[1] Most fruitful among these were those given by Plato in the
_Timæus_. See, also, Grote on Plato's doctrine of the rotundity of the
earth. Also _Sir G. C. Lewis's Astronomy of the Ancients_, London,
1862, chap. iii., sec. i. and note. Cicero's mention of the antipodes
and reference to the passage in the _Timæus_ are even more remarkable
than the original, in that they much more clearly foreshadow the modern
doctrine. See _Academic Questions_, ii., xxxix. Also, _Tusc. Quest._,
i., xxviii., and v., xxiv.
[2] See _Eusebius_, _Præp. Ev._, xv., 61.
[3] See _Lactantius_, _Inst._, 1., iii., chap. 3. Also, citations in
_Whewell_, _Hist. Induct. Sciences_, Lond., 1857, vol. i., p. 194.
To understand the embarrassment thus caused to scientific men at a
later period, see _Letter of Agricola to Joachimus Vadianus_ in 1514.
Agricola asks Vadianus to give his views regarding the antipodes,
saying that he himself does not know what to do, between the Fathers
on one side and learned men of modern times on the other. On the other
hand, for the embarrassment caused to the Church by this mistaken zeal
of the Fathers, see Kepler's references and Fromund's replies; also _De
Morgan_, _Paradoxes_, p. 58. Kepler appears to have taken great delight
in throwing the views of Lactantius into the teeth of his adversaries.
[4] _Another germ idea_, etc. See _Plato_, _Timæus_, 62 C., Jowett's
translation, N. Y. ed. Also _Phædo_, pp. 449, _et seq._ Also _Cicero_,
_Academic Quest._, and _Tusc. Disput._, _ubi supra_. For citations
and summaries, see _Whewell_, _Hist. Induct. Sciences_, vol. i., p.
189, and _St. Martin_, _Hist. de la Géog._, Paris, 1873, p. 96. Also
_Leopardi_, _Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi_, Firenze,
1851, chap. xii., p. 184, _et seq._
[5] For opinion of Basil, Ambrose, and others, see _Lecky_, _Hist. of
Rationalism in Europe_, New York, 1872, vol. i., p. 279, note. Also,
_Letronne_, in _Revue des Deux Mondes_, March, 1834.
[6] For Lactantius, see _Instit._, iii., 24, translation in the
Ante-Nicene Library; also, citations in _Whewell_, i., 196, and in _St.
Martin_, _Histoire de la Géographie_, pp. 216, 217. For St. Augustine's
opinion, see the _Civ. D._, xvi., 9, where this great Father of the
Church shows that the existence of the antipodes "nulla ratione
credendum est." Also, citations in _Buckle's Posthumous Works_, vol.
ii., p. 645. For a notice of the views of Cosmas in connection with
those of Lactantius, Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, and others, see
_Schoell_, _Histoire de la Littérature Grecque_, vol. vii., pp. 37, _et
seq._
[7] Isaiah xl. 22.
[8] Job xxvi. 11.
[9] Genesis i. 6.
[10] Psalm cxlviii. 4.
[11] Genesis vii. 11.
[12] See _Montfaucon_, _Collectio Nova Patrum_, Paris, 1706, vol ii.,
p. 188; also pp. 298, 299. The text is illustrated with engravings
showing walls and solid vault (firmament), with the whole apparatus of
"fountains of the great deep," "windows of heaven," angels, and the
mountain behind which the sun is drawn. For an imperfect reduction of
one of them, see article _Maps_ in _Knight's Dictionary of Mechanics_,
New York, 1875. For still another theory, very droll, and thought
out on similar principles, see Mungo Park, cited in _De Morgan_,
_Paradoxes_, 309. For Cosmas's joyful summing up, see _Montfaucon_,
_Collectio Nova Patrum_, vol. ii., p. 255.
[13] Virgil of Salzburg. See _Neander's History of the Christian
Church_, Torrey's translation, vol. iii., p. 63. Since Bayle, there
has been much loose writing about Virgil's case. See _Whewell_, p.
197; but for best choice of authorities and most careful winnowing out
of conclusions, see _De Morgan_, pp. 24-26. For very full notes as to
pagan and Christian advocates of doctrine of rotundity of the earth
and of antipodes, and for extract from Zachary's letter, see _Migne_,
_Patrologia_, vol. vi., p. 426, and vol. xli., p. 487. For Peter
of Abano, or Apono, as he is often called, see _Tiraboschi_; also,
_Ginguené_, vol. ii., p. 293; also _Naudé_, _Histoire des Grands hommes
accusés de Magie_. For Cecco d'Ascoli, see _Montucla_, _Histoire des
Mathématiques_, i., 528; also, _Daunou_, _Études Historiques_, vol.
vi., p. 320. Concerning Orcagna's representation of Cecco in flames of
hell, see _Renan_, _Averroès et l'Averroisme_, Paris, 1867, p. 328.
[14] For Columbus before the Junta of Salamanca, see _Irving's
Columbus_, Murray's edition, vol. ii., pp. 405-410. _Figuier_, _Savants
du Moyen Age_, etc., vol. ii., p. 394, _et seq._ Also, _Humboldt_,
_Histoire de la Géographie du Nouveau Continent_.
[15] See _Daunou_, _Études Historiques_, vol. ii., p. 417.
[16] For effect of Magalhaens's voyages, and the reluctance to yield
to proof, see _Henri Martin_, _Histoire de France_, vol. xiv., p. 395;
_St. Martin's Histoire de la Géog._, p. 369; _Peschel_, _Geschichte des
Zeitalters der Entdeckungen_, concluding chapters; and for an admirable
summary, _Draper_, _Hist. Int. Dev. of Europe_, pp. 451-453.
