plague might be stayed by the prayers of the +priests, by them rain and dry weather might be secured, and deliverance +obtained from the baleful influences of eclipses and comets. But when +Halley's comet came, in 1456, so tremendous was its apparition that +it was necessary for the pope himself to interfere. He exorcised and +expelled it from the skies. It slunk away into the abysses of space, +terror-stricken by the maledictions of Calixtus III., and did not +venture back for seventy-five years! + +The physical value of shrine-cures and ghostly remedies is measured +by the death-rate. In those days it was, probably, about one in +twenty-three, under the present more material practice it is about one +in forty. + +The moral condition of Europe was signally illustrated when syphilis was +introduced from the West Indies by the companions of Columbus. It spread +with wonderful rapidity; all ranks of persons, from the Holy Father Leo +X. to the beggar by the wayside, contracting the shameful disease. Many +excused their misfortune by declaring that it was an epidemic proceeding +from a certain malignity in the constitution of the air, but in truth +its spread was due to a certain infirmity in the constitution of man--an +infirmity which had not been removed by the spiritual guidance under +which he had been living. + +To the medical efficacy of shrines must be added that of special relics. +These were sometimes of the most extraordinary kind. There were several +abbeys that possessed our Savior's crown of thorns. Eleven had the +lance that had pierced his side. If any person was adventurous enough +to suggest that these could not all be authentic, he would have been +denounced as an atheist. During the holy wars the Templar-Knights had +driven a profitable commerce by bringing from Jerusalem to the Crusading +armies bottles of the milk of the Blessed Virgin, which they sold for +enormous sums; these bottles were preserved with pious care in many of +the great religious establishments. But perhaps none of these impostures +surpassed in audacity that offered by a monastery in Jerusalem, which +presented to the beholder one of the fingers of the Holy Ghost! Modern +society has silently rendered its verdict on these scandalous objects. +Though they once nourished the piety of thousands of earnest people, +they are now considered too vile to have a place in any public museum. + +How shall we account for the great failure we thus detect in the +guardianship of the Church over Europe? This is not the result that +must have occurred had there been in Rome an unremitting care for the +spiritual and material prosperity of the continent, had the universal +pastor, the successor of Peter, occupied himself with singleness of +purpose for the holiness and happiness of his flock. + +The explanation is not difficult to find. It is contained in a story +of sin and shame. I prefer, therefore, in the following paragraphs, to +offer explanatory facts derived from Catholic authors, and, indeed, to +present them as nearly as I can in the words of those writers. + + +The story I am about to relate is a narrative of the transformation of a +confederacy into an absolute monarchy. + +In the early times every church, without prejudice to its agreement with +the Church universal in all essential points, managed its own affairs +with perfect freedom and independence, maintaining its own traditional +usages and discipline, all questions not concerning the whole Church, or +of primary importance, being settled on the spot. + +Until the beginning of the ninth century, there was no change in the +constitution of the Roman Church. But about 845 the Isidorian Decretals +were fabricated in the west of Gaul--a forgery containing about one +hundred pretended decrees of the early popes, together with certain +spurious writings of other church dignitaries and acts of synods. This +forgery produced an immense extension of the papal power, it displaced +the old system of church government, divesting it of the republican +attributes it had possessed, and transforming it into an absolute +monarchy. It brought the bishops into subjection to Rome, and made the +pontiff the supreme judge of the clergy of the whole Christian world. It +prepared the way for the great attempt, subsequently made by Hildebrand, +to convert the states of Europe into a theocratic priest-kingdom, with +the pope at its head. + +Gregory VII., the author of this great attempt, saw that his plans +would be best carried out through the agency of synods. He, therefore, +restricted the right of holding them to the popes and their legates. To +aid in the matter, a new system of church law was devised by Anselm +of Lucca, partly from the old Isidorian forgeries, and partly from new +inventions. To establish the supremacy of Rome, not only had a new +civil and a new canon law to be produced, a new history had also to +be invented. This furnished needful instances of the deposition +and excommunication of kings, and proved that they had always been +subordinate to the popes. The decretal letters of the popes were put on +a par with Scripture. At length it came to be received, throughout +the West, that the popes had been, from the beginning of Christianity, +legislators for the whole Church. As absolute sovereigns in later times +cannot endure representative assemblies, so the papacy, when it wished +to become absolute, found that the synods of particular national +churches must be put an end to, and those only under the immediate +control of the pontiff permitted. This, in itself, constituted a great +revolution. + +Another fiction concocted in Rome in the eighth century led to important +consequences. It feigned that the Emperor Constantine, in gratitude for +his cure from leprosy, and baptism by Pope Sylvester, had bestowed +Italy and the Western provinces on the pope, and that, in token of his +subordination, he had served the pope as his groom, and led his horse +some distance. This forgery was intended to work on the Frankish kings, +to impress them with a correct idea of their inferiority, and to show +that, in the territorial concessions they made to the Church, they were +not giving but only restoring what rightfully belonged to it. + +The most potent instrument of the new papal system was Gratian's +Decretum, which was issued about the middle of the twelfth century. It +was a mass of fabrications. It made the whole Christian world, through +the papacy, the domain of the Italian clergy. It inculcated that it is +lawful to constrain men to goodness, to torture and execute heretics, +and to confiscate their property; that to kill an excommunicated person +is not murder; that the pope, in his unlimited superiority to all law, +stands on an equality with the Son of God! + +As the new system of centralization developed, maxims, that in the olden +times would have been held to be shocking, were boldly avowed--the whole +Church is the property of the pope to do with as he will; what is simony +in others is not simony in him; he is above all law, and can be called +to account by none; whoever disobeys him must be put to death; every +baptized man is his subject, and must for life remain so, whether he +will or not. Up to the end of the twelfth century, the popes were the +vicars of Peter; after Innocent III. they were the vicars of Christ. + +But an absolute sovereign has need of revenues, and to this the popes +were no exception. The institution of legates was brought in from +Hildebrand's time. Sometimes their duty was to visit churches, sometimes +they were sent on special business, but always invested with unlimited +powers to bring back money over the Alps. And since the pope could not +only make laws, but could suspend their operation, a legislation was +introduced in view to the purchase of dispensations. Monasteries were +exempted from episcopal jurisdiction on payment of a tribute to Rome. +The pope had now become "the universal bishop;" he had a concurrent +jurisdiction in all the dioceses, and could bring any cases before +his own courts. His relation to the bishops was that of an absolute +sovereign to his officials. A bishop could resign only by his +permission, and sees vacated by resignation lapsed to him. Appeals to +him were encouraged in every way for the sake of the dispensations; +thousands of processes came before the Curia, bringing a rich harvest to +Rome. Often when there were disputing claimants to benefices, the +pope would oust them all, and appoint a creature of his own. Often the +candidates had to waste years in Rome, and either died there, or carried +back a vivid impression of the dominant corruption. Germany suffered +more than other countries from these appeals and processes, and hence +of all countries was best prepared for the Reformation. During the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the popes made gigantic strides in +the acquisition of power. Instead of recommending their favorites for +benefices, now they issued mandates. Their Italian partisans must +be rewarded; nothing could be done to satisfy their clamors, but to +provide for them in foreign countries. Shoals of contesting claimants +died in Rome; and, when death took place in that city, the Pope claimed +the right of giving away the benefices. At length it was affirmed that +he had the right of disposing of all church-offices without distinction, +and that the oath of obedience of a bishop to him implied political as +well as ecclesiastical subjection. In countries having a dual government +this increased the power of the spiritual element prodigiously. + +Rights of every kind were remorselessly overthrown to complete this +centralization. In this the mendicant orders were most efficient aids. +It was the pope and those orders on one side, the bishops and the +parochial clergy on the other. The Roman court had seized the rights +of synods, metropolitans, bishops, national churches. Incessantly +interfered with by the legates, the bishops lost all desire to +discipline their dioceses; incessantly interfered with by the begging +monks, the parish priest had become powerless in his own village; his +pastoral influence was utterly destroyed by the papal indulgences and +absolutions they sold. The money was carried off to Rome. + +Pecuniary necessities urged many of the popes to resort to such petty +expedients as to require from a prince, a bishop, or a grand-master, who +had a cause pending in the court, a present of a golden cup filled +with ducats. Such necessities also gave origin to jubilees. Sixtus IV. +established whole colleges, and sold the places at three or four hundred +ducats. Innocent VIII. pawned the papal tiara. Of Leo X. it was said +that he squandered the revenues of three popes, he wasted the savings +of his predecessor, he spent his own income, he anticipated that of his +successor, he created twenty-one hundred and fifty new offices and sold +them; they were considered to be a good investment, as they produced +twelve per cent. The interest was extorted from Catholic countries. +Nowhere in Europe could capital be so well invested as at Rome. Large +sums were raised by the foreclosing of mortgages, and not only by the +sale but the resale of offices. Men were promoted, for the purpose of +selling their offices again. + +Though against the papal theory, which denounced usurious practices, +an immense papal banking system had sprung up, in connection with the +Curia, and sums at usurious interest were advanced to prelates, +place-hunters, and litigants. The papal bankers were privileged; all +others were under the ban. The Curia had discovered that it was for their +interest to have ecclesiastics all over Europe in their debt. They could +make them pliant, and excommunicate them for non-payment of interest. +In 1327 it was reckoned that half the Christian world was under +excommunication: bishops were excommunicated because they could not +meet the extortions of legates; and persons were excommunicated, +under various pretenses, to compel them to purchase absolution at an +exorbitant price. The ecclesiastical revenues of all Europe were flowing +into Rome, a sink of corruption, simony, usury, bribery, extortion. The +popes, since 1066, when the great centralizing movement began, had no +time to pay attention to the internal affairs of their own special +flock in the city of Rome. There were thousands of foreign cases, each +bringing in money. "Whenever," says the Bishop Alvaro Pelayo, "I entered +the apartments of the Roman court clergy, I found them occupied in +counting up the gold-coin, which lay about the rooms in heaps." Every +opportunity of extending the jurisdiction of the Curia was welcome. +Exemptions were so managed that fresh grants were constantly necessary. +Bishops were privileged against cathedral chapters, chapters against +their bishops; bishops, convents, and individuals, against the +extortions of legates. + +The two pillars on which the papal system now rested were the College of +Cardinals and the Curia. The cardinals, in 1059, had become electors of +the popes. Up to that time elections were made by the whole body of the +Roman clergy, and the concurrence of the magistrates and citizens +was necessary. But Nicolas II. restricted elections to the College of +Cardinals by a two-thirds vote, and gave to the German emperor the +right of confirmation. For almost two centuries there was a struggle +for mastery between the cardinal oligarchy and papal absolutism. The +cardinals were willing enough that the pope should be absolute in his +foreign rule, but they never failed to attempt, before giving him +their votes, to bind him to accord to them a recognized share in the +government. After his election, and before his consecration, he swore +to observe certain capitulations, such as a participation of revenues +between himself and the cardinals; an obligation that he would not +remove them, but would permit them to assemble twice a year to discuss +whether he had kept his oath. Repeatedly the popes broke their oath. On +one side, the cardinals wanted a larger share in the church government +and emoluments; on the other, the popes refused to surrender revenues or +power. The cardinals wanted to be conspicuous in pomp and extravagance, +and for this vast sums were requisite. In one instance, not fewer than +five hundred benefices were held by one of them; their friends and +retainers must be supplied, their families enriched. It was affirmed +that the whole revenues of France were insufficient to meet their +expenditures. In their rivalries it sometimes happened that no pope +was elected for several years. It seemed as if they wanted to show how +easily the Church could get on without the Vicar of Christ. + +Toward the close of the eleventh century the Roman Church became the +Roman court. In place of the Christian sheep gently following their +shepherd in the holy precincts of the city, there had arisen a +chancery of writers, notaries, tax-gatherers, where transactions about +privileges, dispensations, exemptions, were carried on; and suitors +went with petitions from door to door. Rome was a rallying-point for +place-hunters of every nation. In presence of the enormous mass of +business-processes, graces, indulgences, absolutions, commands, and +decisions, addressed to all parts of Europe and Asia, the functions +of the local church sank into insignificance. Several hundred persons, +whose home was the Curia, were required. Their aim was to rise in it by +enlarging the profits of the papal treasury. The whole Christian +world had become tributary to it. Here every vestige of religion had +disappeared; its members were busy with politics, litigations, and +processes; not a word could be heard about spiritual concerns. Every +stroke of the pen had its price. Benefices, dispensations, licenses, +absolutions, indulgences, privileges, were bought and sold like +merchandise. The suitor had to bribe every one, from the doorkeeper +to the pope, or his case was lost. Poor men could neither attain +preferment, nor hope for it; and the result was, that every cleric felt +he had a right to follow the example he had seen at Rome, and that +he might make profits out of his spiritual ministries and sacraments, +having bought the right to do so at Rome, and having no other way to +pay off his debt. The transference of power from Italians to Frenchmen, +through the removal of the Curia to Avignon, produced no change--only +the Italians felt that the enrichment of Italian families had slipped +out of their grasp. They had learned to consider the papacy as their +appanage, and that they, under the Christian dispensation, were God's +chosen people, as the Jews had been under the Mosaic. + +At the end of the thirteenth century a new kingdom was discovered, +capable of yielding immense revenues. This was Purgatory. It was shown +that the pope could empty it by his indulgences. In this there was no +need of hypocrisy. Things were done openly. The original germ of the +apostolic primacy had now expanded into a colossal monarchy. + +NEED OF A GENERAL COUNCIL. The Inquisition had made the papal system +irresistible. All opposition must be punished with death by fire. A mere +thought, without having betrayed itself by outward sign, was considered +as guilt. As time went on, this practice of the Inquisition became +more and more atrocious. Torture was resorted to on mere suspicion. +The accused was not allowed to know the name of his accuser. He was +not permitted to have any legal adviser. There was no appeal. The +Inquisition was ordered not to lean to pity. No recantation was of +avail. The innocent family of the accused was deprived of its +property by confiscation; half went to the papal treasury, half to the +inquisitors. Life only, said Innocent III., was to be left to the sons +of misbelievers, and that merely as an act of mercy. The consequence +was, that popes, such as Nicolas III., enriched their families through +plunder acquired by this tribunal. Inquisitors did the same habitually. + +The struggle between the French and Italians for the possession of the +papacy inevitably led to the schism of the fourteenth century. For more +than forty years two rival popes were now anathematizing each other, +two rival Curias were squeezing the nations for money. Eventually, there +were three obediences, and triple revenues to be extorted. Nobody, now, +could guarantee the validity of the sacraments, for nobody could be +sure which was the true pope. Men were thus compelled to think for +themselves. They could not find who was the legitimate thinker for them. +They began to see that the Church must rid herself of the curialistic +chains, and resort to a General Council. That attempt was again and +again made, the intention being to raise the Council into a Parliament +of Christendom, and make the pope its chief executive officer. But the +vast interests that had grown out of the corruption of ages could not +so easily be overcome; the Curia again recovered its ascendency, and +ecclesiastical trading was resumed. The Germans, who had never been +permitted to share in the Curia, took the leading part in these attempts +at reform. As things went on from bad to worse, even they at last found +out that all hope of reforming the Church by means of councils was +delusive. Erasmus exclaimed, "If Christ does not deliver his people +from this multiform ecclesiastical tyranny, the tyranny of the Turk will +become less intolerable." Cardinals' hats were now sold, and under Leo +X. ecclesiastical and religious offices were actually put up to auction. +The maxim of life had become, interest first, honor afterward. Among +the officials, there was not one who could be honest in the dark, and +virtuous without a witness. The violet-colored velvet cloaks and white +ermine capes of the cardinals were truly a cover for wickedness. + +The unity of the Church, and therefore its power, required the use of +Latin as a sacred language. Through this, Rome had stood in an attitude +strictly European, and was enabled to maintain a general international +relation. It gave her far more power than her asserted celestial +authority, and, much as she claims to have done, she is open to +condemnation that, with such a signal advantage in her hands, never +again to be enjoyed by any successor, she did not accomplish much +more. Had not the sovereign pontiffs been so completely occupied with +maintaining their emoluments and temporalities in Italy, they might have +made the whole continent advance like one man. Their officials could +pass without difficulty into every nation, and communicate without +embarrassment with each other, from Ireland to Bohemia, from Italy to +Scotland. The possession of a common tongue gave them the administration +of international affairs with intelligent allies everywhere, speaking +the same language. + +Not without cause was the hatred manifested by Rome to the restoration +of Greek and introduction of Hebrew, and the alarm with which she +perceived the modern languages forming out of the vulgar dialects. +Not without reason did the Faculty of Theology in Paris re-echo the +sentiment that, was prevalent in the time of Ximenes, "What will +become of religion if the study of Greek and Hebrew be permitted?" The +prevalence of Latin was the condition of her power; its deterioration, +the measure of her decay; its disuse, the signal of her limitation to +a little principality in Italy. In fact, the development of European +languages was the instrument of her overthrow. They formed an effectual +communication between the mendicant friars and the illiterate populace, +and there was not one of them that did not display in its earliest +productions a sovereign contempt for her. + +The rise of the many-tongued European literature was therefore +coincident with the decline of papal Christianity; European literature +was impossible under Catholic rule. A