same through all ages, and in all countries, where she had the power
of physical force. And thus, we believe, it would be to-day, on this
continent, had she now the ascendency here. Daily, in private, are you
denounced by their priests, and minions, as heretics, while it would
seem that no bishop, or priest, of that church, can ascend a rostrum
in any of their cathedrals, without venting his spleen in outspoken or
implied anathemas against all Protestants.
Your daughters, under their special care in their schools and
academies, are taught by the Lady Superiors, and sisters--by
insinuations, if not directly--to believe theirs the only true church
of God on earth. They are told by their confidential associates, that
all who do not believe their faith, and in the Roman Catholic Church,
are held by them as "_heretics_" and, without this belief, need never
hope to get to heaven. Their governesses and teachers are ever wary,
at first, of manifesting, or of exercising a direct influence, as
regards controlling their religious belief, and will tell you, when
you are about to place your daughters under their care, that they
never teach the children of Protestants the Catholic religion, and
yet, by their machinations, adopt the most efficient means of
accomplishing it. They are sure to gain their _confidence_, and, very
soon, with nine out of ten, they have more of this than even the
mother enjoys. When they have gained this, confidence, their task
becomes an easy one, and they know well how to perform it. On each
recurring Sabbath, all who are under their care must attend church,
and they are accompanied by the superiors or teachers, to _their_
church, and there must sit and hear the religion and faith of their
own parents denounced in the boldest terms. They are young and
inexperienced; their minds susceptible of impressions, and these they
receive and nurture with such effect, that long before the period
arrives for them to leave the "Institution," the faith and doctrines
of the "Church of Rome" are firmly ingrafted in their minds; and they
return home fully resolved to be (even if they have not already been)
confirmed by the ordinance of Baptism in that church. Thus, their
religious belief is educated into their minds, and no parental
influence can ever change their views.
"But," say some, "we send our children to their day-school, and hence,
have them under home influence most of the time, and in this way there
is no danger." Let us examine and see whether there is, or is not.
This mode of procedure is one of their organized systems for induction
into your "good graces," so that they may eventually accomplish their
ends. By this seeming open-heartedness, they allay all suspicion, and
overcome any prejudices you may have cherished against their system of
religion. They are all working for the future ascendency of their
church. It must not be a matter of haste; the minds of Protestants,
who are yet in the ascendency, are not prepared to yield all in open
conflict. Hence, they must be patient; must work and wait. Such a
course, on their part, will disarm you of even suspicion, and cause
you to think and speak well of them. This is always their first step.
Soon they will open the doors of their academies to admit your
daughters, where they MUST remain during all the term--save a short
"home visit" now and then, from which they must return on the day, and
even the very hour stated by the "Superior." Have you ever noticed how
_promptly_ your daughter has felt it her duty to obey this command,
and return to that school? Was it ever thus while she was attending a
Protestant school? Think you she would be so mindful of _your_
request; so _anxious_ to leave pleasant society; unwilling to remain
even an hour longer, and return to you and loved ones at home? Nay, I
tell you she would not do it under ordinary circumstances. See now who
already holds the confidence of, and greater influence over your
child!
But see on yonder eminence a Convent, a Monastery, a Nunnery, with its
towering dome, and surrounded by massive walls. There, perhaps, is the
place wherein your young and beautiful daughter will be immured to
spend a weary life in _crucifying_ herself, and doing penance daily
for imaginary sins she has never committed. Thus, shutting herself up
within that living tomb from all the outside world, and the happiness
to be enjoyed in social life; she is as dead to you, and to the world,
as though in her coffin, and in her grave; while the mind is as
obscured as to the true lights and freedom of eternal truth and
salvation, as though reason were dethroned, and she a maniac. This
condition has been brought about by influences brought to bear upon
her mind, commencing with your daughter's first entrance into their
primary schools. Confessions must soon be made to the priest, and, by
his arts, he soon gains the ascendency over, and becomes the arbiter
of the mind and conscience, and more especially is this influence
exerted to this end, if the child is an _orphan_, and is the rightful
inheritor of a valuable estate. For it would seem that to this end do
the ruling powers of that sect devote time, energy, and influence--as
witnessed by so many young females, whose parents left them fortunes,
surrendering all to the church, and taking up a life abode in their
convents.