[17] For general statement as to supplementary proof by measurement of
degrees, and by pendulum, see _Somerville_, _Phys. Geog._, chapter i, §
6, note. Also _Humboldt_, _Cosmos_, vol. ii., p. 736, and v., pp. 16,
32. Also _Montucla_, iv., 138.
[18] _Respectability of Geocentric Theory_, _Plato's Authority for it_
etc., see _Grote's Plato_, vol. iii., p. 257. Also, _Sir G. C. Lewis_,
_Astronomy of the Ancients_, chap, iii., sec. i., for a very thoughtful
statement of Plato's view, and differing from ancient statements. For
plausible elaboration of it, see _Fromundus_, _Anti-Aristarchus_,
Antwerp, 1631. Also _Melanchthon_, _Initia Doctrinæ Physicæ_.
[19] For supposed agreement of Scripture with Ptolemaic theory, see
Fromundus, _passim_, Melanchthon, and a host of other writers.
[20] See _St. Thomas Aquinas_, _Liber de Cœlo et Mundo_, sec. xx.
[21] For _Germs of Heliocentric Theory planted long before_, etc.,
see _Sir G. C. Lewis_; also, _Draper_, _Intellectual Development
of Europe_, p. 512; and for a succinct statement of the claims of
Pythagoras, Philolaus, Aristarchus, and Martianus Capella, see _Hœfer_,
_Hist. de l'Astronomie_, 1873, p. 107, _et seq._ For germs among
thinkers of India, see _Whewell_, vol. i., p. 277. Also, _Whitney_,
_Oriental and Linguistic Studies_, New York, 1874; _Essay on the Lunar
Zodiac_, p. 345.
[22] For general statement of De Cusa's work, see _Draper_,
_Intellectual Development of Europe_, p. 512. For skillful use of
De Cusa's view in order to mitigate censure upon the Church for its
treatment of Copernicus's discovery, see an article in the _Catholic
World_ for January, 1869. For a very exact statement, in a spirit of
judicial fairness, see _Whewell_, _History of the Inductive Sciences_,
p. 275 and pp. 379, 380. In the latter, Whewell cites the exact words
of De Cusa in the _De Docta Ignorantia_, and sums up in these words:
"This train of thought might be a preparation for the reception of the
Copernican system; but it is very different from the doctrine that the
sun is the centre of the planetary system." In the previous passage,
Whewell says that De Cusa "propounded the doctrine of the motion of
the earth, more, however, as a paradox than as a reality. We cannot
consider this as any distinct anticipation of a profound and consistent
view of the truth." For Aristotle's views and their elaboration by St.
Thomas Aquinas, see the treatise _De Cœlo et Mundo_. It is curious to
see how even such a biographer of St. Thomas as Archbishop Vaughan
slurs over the angelic doctor's errors. See _Vaughan's Life and Labors
of St. Thomas of Aquin_, pp. 459, 460.
[23] For improvement of mathematical processes, see _Draper_,
_Intellectual Development of Europe_, 513. In looking at this and other
admirable summaries, one feels that Prof. Tyndall was not altogether
right in lamenting, in his farewell address at New York, that Dr.
Draper has devoted so much of his time to historical studies.
[24] Kopernik's danger at Rome. The _Catholic World_ for January,
1869, cites a recent speech of the Archbishop of Mechlin before the
University of Louvain, to the effect that Copernicus defended his
theory, at Rome, in 1500, before two thousand scholars; also, that
another professor taught the system in 1528, and was made Apostolic
Notary by Clement VIII. All this, even if the doctrines taught
were identical with those of Copernicus, as finally developed,
which idea Whewell seems utterly to disprove, avails nothing
against the overwhelming testimony that Copernicus felt himself in
danger--testimony which the after-history of the Copernican theory
renders invincible. The very title of Fromundus's book, already cited,
published within a few miles of the archbishop's own cathedral, and
sanctioned expressly by the theological Faculty of that same University
of Louvain in 1630, utterly refutes the archbishop's idea that the
Church was inclined to treat Copernicus kindly. The title is as follows:
"Anti-Aristarchus | Sive | Orbis-Terræ | Immobilis | In quo decretum
S. Congregationis S. R. E. | Cardinalium | IƆC. XVI adversus Pytha |
gorico-Copernicanos editum defenditur | Antwerpiæ MDCXXXI."
_L'Epinois_, _Galilée_, Paris, 1867, lays stress, p. 14, on the
broaching of the doctrine by De Cusa, in 1435, and by Widmanstadt, in
1533, and their kind treatment by Eugenius IV. and Clement VII., but
this is absolutely worthless in denying the papal policy afterward.
_Lange_, _Geschichte des Materialismus_, vol. i., pp. 217, 218, while
admitting that De Cusa and Widmanstadt sustained this idea and received
honors from their respective popes, shows that, when the Church gave it
serious consideration, it was condemned. There is nothing in this view
unreasonable. It would be a parallel case to that of Leo X., at first
inclined toward Luther and the others, in their "squabbles with the
begging friars," and afterward forced to oppose them. That Copernicus
felt the danger, is evident, among other things, by the expression in
the preface, "_Statim me explodendum cum tali opinione clamitant_."
[25] For dangers at Wittenberg, see _Lange_, _Geschichte des
Materialismus_, vol. i., p. 217.
[26] Osiander, in a letter to Copernicus, dated April 20, 1541, had
endeavored to reconcile him to such a procedure, and ends by saying,
"Sic enim placidiores reddideris peripatheticos et theologos quos
contradicturos metuis." See _Apologia Tychonis_ in _Kepleri Opera
Omnia_, Frisch's edition, vol. i., p. 246. Kepler holds Osiander
entirely responsible for this preface. Bertrand, in his _Fondateurs
de l'Astronomie Moderne_, gives its text, and thinks it possible
that Copernicus may have yielded "in pure condescension toward his
disciple." But this idea is utterly at variance with expressions in
Copernicus's own dedicatory letter to the pope, which follows the
preface. For a good summary of the argument, see _Figuier_, _Savants
de la Renaissance_, pp. 378, 379. See, also, citation from Gassendi's
life of Copernicus, in _Flammarion_, _Vie de Copernic_, p. 124. Mr.