grand, a solemn, an imposing +religious unity enforced the literary unity which is implied in the use +of a single tongue. + +While thus the possession of a universal language so signally secured +her power, the real secret of much of the influence of the Church lay +in the control she had so skillfully obtained over domestic life. Her +influence diminished as that declined. Coincident with this was her +displacement in the guidance of international relations by diplomacy. + +CATHOLICITY AND CIVILIZATION. In the old times of Roman domination the +encampments of the legions in the provinces had always proved to be foci +of civilization. The industry and order exhibited in them presented an +example not lost on the surrounding barbarians of Britain, Gaul, and +Germany. And, though it was no part of their duty to occupy themselves +actively in the betterment of the conquered tribes, but rather to keep +them in a depressed condition that aided in maintaining subjection, +a steady improvement both in the individual and social condition took +place. + +Under the ecclesiastical domination of Rome similar effects occurred. In +the open country the monastery replaced the legionary encampment; in the +village or town, the church was a centre of light. A powerful effect +was produced by the elegant luxury of the former, and by the sacred and +solemn monitions of the latter. + +In extolling the papal system for what it did in the organization of the +family, the definition of civil policy, the construction of the states +of Europe, our praise must be limited by the recollection that the chief +object of ecclesiastical policy was the aggrandizement of the Church, +not the promotion of civilization. The benefit obtained by the laity was +not through any special intention, but incidental or collateral. + +There was no far-reaching, no persistent plan to ameliorate the physical +condition of the nations. Nothing was done to favor their intellectual +development; indeed, on the contrary, it was the settled policy to keep +them not merely illiterate, but ignorant. Century after century passed +away, and left the peasantry but little better than the cattle in the +fields. Intercommunication and locomotion, which tend so powerfully to +expand the ideas, received no encouragement; the majority of men died +without ever having ventured out of the neighborhood in which they were +born. For them there was no hope of personal improvement, none of the +bettering of their lot; there were no comprehensive schemes for the +avoidance of individual want, none for the resistance of famines. +Pestilences were permitted to stalk forth unchecked, or at best opposed +only by mummeries. Bad food, wretched clothing, inadequate shelter, were +suffered to produce their result, and at the end of a thousand years the +population of Europe had not doubled. + +If policy may be held accountable as much for the births it prevents as +for the deaths it occasions, what a great responsibility there is here! + +In this investigation of the influence of Catholicism, we must carefully +keep separate what it did for the people and what it did for itself. +When we think of the stately monastery, an embodiment of luxury, with +its closely-mown lawns, its gardens and bowers, its fountains and many +murmuring streams, we must connect it not with the ague-stricken peasant +dying without help in the fens, but with the abbot, his ambling palfrey, +his hawk and hounds, his well-stocked cellar and larder. He is part of +a system that has its centre of authority in Italy.. To that his +allegiance is due. For its behoof are all his acts. When we survey, as +still we may, the magnificent churches and cathedrals of those +times, miracles of architectural skill--the only real miracles of +Catholicism--when in imagination we restore the transcendently +imposing, the noble services of which they were once the scene, the +dim, religious-light streaming in through the many-colored windows, the +sounds of voices not inferior in their melody to those of heaven, +the priests in their sacred vestments, and above all the prostrate +worshipers listening to litanies and prayers in a foreign and unknown +tongue, shall we not ask ourselves, Was all this for the sake of those +worshipers, or for the glory of the great, the overshadowing authority +at Rome? + +But perhaps some one may say, Are there not limits to human +exertion--things which no political system, no human power, no matter +how excellent its intention, can accomplish? Men cannot be raised from +barbarism, a continent cannot be civilized, in a day! + +The Catholic power is not, however, to be tried by any such standard. +It scornfully rejected and still rejects a human origin. It claims to +be accredited supernaturally. The sovereign pontiff is the Vicar of God +upon earth. Infallible in judgment, it is given to him to accomplish +all things by miracle if need be. He had exercised an autocratic tyranny +over the intellect of Europe for more than a thousand years; and, though +on some occasions he had encountered the resistances of disobedient +princes, these, in the aggregate, were of so little moment, that the +physical, the political power of the continent may be affirmed to have +been at his disposal. + +Such facts as have been presented in this chapter were, doubtless, +well weighed by the Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth century, and +brought them to the conclusion that Catholicism had altogether failed in +its mission; that it had become a vast system of delusion and imposture, +and that a restoration of true Christianity could only be accomplished +by returning to the faith and practices of the primitive times. This was +no decision suddenly arrived at; it had long been the opinion of many +religious and learned men. The pious Fratricelli in the middle ages had +loudly expressed their belief that the fatal gift of a Roman emperor had +been the doom of true religion. It wanted nothing more than the voice of +Luther to bring men throughout the north of Europe to the determination +that the worship of the Virgin Mary, the invocation of saints, the +working of miracles, supernatural cures of the sick, the purchase of +indulgences for the perpetration of sin, and all other evil practices, +lucrative to their abettors, which had been fastened on Christianity, +but which were no part of it, should come to an end. Catholicism, as +a system for promoting the well-being of man, had plainly failed in +justifying its alleged origin; its performance had not corresponded to +its great pretensions; and, after an opportunity of more than a +thousand years' duration, it had left the masses of men submitted to +its influences, both as regards physical well-being and intellectual +culture, in a condition far lower than what it ought to have been. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + SCIENCE IN RELATION TO MODERN CIVILIZATION. + + Illustration of the general influences of Science from the + history of America. + + THE INTRODUCTION OF SCIENCE INTO EUROPE.--It passed from + Moorish Spain to Upper Italy, and was favored by the absence + of the popes at Avignon.--The effects of printing, of + maritime adventure, and of the Reformation--Establishment of + the Italian scientific societies. + + THE INTELLECTUAL INFLUENCE OF SCIENCE.--It changed the mode + and the direction of thought in Europe.--The transactions of + the Royal Society of London, and other scientific societies, + furnish an illustration of this. + + THE ECONOMICAL INFLUENCE OF SCIENCE is illustrated by the + numerous mechanical and physical inventions, made since the + fourteenth century.--Their influence on health and domestic + life, on the arts of peace and of war. + + Answer to the question, What has Science done for humanity? + + +EUROPE, at the epoch of the Reformation, furnishes us with the result of +the influences of Roman Christianity in the promotion of civilization. +America, examined in like manner at the present time, furnishes us with +an illustration of the influences of science. + +SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION. In the course of the seventeenth century a +sparse European population had settled along the western Atlantic coast. +Attracted by the cod-fishery of Newfoundland, the French had a little +colony north of the St. Lawrence; the English, Dutch, and Swedes, +occupied the shore of New England and the Middle States; some Huguenots +were living in the Carolinas. Rumors of a spring that could confer +perpetual youth--a fountain of life--had brought a few Spaniards into +Florida. Behind the fringe of villages which these adventurers had +built, lay a vast and unknown country, inhabited by wandering Indians, +whose numbers from the Gulf of Mexico to the St. Lawrence did not exceed +one hundred and eighty thousand. From them the European strangers had +learned that in those solitary regions there were fresh-water seas, +and a great river which they called the Mississippi. Some said that it +flowed through Virginia into the Atlantic, some that it passed through +Florida, some that it emptied into the Pacific, and some that it reached +the Gulf of Mexico. Parted from their native countries by the stormy +Atlantic, to cross which implied a voyage of many months, these refugees +seemed lost to the world. + +But before the close of the nineteenth century the descendants of this +feeble people had become one of the great powers of the earth. They +had established a republic whose sway extended from the Atlantic to +the Pacific. With an army of more than a million men, not on paper, but +actually in the field, they had overthrown a domestic assailant. +They had maintained at sea a war-fleet of nearly seven hundred ships, +carrying five thousand guns, some of them the heaviest in the world. The +tonnage of this navy amounted to half a million. In the defense of their +national life they had expended in less than five years more than four +thousand million dollars. Their census, periodically taken, showed that +the population was doubling itself every twenty-five years; it justified +the expectation that at the close of that century it would number nearly +one hundred million souls. + +KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. A silent continent had been changed into a scene of +industry; it was full of the din of machinery and the restless moving +of men. Where there had been an unbroken forest, there were hundreds of +cities and towns. To commerce were furnished in profusion some of the +most important staples, as cotton, tobacco, breadstuffs. The mines +yielded incredible quantities of gold, iron, coal. Countless churches, +colleges, and public schools, testified that a moral influence vivified +this material activity. Locomotion was effectually provided for. The +railways exceeded in aggregate length those of all Europe combined. +In 1873 the aggregate length of the European railways was sixty-three +thousand three hundred and sixty miles, that of the American was seventy +thousand six hundred and fifty miles. One of them, built across the +continent, connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. + +But not alone are these material results worthy of notice. Others of a +moral and social kind force themselves on our attention. Four million +negro slaves had been set free. Legislation, if it inclined to the +advantage of any class, inclined to that of the poor. Its intention was +to raise them from poverty, and better their lot. A career was open +to talent, and that without any restraint. Every thing was possible to +intelligence and industry. Many of the most important public offices +were filled by men who had risen from the humblest walks of life. +If there was not social equality, as there never can be in rich and +prosperous communities, there was civil equality, rigorously maintained. + +It may perhaps be said that much of this material prosperity arose from +special conditions, such as had never occurred in the case of any people +before, There was a vast, an open theatre of action, a whole continent +ready for any who chose to take possession of it. Nothing more than +courage and industry was needed to overcome Nature, and to seize the +abounding advantages she offered. + +ILLUSTRATIONS FROM AMERICAN HISTORY. But must not men be animated by a +great principle who successfully transform the primeval solitudes into +an abode of civilization, who are not dismayed by gloomy forests, or +rivers, mountains, or frightful deserts, who push their conquering +way in the course of a century across a continent, and hold it in +subjection? Let us contrast with this the results of the invasion of +Mexico and Peru by the Spaniards, who in those countries overthrew +a wonderful civilization, in many respects superior to their own--a +civilization that had been accomplished without iron and gunpowder--a +civilization resting on an agriculture that had neither horse, nor +ox, nor plough. The Spaniards had a clear base to start from, and +no obstruction whatever in their advance. They ruined all that the +aboriginal children of America had accomplished. Millions of those +unfortunates were destroyed by their cruelty. Nations that for +many centuries had been living in contentment and prosperity, under +institutions shown by their history to be suitable to them, were plunged +into anarchy; the people fell into a baneful superstition, and a +greater part of their landed and other property found its way into the +possession of the Roman Church. + +I have selected the foregoing illustration, drawn from American history, +in preference to many others that might have been taken from European, +because it furnishes an instance of the operation of the acting +principle least interfered with by extraneous conditions. European +political progress is less simple than American. + +QUARREL BETWEEN FRANCE AND THE PAPACY. Before considering its manner +of action, and its results, I will briefly relate how the scientific +principle found an introduction into Europe. + +INTRODUCTION OF SCIENCE INTO EUROPE. Not only had the Crusades, for many +years, brought vast sums to Rome, extorted from the fears or the piety +of every Christian nation; they had also increased the papal power to a +most dangerous extent. In the dual governments everywhere prevailing in +Europe, the spiritual had obtained the mastery; the temporal was little +better than its servant. + +From all quarters, and under all kinds of pretenses, streams of money +were steadily flowing into Italy. The temporal princes found that there +were left for them inadequate and impoverished revenues. Philip the +Fair, King of France (A.D. 1300), not only determined to check this +drain from his dominions, by prohibiting the export of gold and +silver without his license; he also resolved that the clergy and the +ecclesiastical estates should pay their share of taxes to him. +This brought on a mortal contest with the papacy. The king was +excommunicated, and, in retaliation, he accused the pope, Boniface +VIII., of atheism; demanding that he should be tried by a general +council. He sent some trusty persons into Italy, who seized Boniface in +his palace at Anagni, and treated him with so much severity, that in a +few days he died. The succeeding pontiff, Benedict XI., was poisoned. + +The French king was determined that the papacy should be purified and +reformed; that it should no longer be the appanage of a few Italian +families, who were dexterously transmuting the credulity of Europe into +coin--that French influence should prevail in it. He Therefore came to +an understanding with the cardinals; a French archbishop was elevated +to the pontificate; he took the name of Clement V. The papal court was +removed to Avignon, in France, and Rome was abandoned as the metropolis +of Christianity. + +MOORISH SCIENCE INTRODUCED THROUGH FRANCE. Seventy years elapsed before +the papacy was restored to the Eternal City (A.D. 1376). The diminution +of its influence in the peninsula, that had thus occurred, gave +opportunity for the memorable intellectual movement which soon +manifested itself in the great commercial cities of Upper Italy. +Contemporaneously, also, there were other propitious events. The result +of the Crusades had shaken the faith of all Christendom. In an age when +the test of the ordeal of battle was universally accepted, those wars +had ended in leaving the Holy Land in the hands of the Saracens; the +many thousand Christian warriors who had returned from them did not +hesitate to declare that they had found their antagonists not such as +had been pictured by the Church, but valiant, courteous, just. Through +the gay cities of the South of France a love of romantic literature +had been spreading; the wandering troubadours had been singing their +songs--songs far from being restricted to ladye-love and feats of war; +often their burden was the awful atrocities that had been perpetrated +by papal authority--the religious massacres of Languedoc; often their +burden was the illicit amours of the clergy. From Moorish Spain the +gentle and gallant idea of chivalry had been brought, and with it the +noble sentiment of "personal honor," destined in the course of time to +give a code of its own to Europe. + +EFFECT OF THE GREAT SCHISM. The return of the papacy to Rome was far +from restoring the influence of the popes over the Italian Peninsula. +More than two generations had passed away since their departure, and, +had they come back even in their original strength, they could not +have resisted the intellectual progress that had been made during their +absence. The papacy, however, came back not to rule, but to be divided +against itself, to encounter the Great Schism. Out of its dissensions +emerged two rival popes; eventually there were three, each pressing +his claims upon the religious, each cursing his rival. A sentiment +of indignation soon spread all over Europe, a determination that the +shameful scenes which were then enacting should be ended. How could the +dogma of a Vicar of God upon earth, the dogma of an infallible pope, +be sustained in presence of such scandals? Herein lay the cause of that +resolution of the ablest ecclesiastics of those times (which, alas for +Europe! could not be carried into effect), that a general council should +be made the permanent religious parliament of the whole continent, +with the pope as its chief executive officer. Had that intention been +accomplished, there would have been at this day no conflict between +science and religion; the convulsion of the Reformation would have been +avoided; there would have been no jarring Protestant sects. But the +Councils of Constance and Basle failed to shake off the Italian yoke, +failed to attain that noble result. + +Catholicism was thus weakening; as its leaden pressure lifted, the +intellect of man expanded. The Saracens had invented the method of +making paper from linen rags and from cotton. The Venetians had brought +from China to Europe the art of printing. The former of these inventions +was essential to the latter. Hence forth, without the possibility of a +check, there was intellectual intercommunication among all men. + +INVENTION OF PRINTING. The invention of printing was a severe blow to +Catholicism, which had, previously, enjoyed the inappreciable advantage +of a monopoly of intercommunication. From its central seat, orders could +be disseminated through all the ecclesiastical ranks, and fulminated +through the pulpits. This monopoly and the amazing power it conferred +were destroyed by the press. In modern times, the influence of the +pulpit has become insignificant. The pulpit has been thoroughly +supplanted by the newspaper. + +Yet, Catholicism did not yield its ancient advantage without a struggle. +As soon as the inevitable tendency of the new art was detected, a +restraint upon it, under the form of a censorship, was attempted. It was +made necessary to have a permit, in order to print a book. For this, it +was needful that the work should have been read, examined, and approved +by the clergy. There must be a certificate that it was a godly and +orthodox book. A bull of excommunication was issued in 1501, by +Alexander VI., against printers who should publish pernicious doctrines. +In 1515 the Lateran Council ordered that no books should be printed but +such as had been inspected by the ecclesiastical censors, under pain of +excommunication and fine; the censors being directed "to take the utmost +care that nothing should be printed contrary to the orthodox faith." +There was thus a dread of religious discussion; a terror lest truth +should emerge. + +But these frantic struggles of the powers of ignorance were unavailing. +Intellectual intercommunication among men was secured. It culminated in +the modern newspaper, which daily gives its contemporaneous intelligence +from all parts of the world. Reading became a common occupation. In +ancient society that art was possessed by comparatively few persons. +Modern society owes some of its most striking characteristics to this +change. + +EFFECTS OF MARITIME ENTERPRISE. Such was the result of bringing into +Europe the manufacture of paper and the printing-press. In like manner +the introduction of the mariner's compass was followed by imposing +material and moral effects. These were--the discovery of America in +consequence of the rivalry of the Venetians and Genoese about the India +trade; the doubling of Africa by De Gama; and the circumnavigation of +the earth by Magellan. With respect to the last, the grandest of +all human undertakings, it is to be remembered that Catholicism had +irrevocably committed itself to the dogma of a flat earth, with the +sky as the floor of heaven, and hell in the under-world. Some of the +Fathers, whose authority was held to be paramount, had, as we have +previously said, furnished philosophical and religious arguments against +the