We do not condemn the poor deluded victims, nor believe they are held
accountable in their delusion. They are honest in their devotions, yet
perform these under false delusions. And when their spirits are
released from this double prison-house, and return to God who gave
them, they will then realize the freedom of the Spirit of God, and how
abundantly it giveth _light_, _life_ and _liberty_. And they will then
also realize that their salvation is alone of God--through his
boundless mercy; and not in anywise through intercession of the
_Priest_.
We warn you to look well to passing events. History so oft repeats
itself, that we can but believe there is danger. Remember that when
Luther--the bold pioneer of Protestantism--stood forth the champion of
Christianity, to his followers there came, from this same source,
persecutions, martyrdoms, and massacres--even a reign of terror and
darkness upon Europe. But it proved a darkness that preceded a dawn;
and although seemingly, at the time, dreadful in its consequences, yet
none can deny but that the world is far better because of his efforts,
than to have slumbered on in ignorance and in sin. From this same
cause, our own continent may be destined to pass through a period like
that of the "dark ages." If so, we trust in God it may come forth from
it cleansed and purified; even as the current of the "lost river,"
that loses itself in the bosom of the "Blue Ridge," where, with a wild
whirl, its turbid waters dash into the resounding cavern, but on the
other side reappear, clear, placid, and beautiful.
We say to all Protestants, remember, that in placing your children
under the care and influence of Catholic teachers, and Priests of that
Church, you lend your aid to obscuring their minds, and, in
accordance to your own belief, shutting out from the eye of faith
God's own eternal truth. They go to men as "intercessors" instead of
to Christ the Lord--the Son of God, who redeemed them with His own
precious blood--who alone can intercede for them. And you also aid in
re-establishing universal sway to the ever-intolerant Romish Church.
The time may come when--driven from the Old World--her central power
will be on this continent: and, erecting here her gorgeous temples
from the estates you leave to your children, the Pope will ascend the
throne of the American Vatican--under and around which will be the
dark dungeons of the Inquisition--and thence thunder forth his
"_Bulls_" and _Anathemas_ against the feeble followers of the blessed
Redeemer. That Church is by far the most intolerant of all the
professed Christian organizations on this globe. Their members are not
even allowed the privilege of attending religious worship anywhere
else than under their own instructions, and we opine, that should any
one of them do so without "dispensation," they are held as having
committed a sin, for which they must soon repair to the Priest, make
confession, do penance, receive absolution from him, and pay the
price.
Behold the avarice of this "whore of Babylon!" Not content with
tribute paid to her--perhaps weekly--through a long lifetime by her
deluded followers, when nature yields to the fiat of the Eternal One,
mortality drops to moulder into dust, and the spirit returns to God
who gave it, so completely are the minds of all her adherents under
the control of the Priests, that they can still lay _penance_ upon the
dead, and demand and obtain _tribute_ from the living offspring.
In closing our remarks upon this subject, we submit, for the
reflection of all Protestant ministers and members in every quarter of
the world, the following, a portion of the Pope's address to the
English clergymen, who presented him an address signed by some
eighteen hundred clergy, April 20th, 1869. After examining the
document closely, following other remarks, he said:
"In the mean time, we must cultivate in a most special manner the
_spirit of unity_, for in that lies our strength, and its want is the
weakness of our adversaries. I have noticed the Protestants are
perpetually appealing to the primitive Church; but when I turn to the
early ages of history, what do I see? Unity! all the more reasonable
because existing undoubtedly in a different state of society from the
present. The Apostles were all of one accord, and one mind. * * * *
Protestants, on the other hand, are disunited; and our strength, in
the difficulties we have to encounter, lies in _perfect union_. * * *
It will be the old story over again. There will be waves and storms
and threatenings on all sides, but we shall be brought safely through
* * * while our _adversaries_ are struggling with the waves."