John Fiske, accurate as he usually is, in his recent _Outlines of
Cosmic Philosophy_, appears to have followed Laplace, Delambre, and
Petit into the error of supposing that Copernicus, and not Osiander, is
responsible for the preface.
[27] _Figuier_, _Savants de la Renaissance_, p. 380. Also,
_Flammarion_, _Vie de Copernic_, p. 190.
[28] The "proper authorities" in this case were the "Congregation
of the Index," or cardinals having charge of the "Index Librorum
Prohibitorum." Recent desperate attempts to fasten the responsibility
on them as individuals seem ridiculous in view of the simple fact that
their work is sanctioned by the highest Church authority, and required
to be universally accepted by the Church. Three of four editions of the
"Index" in my own possession declare on their title-pages that they are
issued by order of the pontiff of the period, and each is prefaced by
a special papal bull or letter. See, especially, Index of 1664, issued
under order of Alexander VII., and that of 1761, under Benedict XIV.
Copernicus's work was prohibited in the Index "_donec corrigatur_."
Kepler said that it ought to be worded "_donec explicetur_." See
_Bertrand_, _Fondateurs de l'Astronomie Moderne_, p. 57. _De Morgan_,
pp. 57-60, gives the corrections required by the Index of 1620. Their
main aim seems to be to reduce Copernicus to the groveling level of
Osiander, making of his discovery a mere hypothesis; but occasionally
they require a virtual giving up of the whole Copernican doctrine, e.
g., "correction" insisted upon for cap. 8, p. 6. For scholarly account
of the relation of the Prohibitory and Expurgatory Indexes to each
other, see _Mendham_, _Literary Policy of the Church of Rome_.
[29] See Fromundus's book, cited above, _passim_, but especially the
heading of chapter vi., and the argument in chaps, x. and xi. For
interesting reference to one of Fromundus's arguments, showing by a
mixture of mathematics and theology, that the earth is the centre of
the universe, see _Quetelet_, _Histoire des Sciences Mathématiques et
Physiques_, Bruxelles, 1864, p. 170.
[30] See _Luther's Tischreden_, _Irmischer's Ausgabe_. Also,
_Melanchthon's Initia Doctrinæ Physicæ_. This treatise is cited under
a mistaken title by the _Catholic World_, September, 1870. The correct
title is as given above. It will be found in the _Corpus Reformatorum_,
ed. _Bretschneider_, Halle, 1846. (For the above passage, see vol.
xiii., pp. 216, 217.) Also, _Lange_, _Geschichte des Materialismus_,
vol. i., p. 217. Also, _Prowe_, _Ueber die Abhängigkeit des
Copernicus_, Thorn, 1865, p. 4. Also, note, pp. 5 and 6, where text is
given in full.
[31] For treatment of Copernican ideas by the people, see _Catholic
World_, as above.
[32] See title-page of Fromundus's work cited in note at bottom of p.
392; also, Melanchthon, _ubi supra_.
[33] See _Bartholmess_, _Vie de Jordano Bruno_, Paris, 1846, vol. i.,
pp. 121 and 212, _et seq._ Also _Berti_, _Vita di Giordano Bruno_,
Firenze, 1868, chapter xvi. Also _Whewell_, i., 294, 295. That
Whewell is somewhat hasty in attributing Bruno's punishment entirely
to the _Spaccio della Bestia Trionfante_ will be evident, in spite
of Montucla, to any one who reads the account of the persecution in
Bartholmess or Berti; and, even if Whewell be right, the _Spaccio_
would never have been written, but for Bruno's indignation at
ecclesiastical oppression. See _Tiraboschi_, vol. xi., p. 435.
[34] _Delambre_, _Histoire de l'Astronomie moderne_, discours
préliminaire, p. xiv. Also _Laplace_, _Système du Monde_, vol. i.,
p. 326, and for more careful statement, _Kepleri Opera Omnia_, edit.
Frisch, tom. ii., p. 464.
[35] _Cantu_, _Histoire Universelle_, vol. xv., p. 473.
[36] A very curious example of this sham science is seen in the
argument, frequently used at the time, that, if the earth really moved,
a stone falling from a height would fall back of the point immediately
below its point of starting. This is used by Fromundus with great
effect. It appears never to have occurred to him to test the matter by
dropping a stone from the topmast of a ship. But the most beautiful
thing of all is that Benzenburg has experimentally demonstrated just
such an aberration in falling bodies as is mathematically required by
the diurnal motion of the earth. See _Jevons_, _Principles of Science_,
vol. i., p. 453, and ii., pp. 310, 311.
[37] See Delambre as to the discovery of the satellites of Jupiter
being the turning-point with the heliocentric doctrine. As to its
effects on Bacon, see _Jevons_, _Principles of Science_, vol. ii., p.
298.
[38] For argument drawn from the candlestick and seven churches, see
Delambre.
[39] _Libri_, vol. iv., p. 211. _De Morgan_, _Paradoxes_, p. 26, for
account of Father Clavius. It is interesting to know that Clavius, in
his last years, acknowledged that "the whole system of the heavens is
broken down, and must be mended."
[40] _Cantu_, _Histoire Universelle_, vol. xv., p. 478.
[41] For Caccini's attack, see _Delambre_, _Hist. de l'Astron._, disc.
prélim., p. xxii.; also, _Libri_, _Hist. des Sciences Math._, vol. iv.,
p. 232; also, _Martin_, _Galilée_, pp. 43, 44.
[42] For Bellarmin's view, see _Quinet_, _Jesuits_, vol. ii., p. 189.
For other objectors and objections, see _Libri_, _Histoire des Sciences
Mathématiques en Italie_, vol. iv., pp. 233, 234; also, _Martin_, _Vie
de Galilée_.
[43] See Trouessart, cited in _Flammarion_, _Mondes Imaginaires et
Réels_, sixième édition, pp. 315, 316.
[44] _Initia Doctrinæ Physicæ_, pp. 220, 221.
