BIGOTRY AND LIBERALITY, THEOLOGY AND RELIGION.--Upon these subjects it
is customary to find a mingling of contradictions. Leading New England
literati, who inherit all the narrowness and self-sufficiency of
British conservatism, are frequently impelled to utter expressions
which would lead the reader to think them persons of liberal and
progressive minds. Such expressions we find in the writings of Dr.
Holmes, a thorough medical bigot and sceptic; R. W. Emerson, who
closed his eyes against modern spiritual science, and adored the
ignorance of Greece; Col. Higginson, the most intolerant and scornful
opponent of psychic science; Dr. F. H. Hedge and President Elliot, who
represent the status of Harvard College. This was recently brought to
mind by seeing the admirable expressions of Dr. Hedge at the 150th
anniversary of West Church, Boston, now under the ministry of Rev. C.
A. Bartol. For this church Dr. Hedge claims an unsectarian character.
Dr. Hedge says, "Let there be schools of dogmatic theology, as many as
you please, but the church should not be a school of dogmatic
theology. It should be a school of practical Christianity, inspired,
expounded, and enforced by the pulpit. I can conceive of a church
which should be so undogmatic, so unpolemic, as to command the
respect, engage the interest, and secure the co-operation of all who
care less for the prevalence of their specialty than they do for the
maintenance of public worship." There is one Boston pulpit at present
conducted in this spirit, but it is very feebly sustained. There was
another, and it was occupied with brilliant ability, but Boston would
not sustain it. It is vacant now. Boston prefers theology to religion,
but it is growing slowly, and there are pulpits that are slowly
approaching the unsectarian position--very slowly; while the Rev. Mr.
J. Savage displays a refreshing freedom of thought, and has been more
successful than any other clergyman in carrying a large congregation
with him, a solitary specimen of a successful though unsectarian
teacher in Boston.
RELIGIOUS NEWS.--"During the past few months, the Chinese authorities
in various parts of the empire have issued proclamations to the
people, calling on them to live at peace with Christian missionaries
and converts, and explaining that the Christian religion teaches men
to do right, and should therefore be respected. These documents have
been published in so many parts of China that it is probable that
every viceroy in the eighteen provinces has received instructions on
the subject, and that there is a concerted movement throughout the
empire to bring all classes of the population to a knowledge of the
dangers of persecuting missionaries and native Christians, and to
remove popular delusions respecting the objects and teachings of
Christian missionaries."
"The Jesuits appear to meet with little toleration anywhere but in
Great Britain. The sultan has now issued a decree enacting that
henceforth they are not to open any new schools in the Ottoman empire,
that they are not to teach except in schools placed under the
authority of the Porte, and that all the schools now conducted by them
are placed under the supervision of the State, and must be subjected
to a rigorous supervision."
"Divine worship is a somewhat costly affair in Great Britain, says the
_World_. The one hour's service in Westminster Abbey on the 21st of
June, when the great personages of the realm are to assemble for the
purpose of prayer, is to cost the moderate sum of $100,000. Commoners
and ordinary people will not be admitted within the portals of the
sacred edifice, yet it is their pockets which will be taxed for the
purpose of enabling the princes and lords to pray in due state for the
preservation of the Queen."
"The monument to the memory of Giordano Bruno in Rome, is completed,
but permission to erect it has been refused by the Municipal Council
of that holy city. This denial is easily explained when it is learned
that a majority of the council are clergymen, or under their
influence."
Governor Marmaduke has signed the bill recently passed by the Missouri
legislature, making Sunday virtually a Puritanical Sabbath. A powerful
protest was presented to the Governor, respectfully requesting him not
to sign the obnoxious bill, but it seems he yielded, says the _Jewish
Times_, to the wishes of a few fanatics, backed by scheming
politicians.
ABOLISHING SLAVERY.--It is pleasant to learn that the movement in
favor of abolishing slavery in Brazil is making excellent progress,
despite some discouragements. Long ago the Legislature fixed the date
by which every slave in the empire must be freed; but the chamber of
deputies, acting in opposition to the senate, has lately put a strange
interpretation upon certain of the clauses of the most recent law upon
the subject, which will have the effect of delaying the latest day of
enfranchisement a further 18 months. The Brazilian public has
expressed great indignation at this ill-advised action; and, by way of
protest, the recent progress of the emperor throughout the province of
San Paulo was made the occasion of liberating many slaves at the cost
of the local municipalities. When a prominent abolitionist, Senator
Bonifacio, of Santos, died, recently, his native town honored his
memory by enfranchising the whole of the slaves within its
jurisdiction. Herein Santos was but following the example of the
provinces of Ceara and the Amazons, in both of which the last slave
was freed some years ago. It is, perhaps, wise to add that the
slave-owners are being quite fairly treated in the way of
compensation.--_St. James Gazette._
Bokhara the noble, the richest, most enlightened, and most holy of all
Mahommedan nations in Central Asia, and beyond it, has just officially
declared the complete abolition of slavery. Up to the present this
curse had not altogether disappeared, although it was generally
assumed that, since Russia secured control over the Ameer's country,
it had quite ceased to exist.