globular form. The controversy had now suddenly come to an end--the +Church was found to be in error. + +The correction of that geographical error was by no means the only +important result that followed the three great voyages. The spirit of +Columbus, De Gama, Magellan, diffused itself among all the enterprising +men of Western Europe. Society had been hitherto living under the dogma +of "loyalty to the king, obedience to the Church." It had therefore been +living for others, not for itself. The political effect of that dogma +had culminated in the Crusades. Countless thousands had perished in +wars that could bring them no reward, and of which the result had been +conspicuous failure. Experience had revealed the fact that the only +gainers were the pontiffs, cardinals, and other ecclesiastics in Rome, +and the shipmasters of Venice. But, when it became known that the +wealth of Mexico, Peru, and India, might be shared by any one who had +enterprise and courage, the motives that had animated the restless +populations of Europe suddenly changed. The story of Cortez and Pizarro +found enthusiastic listeners everywhere. Maritime adventure supplanted +religious enthusiasm. + +If we attempt to isolate the principle that lay at the basis of the +wonderful social changes that now took place, we may recognize it +without difficulty. Heretofore each man had dedicated his services to +his superior--feudal or ecclesiastical; now he had resolved to gather +the fruits of his exertions himself. Individualism was becoming +predominant, loyalty was declining into a sentiment. We shall now see +how it was with the Church. + +INDIVIDUALISM. Individualism rests on the principle that a man shall +be his own master, that he shall have liberty to form his own opinions, +freedom to carry into effect his resolves. He is, therefore, ever +brought into competition with his fellow-men. His life is a display of +energy. + +To remove the stagnation of centuries front European life, to vivify +suddenly what had hitherto been an inert mass, to impart to it +individualism, was to bring it into conflict with the influences +that had been oppressing it. All through the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries uneasy strugglings gave a premonition of what was coming. +In the early part of the sixteenth (1517), the battle was joined. +Individualism found its embodiment in a sturdy German monk, and +therefore, perhaps necessarily, asserted its rights under theological +forms. There were some preliminary skirmishes about indulgences and +other minor matters, but very soon the real cause of dispute came +plainly into view. Martin Luther refused to think as he was ordered to +do by his ecclesiastical superiors at Rome; he asserted that he had an +inalienable right to interpret the Bible for himself. + +At her first glance, Rome saw nothing in Martin Luther but a vulgar, +insubordinate, quarrelsome monk. Could the Inquisition have laid hold of +him, it would have speedily disposed of his affair; but, as the conflict +went on, it was discovered that Martin was not standing alone. Many +thousands of men, as resolute as himself, were coming up to his support; +and, while he carried on the combat with writings and words, they made +good his propositions with the sword. + +THE REFORMATION. The vilification which was poured on Luther and his +doings was so bitter as to be ludicrous. It was declared that his father +was not his mother's husband, but an impish incubus, who had deluded +her; that, after ten years' struggling with his conscience, he had +become an atheist; that he denied the immortality of the soul; that +he had composed hymns in honor of drunkenness, a vice to which he +was unceasingly addicted; that he blasphemed the Holy Scriptures, and +particularly Moses; that he did not believe a word of what he preached; +that he had called the Epistle of St. James a thing of straw; and, above +all, that the Reformation was no work of his, but, in reality, was due +to a certain astrological position of the stars. It was, however, a +vulgar saying among the Roman ecclesiastics that Erasmus laid the egg of +the Reformation, and Luther hatched it. + +Rome at first made the mistake of supposing that this was nothing more +than a casual outbreak; she failed to discern that it was, in fact, the +culmination of an internal movement which for two centuries had been +going on in Europe, and which had been hourly gathering force; that, +had there been nothing else, the existence of three popes--three +obediences--would have compelled men to think, to deliberate, to +conclude for themselves. The Councils of Constance and Basle taught them +that there was a higher power than the popes. The long and bloody wars +that ensued were closed by the Peace of Westphalia; and then it was +found that Central and Northern Europe had cast off the intellectual +tyranny of Rome, that individualism had carried its point, and had +established the right of every man to think for himself. + +DECOMPOSITION OF PROTESTANTISM. But it was impossible that the +establishment of this right of private judgment should end with the +rejection of Catholicism. Early in the movement some of the most +distinguished men, such as Erasmus, who had been among its first +promoters, abandoned it. They perceived that many of the Reformers +entertained a bitter dislike of learning, and they were afraid of +being brought under bigoted caprice. The Protestant party, having thus +established its existence by dissent and separation, must, in its turn, +submit to the operation of the same principles. A decomposition into +many subordinate sects was inevitable. And these, now that they had no +longer any thing to fear from their great Italian adversary, commenced +partisan warfares on each other. As, in different countries, first one +and then another sect rose to power, it stained itself with cruelties +perpetrated upon its competitors. The mortal retaliations that had +ensued, when, in the chances of the times, the oppressed got the better +of their oppressors, convinced the contending sectarians that they must +concede to their competitors what they claimed for themselves; and thus, +from their broils and their crimes, the great principle of toleration +extricated itself. But toleration is only an intermediate stage; and, +as the intellectual decomposition of Protestantism keeps going on, that +transitional condition will lead to a higher and nobler state--the hope +of philosophy in all past ages of the world--a social state in which +there shall be unfettered freedom for thought. Toleration, except +when extorted by fear, can only come from those who are capable of +entertaining and respecting other opinions than their own. It can +therefore only come from philosophy. History teaches us only too plainly +that fanaticism is stimulated by religion, and neutralized or eradicated +by philosophy. + +TOLERATION. The avowed object of the Reformation was, to remove from +Christianity the pagan ideas and pagan rites engrafted upon it by +Constantine and his successors, in their attempt to reconcile the Roman +Empire to it. The Protestants designed to bring it back to its primitive +purity; and hence, while restoring the ancient doctrines, they cast out +of it all such practices as the adoration of the Virgin Mary and +the invocation of saints. The Virgin Mary, we are assured by the +Evangelists, had accepted the duties of married life, and borne to her +husband several children. In the prevailing idolatry, she had ceased to +be regarded as the carpenter's wife; she had become the queen of heaven, +and the mother of God. + +DA VINCI. The science of the Arabians followed the invading track of +their literature, which had come into Christendom by two routes--the +south of France, and Sicily. Favored by the exile of the popes to +Avignon, and by the Great Schism, it made good its foothold in Upper +Italy. The Aristotelian or Inductive philosophy, clad in the Saracenic +costume that Averroes had given it, made many secret and not a few open +friends. It found many minds eager to receive and able to appreciate +it. Among these were Leonardo da Vinci, who proclaimed the fundamental +principle that experiment and observation are the only reliable +foundations of reasoning in science, that experiment is the only +trustworthy interpreter of Nature, and is essential to the ascertainment +of laws. He showed that the action of two perpendicular forces upon a +point is the same as that denoted by the diagonal of a rectangle, of +which they represent the sides. From this the passage to the proposition +of oblique forces was very easy. This proposition was rediscovered by +Stevinus, a century later, and applied by him to the explanation of the +mechanical powers. Da Vinci gave a clear exposition of the theory of +forces applied obliquely on a lever, discovered the laws of friction +subsequently demonstrated by Amontons, and understood the principle of +virtual velocities. He treated of the conditions of descent of bodies +along inclined planes and circular arcs, invented the camera-obscura, +discussed correctly several physiological problems, and foreshadowed +some of the great conclusions of modern geology, such as the nature +of fossil remains, and the elevation of continents. He explained the +earth-light reflected by the moon. With surprising versatility of genius +he excelled as a sculptor, architect, engineer; was thoroughly versed in +the astronomy, anatomy, and chemistry of his times. In painting, he +was the rival of Michel Angelo; in a competition between them, he was +considered to have established his superiority. His "Last Supper," on +the wall of the refectory of the Dominican convent of Sta. Maria delle +Grazie, is well known, from the numerous engravings and copies that have +been made of it. + +ITALIAN SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. Once firmly established in the north of +Italy, Science soon extended her sway over the entire peninsula. The +increasing number of her devotees is indicated by the rise and rapid +multiplication of learned societies. These were reproductions of the +Moorish ones that had formerly existed in Granada and Cordova. As if +to mark by a monument the track through which civilizing influences had +come, the Academy of Toulouse, founded in 1345, has survived to our +own times. It represented, however, the gay literature of the south of +France, and was known under the fanciful title of "the Academy of Floral +Games." The first society for the promotion of physical science, the +Academia Secretorum Naturae, was founded at Naples, by Baptista +Porta. It was, as Tiraboschi relates, dissolved by the ecclesiastical +authorities. The Lyncean was founded by Prince Frederic Cesi at Rome; +its device plainly indicated its intention: a lynx, with its eyes turned +upward toward heaven, tearing a triple-headed Cerberus with its claws. +The Accademia del Cimento, established at Florence, 1657, held its +meetings in the ducal palace. It lasted ten years, and was then +suppressed at the instance of the papal government; as an equivalent, +the brother of the grand-duke was made a cardinal. It numbered many +great men, such as Torricelli and Castelli, among its members. The +condition of admission into it was an abjuration of all faith, and a +resolution to inquire into the truth. These societies extricated the +cultivators of science from the isolation in which they had hitherto +lived, and, by promoting their intercommunication and union, imparted +activity and strength to them all. + +Returning now from this digression, this historical sketch of the +circumstances under which science was introduced into Europe, I pass to +the consideration of its manner of action and its results. + +INTELLECTUAL INFLUENCE OF SCIENCE. The influence of science on modern +civilization has been twofold: 1. Intellectual; 2. Economical. Under +these titles we may conveniently consider it. + +Intellectually it overthrew the authority of tradition. It refused to +accept, unless accompanied by proof, the dicta of any master, no matter +how eminent or honored his name. The conditions of admission into +the Italian Accademia del Cimento, and the motto adopted by the Royal +Society of London, illustrate the position it took in this respect. + +It rejected the supernatural and miraculous as evidence in physical +discussions. It abandoned sign-proof such as the Jews in old days +required, and denied that a demonstration can be given through an +illustration of something else, thus casting aside the logic that had +been in vogue for many centuries. + +In physical inquiries, its mode of procedure was, to test the value of +any proposed hypothesis, by executing computations in any special case +on the basis or principle of that hypothesis, and then, by performing an +experiment or making an observation, to ascertain whether the result +of these agreed with the result of the computation. If it did not, the +hypothesis was to be rejected. + +We may here introduce an illustration or two of this mode of procedure: + +THEORIES OF GRAVITATION AND PHLOGISTON. Newton, suspecting that the +influence of the earth's attraction, gravity, may extend as far as the +moon, and be the force that causes her to revolve in her orbit round the +earth, calculated that, by her motion in her orbit, she was deflected +from the tangent thirteen feet every minute; but, by ascertaining the +space through which bodies would fall in one minute at the earth's +surface, and supposing it to be diminished in the ratio of the inverse +square, it appeared that the attraction at the moon's orbit would draw +a body through more than fifteen feet. He, therefore, for the time, +considered his hypothesis as unsustained. But it so happened that Picard +shortly afterward executed more correctly a new measurement of a degree; +this changed the estimated magnitude of the earth, and the distance of +the moon, which was measured in earth-semidiameters. Newton now renewed +his computation, and, as I have related on a previous page, as it drew +to a close, foreseeing that a coincidence was about to be established, +was so much agitated that he was obliged to ask a friend to complete it. +The hypothesis was sustained. + +A second instance will sufficiently illustrate the method under +consideration. It is presented by the chemical theory of phlogiston. +Stahl, the author of this theory, asserted that there is a principle of +inflammability, to which he gave the name phlogiston, having the quality +of uniting with substances. Thus, when what we now term a metallic oxide +was united to it, a metal was produced; and, if the phlogiston were +withdrawn, the metal passed back into its earthy or oxidized state. On +this principle, then, the metals were compound bodies, earths combined +with phlogiston. + +SCIENCE AND ECCLESIASTICISM. But during the eighteenth century the +balance was introduced as an instrument of chemical research. Now, if +the phlogistic hypothesis be true, it would follow that a metal should +be the heavier, its oxide the lighter body, for the former contains +something--phlogiston--that has been added to the latter. But, on +weighing a portion of any metal, and also the oxide producible from it, +the latter proves to be the heavier, and here the phlogistic hypothesis +fails. Still further, on continuing the investigation, it may be shown +that the oxide or calx, as it used to be called, has become heavier by +combining with one of the ingredients of the air. + +To Lavoisier is usually attributed this test experiment; but the fact +that the weight of a metal increases by calcination was established +by earlier European experimenters, and, indeed, was well known to the +Arabian chemists. Lavoisier, however, was the first to recognize its +great importance. In his hands it produced a revolution in chemistry. + +The abandonment of the phlogistic theory is an illustration of the +readiness with which scientific hypotheses are surrendered, when found +to be wanting in accordance with facts. Authority and tradition pass for +nothing. Every thing is settled by an appeal to Nature. It is assumed +that the answers she gives to a practical interrogation will ever be +true. + +Comparing now the philosophical principles on which science was +proceeding, with the principles on which ecclesiasticism rested, we see +that, while the former repudiated tradition, to the latter it was the +main support while the former insisted on the agreement of calculation +and observation, or the correspondence of reasoning and fact, the latter +leaned upon mysteries; while the former summarily rejected its own +theories, if it saw that they could not be coordinated with Nature, the +latter found merit in a faith that blindly accepted the inexplicable, a +satisfied contemplation of "things above reason." The alienation between +the two continually increased. On one side there was a sentiment of +disdain, on the other a sentiment of hatred. Impartial witnesses on all +hands perceived that science was rapidly undermining ecclesiasticism. + +MATHEMATICS. Mathematics had thus become the great instrument of +scientific research, it had become the instrument of scientific +reasoning. In one respect it may be said that it reduced the operations +of the mind to a mechanical process, for its symbols often saved the +labor of thinking. The habit of mental exactness it encouraged extended +to other branches of thought, and produced an intellectual revolution. +No longer was it possible to be satisfied with miracle-proof, or the +logic that had been relied upon throughout the middle ages. Not only did +it thus influence the manner of thinking, it also changed the direction +of thought. Of this we may be satisfied by comparing the subjects +considered in the transactions of the various learned societies with the +discussions that had occupied the attention of the middle ages. + +But the use of mathematics was not limited to the verification of +theories; as above indicated, it also furnished a means of predicting +what had hitherto been unobserved. In this it offered a counterpart +to the prophecies of ecclesiasticism. The discovery of Neptune is +an instance of the kind furnished by astronomy, and that of conical +refraction by the optical theory of undulations. + +But, while this great instrument led to such a wonderful development in +natural science, it was itself undergoing development--improvement. Let +us in a few lines recall its progress. + +The germ of algebra may be discerned in the works of Diophantus of +Alexandria, who is supposed to have lived in the second century of our +era. In that Egyptian school Euclid had formerly collected the great +truths of geometry, and arranged them in logical sequence. Archimedes, +in Syracuse, had attempted the solution of the higher problems by the +method of exhaustions. Such was the tendency of things that, had the +patronage of science been continued, algebra would inevitably have been +invented. + +To the Arabians we owe our knowledge of the rudiments of algebra; we +owe to them the very name under which this branch of mathematics passes. +They had carefully added, to the remains of the Alexandrian School, +improvements obtained in India, and had communicated to the subject +a certain consistency and form. The knowledge of algebra, as they +possessed it, was first brought into Italy about the beginning of the +thirteenth century. It attracted so little attention, that nearly three +hundred years elapsed before any European work on the subject appeared. +In 1496 Paccioli published his book entitled "Arte Maggiore," or +"Alghebra." In 1501, Cardan, of Milan, gave a method for the solution of +cubic equations; other improvements were contributed by Scipio Ferreo, +1508, by Tartalea, by Vieta. The Germans now took up the subject. At +this time the notation was in an imperfect state. + +The publication of the Geometry of Descartes, which contains the +application of algebra to the definition and investigation of curve +lines (1637), constitutes an epoch in the history of the mathematical +sciences. Two years previously, Cavalieri's work on Indivisibles had +appeared. This method was improved by Torricelli and others. The way was +now open, for the development of the Infinitesimal Calculus, the method +of Fluxions of Newton, and the Differential and Integral Calculus +of Leibnitz. Though in his possession many years previously, Newton +published nothing on Fluxions until 1704; the imperfect notation he +employed retarded very much the application of his method. Meantime, on +the Continent, very largely through the brilliant solutions of some of +the higher problems, accomplished by the Bernouillis, the Calculus of +Leibnitz was universally accepted, and improved by many mathematicians. +An extraordinary development of the science now took place, and +continued throughout the century. To the Binomial theorem, previously +discovered by Newton, Taylor now added, in his "Method of Increments," +the celebrated theorem that bears his name. This was in 1715. The +Calculus of Partial Differences was introduced by Euler in 1734. It was +extended by D'Alembert, and was followed by that of Variations, by Euler +and Lagrange, and by the method of Derivative Functions, by Lagrange, in +1772. + +But it was not only in Italy, in Germany, in England, in France, that +this great movement in mathematics was witnessed; Scotland had added a +new gem to the intellectual diadem with which her brow is encircled, +by the grand invention of Logarithms, by Napier of Merchiston. It is +impossible to give any adequate conception of the scientific importance +of this incomparable invention. The modern physicist and astronomer +will most cordially agree with Briggs, the Professor of Mathematics in +Gresham College, in his exclamation: "I never saw a book that pleased +me better, and that made I me more wonder!" Not without