[45] See _Ticknor_, _Hist. of Span. Literature_, vol. iii.
[46] See _Th. Martin_, _Galilée_, pp. 34, 208, and 266.
[47] See _Martin_, _Galilée_, pp. 34 and 208; also a curious note
in the earlier English editions, _Lyell_, _Principles of Geology_,
Introduction.
[48] For curious exemplification of the way in which these weapons
have been hurled, see lists of persons charged with "infidelity" and
"atheism," in _Le Dictionnaire des Athées_, Paris, An. viii. Also,
_Lecky_, _History of Rationalism_, vol. ii., p. 50. For case of
Descartes, see _Saisset_, _Descartes et ses précurseurs_, pp. 103, 110.
[49] See the original documents in _Epinois_, pp. 34-36. Martin's
translation does not seem exactly correct.
[50] See full official text in _Epinois_.
[51] See proofs of this in _Martin_. The reader should be reminded that
the archives exposed within the past few years have made the statements
of early writers untrustworthy on very many of the nicer points.
[52] See _Inchofer's Tractatus Syllepticus_, cited in Galileo's letter
to Deodati, July 28, 1634.
[53] It is not probable that torture in the ordinary sense was
administered to Galileo, though it was threatened. See _Th. Martin_,
_Vie de Galilée_, for a fair summing up of the case. For text of the
abjuration, see _Epinois_; also, _Private Life of Galileo_, Appendix.
[54] _Martin_, p. 227.
[55] _Martin_, p. 243.
[56] For the persecution of Galileo's memory, see _Th. Martin_, chaps.
ix and x. For documentary proofs, see _de l'Epinois_. For a collection
of the slanderous theories invented against Galileo, see _Martin_,
final chapters and appendix. Both these authors are devoted to the
Church, but, unlike Monsignor Marini, are too upright to resort to the
pious fraud of suppressing documents or interpolating pretended facts.
[57] See _Martin_, pp. 401, 402.
[58] See _de l'Epinois_, p. 35, where the document is given in its
original Latin.
[59] See translation of the abjuration in appendix to _Private Life of
Galileo_, London, 1870.
[60] See _Marini_, who manipulated the original documents to prove
this. Even Whewell appears to have been somewhat misled by him; but
Whewell wrote before de l'Epinois had shown all the documents, and
under the supposition that Marini was an honest man.
[61] See _Marini_.
[62] See _Epinois_ and _Th. Martin_, _passim_.
[63] See pages 136, 144, and elsewhere in _Martin_, who, much against
his will, is forced to allow this.
[64] _Martin_, pp. 146, 147.
[65] See Martin, p. 145.
[66] See note on condemnation of Kopernik.
[67] For the attempt to make the crime of Galileo a breach of
etiquette, see _Dublin Review_, as above. _Whewell_, vol. i., 393.
Citation from _Marini_: "Galileo was punished for trifling with
the authorities to which he refused to submit, and was punished
for obstinate contumacy, not heresy." The sufficient answer to all
this is, that the words of the inflexible sentence designating the
condemned books are: "Libri omnes qui affirmant telluris motum." See
_Bertrand_, p. 59. As to the idea that "Galileo was punished not
for his opinion, but for basing it on Scripture," the answer may be
found in the Roman Index of 1704, in which are noted for condemnation
"Libri omnes docentes mobilitatem terræ et inmobilitatem solis." For
the way in which, when it was found convenient in argument, Church
apologists insisted that it _was_ "the Supreme Chief of the Church,
by a pontifical decree, and not certain cardinals," who condemned
Galileo and his doctrine, see Father Lecazre's letter to Gassendi in
_Flammarion_, _Pluralité des Mondes_, p. 427, and Urban VIII.'s own
declarations as given by Martin. For the way in which, when necessary,
Church apologists asserted the very contrary of this, declaring that
"it was issued in a doctrinal decree of the Congregation of the
Index, and _not_ as the Holy Father's teaching," see _Dublin Review_,
September, 1865. And for the most astounding attempt of all, to take
the blame off the shoulders of both pope and cardinals, and place it
upon the Almighty, see the article above cited, in the _Dublin Review_,
September, 1865, p. 419. For a good summary of the various attempts,
and for replies to them in a spirit of judicial fairness, see _Th.
Martin_, _Vie de Galilée_, though there is some special pleading to
save the infallibility of pope and Church. The bibliography at the
close is very valuable.
[68] For Baronius's remark, see _De Morgan_, p. 26. Also, _Whewell_,
vol. i., p. 394.
[69] For an exceedingly striking statement, by a Roman Catholic
historian of genius, as to popular demand for persecution, and the
pressure of the lower strata, in ecclesiastical organizations,
for cruel measures, see _Balmès_, _Le Protestantisme comparé au
Catholicisme_, etc., 4th ed., Paris, 1855, vol. ii. Archbishop
Spaulding has something of the same sort in his Miscellanies.
_L'Epinois_, _Galilée_, pp. 22, _et seq._, stretches this as far as
possible, to save the reputation of the Church in the Galileo matter.
[70] _Humboldt_, _Cosmos_, London, 1851, vol. iii., p. 21. Also,
_Lange_, _Geschichte des Materialismus_, vol. i., p. 222, where the
letters of Descartes are given, showing his despair, and the giving up
of his best thoughts and works to preserve peace with the Church. Also,
_Saisset_, _Descartes et ses précurseurs_, pp. 100, _et seq._ Also,
_Jolly_, _Hist, du Mouvement Intellectuel au XVI^e Siècle_, vol. i., p.
390
[71] _Libri_, pp. 149, _et seq._
[72] Fromundus, speaking of Kepler's explanation, says: "Vix teneo
ebullientem risum." It is almost equal to the _New York Church
Journal_, speaking of John Stuart Mill as "that small sciolist," and of
the preface to Dr. Draper's recent work as "chippering." How a journal
generally so fair in its treatment of such subjects can condescend
to use such weapons, is one of the wonders of modern journalism. For
Protestant persecution of Kepler, see vol. i., p. 392. Among other
things, Kepler's mother was declared a witch, and this was followed by
a reminder of the Scriptural injunction, "Ye shall not suffer a witch
to live."