Let all ponder well these remarks. The philosophy that "in union there
is strength" is a true one. And if all Protestants cannot unite as one
great body and family--because of minor non-essentials in matters of
faith, forms and ceremonies--let all unite in the one great essential,
that all their children, and orphan children of Protestants, shall be
educated in other than Catholic schools. For, in these latter, we hold
that the mind is chained to error and superstition, and the true
lights of God's truth and plan of salvation are obscured. Every parent
and guardian will be held accountable in a coming day, should they
neglect to "train up their children in the way they should go."
* * * * *
Our readers will please pardon us for the digression we have made from
the special subject we have under consideration. Had we not been duly
impressed with the importance and correctness of our views upon the
subject of the freedom and liberty of mind and conscience, and of the
personal accountability of _all_ to God alone, we should not have thus
pursued the theme. We believe firmly in the good _offices_ of a
teaching and advising ministry, but not in anywise where it _trammels
the mind or becomes the arbiter of the conscience_.
* * * * *
Returning to our subject, _viz._, the earlier discoveries of the
science of Astronomy. The intelligence of the world is indebted to Sir
Isaac Newton, who lived during the latter part of the sixteenth
century, for the discovery of the laws of _universal gravitation_. His
discovery, and philosophy, furnished the basis upon which all
subsequent astronomers have worked.
_ATTRACTION, GRAVITATION, &c._
The power of attraction and force of gravitation are the laws which
govern the universe of matter. "The discovery of this law," says Prof.
Olmsted, "made us acquainted with the hidden forces that move the
great machinery of the universe. It furnished the key which unlocks
the inner temple of Nature, and established the science of Astronomy
upon a sure and firm basis. Thus we discover in Nature a tendency of
every portion of matter toward some other. This tendency is called
gravitation. The larger the body, the more powerful the attraction;
and this attraction is always toward the centre. Hence, you may cast
an object of weight into the air, and, when the impelling force you
have given it ceases to force it upward, it falls in a direct line to
the earth." So also may the Chinaman, placed on the opposite side of
the globe, cast one as he deems upward, which is forcing it in an
opposite direction from where you sent yours; yet, when his impelling
force is lost, his too falls back to the earth, each falling toward
the other. This is gravitation, produced by the power of attraction.
Thus we now see this principle made plain to the simplest
comprehension.
_SUNS, STARS, PLANETS, &c._
We come, now, to the contemplation of that which is of far greater
importance to us than all other planets, worlds, stars, and wonders in
the siderial Heavens. This is the Sun, which warms and lights up our
earth, and all the other planets within its sphere.
Says Dr. Child, "There are not a few in this world who habitually
receive God's blessings so much as a matter of course, that they are
scarcely conscious of any active feeling of gratitude in regard to
them. The very regularity and profusion with which these blessings are
showered on all alike, seem to have the effect of deadening the sense
of individual obligation. A general admission of thankfulness may
occasionally be made at church or in the closet, but there is a want
of that abiding consciousness of it, with which we ought to be imbued,
as well as that frequent pondering upon details which, by illustrating
the dependence of every creature upon God, causes the heart to swell
with grateful adoration. Such thoughts never fail to improve our
moral nature by bringing the truth home to us more and more that we
are God's children.
"It would be no easy task for a thankful mind to sum up all the
blessings diffused over our planet by the Sun. It is the mainspring of
animated Nature. Without its genial rays the present system of Earth's
government could not endure, and life itself would soon disappear from
the globe. To it we are indebted for light and warmth--the two
stimulants of vital force--for our food and raiment; for our busy days
and rest-bringing nights, for months and years, and happy alternations
of seasons. Its rays, in short, are intertwined with all our wants and
comforts; they gladden the eye and cheer the heart. Contemplating all
these temporal blessings, the _Psalmist_ exclaims:
"'_I will praise the name of the Lord with a song, and
magnify it with thanksgiving._'
"The Sun is the central pivot of the solar system, and round it the
earth and all the other planets keep whirling in elliptical orbits.