reason did the +immortal Kepler regard Napier "to be the greatest man of his age, in the +department to which he had applied his abilities." Napier died in 1617. +It is no exaggeration to say that this invention, by shortening the +labors, doubled the life of the astronomer. + +But here I must check myself. I must remember that my present purpose is +not to give the history of mathematics, but to consider what science has +done for the advancement of human civilization. And now, at once, recurs +the question, How is it that the Church produced no geometer in her +autocratic reign of twelve hundred years? + +With respect to pure mathematics this remark may be made: Its +cultivation does not demand appliances that are beyond the reach of +most individuals. Astronomy must have its observatory, chemistry its +laboratory; but mathematics asks only personal disposition and a +few books. No great expenditures are called for, nor the services +of assistants. One would think that nothing could be more congenial, +nothing more delightful, even in the retirement of monastic life. + +Shall we answer with Eusebius, "It is through contempt of such useless +labor that we think so little of these matters; we turn our souls to +the exercise of better things?" Better things! What can be better than +absolute truth? Are mysteries, miracles, lying impostures, better? It +was these that stood in the way! + +The ecclesiastical authorities had recognized, from the outset of this +scientific invasion, that the principles it was disseminating were +absolutely irreconcilable with the current theology. Directly and +indirectly, they struggled against it. So great was their detestation +of experimental science, that they thought they had gained a great +advantage when the Accademia del Cimento was suppressed. Nor was the +sentiment restricted to Catholicism. When the Royal Society of London +was founded, theological odium was directed against it with so much +rancor that, doubtless, it would have been extinguished, had not King +Charles II. given it his open and avowed support. It was accused of +an intention of "destroying the established religion, of injuring the +universities, and of upsetting ancient and solid learning." + +THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. We have only to turn over the pages of its +Transactions to discern how much this society has done for the progress +of humanity. It was incorporated in 1662, and has interested itself in +all the great scientific movements and discoveries that have since been +made. It published Newton's "Principia;" it promoted Halley's voyage, +the first scientific expedition undertaken by any government; it made +experiments on the transfusion of blood, and accepted Harvey's discovery +of the circulation. The encouragement it gave to inoculation led Queen +Caroline to beg six condemned criminals for experiment, and then to +submit her own children to that operation. Through its encouragement +Bradley accomplished his great discovery, the aberration of the fixed +stars, and that of the nutation of the earth's axis; to these two +discoveries, Delambre says, we owe the exactness of modern astronomy. It +promoted the improvement of the thermometer, the measure of temperature, +and in Harrison's watch, the chronometer, the measure of time. Through +it the Gregorian Calendar was introduced into England, in 1752, against +a violent religious opposition. Some of its Fellows were pursued through +the streets by an ignorant and infuriated mob, who believed it had +robbed them of eleven days of their lives; it was found necessary to +conceal the name of Father Walmesley, a learned Jesuit, who had taken +deep interest in the matter; and, Bradley happening to die during the +commotion, it was declared that he had suffered a judgment from Heaven +for his crime! + +THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. If I were to attempt to do justice to the +merits of this great society, I should have to devote many pages, to +such subjects as the achromatic telescope of Dollond; the dividing +engine of Ramsden, which first gave precision to astronomical +observations, the measurement of a degree on the earth's surface by +Mason and Dixon; the expeditions of Cook in connection with the transit +of Venus; his circumnavigation of the earth; his proof that scurvy, +the curse of long sea-voyages, may be avoided by the use of vegetable +substances; the polar expeditions; the determination of the density of +the earth by Maskelyne's experiments at Scheliallion, and by those +of Cavendish; the discovery of the planet Uranus by Herschel; the +composition of water by Cavendish and Watt; the determination of the +difference of longitude between London and Paris; the invention of +the voltaic pile; the surveys of the heavens by the Herschels; +the development of the principle of interference by Young, and his +establishment of the undulatory theory of light; the ventilation +of jails and other buildings; the introduction of gas for city +illumination; the ascertainment of the length of the seconds-pendulum; +the measurement of the variations of gravity in different latitudes; the +operations to ascertain the curvature of the earth; the polar expedition +of Ross; the invention of the safety-lamp by Davy, and his decomposition +of the alkalies and earths; the electro-magnetic discoveries of Oersted +and Faraday; the calculating-engines of Babbage; the measures taken +at the instance of Humboldt for the establishment of many magnetic +observatories; the verification of contemporaneous magnetic disturbances +over the earth's surface. But it is impossible, in the limited space at +my disposal, to give even so little as a catalogue of its Transactions. +Its spirit was identical with that which animated the Accademia del +Cimento, and its motto accordingly was "Nullius in Verba." It proscribed +superstition, and permitted only calculation, observation, and +experiment. + +INFLUENCE OF SCIENCE. Not for a moment must it be supposed that in these +great attempts, these great Successes, the Royal Society stood alone. +In all the capitals of Europe there were Academies, Institutes, or +Societies, equal in distinction, and equally successful in promoting +human knowledge and modern civilization. + + +THE ECONOMICAL INFLUENCES OF SCIENCE. + +The scientific study of Nature tends not only to correct and ennoble +the intellectual conceptions of man; it serves also to ameliorate his +physical condition. It perpetually suggests to him the inquiry, how he +may make, by their economical application, ascertained facts subservient +to his use. + +The investigation of principles is quickly followed by practical +inventions. This, indeed, is the characteristic feature of our times. It +has produced a great revolution in national policy. + +In former ages wars were made for the procuring of slaves. A conqueror +transported entire populations, and extorted from them forced labor, for +it was only by human labor that human labor could be relieved. But when +it was discovered that physical agents and mechanical combinations could +be employed to incomparably greater advantage, public policy underwent a +change; when it was recognized that the application of a new principle, +or the invention of a new machine, was better than the acquisition of an +additional slave, peace became preferable to war. And not only so, but +nations possessing great slave or serf populations, as was the care in +America and Russia, found that considerations of humanity were supported +by considerations of interest, and set their bondmen free. + +SCIENTIFIC INVENTIONS. Thus we live in a period of which a +characteristic is the supplanting of human and animal labor by machines. +Its mechanical inventions have wrought a social revolution. We appeal +to the natural, not to the supernatural, for the accomplishment of our +ends. It is with the "modern civilization" thus arising that Catholicism +refuses to be reconciled. The papacy loudly proclaims its inflexible +repudiation of this state of affairs, and insists on a restoration of +the medieval condition of things. + +That a piece of amber, when rubbed, will attract and then repel light +bodies, was a fact known six hundred years before Christ. It remained an +isolated, uncultivated fact, a mere trifle, until sixteen hundred years +after Christ. Then dealt with by the scientific methods of mathematical +discussion and experiment, and practical application made of the result, +it has permitted men to communicate instantaneously with each other +across continents and under oceans. It has centralized the world. By +enabling the sovereign authority to transmit its mandates without +regard to distance or to time, it has revolutionized statesmanship and +condensed political power. + +In the Museum of Alexandria there was a machine invented by Hero, the +mathematician, a little more than one hundred years before Christ. It +revolved by the agency of steam, and was of the form that we should +now call a reaction-engine. This, the germ of one of the most important +inventions ever made, was remembered as a mere curiosity for seventeen +hundred years. + +Chance had nothing to do with the invention of the modern steam-engine. +It was the product of meditation and experiment. In the middle of the +seventeenth century several mechanical engineers attempted to utilize +the properties of steam; their labors were brought to perfection by Watt +in the middle of the eighteenth. + +The steam-engine quickly became the drudge of civilization. It performed +the work of many millions of men. It gave, to those who would have been +condemned to a life of brutal toil, the opportunity of better pursuits. +He who formerly labored might now think. + +Its earliest application was in such operations as pumping, wherein mere +force is required. Soon, however, it vindicated its delicacy of touch +in the industrial arts of spinning and weaving. It created vast +manufacturing establishments, and supplied clothing for the world. It +changed the industry of nations. + +In its application, first to the navigation of rivers, and then to the +navigation of the ocean, it more than quadrupled the speed that had +heretofore been attained. Instead of forty days being requisite for +the passage, the Atlantic might now be crossed in eight. But, in land +transportation, its power was most strikingly displayed. The admirable +invention of the locomotive enabled men to travel farther in less than +an hour than they formerly could have done in more than a day. + +The locomotive has not only enlarged the field of human activity, but, +by diminishing space, it has increased the capabilities of human life. +In the swift transportation of manufactured goods and agricultural +products, it has become a most efficient incentive to human industry + +The perfection of ocean steam-navigation was greatly promoted by the +invention of the chronometer, which rendered it possible to find +with accuracy the place of a ship at sea. The great drawback on the +advancement of science in the Alexandrian School was the want of an +instrument for the measurement of time, and one for the measurement of +temperature--the chronometer and the thermometer; indeed, the invention +of the latter is essential to that of the former. Clepsydras, or +water-clocks, had been tried, but they were deficient in accuracy. Of +one of them, ornamented with the signs of the zodiac, and destroyed by +certain primitive Christians, St. Polycarp significantly remarked, "In +all these monstrous demons is seen an art hostile to God." Not until +about 1680 did the chronometer begin to approach accuracy. Hooke, the +contemporary of Newton, gave it the balance-wheel, with the spiral +spring, and various escapements in succession were devised, such as the +anchor, the dead-beat, the duplex, the remontoir. Provisions for the +variation of temperature were introduced. It was brought to perfection +eventually by Harrison and Arnold, in their hands becoming an accurate +measure of the flight of time. To the invention of the chronometer +must be added that of the reflecting sextant by Godfrey. This permitted +astronomical observations to be made, notwithstanding the motion of a +ship. + +Improvements in ocean navigation are exercising a powerful influence on +the distribution of mankind. They are increasing the amount and altering +the character of colonization. + +DOMESTIC IMPROVEMENT. But not alone have these great discoveries and +inventions, the offspring of scientific investigation, changed the +lot of the human race; very many minor ones, perhaps individually +insignificant, have in their aggregate accomplished surprising effects. +The commencing cultivation of science in the fourteenth century gave +a wonderful stimulus to inventive talent, directed mainly to useful +practical results; and this, subsequently, was greatly encouraged by the +system of patents, which secure to the originator a reasonable portion +of the benefits of his skill. It is sufficient to refer in the most +cursory manner to a few of these improvements; we appreciate at once how +much they have done. The introduction of the saw-mill gave wooden floors +to houses, banishing those of gypsum, tile, or stone; improvements +cheapening the manufacture of glass gave windows, making possible the +warming of apartments. However, it was not until the sixteenth century +that glazing could be well done. The cutting of glass by the diamond +was then introduced. The addition of chimneys purified the atmosphere +of dwellings, smoky and sooty as the huts of savages; it gave that +indescribable blessing of northern homes--a cheerful fireside. Hitherto +a hole in the roof for the escape of the smoke, a pit in the midst of +the floor to contain the fuel, and to be covered with a lid when the +curfew-bell sounded or night came, such had been the cheerless and +inadequate means of warming. + +MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENTS. Though not without a bitter resistance on +the part of the clergy, men began to think that pestilences are not +punishments inflicted by God on society for its religious shortcomings, +but the physical consequences of filth and wretchedness; that the proper +mode of avoiding them is not by praying to the saints, but by insuring +personal and municipal cleanliness. In the twelfth century it was +found necessary to pave the streets of Paris, the stench in them was so +dreadful At once dysenteries and spotted fever diminished; a sanitary +condition approaching that of the Moorish cities of Spain, which had +been paved for centuries, was attained. In that now beautiful metropolis +it was forbidden to keep swine, an ordinance resented by the monks +of the abbey of St. Anthony, who demanded that the pigs of that saint +should go where they chose; the government was obliged to compromise the +matter by requiring that bells should be fastened to the animals' necks. +King Philip, the son of Louis the Fat, had been killed by his horse +stumbling over a sow. Prohibitions were published against throwing slops +out of the windows. In 1870 an eye-witness, the author of this book, +at the close of the pontifical rule in Rome, found that, in walking the +ordure-defiled streets of that city, it was more necessary to inspect +the earth than to contemplate the heavens, in order to preserve personal +purity. Until the beginning of the seventeenth century, the streets of +Berlin were never swept. There was a law that every countryman, who came +to market with a cart, should carry back a load of dirt! + +Paving was followed by attempts, often of an imperfect kind, at +the construction of drains and sewers. It had become obvious to all +reflecting men that these were necessary to the preservation of health, +not only in towns, but in isolated houses. Then followed the lighting +of the public thoroughfares. At first houses facing the streets were +compelled to have candles or lamps in their windows; next the system +that had been followed with so much advantage in Cordova and Granada--of +having public lamps--was tried, but this was not brought to perfection +until the present century, when lighting by gas was invented. +Contemporaneously with public lamps were improved organizations for +night-watchmen and police. + +By the sixteenth century, mechanical inventions and manufacturing +improvements were exercising a conspicuous influence on domestic and +social life. There were looking-glasses and clocks on the walls, mantels +over the fireplaces. Though in many districts the kitchen-fire was still +supplied with turf, the use of coal began to prevail. The table in the +dining-room offered new delicacies; commerce was bringing to it foreign +products; the coarse drinks of the North were supplanted by the delicate +wines of the South. Ice-houses were constructed. The bolting of flour, +introduced at the windmills, had given whiter and finer bread. By +degrees things that had been rarities became common--Indian-corn, the +potato, the turkey, and, conspicuous in the long list, tobacco. Forks, +an Italian invention, displaced the filthy use of the fingers. It may be +said that the diet of civilized men now underwent a radical change. Tea +came from China, coffee from Arabia, the use of sugar from India, and +these to no insignificant degree supplanted fermented liquors. Carpets +replaced on the floors the layer of straw; in the chambers +there appeared better beds, in the wardrobes cleaner and more +frequently-changed clothing. In many towns the aqueduct was substituted +for the public fountain and the street-pump. Ceilings which in the old +days would have been dingy with soot and dirt, were now decorated with +ornamental frescoes. Baths were more commonly resorted to; there was +less need to use perfumery for the concealment of personal odors. +An increasing taste for the innocent pleasures of horticulture +was manifested, by the introduction of many foreign flowers in the +gardens--the tuberose, the auricula, the crown imperial, the Persian +lily, the ranunculus, and African marigolds. In the streets there +appeared sedans, then close carriages, and at length hackney-coaches. + +Among the dull rustics mechanical improvements forced their way, and +gradually attained, in the implements for ploughing, sowing, mowing, +reaping, thrashing, the perfection of our own times. + +MERCANTILE INVENTIONS. It began to be recognized, in spite of the +preaching of the mendicant orders, that poverty is the source of crime, +the obstruction to knowledge; that the pursuit of riches by commerce is +far better than the acquisition of power by war. For, though it may +be true, as Montesquieu says, that, while commerce unites nations, it +antagonizes individuals, and makes a traffic of morality, it alone can +give unity to the world; its dream, its hope, is universal peace. + +MEDICAL IMPROVEMENTS. Though, instead of a few pages, it would require +volumes to record adequately the ameliorations that took place in +domestic and social life after science began to exert its beneficent +influences, and inventive talent came to the aid of industry, there +are some things which cannot be passed in silence. From the port of +Barcelona the Spanish khalifs had carried on an enormous commerce, and +they with their coadjutors--Jewish merchants--had adopted or originated +many commercial inventions, which, with matters of pure science, +they had transmitted to the trading communities of Europe. The art of +book-keeping by double entry was thus brought into Upper Italy. The +different kinds of insurance were adopted, though strenuously resisted +by the clergy. They opposed fire and marine insurance, on the ground +that it is a tempting of Providence. Life insurance was regarded as +an act of interference with the consequences of God's will. Houses +for lending money on interest and on pledges, that is, banking and +pawnbroking establishments, were bitterly denounced, and especially was +indignation excited against the taking of high rates of interest, +which was stigmatized as usury--a feeling existing in some backward +communities up to the present day. Bills of exchange in the present form +and terms were adopted, the office of the public notary established, and +protests for dishonored obligations resorted to. Indeed, it may be said, +with but little exaggeration, that the commercial machinery now used +was thus introduced. I have already remarked that, in consequence of the +discovery of America, the front of Europe had been changed. Many rich +Italian merchants and many enterprising Jews, had settled in Holland +England, France, and brought into those countries various mercantile +devices. The Jews, who cared nothing about papal maledictions, were +enriched by the pontifical action in relation to the lending of money at +high interest; but Pius II., perceiving the mistake that had been +made, withdrew his opposition. Pawnbroking establishments were finally +authorized by Leo X., who threatened excommunication of those who wrote +against them. In their turn the Protestants now exhibited a dislike +against establishments thus authorized by Rome. As the theological +dogma, that the plague, like the earthquake, is an unavoidable +visitation from God for the sins of men, began to be doubted, attempts +were made to resist its progress by the establishment of quarantines. +When the Mohammedan discovery of inoculation was brought from +Constantinople in 1721, by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, it was so +strenuously resisted by the clergy, that nothing short of its adoption +by the royal family of England brought it into use. A similar resistance +was exhibited when Jenner introduced his great improvement, vaccination; +yet a century ago it was the exception to see a face unpitted by +smallpox--now it is the exception to see one so disfigured. In like +manner, when the great American discovery of