[73] For Cassini's position, see _Henri Martin_, _Hist. de France_,
vol. xiii., p. 175.
[74] _Daunou_, _Études Historiques_, vol. ii., p. 439.
[75] Bossuet, see _Bertrand_, p. 41.
[76] For Hutchinson, see _Lyell_, _Principles of Geology_, Introduction.
[77] Boscovich. This was in 1746, but in 1785 Boscovich seemed to feel
his position in view of history, and apologized abjectly. _Bertrand_,
pp. 60, 61. See also Whewell's notice of Le Sueur and Jacquier's
introduction to their edition of _Newton's Principia_. For a clear
statement of Bradley's exquisite demonstration of the Copernican
theory by reasonings upon the rapidity of light, etc., and Foucault's
exhibition of the rotation of the earth by the pendulum experiment,
see _Hoefer_, _Hist. de l'Astronomie_, pp. 492, _et seq._ For the most
recent proofs of the Copernican theory, by discoveries of Bunsen,
Bischoff, Benzenburg, and others, see _Jevons_, _Principles of Science_.
[78] See note in introduction to _Lyell's Principles of Geology_; also,
_Buckle, Hist. of Civ. in England_, vol. i., chap. i.
[79] _Bertrand_, _Fondateurs de l'Astron. Mod._, p. 61. _Flammarion_,
_Vie de Copernic_, chap. ix. As to the time when the decree of
condemnation was repealed, various authorities differ. Artaud, p.
307, cited in an apologetic article in _Dublin Review_, September,
1865, says that Galileo's famous dialogue was published in 1744, at
Padua, entire, and with the usual approbations. The same article also
declares that in 1818 the ecclesiastical decrees were repealed by
Pius VII., in full Consistory. Whewell says that Galileo's writings,
after some opposition, were expunged from the _Index Expurgatorius_ in
1818. Cantu, an authority rather favorable to the Church, says that
Copernicus's work remained on the _Index_ as late as 1835. _Cantu_,
_Histoire Universelle_, vol. xv., p. 483; and with this Th. Martin, not
less favorable to the Church, but exceedingly careful as to the facts,
agrees.
[80] See _Weld_, _History of the Royal Society_, vol. ii., p. 56, for
the facts and the admirable letter of Priestley upon this rejection.
[81] _Bruhns_ and _Lassell_, _Life of Humboldt_, London, 1873, vol.
ii., p. 411.
[82] For the very amusing details of the English attempt, and of the
way in which it was met, see _De Morgan_, _Paradoxes_, p. 42. For
Pastor Knak and his associates, see _Revue des Deux Mondes_, 1868.
[83] For a striking account, gathered from eye-witnesses of this
frightful scene at the execution of Bruno, see letter of Scioppius in
appendix to vol. iv. of _Libri_, _Hist. des Mathématiques_.
[84] As a pendant to this ejaculation of Kepler may be cited those
wondrous words of Linnæus: "Deum omnipotentem a tergo transeuntem vidi
et obstupui."
[85] For papal bull representing the earth as a flat disk, see
_Daunou_, _Études Historiques_, vol. ii., p. 421.
[86] For Bruno's conjecture (in 1591), see _Jevons_, vol. ii., p. 299.
For Kant's part in the nebular hypothesis, see _Lange_, _Geschichte
des Materialismus_, vol. i., p. 266. For value of Plateau's beautiful
experiment very cautiously estimated, see _W. Stanley Jevons_,
_Principles of Science_, London, 1874, vol. ii., p. 36. Also, _Elisée
Réclus_, _The Earth_, translated by Woodward, vol. i., pp. 14-18, for
an estimate still more careful. For a general account of discoveries
of nature of nebulæ by spectroscope, see _Draper_, _Conflict between
Religion and Science_. For a careful discussion regarding the spectra
of solid, liquid, and gaseous bodies, see _Schellen_, _Spectrum
Analysis_, pp. 100, _et seq._ For a very thorough discussion of the
bearings of discoveries made by spectrum analysis upon the nebular
hypothesis, ibid., pp. 532-537. For a presentation of the difficulties
yet unsolved, see article by Plummer, in London _Popular Science
Review_ for January, 1875. For excellent short summary of recent
observations and thought on this subject, see _T. Sterry Hunt_,
_Address at the Priestley Centennial_, pp. 7, 8. For an interesting
modification of this hypothesis, see Proctor's recent writings.
[87] For a very careful discussion of Albert's strength in
investigation and weakness in yielding to scholastic authority, see
_Kopp_, _Ansichten über die Aufgabe der Chemie von Geber bis Stahl_,
_Braunschweig_, 1875, pp. 64, _et seq._ For a very extended and
enthusiastic biographical sketch, see _Pouchet_. For comparison of
his work with that of Thomas Aquinas, see _Milman_, _History of Latin
Christians_, vol. vi., 461. _Il était aussi très-habile dans les arts
mécaniques, ce que le fit soupçonner d'être sorcier._ _Sprengel_,
_Histoire de la Médecine_, vol. ii., p. 389.
[88] For the charge of magic against scholars and others, see _Naudé_,
_Apologie pour les grands hommes accusés de Magie_, _passim_. Also,
_Maury_, _Hist. de la Magie_, troisième édit., pp. 214, 215. Also,
_Cuvier_, _Hist. des Sciences Naturelles_, vol. i., p. 396.