Its power and influence, its light, heat, and attraction, reach
through a domain in space which it would require _six thousand
millions of miles_ to span. With the greater part of this wide field,
astronomers are familiar, and it may be truly said that scarcely a man
knows the roads of his own parish or neighborhood, or a citizen the
streets of his own city or village, with more exactness than they do
the highways of the skies. Not only can they map out to a nicety the
paths of the planets careering through it like islands floating
through a sea of ether, but they can look backward and tell the exact
spot where each globe was at any moment of the remote past, or
forward, and point to the place where each will be found at any given
moment of the remote future.
"What is the mighty power which maintains such order in the Heavens,
which steadies the planets in their orbits, and traces out for them a
route so wisely planned as to avoid all chances of collision? Two
antagonistic forces--gravitation and attraction, combined with a
centrifugal impulse--accomplish the wonderful task. To these faithful
servants, God commits the safety of the Universe, nor can anything
disturb or derange the order of this machinery, save the Word which
created it.
"The Sun was placed in the centre, and became the pivot of the whole
system, tying to itself the different planets by the cord of its
superior attraction. In accordance with the law we have mentioned,
this loadstone power of the Sun is the inevitable result of its
superior mass, as it is computed to be six hundred times greater in
magnitude than this earth and all the planets put together. But
behold the wisdom and wondrous power of the Great Architect, in
creating these vast worlds, and placing each in its proper position
in space; where each revolves within its own orbit--some with the
velocity of even one hundred thousand miles an hour--yet maintaining
toward each other that _centrifugal_ force which prevents their being
drawn by the attractive power of that vast globe _within_ the Sun,
into certain destruction, by its surrounding fires.
"Astronomers inform us there are innumerable Suns, each of which is
supposed to control a separate, or its own system of planets; giving
light and heat thereto, even as our Sun does to this Earth, and its
own system of planets. Their distances from the Sun that lights up our
Heavens are immeasureable--far transcending our conceptions, or even
our imagination--in illimitable space. They also inform us that the
distance from this Earth, to the nearest one of these distant stars,
or suns, is about _twenty billions of miles_." So vast is the distance
here stated, that the mind cannot grasp or comprehend it. We can more
nearly approximate by the measurement of light; a ray of which darting
from its surface and travelling at the speed of 192,000 miles a
second, would not reach our eye under three years and eight months.
"Such then," says Sir John Herschel, "is the length of the
sounding-line with which we first touch bottom in the attempt to
fathom the great abyss of the sidereal heavens." Says Olmsted, "Until
recently, astronomers gave almost exclusive attention to
observations, and the study of the solar system. But Dr. William
Herschel turned his attention to the sidereal heavens, and opened up
new and wonderful fields of discovery, as well as of speculation. His
son, Sir John Herschel, and Sir James South, of England, have followed
the old master, with grasping minds and brilliant intellects, until
more has been accomplished by them, and others of the present day,
than all preceding astronomers had even ventured to conjecture," and
that their deductions are founded mainly on facts, no intelligent mind
will--on investigation--have reason to doubt.
But having thrown anchor and "touched bottom" in the wide expanse of
the unlimited sphere of the sidereal heavens, "let us," says Dr.
Child, "take another flight. Here next, within the domain of Sirius,
we find ourselves six times as far distant as when at Centauri, first
mentioned"--say one hundred and twenty billions of miles--"from which
it would require _twenty-two years_ for a ray of light travelling at
the rate of 192,000 miles a second to reach our Earth." But, far
distant, yonder, we behold the beauteous _Capella_, in all its
splendor and glory, throwing its effulgent rays across the wide
expanse of universe, and yet these rays of light, travelling at the
same mentioned rate--192,000 miles each passing second of
time--require about _seventy years_ in transit, before the inhabitants
of our Earth catch a glimpse of their brilliancy and beauty. And yet
now the mind has only entered the borders of '_the starry
regions_'--far beyond, in illimitable space, lie the 'Hosts of the
Stars;' their vast distances cannot be computed even by light itself."