anaesthetics was applied +in obstetrical cases, it was discouraged, not so much for physiological +reasons, as under the pretense that it was an impious attempt to escape +from the curse denounced against all women in Genesis iii. 16. + +MAGIC AND MIRACLES. Inventive ingenuity did not restrict itself to the +production of useful contrivances, it added amusing ones. Soon after the +introduction of science into Italy, the houses of the virtuosi began to +abound in all kinds of curious mechanical surprises, and, as they +were termed, magical effects. In the latter the invention of the +magic-lantern greatly assisted. Not without reason did the ecclesiastics +detest experimental philosophy, for a result of no little importance +ensued--the juggler became a successful rival to the miracle-worker. The +pious frauds enacted in the churches lost their wonder when brought +into competition with the tricks of the conjurer in the market-place: he +breathed flame, walked on burning coals, held red-hot iron in his +teeth, drew basketfuls of eggs out of his mouth, worked miracles by +marionettes. Yet the old idea of the supernatural was with difficulty +destroyed. A horse, whose master had taught him many tricks, was tried +at Lisbon in 1601, found guilty of being, possessed by the devil, and +was burnt. Still later than that many witches were brought to the stake. + +DISCOVERIES IN ASTRONOMY AND CHEMISTRY. Once fairly introduced, +discovery and invention have unceasingly advanced at an accelerated +pace. Each continually reacted on the other, continually they sapped +supernaturalism. De Dominis commenced, and Newton completed, the +explanation of the rainbow; they showed that it was not the weapon of +warfare of God, but the accident of rays of light in drops of water. De +Dominis was decoyed to Rome through the promise of an archbishopric, +and the hope of a cardinal's hat. He was lodged in a fine residence, but +carefully watched. Accused of having suggested a concord between Rome +and England, he was imprisoned in the castle of St Angelo, and there +died. He was brought in his coffin before an ecclesiastical tribunal, +adjudged guilty of heresy, and his body, with a heap of heretical books, +was cast into the flames. Franklin, by demonstrating the identity of +lightning and electricity, deprived Jupiter of his thunder-bolt. The +marvels of superstition were displaced by the wonders of truth. The two +telescopes, the reflector and the achromatic, inventions of the last +century, permitted man to penetrate into the infinite grandeurs of +the universe, to recognize, as far as such a thing is possible, its +illimitable spaces, its measureless times; and a little later the +achromatic microscope placed before his eyes the world of the infinitely +small. The air-balloon carried him above the clouds, the diving-bell +to the bottom of the sea. The thermometer gave him true measures of +the variations of heat; the barometer, of the pressure of the air. The +introduction of the balance imparted exactness to chemistry, it proved +the indestructibility of matter. The discovery of oxygen, hydrogen, and +many other gases, the isolation of aluminum, calcium, and other metals, +showed that earth and air and water are not elements. With an enterprise +that can never be too much commended, advantage was taken of the +transits of Venus, and, by sending expeditions to different regions, +the distance of the earth from the sun was determined. The step that +European intellect had made between 1456 and 1759 was illustrated by +Halley's comet. When it appeared in the former year, it was considered +as the harbinger of the vengeance of God, the dispenser of the most +dreadful of his retributions, war, pestilence, famine. By order of the +pope, all the church-bells in Europe were rung to scare it away, the +faithful were commanded to add each day another prayer; and, as their +prayers had often in so marked a manner been answered in eclipses and +droughts and rains, so on this occasion it was declared that a victory +over the comet had been vouchsafed to the pope. But, in the mean time, +Halley, guided by the revelations of Kepler and Newton, had discovered +that its motions, so far from being controlled by the supplications of +Christendom, were guided in an elliptic orbit by destiny. Knowing that +Nature bad denied to him an opportunity of witnessing the fulfillment +of his daring prophecy, he besought the astronomers of the succeeding +generation to watch for its return in 1759, and in that year it came. + +INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES. Whoever will in a spirit of impartiality +examine what had been done by Catholicism for the intellectual and +material advancement of Europe, during her long reign, and what has been +done by science in its brief period of action, can, I am persuaded, come +to no other conclusion than this, that, in instituting a comparison, he +has established a contrast. And yet, how imperfect, how inadequate is +the catalogue of facts I have furnished in the foregoing pages! I have +said nothing of the spread of instruction by the diffusion of the arts +of reading and writing, through public schools, and the consequent +creation of a reading community; the modes of manufacturing public +opinion by newspapers and reviews, the power of journalism, the +diffusion of information public and private by the post-office and cheap +mails, the individual and social advantages of newspaper advertisements. +I have said nothing of the establishment of hospitals, the first +exemplar of which was the Invalides of Paris; nothing of the improved +prisons, reformatories, penitentiaries, asylums, the treatment of +lunatics, paupers, criminals; nothing of the construction of canals, of +sanitary engineering, or of census reports; nothing of the invention of +stereotyping, bleaching by chlorine, the cotton-gin, or of the marvelous +contrivances with which cotton-mills are filled--contrivances which have +given us cheap clothing, and therefore added to cleanliness, comfort, +health; nothing of the grand advancement of medicine and surgery, or +of the discoveries in physiology, the cultivation of the fine arts, +the improvement of agriculture and rural economy, the introduction +of chemical manures and farm-machinery. I have not referred to the +manufacture of iron and its vast affiliated industries; to those of +textile fabrics; to the collection of museums of natural history, +antiquities, curiosities. I have passed unnoticed the great subject of +the manufacture of machinery by itself--the invention of the slide-rest, +the planing-machine, and many other contrivances by which engines can +be constructed with almost mathematical correctness. I have said nothing +adequate about the railway system, or the electric telegraph, nor about +the calculus, or lithography, the airpump, or the voltaic battery; the +discovery of Uranus or Neptune, and more than a hundred asteroids; the +relation of meteoric streams to comets; nothing of the expeditions by +land and sea that have been sent forth by various governments for the +determination of important astronomical or geographical questions; +nothing of the costly and accurate experiments they have caused to be +made for the ascertainment of fundamental physical data. I have been so +unjust to our own century that I have made no allusion to some of its +greatest scientific triumphs: its grand conceptions in natural history; +its discoveries in magnetism and electricity; its invention of the +beautiful art of photography; its applications of spectrum analysis; its +attempts to bring chemistry under the three laws of Avogadro, of Boyle +and Mariotte, and of Charles; its artificial production of organic +substances from inorganic material, of which the philosophical +consequences are of the utmost importance; its reconstruction of +physiology by laying the foundation of that science on chemistry; its +improvements and advances in topographical surveying and in the correct +representation of the surface of the globe. I have said nothing about +rifled-guns and armored ships, nor of the revolution that has been made +in the art of war; nothing of that gift to women, the sewing-machine; +nothing of the noble contentions and triumphs of the arts of peace--the +industrial exhibitions and world's fairs. + +What a catalogue have we here, and yet how imperfect! It gives merely a +random glimpse at an ever-increasing intellectual commotion--a mention +of things as they casually present themselves to view. How striking +the contrast between this literary, this scientific activity, and the +stagnation of the middle ages! + +The intellectual enlightenment that surrounds this activity has imparted +unnumbered blessings to the human race. In Russia it has emancipated a +vast serf-population; in America it has given freedom to four million +negro slaves. In place of the sparse dole of the monastery-gate, it has +organized charity and directed legislation to the poor. It has shown +medicine its true function, to prevent rather than to cure disease. In +statesmanship it has introduced scientific methods, displacing random +and empirical legislation by a laborious ascertainment of social facts +previous to the application of legal remedies. So conspicuous, so +impressive is the manner in which it is elevating men, that the hoary +nations of Asia seek to participate in the boon. Let us not forget that +our action on them must be attended by their reaction on us. If the +destruction of paganism was completed when all the gods were brought +to Rome and confronted there, now, when by our wonderful facilities of +locomotion strange nations and conflicting religions are brought into +common presence--the Mohammedan, the Buddhist, the Brahman-modifications +of them all must ensue. In that conflict science alone will stand +secure; for it has given us grander views of the universe, more awful +views of God. + +AMERICAN AND FRENCH REVOLUTIONS. The spirit that has imparted life to +this movement, that has animated these discoveries and inventions, is +Individualism; in some minds the hope of gain, in other and nobler ones +the expectation of honor. It is, then, not to be wondered at that +this principle found a political embodiment, and that, during the last +century, on two occasions, it gave rise to social convulsions--the +American and the French Revolutions. The former has ended in the +dedication of a continent to Individualism--there, under republican +forms, before the close of the present century, one hundred million +people, with no more restraint than their common security requires, will +be pursuing an unfettered career. The latter, though it has modified +the political aspect of all Europe, and though illustrated by surprising +military successes, has, thus far, not consummated its intentions; again +and again it has brought upon France fearful disasters. Her dual form of +government--her allegiance to her two sovereigns, the political and the +spiritual--has made her at once the leader and the antagonist of modern +progress. With one hand she has enthroned Reason, with the other she +has re-established and sustained the pope. Nor will this anomaly in her +conduct cease until she bestows a true education on all her children, +even on those of the humblest rustic. + +SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION. The intellectual attack made on existing +opinions by the French Revolution was not of a scientific, but of a +literary character; it was critical and aggressive. But Science has +never been an aggressor. She has always acted on the defensive, and left +to her antagonist the making of wanton attacks. Nevertheless, literary +dissent is not of such ominous import as scientific; for literature is, +in its nature, local--science is cosmopolitan. + +If, now, we demand, What has science done for the promotion of modern +civilization; what has it done for the happiness, the well-being of +society? we shall find our answer in the same manner that we reached +a just estimate of what Latin Christianity had done. The reader of the +foregoing paragraphs would undoubtedly infer that there must have +been an amelioration in the lot of our race; but, when we apply the +touchstone of statistics, that inference gathers precision. Systems of +philosophy and forms of religion find a measure of their influence on +humanity in census-returns. Latin Christianity, in a thousand years, +could not double the population of Europe; it did not add perceptibly +to the term of individual life. But, as Dr. Jarvis, in his report to +the Massachusetts Board of Health, has stated, at the epoch of the +Reformation "the average longevity in Geneva was 21.21 years, between +1814 and 1833 it was 40.68; as large a number of persons now live to +seventy years as lived to forty, three hundred years ago. In 1693 the +British Government borrowed money by selling annuities on lives from +infancy upward, on the basis of the average longevity. The contract +was profitable. Ninety-seven years later another tontine, or scale +of annuities, on the basis of the same expectation of life as in the +previous century, was issued. These latter annuitants, however, lived so +much longer than their predecessors, that it proved to be a very costly +loan for the government. It was found that, while ten thousand of each +sex in the first tontine died under the age of twenty-eight, only five +thousand seven hundred and seventy-two males and six thousand four +hundred and sixteen females in the second tontine died at the same age, +one hundred years later." + +We have been comparing the spiritual with the practical, the imaginary +with the real. The maxims that have been followed in the earlier and the +later period produced their inevitable result. In the former that maxim +was, "Ignorance is the mother of Devotion in the latter, Knowledge is +Power." + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + THE IMPENDING CRISIS. INDICATIONS OF THE APPROACH OF A + RELIGIOUS CRISIS.--THE PREDOMINATING CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THE + ROMAN, PERCEIVES THIS, AND MAKES PREPARATION FOR IT.--PIUS + IX CONVOKES AN OECUMENICAL COUNCIL--RELATIONS OF THE + DIFFERENT EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS TO THE PAPACY.--RELATIONS OF + THE CHURCH TO SCIENCE, AS INDICATED BY THE ENCYCLICAL LETTER + AND THE SYLLABUS. + + Acts of the Vatican Council in relation to the infallibility + of the pope, and to Science.--Abstract of decisions arrived + at. + + Controversy between the Prussian Government and the papacy.-- + It is a contest between the State and the Church for + supremacy--Effect of dual government in Europe--Declaration + by the Vatican Council of its position as to Science--The + dogmatic constitution of the Catholic faith.--Its + definitions respecting God, Revelation, Faith, Reason.--The + anathemas it pronounces.--Its denunciation of modern + civilization. + + The Protestant Evangelical Alliance and its acts. + + General review of the foregoing definitions, and acts.-- + Present condition of the controversy, and its future + prospects. + + +PREDOMINANCE OF CATHOLICITY. No one who is acquainted with the present +tone of thought in Christendom can hide from himself the fact that an +intellectual, a religious crisis is impending. + +In all directions we see the lowering skies, we hear the mutterings +of the coming storm. In Germany, the national party is arraying itself +against the ultramontane; in France, the men of progress are struggling +against the unprogressive, and in their contest the political supremacy +of that great country is wellnigh neutralized or lost. In Italy, Rome +has passed into the hands of an excommunicated king. The sovereign +pontiff, feigning that he is a prisoner, is fulminating from the Vatican +his anathemas, and, in the midst of the most convincing proofs of his +manifold errors, asserting his own infallibility. A Catholic archbishop +with truth declares that the whole civil society of Europe seems to be +withdrawing itself in its public life from Christianity. In England and +America, religious persons perceive with dismay that the intellectual +basis of faith has been undermined by the spirit of the age. They +prepare for the approaching disaster in the best manner they can. + +The most serious trial through which society can pass is encountered in +the exuviation of its religious restraints. The history of Greece and +the history of Rome exhibit to us in an impressive manner how great are +the perils. But it is not given to religions to endure forever. They +necessarily undergo transformation with the intellectual development of +man. How many countries are there professing the same religion now that +they did at the birth of Christ? + +It is estimated that the entire population of Europe is about three +hundred and one million. Of these, one hundred and eighty-five million +are Roman Catholics, thirty-three million are Greek Catholics. Of +Protestants there are seventy-one million, separated into many sects. Of +Jews, five million; of Mohammedans, seven million. + +Of the religious subdivisions of America an accurate numerical statement +cannot be given. The whole of Christian South America is Roman Catholic, +the same may be said of Central America and of Mexico, as also of the +Spanish and French West India possessions. In the United States and +Canada the Protestant population predominates. To Australia the same +remark applies. In India the sparse Christian population sinks into +insignificance in presence of two hundred million Mohammedans and other +Oriental denominations. The Roman Catholic Church is the most widely +diffused and the most powerfully organized of all modern societies. It +is far more a political than a religious combination. Its principle is +that all power is in the clergy, and that for laymen there is only the +privilege of obedience. The republican forms under which the Churches +existed in primitive Christianity have gradually merged into an absolute +centralization, with a man as vice-God at its head. This Church +asserts that the divine commission under which it acts comprises civil +government; that it has a right to use the state for its own purposes, +but that the state has no right to intermeddle with it; that even in +Protestant countries it is not merely a coordinate government, but the +sovereign power. It insists that the state has no rights over any thing +which it declares to be in its domain, and that Protestantism, being +a mere rebellion, has no rights at all; that even in Protestant +communities the Catholic bishop is the only lawful spiritual pastor. + +It is plain, therefore, that of professing Christians the vast majority +are Catholic; and such is the authoritative demand of the papacy for +supremacy, that, in any survey of the present religious condition of +Christendom, regard must be mainly had to its acts. Its movements are +guided by the highest intelligence and skill. Catholicism obeys the +orders of one man, and has therefore a unity, a compactness, a power, +which Protestant denominations do not possess. Moreover, it derives +inestimable strength from the souvenirs of the great name of Rome. + +Unembarrassed by any hesitating sentiment, the papacy has contemplated +the coming intellectual crisis. It has pronounced its decision, and +occupied what seems to it to be the most advantageous ground. + +This definition of position we find in the acts of the late Vatican +Council. + +THE OECUMENICAL COUNCIL. Pius IX., by a bull dated June 29, 1868, +convoked an Oecumenical Council, to meet in Rome, on December 8, 1869. +Its sessions ended in July, 1870. Among other matters submitted to its +consideration, two stand forth in conspicuous prominence--they are the +assertion of the infallibility of the Roman pontiff, and the definition +of the relations of religion to science. + +But the convocation of the Council was far from meeting with general +approval. + +The views of the Oriental Churches were, for the most part, unfavorable. +They affirmed that they saw a desire in the Roman pontiff to set himself +up as the head of Christianity, whereas they recognized the Lord Jesus +Christ alone as the head of the Church. They believed that the Council +would only lead to new quarrels and scandals. The sentiment of these +venerable Churches is well shown by the incident that, when, in +1867, the Nestorian Patriarch Simeon had been invited by the Chaldean +Patriarch to return to Roman Catholic unity, he, in his reply, showed +that there was no prospect for harmonious action between the East and +the West: "You invite me to kiss humbly the slipper of the Bishop of +Rome; but is he not, in every respect, a man like yourself--is his +dignity superior to yours? We will never permit to be introduced into +our holy temples of worship images and statues, which are nothing but +abominable and impure idols. What! shall we attribute to Almighty God a +mother, as you dare to do? Away from us, such blasphemy!" + +EXPECTATIONS OF THE PAPACY. Eventually, the patriarchs, archbishops, and +bishops, from all regions of the world, who took part in this Council, +were seven hundred and four. + +Rome had seen very plainly that Science was not only rapidly undermining +the dogmas of the papacy, but was gathering great political power. She +recognized that all over Europe there was a fast-spreading secession +among persons of education, and that its true focus was North Germany. + +She looked, therefore, with deep interest on the Prusso-Austrian War, +giving to Austria whatever encouragement she could. The battle of Sadowa +was a bitter disappointment to her. + +With satisfaction again she looked upon the breaking out of the +Franco-Prussian War, not doubting that its issue would be favorable to +France, and therefore favorable to her. Here, again, she was doomed to +disappointment at Sedan. + +Having now no further