[89] See _Études sur Vincent de Beauvais par l'Abbé Bourgeat_, chaps.
xii., xiii., xiv. Also, _Pouchet_, _Histoire des Sciences Naturelles au
Moyen Age_, Paris, 1853, pp. 470, _et seq._
[90] For work of Aquinas, see _St. Thomas Aquinas_, _Liber de Cœlo et
Mundo_, section xx. Also, _Life and Labors of St. Thomas of Aquin_,
by _Archbishop Vaughan_, pp. 459, _et seq._ For his labors in natural
science, see _Hoefer_, _Histoire de la Chimie_, Paris, 1843, vol.
i., p. 381. For theological views of science in middle ages, and
rejoicing thereat, see _Pouchet_, _Hist. des Sci. Nat. au Moyen Age_,
_ubi supra_. Pouchet says: "En général au milieu du moyen âge les
sciences sont essentiellement chrétiennes, leur but est tout-à-fait
religieux, et elles semblent beaucoup moins s'inquiéter de l'avancement
intellectuel de l'homme que de son salut eternel." Pouchet calls this
"conciliation" into a "harmonieux ensemble" "la plus glorieuse des
conquêtes intellectuelles du moyen âge." Pouchet belongs to Rouen, and
the shadow of the Rouen Cathedral seems thrown over all his history.
See, also, _L'Abbé Rohrbacher_, _Hist. de l'Église Catholique_,
Paris, 1858, vol. xviii., pp. 421, _et seq._ The abbé dilates upon
the fact that "the Church organizes the agreement of all the sciences
by the labors of St. Thomas of Aquin and his contemporaries." For
the theological character of science in middle ages, recognized
by a Protestant philosophic historian, see the well-known passage
in _Guizot_, _History of Civilization in Europe_; and by a noted
Protestant ecclesiastic, see _Bishop Hampden's Life of Thomas Aquinas_,
chaps. xxxvi., xxxvii. See, also, _Hallam_, _Middle Ages_, chap. ix.
For dealings of Pope John XXII., and kings of France and England, and
republic of Venice, see _Figuier_, _L'Alchimie et les Alchimistes_, pp.
140, 141, where, in a note, the text of the bull _Spondent Pariter_ is
given.
[91] The _Novum Organon_, translated by the Rev. G. W. Kitchin, Oxford,
1855, chap. lxv.
[92] _Novum Organon_, chap. lxxxix.
[93] _Novum Organon_, chap. xciii.
[94] _Bacon, The Advancement of Learning_, edited by W. Aldis Wright,
London, 1873, pp. 47, 48.
[95] For a very contemptuous statement of Lord Bacon's claim to his
position as a philosopher, see _Lange_, _Geschichte des Materialismus_,
Leipsic, 1874, vol. i., p. 219. For a more just statement, see
_Brewster_, _Life of Sir Isaac Newton_. See, also, _Jevons_,
_Principles of Science_, London, 1874, vol. ii., p. 298.
[96] Kopp, in his _Ansichten_, pushes criticism even to some skepticism
as to Roger Bacon being the _discoverer_ of many of the things
generally attributed to him; but, after all deductions are carefully
made, enough remains to make Bacon the greatest benefactor to humanity
during the middle ages.
[97] For an account of Bacon's treatise, _De Nullitate Magiæ_, see
_Hoefer_.
[98] _Kopp_, _Geschichte der Chemie_, Braunschweig, 1843, vol. i.,
p. 63; and for a somewhat reactionary discussion of Bacon's relation
to the progress of chemistry, see a recent work by the same author,
_Ansichten über die Aufgabe der Chemie_, Braunschweig, 1874, pp. 85,
_et seq._ Also, for an excellent summary, see _Hoefer_, _Hist. de la
Chimie_, vol. i., pp. 368, _et seq._ For summaries of his work in
other fields, see _Whewell_, vol. i., pp. 367, 368. _Draper_, p. 438.
_Saisset_, _Descartes et ses Précurseurs_, deuxième édition, pp. 397,
_et seq._ _Nourrisson_, _Progrès de la pensée humaine_, pp. 271, 272.
_Sprengel_, _Histoire de la Médecine_, Paris, 1865, vol. ii., p. 397.
_Cuvier_, _Histoire des Sciences Naturelles_, vol. i., p. 417. As to
Bacon's orthodoxy, see _Saisset_, pp. 53, 55. For special examination
of causes of Bacon's condemnation, see _Waddington_, cited by Saisset,
p. 14. On Bacon as a sorcerer, see Featherstonaugh's article in _North
American Review_. For a good example of the danger of denying full
power of Satan, even in much more recent times, and in a Protestant
country, see account of treatment of _Bekker's Monde Enchanté_ by the
theologians of Holland, in _Nisard_, _Histoire des Livres Populaires_,
vol. i., pp. 172, 173.
[99] _Henri Martin_, _Hist. de France_, vol. iv., p. 283.
[100] On Bacon as a "Mahometan," see _Saisset_, p. 17.
[101] For proofs that the world is steadily working toward great
discoveries as to the cause and prevention of zymotic diseases and
of their propagation, see _Beale's Disease Germs_, _Baldwin Latham's
Sanitary Engineering_, _Michel Lévy_, _Traité d'Hygiène Publique et
Privée_, Paris, 1869. And for very thorough summaries, see President
Barnard's paper read before Sanitary Congress in New York, 1874, and
_Dr. J. C. Dalton's Anniversary Discourse on the Origin and Propagation
of Disease_, New York, 1874.
[102] Antonio de Dominis, see _Montucla_, _Hist. des Mathématiques_,
vol. i., p. 705. _Humboldt_, _Cosmos._ _Libri_, vol. iv., pp. 145, _et
seq._
[103] For Porta, see _Hoefer_, _Hist. de la Chemie_, vol. ii., pp.
102-106. Also, _Kopp_. Also, _Sprengel_, _Hist. de la Médecine_, iii.,
p. 239. Also, _Musset-Parthay_.
[104] _Henri Martin_, _Histoire de France_, vol. xii., pp. 14, 15.
[105] _Napier_, _Florentine History_, vol. v., p. 485. _Tiraboschi_,
_Storia della Literatura_. _Henri Martin_, _Histoire de France_.