Fourteen years ago, M. Eugene Schuyler, the author of "Turkestan," in
order to demonstrate to the Russian government that its prestige had
not put a stop to the slave trade, as was then alleged, purchased a
young boy slave for one hundred roubles, the average price of the
human article in Bokhara, and brought him to St. Petersburg. The boy
was subsequently apprenticed to a Tartar watchmaker, and later became
a convert to the Russian church. According to a letter in the Russian
_Official Gazette_, the young Ameer's decree, finally freeing all the
bondmen within his dominion, was promulgated Nov. 19, 1886.
OLD FOGY BIOGRAPHY.--It seems that biography as well as history will
have to be re-written in the light of modern progress. _Appleton's
Cyclopedia of American Biography_ has sent out its first volume,
edited by Gen. Wilson and Prof. John Fiske. The sources of this volume
do not promise much liberality, and the first volume does not show it.
While professing to record the lives of all who are eminent or
noteworthy, it fulfils this promise by recording many who are not very
eminent or noteworthy; indeed, Mr. Lowell says, by way of commendation,
that he has hunted for obscure names and found them. What then is the
reason of the omission of the Hon. Cassius M. Clay, our former
minister to Russia, one of the most conspicuous figures for many years
in American politics and _par excellence_, the lion of the struggle
which ended in negro emancipation? His life, recently published is a
volume of fascinating and romantic interest. Mr. Clay might treat this
omission as the old Roman said of having a statue in the forum--that
he would rather men should ask why he had _no_ statue there, than to
ask why his statue was there. Dr. Joseph Rodes Buchanan is briefly
noticed, his name incorrectly spelled, a catalogue of his publications
given, and a volume attributed to him which was written by the
notorious Dr. John Buchanan of Philadelphia. But nothing is said of
the new school of philosophy, or of the new sciences, established by
Dr. Buchanan. Evidently this is old fogy biography. The editors have
gathered their material with a scoop, unable to distinguish between
dirt, pebbles and jewels. Nevertheless they have made a valuable
record if not a fair one.
LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY IN SOMNOLENT CONDITIONS.--In the Academy of
Medicine at Paris, Dr. Mesnet made a report of his experience in
hypnotism, showing that somnambulic or mesmeric subjects were not
accountable for their acts in that condition. In this case, the
patient, a youth of nineteen years, had been subject to somnambulic
attacks in which he acted strangely, and, on one occasion, had openly
taken several articles of furniture from a shop, for which he was
arrested, when he fell again into somnolence and was sent to the Hotel
Dieu. Dr. Mesnet, for an experiment, gazed firmly at him, and got him
in magnetic rapport and then ordered him to steal the watch of one of
the students the next day. He manifested a great deal of repugnance to
this command, but yielded, and the next day came with the student,
with whom he talked. After a time he fixed his eyes on the student's
watch and appeared mentally agitated, his breathing hurried, and his
limbs trembling, his face red in one part and pallid in another. In
this condition, he put forth his hand in an indecisive manner, stole
the watch, put it in his pantaloons pocket, and ran down the stairs,
where he was arrested and wakened up. He indignantly denied the theft,
and fell into such agitation it required a number to hold him. He fell
again into the hypnotic state from which they could not rouse him
then, as it was owing to a mental cause. Dr. M. concluded by showing
the importance of this matter being understood by magistrates that
they may not punish irresponsible parties.
PASTEUR'S CURE FOR HYDROPHOBIA.--I am by no means convinced that M.
Pasteur has really discovered a remedy for hydrophobia, says
Labouchere in the _London Truth_. The Anti-Vivisection Society has
published a tabular statement, which shows that from March, 1885, to
the present date, 63 persons who have been treated by his system have
died. Against this, I should like to know how many persons really
suffering from hydrophobia have been cured by it.
The immense interest of the medical profession and the public in
Pasteur's method of inoculation with hydrophobia virus is due mainly
to the _Stolid Skepticism_ of the medical profession. Other methods of
cure have been far more successful, but they have been shamefully
neglected, for medical colleges are always indifferent, if not hostile
to improvements not originating in their own clique. The cures that
have been effected by the use of Scutellaria (Skull-cap), and of
Xanthium are far beyond anything achieved by inoculation. I recollect
many reports published by farmers, about sixty years ago, of their
cures of hydrophobia by skull-cap.
The latest statement concerning Pasteurism is that of Miss Frances
Power Cobbe, who writes to the _London Globe_:
"Ramon was not the forty-fifth, but the seventy-sixth patient who had
died after receiving the Pasteurian treatment for hydrophobia. Of
these seventy-six victims thirty-nine were inoculated in Paris under
the first method, seventeen in Russia and twenty in Paris under the
second or 'intensive' method. For the verification of this statement I
beg to enclose a complete list of all the patients, with dates of
death, and authority for each record. Your readers who may be
interested in the bursting of this huge medical bubble of Pasteurism
will do well to procure the book just published in Paris, 'M. Pasteur
et la Rage,' by M. Zutand, editor of the _Journal de Medecine_. It
proves pretty clearly that M. Pasteur does not cure rabies, but gives
it by his inoculation in a new and no less deadly form, bearing the
ominous title of 'Rage de Laboratoire.'"