hope, for many years to come, from external war, +she resolved to see what could be done by internal insurrection, and the +present movement in the German Empire is the result of her machinations. + +Had Austria or had France succeeded, Protestantism would have been +overthrown along with Prussia. + +But, while these military movements were being carried on, a movement of +a different, an intellectual kind, was engaged in. Its principle was, to +restore the worn-out mediaeval doctrines and practices, carrying them to +an extreme, no matter what the consequences might be. + +ENCYCLICAL LETTER AND SYLLABUS. Not only was it asserted that the papacy +has a divine right to participate in the government of all countries, +coordinately with their temporal authorities, but that the supremacy of +Rome in this matter must be recognized; and that in any question between +them the temporal authority must conform itself to her order. + +And, since the endangering of her position had been mainly brought about +by the progress of science, she presumed to define its boundaries, and +prescribe limits to its authority. Still more, she undertook to denounce +modern civilization. + +These measures were contemplated soon after the return of his Holiness +from Gaeta in 1848, and were undertaken by the advice of the Jesuits, +who, lingering in the hope that God would work the impossible, supposed +that the papacy, in its old age, might be reinvigorated. The organ of +the Curia proclaimed the absolute independence of the Church as regards +the state; the dependence of the bishops on the pope; of the diocesan +clergy on the bishops; the obligation of the Protestants to abandon +their atheism, and return to the fold; the absolute condemnation of all +kinds of toleration. In December, 1854, in an assembly of bishops, the +pope had proclaimed the dogma of the immaculate conception. Ten years +subsequently he put forth the celebrated Encyclical Letter and the +Syllabus. + +The Encyclical Letter is dated December 8, 1864. It was drawn up by +learned ecclesiastics, and subsequently debated at the Congregation of +the Holy Office, then forwarded to prelates, and finally gone over by +the pope and cardinals. + +ENCYCLICAL LETTER AND SYLLABUS. Many of the clergy objected to its +condemnation of modern civilization. Some of the cardinals were +reluctant to concur in it. The Catholic press accepted it, not, however, +without misgivings and regrets. The Protestant governments put no +obstacle in its way; the Catholic were embarrassed by it. France allowed +the publication only of that portion proclaiming the jubilee; Austria +and Italy permitted its introduction, but withheld their approval. +The political press and legislatures of Catholic countries gave it an +unfavorable reception. Many deplored it as likely to widen the breach +between the Church and modern society. The Italian press regarded it as +determining a war, without truce or armistice, between the papacy and +modern civilization. Even in Spain there were journals that regretted +"the obstinacy and blindness of the court of Rome, in branding and +condemning modern civilization." + +It denounces that "most pernicious and insane opinion, that liberty of +conscience and of worship is the right of every man, and that this right +ought, in every well-governed state, to be proclaimed and asserted by +law; and that the will of the people, manifested by public opinion (as +it is called), or by other means, constitutes a supreme law, independent +of all divine and human rights." It denies the right of parents to +educate their children outside the Catholic Church. It denounces "the +impudence" of those who presume to subordinate the authority of the +Church and of the Apostolic See, "conferred upon it by Christ our Lord, +to the judgment of the civil authority." His Holiness commends, to +the venerable brothers to whom the Encyclical is addressed, incessant +prayer, and, "in order that God may accede the more easily to our and +your prayers, let us employ in all confidence, as our mediatrix with +him, the Virgin Mary, mother of God, who sits as a queen upon the +right hand of her only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in a golden +vestment, clothed around with various adornments. There is nothing she +cannot obtain from him." + +CONVOCATION OF THE COUNCIL. Plainly, the principle now avowed by the +papacy must bring it into collision even with governments which had +heretofore maintained amicable relations with it. Great dissatisfaction +was manifested by Russia, and the incidents that ensued drew forth from +his Holiness an allocution (November, 1866) condemnatory of the course +of that government. To this, Russia replied, by declaring the Concordat +of 1867 abrogated. + +Undeterred by the result of the battle of Sadowa (July, 1866), though +it was plain that the political condition of Europe was now profoundly +affected, and especially the relations of the papacy, the pope delivered +an allocution (June 27, 1867), confirming the Encyclical and Syllabus. +He announced his intention of convoking an Oecumenical Council. + +Accordingly, as we have already mentioned, in the following year (June +29, 1868), a bull was issued convoking that Council. Misunderstandings, +however, had now sprung up with Austria. The Austrian Reichsrath +had adopted laws introducing equality of civil rights for all the +inhabitants of the empire, and restricting the influence of the Church. +This produced on the part of the papal government an expostulation. +Acting as Russia had done, the Austrian Government found it necessary to +abrogate the Concordat of 1855. + +In France, as above stated, the publication of the entire Syllabus was +not permitted; but Prussia, desirous of keeping on good terms with the +papacy, did not disallow it. The exacting disposition of the papacy +increased. It was openly declared that the faithful must now sacrifice +to the Church, property, life, and even their intellectual convictions. +The Protestants and the Greeks were invited to tender their submission. + +THE VATICAN COUNCIL. On the appointed day, the Council opened. Its +objects were, to translate the Syllabus into practice, to establish the +dogma of papal infallibility, and define the relations of religion to +science. Every preparation had been made that the points determined on +should be carried. The bishops were informed that they were coming to +Rome not to deliberate, but to sanction decrees previously made by +an infallible pope. No idea was entertained of any such thing as +free discussion. The minutes of the meetings were not permitted to be +inspected; the prelates of the opposition were hardly allowed to speak. +On January 22, 1870, a petition, requesting that the infallibility of +the pope should be defined, was presented; an opposition petition of the +minority was offered. Hereupon, the deliberations of the minority were +forbidden, and their publications prohibited. And, though the Curia had +provided a compact majority, it was found expedient to issue an order +that to carry any proposition it was not necessary that the vote should +be near unanimity, a simple majority sufficed. The remonstrances of the +minority were altogether unheeded. + +As the Council pressed forward to its object, foreign authorities +became alarmed at its reckless determination. A petition drawn up by the +Archbishop of Vienna, and signed by several cardinals and archbishops, +entreated his Holiness not to submit the dogma of infallibility for +consideration, "because the Church has to sustain at present a struggle +unknown in former times, against men who oppose religion itself as +an institution baneful to human nature, and that it is inopportune +to impose upon Catholic nations, led into temptation by so many +machinations, more dogmas than the Council of Trent proclaimed." It +added that "the definition demanded would furnish fresh arms to +the enemies of religion, to excite against the Catholic Church the +resentment of men avowedly the best." The Austrian prime-minister +addressed a protest to the papal government, warning it against any +steps that might lead to encroachments on the rights of Austria. The +French Government also addressed a note, suggesting that a French bishop +should explain to the Council the condition and the rights of France. To +this the papal government replied that a bishop could not reconcile the +double duties of an ambassador and a Father of the Council. Hereupon, +the French Government, in a very respectful note, remarked that, +to prevent ultra opinions from becoming dogmas, it reckoned on the +moderation of the bishops, and the prudence of the Holy Father; and, +to defend its civil and political laws against the encroachments of the +theocracy, it had counted on public reason and the patriotism of French +Catholics. In these remonstrances the North-German Confederation joined, +seriously pressing them on the consideration of the papal government. + +On April 23d, Von Arnim, the Prussian embassador, united with Daru, the +French minister, in suggesting to the Curia the inexpediency of reviving +mediaeval ideas. The minority bishops, thus encouraged, demanded now +that the relations of the spiritual to the secular power should be +determined before the pope's infallibility was discussed, and that it +should be settled whether Christ had conferred on St. Peter and his +successors a power over kings and emperors. + +INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE. No regard was paid to this, not even delay +was consented to. The Jesuits, who were at the bottom of the movement, +carried their measures through the packed assembly with a high hand. The +Council omitted no device to screen itself from popular criticism. Its +proceedings were conducted with the utmost secrecy; all who took part in +them were bound by a solemn oath to observe silence. + +On July 13th, the votes were taken. Of 601 votes, 451 were affirmative. +Under the majority rule, the measure was pronounced carried, and, five +days subsequently, the pope proclaimed the dogma of his infallibility. +It has often been remarked that this was the day on which the French +declared war against Prussia. Eight days afterward the French troops +were withdrawn from Rome. Perhaps both the statesman and the philosopher +will admit that an infallible pope would be a great harmonizing element, +if only common-sense could acknowledge him. + +Hereupon, the King of Italy addressed an autograph letter to the pope, +setting forth in very respectful terms the necessity that his troops +should advance and occupy positions "indispensable to the security of +his Holiness, and the maintenance of order;" that, while satisfying +the national aspirations, the chief of Catholicity, surrounded by the +devotion of the Italian populations, "might preserve on the banks of the +Tiber a glorious seat, independent of all human sovereignty." + +To this his Holiness replied in a brief and caustic letter: "I give +thanks to God, who has permitted your majesty to fill the last days of +my life with bitterness. For the rest, I cannot grant certain requests, +nor conform with certain principles contained in your letter. Again, I +call upon God, and into his hands commit my cause, which is his cause. +I pray God to grant your majesty many graces, to free you from dangers, +and to dispense to you his mercy which you so much need." + +THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT. The Italian troops met with but little +resistance. They occupied Rome on September 20, 1870. A manifesto was +issued, setting forth the details of a plebiscitum, the vote to be by +ballot, the question, "the unification of Italy." Its result showed how +completely the popular mind in Italy is emancipated from theology. In +the Roman provinces the number of votes on the lists was 167,548; the +number who voted, 135,291; the number who voted for annexation, 133,681; +the number who voted against it, 1,507; votes annulled, 103. The +Parliament of Italy ratified the vote of the Roman people for annexation +by a vote of 239 to 20. A royal decree now announced the annexation of +the Papal States to the kingdom of Italy, and a manifesto was issued +indicating the details of the arrangement. It declared that "by these +concessions the Italian Government seeks to prove to Europe that Italy +respects the sovereignty of the pope in conformity with the principle of +a free Church in a free state." + +AFFAIRS IN PRUSSIA. In the Prusso-Austrian War it had been the hope of +the papacy, to restore the German Empire under Austria, and make +Germany a Catholic nation. In the Franco-German War the French expected +ultramontane sympathies in Germany. No means were spared to excite +Catholic sentiment against the Protestants. No vilification was spared. +They were spoken of as atheists; they were declared incapable of being +honest men; their sects were pointed out as indicating that their +secession was in a state of dissolution. "The followers of Luther are +the most abandoned men in all Europe." Even the pope himself, presuming +that the whole world had forgotten all history, did not hesitate to say, +"Let the German people understand that no other Church but that of Rome +is the Church of freedom and progress." + +Meantime, among the clergy of Germany a party was organized to +remonstrate against, and even resist, the papal usurpation. It protested +against "a man being placed on the throne of God," against a vice-God +of any kind, nor would it yield its scientific convictions to +ecclesiastical authority. Some did not hesitate to accuse the +pope himself of being a heretic. Against these insubordinates +excommunications began to be fulminated, and at length it was demanded +that certain professors and teachers should be removed from their +offices, and infallibilists substituted. With this demand the Prussian +Government declined to comply. + +The Prussian Government had earnestly desired to remain on amicable +terms with the papacy; it had no wish to enter on a theological quarrel; +but gradually the conviction was forced upon it that the question was +not a religious but a political one--whether the power of the state +should be used against the state. A teacher in a gymnasium had been +excommunicated; the government, on being required to dismiss him, +refused. The Church authorities denounced this as an attack upon faith. +The emperor sustained his minister. The organ of the infallible party +threatened the emperor with the opposition of all good Catholics, and +told him that, in a contention with the pope, systems of government can +and must change. It was now plain to every one that the question had +become, "Who is to be master in the state, the government or the Roman +Church? It is plainly impossible for men to live under two governments, +one of which declares to be wrong what the other commands. If the +government will not submit to the Roman Church, the two are enemies." A +conflict was thus forced upon Prussia by Rome--a conflict in which the +latter, impelled by her antagonism to modern civilization, is clearly +the aggressor. + +ACTION OF THE PRUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. The government, now recognizing its +antagonist, defended itself by abolishing the Catholic department in +the ministry of Public Worship. This was about midsummer, 1871. In +the following November the Imperial Parliament passed a law that +ecclesiastics abusing their office, to the disturbance of the public +peace, should be criminally punished. And, guided by the principle that +the future belongs to him to whom the school belongs, a movement arose +for the purpose of separating the schools from the Church. + +THE CHURCH A POLITICAL POWER. The Jesuit party was extending and +strengthening an organization all over Germany, based on the principle +that state legislation in ecclesiastical matters is not binding. Here +was an act of open insurrection. Could the government allow itself to be +intimidated? The Bishop of Ermeland declared that he would not obey the +laws of the state if they touched the Church. The government stopped the +payment of his salary; and, perceiving that there could be no peace +so long as the Jesuits were permitted to remain in the country, their +expulsion was resolved on, and carried into effect. At the close of +1872 his Holiness delivered an allocution, in which he touched on the +"persecution of the Church in the German Empire," and asserted that the +Church alone has a right to fix the limits between its domain and that +of the state--a dangerous and inadmissible principle, since under the +term morals the Church comprises all the relations of men to each other, +and asserts that whatever does not assist her oppresses her. Hereupon, a +few days subsequently (January 9, 1873), four laws were brought forward +by the government: 1. Regulating the means by which a person might +sever his connection with the Church; 2. Restricting the Church in the +exercise of ecclesiastical punishments; 3. Regulating the ecclesiastical +power of discipline, forbidding bodily chastisement, regulating fines +and banishments granting the privilege of an appeal to the Royal Court +of Justice for Ecclesiastical Affairs, the decision of which is final; +4. Ordaining the preliminary education and appointment of priests. They +must have had a satisfactory education, passed a public examination +conducted by the state, and have a knowledge of philosophy, history, +and German literature. Institutions refusing to be superintended by the +state are to be closed. + +These laws demonstrate that Germany is resolved that she will no longer +be dictated to nor embarrassed by a few Italian noble families; that she +will be master of her own house. She sees in the conflict, not an affair +of religion or of conscience, but a struggle between the sovereignty +of state legislation and the sovereignty of the Church. She treats the +papacy not in the aspect of a religious, but of a political power, and +is resolved that the declaration of the Prussian Constitution shall be +maintained, that "the exercise of religious freedom must not interfere +with the duties of a citizen toward the community and the state." + +DUAL GOVERNMENT IN EUROPE. With truth it is affirmed that the papacy is +administered not oecumenically, not as a universal Church, for all +the nations, but for the benefit of some Italian families. Look at its +composition! It consists of pope, cardinal bishops, cardinal deacons, +who at the present moment are all Italians; cardinal priests, nearly all +Italians; ministers and secretaries of the Sacred Congregation in Rome, +all Italians. France has not given a pope since the middle ages. It +is the same with Austria, Portugal, Spain. In spite of all attempts to +change this system of exclusion, to open the dignities of the Church to +all Catholicism, no foreigner can reach the holy chair. It is recognized +that the Church is a domain given by God to the princely Italian +families. Of fifty-five members of the present College of Cardinals, +forty are Italians--that is, thirty-two beyond their proper share. + +The stumbling-block to the progress of Europe has been its dual system +of government. So long as every nation had two sovereigns, a temporal +one at home and a spiritual one in a foreign land--there being different +temporal masters in different nations, but only one foreign master +for all, the pontiff at Rome--how was it possible that history should +present us with any thing more than a narrative of the strifes of these +rival powers? Whoever will reflect on this state of things will see +how it is that those nations which have shaken off the dual form of +government are those which have made the greatest advance. He will +discern what is the cause of the paralysis which has befallen France. On +one hand she wishes to be the leader of Europe, on the other she clings +to a dead past. For the sake of propitiating her ignorant classes, she +enters upon lines of policy which her intelligence must condemn. So +evenly balanced are the two sovereignties under which she lives, that +sometimes one, sometimes the other, prevails; and not unfrequently the +one uses the other as an engine for the accomplishment of its ends. + +INTENTIONS OF THE POPE. But this dual system approaches its close. To +the northern nations, less imaginative and less superstitious, it had +long ago become intolerable; they rejected it summarily at the epoch of +the Reformation, notwithstanding the protestations and pretensions +of Rome, Russia, happier than the rest, has never acknowledged the +influence of any foreign spiritual power. She gloried in her attachment +to the ancient Greek rite, and saw in the papacy nothing more than a +troublesome dissenter from the primitive faith. In America the temporal +and the spiritual have been absolutely divorced--the latter is not +permitted to have any thing to do with affairs of state, though in all +other respects liberty is conceded to it. The condition of the New +World also satisfies us that both forms of Christianity, Catholic and +Protestant, have lost their expansive power; neither can pass beyond its +long-established boundary-line--the Catholic republics remain Catholic, +the Protestant Protestant. And among the latter the disposition to +sectarian isolation is disappearing; persons of different denominations +consort without hesitation together. They gather their current opinions +from newspapers, not from the Church. + +Pius IX., in the movements we have been considering, has had two objects +in view: 1. The more thorough centralization of the papacy, with a +spiritual autocrat assuming the prerogatives of God at its head; 2. +Control over the intellectual development of the nations professing +Christianity. + +The logical consequence of the former of these is political +intervention. He insists that in all cases the