_Jevons Principles of Science_, vol. ii., pp. 36-40. For value attached
to Borelli's investigations by Newton and Huyghens, see _Brewster's_
_Life of Sir Isaac Newton_, London, 1875, pp. 128, 129. Libri, in his
_Essai sur Galilée_, p. 37, says that Oliva was summoned to Rome, and
so tortured by the Inquisition that, to escape further cruelty, he
ended his life by throwing himself from a window.
[106] For this syllogism, see _Figuier_, _L'Alchimie et les
Alchimistes_, pp. 106, 107. For careful appreciation of Becher's
position in the history of chemistry, see _Kopp_, _Ansichten über die
Aufgabe der Chemie_, etc., _von Geber bis Stahl_, Braunschweig, 1875,
pp. 201, _et seq._
[107] For Tertullian's views, see the _De Anima_, chap. x. For views of
St. Augustine, see the _De Civ. Dei_, book xxii., chap. 24.
[108] For Boniface VIII. and his interdiction of dissections, see
_Buckle's Posthumous Works_, vol. ii., p. 567. For injurious effects of
this ecclesiastical hostility to anatomy upon the development of art,
see _Woltman_, _Holbein and His Time_, pp. 266, 267. For an excellent
statement of the true relation of the medical profession to religious
questions, see _Prof. Acland_, _General Relations of Medicine in Modern
Times_, Oxford, 1868. For thoughtful and witty remarks on the struggle
at a recent period, see _Maury_, _L'Ancienne Académie des Sciences_,
Paris, 1864, p. 148. Maury says: "La faculté n'aimait pas à avoir
affaire aux théologiens qui procèdent par anathèmes beaucoup plus que
par analyses."
[109] For uncritical praise of Arnold de Villa Nova, see _Figuier_,
_L'Alchimie et les Alchimistes_, 3ème edit. For undue blame, see
_Hoefer_, _Histoire de la Chimie_, Paris, 1842, vol. i., p. 386. For
a more broad and fair judgment, see _Kopp_, _Geschichte der Chemie_,
Braunschweig, 1843, vol. i., p. 66, and vol. ii., p. 185. Also,
_Pouchet_, _Histoire des Sciences Naturelles au Moyen Age_, Paris,
1853, pp. 52, _et seq._ Also, _Draper_, _Int. Dev. of Europe_, p. 421.
_Whewell_, _Hist. of the Induct. Sciences_, vol. i., p. 235; vol.
viii., p. 36. _Frédault_, _Hist. de la Médecine_, vol. i., p. 204.
[110] _Renan_, _Averroès et l'Averroisme_, Paris, 1867, pp. 327, 333,
335. For a perfectly just statement of the only circumstances which can
justify the charge of "atheism," see Dr. Deems's article in POPULAR
SCIENCE MONTHLY, February, 1876.
[111] _Whewell_, vol. iii., p. 328, says, rather loosely, that Mundinus
"dissected at Bologna in 1315." How different his idea of dissection
was from that introduced by Vesalius, may be seen by Cuvier's careful
statement that the entire number of dissections by Mundinus was three.
The usual statement is that it was two. See _Cuvier_, _Hist. des Sci.
Nat._, tome iii., p. 7; also, _Sprengel_, _Frédault_, and _Hallam_;
also, _Littré_, _Médecine et Médecins_, chap. on anatomy. For a very
full statement of the agency of Mundinus in the progress of anatomy,
see _Portal_, _Hist. de l'Anatomie et de la Chirurgérie_, vol. i., pp.
209-216.
[112] For a similar charge against anatomical investigations at a
much earlier period, see _Littré_, _Médecine et Médecins_, chapter on
anatomy.
[113] The original painting of Vesalius at work in his cell, by Hamann,
is now at Cornell University.
[114] For a curious example of weapons drawn from Galen and used
against Vesalius, see _Lewes_, _Life of Goethe_, p. 343, note. For
proofs that I have not over-estimated Vesalius, see _Portal_, _ubi
supra_. Portal speaks of him as "_le génie le plus droit qu'eut
l'Europe_;" and again, "_Vesale me paraît un des plus grands hommes qui
ait existé_."
[115] See _Sprengel_, _Histoire de la Médecine_, vol. vi., pp. 39-80.
For the opposition of the Paris Faculty of Theology to inoculation, see
the _Journal de Barbier_, vol. vi., p. 294. For bitter denunciations of
inoculation by the English clergy, and for the noble stand against them
by Maddox, see _Baron_, _Life of Jenner_, vol. i., pp. 231, 232, and
vol. ii., pp. 39, 40. For the strenuous opposition of the same clergy,
see _Weld_, _History of the Royal Society_, vol. i., p. 464, note.
Also, for the comical side of this matter, see _Nichols's Literary
Illustrations_, vol. v., p. 800.
[116] For the opposition of conscientious men in England to
vaccination, see _Duns_, _Life of Sir James Y. Simpson, Bart._, London,
1873, pp. 248, 249; also, _Baron_, _Life of Jenner_, _ubi supra_, and
vol. ii., p. 43; also, _Works of Sir J. Y. Simpson_, vol. ii.
[117] See _Duns_, _Life of Sir J. Y. Simpson_, pp. 215-222.
[118] _Ibid._, pp. 256-259.
[119] _Ibid._, p. 260; also, _Works of Sir J. Y. Simpson_, _ubi supra_.
[120] _Morley_, _Life of Palissy the Potter_, vol. ii., pp. 315, _et
seq._
[121] _Audiat_, _Vie de Palissy_, p. 412. _Cantu_, _Hist. Universelle_,
vol. xv., p. 492.
[122] For ancient beliefs regarding giants, see _Leopardi_, _Saggio_
_sopra gli errori popolari_, etc., chapter xv. For accounts of the
views of Mazurier and Scheuchzer, see _Büchner_, _Man in Past,
Present, and Future_, English translation, pp. 235, 236. For Increase
Mather's views, see _Philosophical Transactions_, xxiv., 85. For
similar fossils sent from New York to the Royal Society as remains of
giants, see _Weld_, _History of the Royal Society_, vol. i., p. 421.