LULU HURST.--This wonderful medium who displayed such astonishing
muscular powers has changed her name. Mrs. Buchanan psychometrically
described and explained her wonderful powers, and predicted that they
would soon cease. A Southern newspaper says:
"Paul M. Atkinson, of Chattanooga, Tenn., who achieved quite a
reputation as manager of Lulu Hurst, the young lady who possessed such
marvellous magnetic powers, was married to that lady a few days ago at
her home near Cedartown, Ga. Miss Hurst, since her wonderful power
deserted her, has been attending school, and graduated in December
last. It is reported that the fortune of $200,000 she amassed while on
the stage has been trebled since by lucky investments."
LAND MONOPOLY.--_The Kansas City Times_ publishes a list of the
leading foreign corporations that own lands in the United States,
showing an aggregate of 20,740,000 acres, equal to more than one-half
of England. Well, Americans may as well work to support foreign as
home idlers; but a generation is nearing the voting age that will
object to doing either.
MARRIAGE IN MEXICO.--A newspaper correspondent from California, writes:
"You may not be aware, as I was not till recently, that Juarez, the
native-blood President of Mexico acting, I presume, under authority of
Congress, decreed that all children born, or that should be born in
Mexico, should be legitimate, regardless of all laws of the Church or
State. So rigorous, expensive, and despotic had become the control of
the clergy that not one in ten of the children of Mexico were born
'legitimate,' the people did not marry. This stroke of the State at
the Church was the 'holy terror' that broke its back; but it liberated
the people, and settled the differences between the 'higher' and lower
classes in a manner that has left marriage in Mexico in the hands of
the contracting parties where it properly belongs."
THE GRAND SYMPOSIUM.--The wise (?) men express themselves in our
symposium upon immortality. Their utter blindness to the grand
displays of immortality, which have long challenged attention, and
their reference to every obscure and blind path for its search, remind
one of Carlyle's expression in reference to Comte. "I found him to be
one of those men who go up in a balloon and take a lighted candle to
look at the stars." What a deep shadow upon the intellectual landscape
of America is seen in this picture of collegiate ignorance in contrast
with foreign enlightenment. While the sovereigns of England, France,
and Russia have been communing with the higher world, our college
presidents have their heads and eyes covered with the cowl of monkish
superstition and ignorance.
Surely the search for truth is the most imperative of duties for those
who are chosen to lead the rising generation. They who fail in this
duty are as guilty as the sentinels who sleep or carouse upon their
posts. The eloquent words of Rev. J. K. Applebee are appropriate to
such offences: "The man who is not true to the highest thing within
him, does a treble wrong. He wrongs himself; he wrongs all whom he
might have influenced for good; he wrongs all the willing workers for
humanity by heaping on their shoulders extra toils and extra
responsibilities." What is the difference between the Barnard, Hill,
Gilman, Elliott, Newcomb, Youmans, and their sympathizers to-day, and
the old time opponents of Galileo, Columbus, and Harvey. The men who
rely upon learning or memory represent the past, while those who rely
upon investigation and intuition represent the future. They are ever
in conflict, and ever illustrate the truth of Goethe's remark that
"Error belongs to the libraries, truth to the human mind."
A NEW MUSSULMAN EMPIRE has been established on the Red Sea, east of
the territory occupied by the followers of the Mahdi. Mohammed Abu is
the Sultan, and Kassala is his residence. His army has 8000 men.
PSYCHOMETRIC IMPOSTURE.--Those who wish to understand and practice
psychometry should avoid being duped by an _ignorant_ pretender who
professes to _develop_ their psychometric faculties--a pretence which
is a self-evident imposition.
OUR TOBACCO BILL.--The _American Grocer_ estimates the total annual
expenditure for tobacco in the United States, at $256,500,000. The
estimates of cost are as follows: Liquor, $700,000,000; tobacco,
$256,500,000; sugar, $187,000,000; coffee, tea, and cocoa,
$130,000,000; schools, $110,000,000.
EXTINCT ANIMALS.--Wonderful bones have been dug up in Spokane County,
Washington Territory--nine mammoths, a cave bear, hyenas, extinct
birds, and a sea turtle. One of the tusks measured twelve feet nine
inches long, and twenty-seven inches round, weighing 295 pounds. Some
of the ribs were eight feet long. The molar teeth weighed eighteen
pounds each. The pelvic arch was six feet across; a man could walk
through it erect. The monster was estimated to be eighteen and
one-half feet high, and to weigh twenty tons.
EDUCATION is making great progress in France. The number of colleges
and the number of children at school are greatly increased. There are
now five and a quarter millions attending primary schools. Politicians
claim that whenever the people in a department are well educated they
become republicans.