temporal must subordinate +itself to the spiritual power; all laws inconsistent with the interests +of the Church must be repealed. They are not binding on the faithful. +In the preceding pages I have briefly related some of the complications +that have already occurred in the attempt to maintain this policy. + +THE SYLLABUS. I now come to the consideration of the manner in which the +papacy proposes to establish its intellectual control; how it defines +its relation to its antagonist, Science, and, seeking a restoration +of the mediaeval condition, opposes modern civilization, and denounces +modern society. + +The Encyclical and Syllabus present the principles which it was the +object of the Vatican Council to carry into practical effect. The +Syllabus stigmatizes pantheism, naturalism, and absolute rationalism, +denouncing such opinions as that God is the world; that there is no God +other than Nature; that theological matters must be treated in the same +manner as philosophical ones, that the methods and principles by which +the old scholastic doctors cultivated theology are no longer suitable +to the demands of the age and the progress of science; that every man +is free to embrace and profess the religion he may believe to be true, +guided by the light of his reason; that it appertains to the civil +power to define what are the rights and limits in which the Church +may exercise authority; that the Church has not the right of availing +herself of force or any direct or indirect temporal power; that the +Church ought to be separated from the state and the state from the +Church; that it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion shall +be held as the only religion of the state, to the exclusion of all other +modes of worship; that persons coming to reside in Catholic countries +have a right to the public exercise of their own worship; that the +Roman pontiff can and ought to reconcile himself to, and agree with, the +progress of modern civilization. The Syllabus claims the right of the +Church to control public schools, and denies the right of the state in +that respect; it claims the control over marriage and divorce. + +Such of these principles as the Council found expedient at present to +formularize, were set forth by it in "The Dogmatic Constitution of +the Catholic Faith." The essential points of this constitution, more +especially as regards the relations of religion to science, we have now +to examine. It will be understood that the following does not present +the entire document, but only an abstract of what appear to be its more +important parts. + +CONSTITUTION OF CATHOLIC FAITH. This definition opens with a severe +review of the principles and consequences of the Protestant Reformation: + +"The rejection of the divine authority of the Church to teach, and the +subjection of all things belonging to religion to the judgment of each +individual, have led to the production of many sects, and, as these +differed and disputed with each other, all belief in Christ was +overthrown in the minds of not a few, and the Holy Scriptures began to +be counted as myths and fables. Christianity has been rejected, and +the reign of mere Reason as they call it, or Nature, substituted; many +falling into the abyss of pantheism, materialism, and atheism, and, +repudiating the reasoning nature of man, and every rule of right and +wrong, they are laboring to overthrow the very foundations of human +society. As this impious heresy is spreading everywhere, not a few +Catholics have been inveigled by it. They have confounded human science +and divine faith. + +"But the Church, the Mother and Mistress of nations, is ever ready to +strengthen the weak, to take to her bosom those that return, and carry +them on to better things. And, now the bishops of the whole world +being gathered together in this Oecumenical Council, and the Holy Ghost +sitting therein, and judging with us, we have determined to declare from +this chair of St. Peter the saving doctrine of Christ, and proscribe and +condemn the opposing errors. + +"OF GOD, THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS.--The Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman +Church believes that there is one true and living God, Creator and +Lord of Heaven and Earth, Almighty, Eternal, Immense, Incomprehensible, +Infinite in understanding and will, and in all perfection. He is +distinct from the world. Of his own most free counsel he made alike out +of nothing two created creatures, a spiritual and a temporal, angelic +and earthly. Afterward he made the human nature, composed of both. +Moreover, God by his providence protects and governs all things, +reaching from end to end mightily, and ordering all things harmoniously. +Every thing is open to his eyes, even things that come to pass by the +free action of his creatures." + +"OF REVELATION.--The Holy Mother Church holds that God can be known with +certainty by the natural light of human reason, but that it has also +pleased him to reveal himself and the eternal decrees of his will in a +supernatural way. This supernatural revelation, as declared by the +Holy Council of Trent, is contained in the books of the Old and New +Testament, as enumerated in the decrees of that Council, and as are to +be had in the old Vulgate Latin edition. These are sacred because they +were written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. They have God for +their author, and as such have been delivered to the Church. + +"And, in order to restrain restless spirits, who may give erroneous +explanations, it is decreed--renewing the decision of the Council of +Trent--that no one may interpret the sacred Scriptures contrary to the +sense in which they are interpreted by Holy Mother Church, to whom such +interpretation belongs." + +"OF FAITH.--Inasmuch as man depends on God as his Lord, and created +reason is wholly subject to uncreated truth, he is bound when God makes +a revelation to obey it by faith. This faith is a supernatural virtue, +and the beginning of man's salvation who believes revealed things to +be true, not for their intrinsic truth as seen by the natural light +of reason, but for the authority of God in revealing them. But, +nevertheless that faith might be agreeable to reason, God willed to +join miracles and prophecies, which, showing forth his omnipotence and +knowledge, are proofs suited to the understanding of all. Such we have +in Moses and the prophets, and above all in Christ. Now, all those +things are to be believed which are written in the word of God, or +handed down by tradition, which the Church by her teaching has proposed +for belief. + +"No one can be justified without this faith, nor shall any one, unless +he persevere therein to the end, attain everlasting life. Hence God, +through his only-begotten Son, has established the Church as the +guardian and teacher of his revealed word. For only to the Catholic +Church do all those signs belong which make evident the credibility of +the Christian faith. Nay, more, the very Church herself, in view of +her wonderful propagation, her eminent holiness, her exhaustless +fruitfulness in all that is good, her Catholic unity, her unshaken +stability, offers a great and evident claim to belief, and an undeniable +proof of her divine mission. Thus the Church shows to her children that +the faith they hold rests on a most solid foundation. Wherefore, totally +unlike is the condition of those who, by the heavenly gift of faith, +have embraced the Catholic truth, and of those who, led by human +opinions, are following, a false religion." + +"OF FAITH AND REASON.--Moreover, the Catholic Church has ever held and +now holds that there exists a twofold order of knowledge, each of which +is distinct from the other, both as to its principle and its object. As +to its principle, because in the one we know by natural reason, in the +other by divine faith; as to the object, because, besides those things +which our natural reason can attain, there are proposed to our belief +mysteries hidden in God, which, unless by him revealed, cannot come to +our knowledge. + +"Reason, indeed, enlightened by faith, and seeking, with diligence and +godly sobriety, may, by God's gift, come to some understanding, limited +in degree, but most wholesome in its effects, of mysteries, both from +the analogy of things which are naturally known and from the connection +of the mysteries themselves with one another and with man's last end. +But never can reason be rendered capable of thoroughly understanding +mysteries as it does those truths which form its proper object. For +God's mysteries, in their very nature, so far surpass the reach of +created intellect, that, even when taught by revelation and received by +faith, they remain covered by faith itself, as by a veil, and shrouded, +as it were, in darkness as long as in this mortal life. + +"But, although faith be above reason, there never can be a real +disagreement between them, since the same God who reveals mysteries and +infuses faith has given man's soul the light of reason, and God cannot +deny himself, nor can one truth ever contradict another. Wherefore the +empty shadow of such contradiction arises chiefly from this, that either +the doctrines of faith are not understood and set forth as the Church +really holds them, or that the vain devices and opinions of men are +mistaken for the dictates of reason. We therefore pronounce false every +assertion which is contrary to the enlightened truth of faith. Moreover, +the Church, which, together with her apostolic office of teaching, +is charged also with the guardianship of the deposits of faith, holds +likewise from God the right and the duty to condemn 'knowledge, falsely +so called,' 'lest any man be cheated by philosophy and vain deceit.' +Hence all the Christian faithful are not only forbidden to defend, as +legitimate conclusions of science, those opinions which are known to +be contrary to the doctrine of faith, especially when condemned by the +Church, but are rather absolutely bound to hold them for errors wearing +the deceitful appearance of truth." + +THE VATICAN ANATHEMAS. "Not only is it impossible for faith and reason +ever to contradict each other, but they rather afford each other mutual +assistance. For right reason establishes the foundation of faith, and, +by the aid of its light, cultivates the science of divine things; and +faith, on the other hand, frees and preserves reason from errors, and +enriches it with knowledge of many kinds. So far, then, is the Church +from opposing the culture of human arts and sciences, that she rather +aids and promotes it in many ways. For she is not ignorant of nor does +she despise the advantages which flow from them to the life of man; on +the contrary, she acknowledges that, as they sprang from God, the Lord +of knowledge, so, if they be rightly pursued, they will, through the aid +of his grace, lead to God. Nor does she forbid any of those sciences +the use of its own principles and its own method within its own proper +sphere; but, recognizing this reasonable freedom, she takes care that +they may not, by contradicting God's teaching, fall into errors, or, +overstepping the due limits, invade or throw into confusion the domain +of faith. + +"For the doctrine of faith revealed by God has not been proposed, like +some philosophical discovery, to be made perfect by human ingenuity, but +it has been delivered to the spouse of Christ as a divine deposit, to be +faithfully guarded and unerringly set forth. Hence, all tenets of holy +faith are to be explained always according to the sense and meaning of +the Church; nor is it ever lawful to depart therefrom under pretense or +color of a more enlightened explanation. Therefore, as generations and +centuries roll on, let the understanding, knowledge, and wisdom of each +and every one, of individuals and of the whole Church, grow apace and +increase exceedingly, yet only in its kind; that is to say retaining +pure and inviolate the sense and meaning and belief of the same +doctrine." + +Among other canons the following were promulgated. + +"Let him be anathema-- + +"Who denies the one true God, Creator and Lord of all things, visible +and invisible. + +"Who unblushingly affirms that, besides matter, nothing else exists. + +"Who says that the substance or essence of God, and of all things, is +one and the same. + +"Who says that finite things, both corporeal and spiritual, or at least +spiritual things, are emanations of the divine substance; or that the +divine essence, by manifestation or development of itself, becomes all +things. + +"Who does not acknowledge that the world and all things which it +contains were produced by God out of nothing. + +"Who shall say that man can and ought to, of his own efforts, by means +of, constant progress, arrive, at last, at the possession of all truth +and goodness. + +"Who shall refuse to receive, for sacred and canonical, the books of +Holy Scripture in their integrity, with all their parts, according as +they were enumerated by the holy Council of Trent, or shall deny that +they are Inspired by God. + +"Who shall say that human reason is in such wise independent, that faith +cannot be demanded of it by God. + +"Who shall say that divine revelation cannot be rendered credible by +external evidences. + +"Who shall say that no miracles can be wrought, or that they can never +be known with certainty, and that the divine origin of Christianity +cannot be proved by them. + +"Who shall say that divine revelation includes no mysteries, but that +all the dogmas of faith may be understood and demonstrated by reason +duly cultivated. + +"Who shall say that human sciences ought to be pursued in such a spirit +of freedom that one may be allowed to hold as true their assertions, +even when opposed to revealed doctrine. + +"Who shall say that it may at any time come to pass, in the progress +of science, that the doctrines set forth by the Church must be taken in +another sense than that in which the Church has ever received and yet +receives them." + +THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. The extraordinary and, indeed, it may be said, +arrogant assumptions contained in these decisions were far from being +received with satisfaction by educated Catholics. On the part of the +German universities there was resistance; and, when, at the close of the +year, the decrees of the Vatican Council were generally acquiesced in, +it was not through conviction of their truth, but through a disciplinary +sense of obedience. + +By many of the most pious Catholics the entire movement and the results +to which it had led were looked upon with the sincerest sorrow. Pere +Hyacinthe, in a letter to the superior of his order, says: "I protest +against the divorce, as impious as it is insensate, sought to be +effected between the Church, which is our eternal mother, and the +society of the nineteenth century, of which we are the temporal +children, and toward which we have also duties and regards. It is my +most profound conviction that, if France in particular, and the Latin +race in general, are given up to social, moral, and religious anarchy, +the principal cause undoubtedly is not Catholicism itself, but the +manner in which Catholicism has for a long time been understood and +practised." + +Notwithstanding his infallibility, which implies omniscience, his +Holiness did not foresee the issue of the Franco-Prussian War. Had the +prophetical talent been vouchsafed to him, he would have detected the +inopportuneness of the acts of his Council. His request to the King of +Prussia for military aid to support his temporal power was denied. The +excommunicated King of Italy, as we have seen, took possession of Rome. +A bitter papal encyclical, strangely contrasting with the courteous +politeness of modern state-papers, was issued, November 1, 1870, +denouncing the acts of the Piedmontese court, "which had followed the +counsel of the sects of perdition." In this his Holiness declares that +he is in captivity, and that he will have no agreement with Belial. He +pronounces the greater excommunication, with censures and penalties, +against his antagonists, and prays for "the intercession of the +immaculate Virgin Mary, mother of God, and that of the blessed apostles +Peter and Paul." + +Of the various Protestant denominations, several had associated +themselves, for the purposes of consultation, under the designation of +the Evangelical Alliance. Their last meeting was held in New York, in +the autumn of 1873. Though, in this meeting, were gathered together many +pious representatives of the Reformed Churches, European and American, +it had not the prestige nor the authority of the Great Council that had +just previously closed its sessions in St. Peters, at Rome. It could +not appeal to an unbroken ancestry of far more than a thousand years; +it could not speak with the authority of an equal and, indeed, of +a superior to emperors and kings. While profound intelligence and a +statesmanlike, worldly wisdom gleamed in every thing that the Vatican +Council had done, the Evangelical Alliance met without a clear and +precise view of its objects, without any definitely-marked intentions. +Its wish was to draw into closer union the various Protestant Churches, +but it had no well-grounded hope of accomplishing that desirable result. +It illustrated the necessary working, of the principle on which +those Churches originated. They were founded on dissent and exist by +separation. + +Yet in the action of the Evangelical Alliance may be discerned +certain very impressive facts. It averted its eyes from its ancient +antagonist--that antagonist which had so recently loaded the Reformation +with contumely and denunciation--it fastened them, as the Vatican +Council had done, on Science. Under that dreaded name there stood before +it what seemed to be a spectre of uncertain form, of hourly-dilating +proportions, of threatening aspect. Sometimes the Alliance addressed +this stupendous apparition in words of courtesy, sometimes in tones of +denunciation. + +THE VATICAN CONSTITUTION CRITICISED. The Alliance failed to perceive +that modern Science is the legitimate sister--indeed, it is the +twin-sister--of the Reformation. They were begotten together and +were born together. It failed to perceive that, though there is an +impossibility of bringing into coalition the many conflicting sects, +they may all find in science a point of connection; and that, not a +distrustful attitude toward it, but a cordial union with it, is their +true policy. + +It remains now to offer some reflections on this "Constitution of the +Catholic Faith," as defined by the Vatican Council. + +For objects to present themselves under identical relations to different +persons, they must be seen from the same point of view. In the instance +we are now considering, the religious man has his own especial station; +the scientific man another, a very different one. It is not for either +to demand that his co-observer shall admit that the panorama of facts +spread before them is actually such as it appears to him to be. + +The Dogmatic Constitution insists on the admission of this postulate, +that the Roman Church acts under a divine commission, specially and +exclusively delivered to it. In virtue of that great authority, it +requires of all men the surrender of their intellectual convictions, and +of all nations the subordination of their civil power. + +But a claim so imposing must be substantiated by the most decisive and +unimpeachable credentials; proofs, not only of an implied and indirect +kind, but clear, emphatic, and to the point; proofs that it would be +impossible to call in question. + +The Church, however, declares, that she will not submit her claim to +the arbitrament of human reason; she demands that it shall be at once +conceded as an article of faith. + +If this be admitted, all bar requirements must necessarily be assented +to, no matter how exorbitant they may be. + +With strange inconsistency the Dogmatic Constitution deprecates reason, +affirming that it cannot determine the points under consideration, and +yet submits to it arguments for adjudication. In truth, it might be said +that the whole composition is a passionate plea to Reason to stultify +itself in favor of Roman Christianity. + +With points of view so widely asunder, it is impossible that Religion +and Science should accord in their representation of things. Nor can +any conclusion in common be reached, except by an appeal to Reason as a +supreme and final judge. + +There are many religions in the world, some of them of more venerable +antiquity, some having far more numerous adherents, than the Roman. How +can a selection be made among them, except by such an appeal to Reason? +Religion and Science must both submit their claims and their dissensions +to its arbitrament. + +Against this the Vatican Council protests. It exalts faith to a +superiority over reason; it says that they constitute two separate +orders of knowledge, having respectively for their objects mysteries +and facts. Faith deals with mysteries, reason with facts. Asserting the +dominating superiority of faith, it tries to satisfy the reluctant mind +with miracles and prophecies. + +On the other hand, Science turns away from the incomprehensible, and +rests herself on the maxim of Wiclif: "God forceth not a man to believe +that which he cannot understand." In the absence of an exhibition of +satisfactory credentials on the part of her opponent, she considers +whether there be in the history of the papacy, and in the biography of +the popes, any thing that can adequately sustain a divine commission, +any thing that can justify pontifical infallibility, or extort that +unhesitating obedience which is due to the vice-God. + +One of the most striking and yet contradictory features of the Dogmatic +Constitution is, the