It is wonderful to contemplate the probability that of some of the
more distant stars discovered, the rays of light which have found rest
in the eye of the Astronomer, through the aid of the telescope, may
have left their native sun thousands of years ago, and travelled at
the rate of 192,000 miles a second ever since. "A certain cluster of
stars was estimated by Sir William Herschel to be 700 times the
distance of a star of the first magnitude--therefore at least 700
times nineteen billions of miles!" But, observes Guillemin, if this
cluster was removed to five times its actual distance, that is to say
3,500 times the distance of Sirius, the large Herschelian telescope of
40 feet focus would still show it, _but only as an irresolvable
Nebula_. It is, then, extremely probable that, among the many Nebulæ
indecomposable into stars, beyond the Milky Way, in the depths of the
heavens, many are as distant as that of which we speak. _Doubtless
many are more so._ Now to reach us, light-rays must have left stars
situated at such a distance more than 700,000 years ago!" Says Child,
"When we have touched the verge of this uttermost range, Infinity,
boundless as ever, still lies beyond. The idea of God extinguishes in
our mind every suspicion that there can be any limit to space,
magnitude, or power, in relation to His works. The mighty universe we
have been considering is but the stepping-stone to what is farther on;
and although our imagination fails to grasp it, our reason assures us
it must be so. There is no such thing as taking from or adding to _The
Illimitable_.
"With what just propriety of thought has light been called the 'voice'
of the stars. * * * In the 'speechless' voice of light the stars
proclaim to us from the depths of space, the existence of innumerable
other worlds which, like our own, share the Creator's care. * * * With
mute argument stars prove to us that, in those far-off regions,
gravitation--the power that brings the apple to the ground--still
reigns supreme, and with suggestive whispers of probability, they
persuade us that, like our own Sun, they bathe attendant worlds in
floods of light; deck them in colors of beauty, and shower countless
blessings on the life of myriads of beings.
"Having glanced at the distances and magnitudes of some of the stars,
or suns, let us pause for a moment to consider their number, and the
vast space they must necessarily occupy in the domain of Creation. By
the most moderate estimate the number of stars that can be counted in
the firmament by telescopic aid, does not fall short of _one hundred
millions_. There is no doubt that most of those stars are _Suns_,
dispensing light and heat to earths and planets like our own; and,
indeed, no bodies shining by reflected light would be visible at such
enormous distances.
"From the superior magnitude of those that have been measured--as
compared to our Sun--it may be assumed that the average diameter of
their solar systems must exceed our own; but taking them as nearly
equal, it would give a breadth of at least _six thousand millions of
miles_ as the field of space occupied by each, while every star, or
sun-system, is probably begirt with a gulf or void like that
encircling our own, in which the antagonistic forces of attraction are
lost, so as not to disturb each other. Hence, the distance from each
of those suns to its nearest neighbor is probably not less than that
which intervenes between our Sun and the nearest star, which cannot be
less than about _twenty_ billions of miles. How inconceivably vast,
therefore, must be the space required to give room for so many and
such stupendous solar systems. The mind absolutely reels under the
load of conceptions so mighty. _Yet Infinity still lies beyond_."
"For what purpose," says Sir John Herschel, "are we to suppose such
magnificent bodies scattered through the abyss of space? Surely not to
illume our nights, which an additional moon of the thousandth part of
the size of our own would do much better; not to sparkle as a pageant,
void of meaning and reality, and to bewilder us among vain
conjectures. He must have studied astronomy to little purpose, who can
suppose man to be the only object of his Creator's care, or who does
not see, in the vast and wonderful apparatus around us, provisions for
other races of animated beings."
The Psalmist says:
"Whoso is wise will ponder these things, and they shall
understand the loving-kindness of the Lord."