reluctant homage it pays to the intelligence of +man. It presents a definition of the philosophical basis of Catholicism, +but it veils from view the repulsive features of the vulgar faith. It +sets forth the attributes of God, the Creator of all things, in words +fitly designating its sublime conception, but it abstains from affirming +that this most awful and eternal Being was born of an earthly mother, +the wife of a Jewish carpenter, who has since become the queen of +heaven. The God it depicts is not the God of the middle ages, seated +on his golden throne, surrounded by choirs of angels, but the God of +Philosophy. The Constitution has nothing to say about the Trinity, +nothing of the worship due to the Virgin--on the contrary, that is by +implication sternly condemned; nothing about transubstantiation, or +the making of the flesh and blood of God by the priest; nothing of the +invocation of the saints. It bears on its face subordination to the +thought of the age, the impress of the intellectual progress of man. + +THE PASSAGE OF EUROPE TO LLAMAISM. Such being the exposition rendered to +us respecting the attributes of God, it next instructs us as to his +mode of government of the world. The Church asserts that she possesses a +supernatural control over all material and moral events. The priesthood, +in its various grades, can determine issues of the future, either by the +exercise of its inherent attributes, or by its influential invocation of +the celestial powers. To the sovereign pontiff it has been given to bind +or loose at his pleasure. It is unlawful to appeal from his judgments +to an Oecumenical Council, as if to an earthly arbiter superior to him. +Powers such as these are consistent with arbitrary rule, but they are +inconsistent with the government of the world by immutable law. Hence +the Dogmatic Constitution plants itself firmly in behalf of incessant +providential interventions; it will not for a moment admit that in +natural things there is an irresistible sequence of events, or in the +affairs of men an unavoidable course of acts. + +But has not the order of civilization in all parts of the world been the +same? Does not the growth of society resemble individual growth? Do not +both exhibit to us phases of youth, of maturity, of decrepitude? To +a person who has carefully considered the progressive civilization of +groups of men in regions of the earth far apart, who has observed the +identical forms under which that advancing civilization has manifested +itself, is it not clear that the procedure is determined by law? The +religious ideas of the Incas of Peru and the emperors of Mexico, and the +ceremonials of their court-life, were the same as those in Europe--the +same as those in Asia. The current of thought had been the same. A swarm +of bees carried to some distant land will build its combs and regulate +its social institutions as other unknown swarms would do, and so with +separated and disconnected swarms of men. So invariable is this sequence +of thought and act, that there are philosophers who, transferring the +past example offered by Asiatic history to the case of Europe, would +not hesitate to sustain the proposition--given a bishop of Rome and some +centuries, and you will have an infallible pope: given an infallible +pope and a little more time, and you will have Llamaism--Llamaism to +which Asia has long, ago attained. + +As to the origin of corporeal and spiritual things, the Dogmatic +Constitution adds a solemn emphasis to its declarations, by +anathematizing all those who hold the doctrine of emanation, or who +believe that visible Nature is only a manifestation of the Divine +Essence. In this its authors had a task of no ordinary difficulty before +them. They must encounter those formidable ideas, whether old or new, +which in our times are so strongly forcing themselves on thoughtful men. +The doctrine of the conservation and correlation of Force yields as its +logical issue the time-worn Oriental emanation theory; the doctrines of +Evolution and Development strike at that of successive creative acts. +The former rests on the fundamental principle that the quantity of +force in the universe is invariable. Though that quantity can neither be +increased nor diminished, the forms under which Force expresses itself +may be transmuted into each other. As yet this doctrine has not received +complete scientific demonstration, but so numerous and so cogent are the +arguments adduced in its behalf, that it stands in an imposing, almost +in an authoritative attitude. Now, the Asiatic theory of emanation and +absorption is seen to be in harmony with this grand idea. It does not +hold that, at the conception of a human being, a soul is created by +God out of nothing and given to it, but that a portion of the already +existing, the divine, the universal intelligence, is imparted, and, when +life is over, this returns to and is absorbed in the general source from +which it originally came. The authors of the Constitution forbid these +ideas to be held, under pain of eternal punishment. + +In like manner they dispose of the doctrines of Evolution and +Development, bluntly insisting that the Church believes in distinct +creative acts. The doctrine that every living form is derived from some +preceding form is scientifically in a much more advanced position than +that concerning Force, and probably may be considered as established, +whatever may become of the additions with which it has recently been +overlaid. + +In her condemnation of the Reformation, the Church carries into effect +her ideas of the subordination of reason to faith. In her eyes the +Reformation is an impious heresy, leading to the abyss of pantheism, +materialism, and atheism, and tending to overthrow the very foundations +of human society. She therefore would restrain those "restless spirits" +who, following Luther, have upheld the "right of every man to interpret +the Scriptures for himself." She asserts that it is a wicked error to +admit Protestants to equal political privileges with Catholics, and that +to coerce them and suppress them is a sacred duty; that it is abominable +to permit them to establish educational institutions. Gregory XVI. +denounced freedom of conscience as an insane folly, and the freedom of +the press a pestilent error, which cannot be sufficiently detested. + +But how is it possible to recognize an inspired and infallible oracle on +the Tiber, when it is remembered that again and again successive popes +have contradicted each other; that popes have denounced councils, and +councils have denounced popes; that the Bible of Sixtus V. had so many +admitted errors--nearly two thousand--that its own authors had to recall +it? How is it possible for the children of the Church to regard as +"delusive errors" the globular form of the earth, her position as a +planet in the solar system, her rotation on her axis, her movement round +the sun? How can they deny that there are antipodes, and other worlds +than ours? How can they believe that the world was made out of nothing, +completed in a week, finished just as we see it now; that it has +undergone no change, but that its parts have worked so indifferently as +to require incessant interventions? + +THE ERRORS OF ECCLESIASTICISM. When Science is thus commanded to +surrender her intellectual convictions, may she not ask the ecclesiastic +to remember the past? The contest respecting the figure of the earth, +and the location of heaven and hell, ended adversely to him. He affirmed +that the earth is an extended plane, and that the sky is a firmament, +the floor of heaven, through which again and again persons have been +seen to ascend. The globular form demonstrated beyond any possibility +of contradiction by astronomical facts, and by the voyage of Magellan's +ship, he then maintained that it is the central body of the universe, +all others being in subordination to it, and it the grand object of +God's regard. Forced from this position, he next affirmed that it is +motionless, the sun and the stars actually revolving, as they apparently +do, around it. The invention of the telescope proved that here again +he was in error. Then he maintained that all the motions of the solar +system are regulated by providential intervention; the "Principia" +of Newton demonstrated that they are due to irresistible law. He then +affirmed that the earth and all the celestial bodies were created about +six thousand years ago, and that in six days the order of Nature was +settled, and plants and animals in their various tribes introduced. +Constrained by the accumulating mass of adverse evidence, he enlarged +his days into periods of indefinite length--only, however, to find that +even this device was inadequate. The six ages, with their six special +creations, could no longer be maintained, when it was discovered that +species, slowly emerged in one age, reached a culmination in a second, +and gradually died out in a third: this overlapping from age to age +would not only have demanded creations, but re-creations also. He +affirmed that there had been a deluge, which covered the whole earth +above the tops of the highest mountains, and that the waters of this +flood were removed by a wind. Correct ideas respecting the dimensions +of the atmosphere, and of the sea, and of the operation of evaporation, +proved how untenable these statements are. Of the progenitors of the +human race, he declared that they had come from their Maker's hand +perfect, both in body and mind, and had subsequently experienced a fall. +He is now considering how best to dispose of the evidence continually +accumulating respecting the savage condition of prehistoric man. + +Is it at all surprising that the number of those who hold the opinions +of the Church in light esteem should so rapidly increase? How can that +be received as a trustworthy guide in the invisible, which falls into so +many errors in the visible? How can that give confidence in the moral, +the spiritual, which has so signally failed in the physical? It is not +possible to dispose of these conflicting facts as "empty shadows," "vain +devices," "fictions coming from knowledge falsely so called," "errors +wearing the deceitful appearance of truth," as the Church stigmatizes +them. On the contrary, they are stern witnesses, bearing emphatic +and unimpeachable testimony against the ecclesiastical claim to +infallibility, and fastening a conviction of ignorance and blindness +upon her. + +Convicted of so many errors, the papacy makes no attempt at explanation. +It ignores the whole matter Nay, more, relying on the efficacy +of audacity, though confronted by these facts, it lays claim to +infallibility. + +SEPARATION OF CATHOLICISM AND CIVILIZATION. But, to the pontiff, no +other rights can be conceded than those he can establish at the bar of +Reason. He cannot claim infallibility in religious affairs, and +decline it in scientific. Infallibility embraces all things. It implies +omniscience. If it holds good for theology, it necessarily holds good +for science. How is it possible to coordinate the infallibility of the +papacy with the well-known errors into which it has fallen? + +Does it not, then, become needful to reject the claim of the papacy +to the employment of coercion in the maintenance of its opinions; to +repudiate utterly the declaration that "the Inquisition is an urgent +necessity in view of the unbelief of the present age," and in the name +of human nature to protest loudly against the ferocity and terrorism of +that institution? Has not conscience inalienable rights? + +An impassable and hourly-widening gulf intervenes between Catholicism +and the spirit of the age. Catholicism insists that blind faith is +superior to reason; that mysteries are of more importance than facts. +She claims to be the sole interpreter of Nature and revelation, the +supreme arbiter of knowledge; she summarily rejects all modern criticism +of the Scriptures, and orders the Bible to be accepted in accordance +with the views of the theologians of Trent; she openly avows her hatred +of free institutions and constitutional systems, and declares that those +are in damnable error who regard the reconciliation of the pope with +modern civilization as either possible or desirable. + +SCIENCE AND PROTESTANTISM. But the spirit of the age demands--is the +human intellect to be subordinated to the Tridentine Fathers, or to the +fancy of illiterate and uncritical persons who wrote in the earlier ages +of the Church? It sees no merit in blind faith, but rather distrusts it. +It looks forward to an improvement in the popular canon of credibility +for a decision between fact and fiction. It does not consider itself +bound to believe fables and falsehoods that have been invented for +ecclesiastical ends. It finds no argument in behalf of their truth, that +traditions and legends have been long-lived; in this respect, those of +the Church are greatly inferior to the fables of paganism. The longevity +of the Church itself is not due to divine protection or intervention, +but to the skill with which it has adapted its policy to existing +circumstances. If antiquity be the criterion of authenticity, the claims +of Buddhism must be respected; it has the superior warrant of many +centuries. There can be no defense of those deliberate falsifications of +history, that concealment of historical facts, of which the Church has +so often taken advantage. In these things the end does not justify the +means. + +Then has it in truth come to this, that Roman Christianity and Science +are recognized by their respective adherents as being absolutely +incompatible; they cannot exist together; one must yield to the other; +mankind must make its choice--it cannot have both. + +SCIENCE AND FAITH. While such is, perhaps, the issue as regards +Catholicism, a reconciliation of the Reformation with Science is not +only possible, but would easily take place, if the Protestant Churches +would only live up to the maxim taught by Luther, and established by so +many years of war. That maxim is, the right of private interpretation of +the Scriptures. It was the foundation of intellectual liberty. But, if +a personal interpretation of the book of Revelation is permissible, +how can it be denied in the case of the book of Nature? In the +misunderstandings that have taken place, we must ever bear in mind +the infirmities of men. The generations that immediately followed +the Reformation may perhaps be excused for not comprehending the full +significance of their cardinal principle, and for not on all occasions +carrying it into effect. When Calvin caused Servetus, to be burnt, he +was animated, not by the principles of the Reformation, but by those +of Catholicism, from which he had not been able to emancipate himself +completely. And when the clergy of influential Protestant confessions +have stigmatized the investigators of Nature as infidels and atheists, +the same may be said. For Catholicism to reconcile itself to Science, +there are formidable, perhaps insuperable obstacles in the way. For +Protestantism to achieve that great result there are not. In the one +case there is a bitter, a mortal animosity to be overcome; in the other, +a friendship, that misunderstandings have alienated, to be restored. + +CIVILIZATION AND RELIGION. But, whatever may be the preparatory +incidents of that great impending intellectual crisis which Christendom +must soon inevitably witness, of this we may rest assured, that the +silent secession from the public faith, which in so ominous a manner +characterizes the present generation, will find at length political +expression. It is not without significance that France reenforces the +ultramontane tendencies of her lower population, by the promotion of +pilgrimages, the perpetration of miracles, the exhibition of celestial +apparitions. Constrained to do this by her destiny, she does it with +a blush. It is not without significance that Germany resolves to rid +herself of the incubus of a dual government, by the exclusion of the +Italian element, and to carry to its completion that Reformation which +three centuries ago she left unfinished. The time approaches when +men must take their choice between quiescent, immobile faith and +ever-advancing Science--faith, with its mediaeval consolations, Science, +which is incessantly scattering its material blessings in the pathway +of life, elevating the lot of man in this world, and unifying the +human race. Its triumphs are solid and enduring. But the glory which +Catholicism might gain from a conflict with material ideas is at the +best only like that of other celestial meteors when they touch the +atmosphere of the earth--transitory and useless. + +Though Guizot's affirmation that the Church has always sided with +despotism is only too true, it must be remembered that in the policy +she follows there is much of political necessity. She is urged on by +the pressure of nineteen centuries. But, if the irresistible indicates +itself in her action, the inevitable manifests itself in her life. For +it is with the papacy as with a man. It has passed through the struggles +of infancy, it has displayed the energies of maturity, and, its work +completed, it must sink into the feebleness and querulousness of old +age. Its youth can never be renewed. The influence of its souvenirs +alone will remain. As pagan Rome threw her departing shadow over the +empire and tinctured all its thoughts, so Christian Rome casts her +parting shadow over Europe. + +INADMISSIBLE CLAIMS OF CATHOLICISM. Will modern civilization consent to +abandon the career of advancement which has given it so much power and +happiness? Will it consent to retrace its steps to the semi-barbarian +ignorance and superstition of the middle ages? Will it submit to the +dictation of a power, which, claiming divine authority, can present +no adequate credentials of its office; a power which kept Europe in a +stagnant condition for many centuries, ferociously suppressing by the +stake and the sword every attempt at progress; a power that is founded +in a cloud of mysteries; that sets itself above reason and common-sense; +that loudly proclaims the hatred it entertains against liberty of +thought and freedom in civil institutions; that professes its intention +of repressing the one and destroying the other whenever it can find the +opportunity; that denounces as most pernicious and insane the opinion +that liberty of conscience and of worship is the right of every man; +that protests against that right being proclaimed and asserted by law in +every well-governed state; that contemptuously repudiates the principle +that the will of the people, manifested by public opinion (as it is +called) or by other means, shall constitute law; that refuses to every +man any title to opinion in matters of religion, but holds that it is +simply his duty to believe what he is told by the Church, and to obey +her commands; that will not permit any temporal government to define +the rights and prescribe limits to the authority of the Church; +that declares it not only may but will resort to force to discipline +disobedient individuals; that invades the sanctify of private life, by +making, at the confessional, the wife and daughters and servants of one +suspected, spies and informers against him; that tries him without an +accuser, and by torture makes him bear witness against himself; that +denies the right of parents to educate their children outside of its own +Church, and insists that to it alone belongs the supervision of domestic +life and the control of marriages and divorces; that denounces "the +impudence" of those who presume to subordinate the authority of the +Church to the civil authority, or who advocate the separation of the +Church from the state; that absolutely repudiates all toleration, and +affirms that the Catholic religion is entitled to be held as the only +religion in every country, to the exclusion of all other modes of +worship; that requires all laws standing in the way of its interests +to be repealed, and, if that be refused, orders all its followers to +disobey them? + +ISSUE OF THE CONFLICT. This power, conscious that it can work no miracle +to serve itself, does not hesitate to disturb society by its intrigues +against governments, and seeks to accomplish its ends by alliances with +despotism. + +Claims such as these mean a revolt against modern civilization, an +intention of destroying it, no matter at what social cost. To submit to +them without resistance, men must be slaves indeed! + +As to the issue of the coming conflict, can any one doubt? Whatever +is resting on fiction and fraud will be overthrown. Institutions that +organize impostures and spread delusions must show what right they have +to exist. Faith must render an account of herself to Reason. Mysteries +must give place to facts. Religion must relinquish that imperious, that +domineering position which she has so long maintained against Science. +There must be absolute freedom for thought. The ecclesiastic must learn +to keep himself within the domain he has chosen, and cease to tyrannize +over the philosopher, who, conscious of his own strength and the purity +of his motives, will bear such interference no longer. What was +written by Esdras near the willow-fringed rivers of Babylon, more than +twenty-three centuries ago, still holds good: "As for Truth it endureth +and is always strong; it liveth and conquereth for evermore." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Conflict Between +Religion and Science, by John William Draper + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE CONFLICT *** + +***** This file should be named 1185.txt or 1185.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/8/1185/ + +Produced by Charles Keller + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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