For Father Torrubia and his _Gigantologia Española_, see _D'Archiac_,
_Introduction à l'Étude de la Paléontologie stratiographique_, Paris,
1864, p. 202. For admirable summaries, see _Lyell_, _Principles of
Geology_, London, 1867; _D'Archiac_, _Géologie et Paléontologie_,
Paris, 1866; _Pictet_, _Traité de Paléontologie_, Paris, 1853;
_Vezian_, _Prodrome de la Géologie_, Paris, 1863; _Haeckel_, _History
of Creation_, New York, 1876, chapter iii.
[123] See _Voltaire_, _Dissertation sur les Changements arrivés dans
notre Globe_; also, _Voltaire_, _Les Singularités de la Nature_,
chapter xii., near close of vol. v. of the Didot edition of 1843; also,
_Jevons_, _Principles of Science_, vol. ii., p. 328.
[124] For a candid summary of the proofs from geology, astronomy,
and zoölogy, that the Noachian Deluge was not universally or widely
extended, see _McClintock and Strong_, _Cyclopædia of Biblical Theology
and Ecclesiastical Literature_, article _Deluge_. For general history,
see _Lyell_, _D'Archiac_, and _Vezian_. For special cases showing
bitterness of the conflict, see the _Rev. Mr. Davis's Life of Rev. Dr.
Pye Smith_, _passim_.
[125] For comparison between conduct of Italian and English
ecclesiastics, as regards geology, see _Lyell_, _Principles of
Geology_, tenth English ed., vol i., p. 33. For a philosophical
statement of reasons why the struggle was more bitter, and the attempt
at deceptive compromises more absurd in England than elsewhere, see
_Maury_, _L'Ancienne Académie des Sciences_, second edition, p. 152.
[126] For these citations, see _Lyell_, _Principles of Geology_,
introduction.
[127] See _Pye Smith, D. D._, _Geology and Scripture_, pp. 156, 157,
168, 169.
[128] _Wiseman_, _Twelve Lectures on the Connection between Science and
Revealed Religion_, first American edition, New York, 1837.
[129] See _Silliman's Journal_, vol. xxx., p. 114.
[130] Prof. Goldwin Smith informs me that the papers of Sir Robert
Peel, yet unpublished, contain very curious specimens of these epistles.
[131] See _Personal Recollections of Mary Somerville_, Boston, 1874,
pp. 139 and 375. Compare with any statement of his religious views that
Dean Cockburn was able to make, the following from Mrs. Somerville:
"Nothing has afforded me so convincing a proof of the Deity as these
purely mental conceptions of numerical and mathematical science which
have been, by slow degrees, vouchsafed to man--and are still granted
in these latter times, by the differential calculus, now superseded by
the higher algebra--all of which must have existed in that sublimely
omniscient mind from eternity."--See _Personal Recollections_, pp. 140,
141.
[132] For another great error of the Church in political economy,
leading to injury to commerce, see _Lindsay_, _History of
Merchant-Shipping_, London, 1874, vol. ii.
[133] See _Murray_, _History of Usury_, Philadelphia, 1866, p.
25; also, _Coquelin and Guillaumin_, _Dictionnaire de l'Économie
Politique_, articles _Intérêt_ and _Usure_; also, _Lecky_, _History of
Rationalism in Europe_, vol. ii., chapter vi.; also, _Jeremy Bentham's
Defence of Usury_, Letter X.; also, _Mr. D. S. Dickinson's Speech in
the Senate of New York_, vol. i. of his collected writings. Of all the
summaries, Lecky's is by far the best.
[134] The texts cited most frequently were Leviticus xxv. 36, 37;
Deuteronomy xxiii. 19; Psalms xv. 5; Ezekiel xviii. 8 and 17; St. Luke
vi. 35. See _Lecky_; also, _Dickinson's Speech_, as above.
[135] See _Dictionnaire de l'Économie Politique_, articles _Intérêt_
and _Usure_ for these citations. For some doubtful reservations made by
St. Augustine, see _Murray_.
[136] See citation of the Latin text in _Lecky_.
[137] For this moral effect, see _Montesquieu_, _Esprit des Lois_, lib.
xxi., chap. xx.
[138] See citation in _Lecky_.
[139] See _Coquelin and Guillaumin_, article _Intérêt_.
[140] See _Craik's History of British Commerce_, chapter vi. The
statute cited is _3 Henry VII._, chapter vi.
[141] See _Lecky_.
[142] See citation from the _Tischreden_, in _Guillaumin and Coquelin_,
article _Intérêt_.
[143] See _Craik's History of British Commerce_, chapter vi.
[144] For citation, as above, see _Lecky_. For further account, see
_Œuvres de Bossuet_, edition of 1845, vol. xi., p. 330.
[145] See citation from _Concina_ in _Lecky_; also, acquiescence in
this interpretation by _Mr. Dickinson_, in _Speech in Senate of New
York_, above quoted.
[146] See _Réplique des douze Docteurs_, etc., cited by Guillaumin and
Coquelin.
[147] _Burton_, _History of Scotland_, vol. viii., p. 511. See, also,
Mause Headrigg's views in Scott's _Old Mortality_, chapter vii. For the
case of a person debarred from the communion for "raising the devil's
wind" with a winnowing-machine, see _Works of Sir J. Y. Simpson_, vol.
ii. Those doubting the authority or motives of Simpson may be reminded
that he was, to the day of his death, one of the strictest adherents of
Scotch orthodoxy.
[148] See _Journal of Sir I. Brunel_, for May 20, 1827, in _Life of I.
K. Brunel_, p. 30.
[149] This scene will be recalled, easily, by many leading ethnologists
in America, and especially by Mr. E. G. Squier, formerly minister of
the United States to Central America.
[150] The meteorological battle is hardly fought out yet. Many
excellent men seem still to entertain views almost identical with
those of over two thousand years ago, depicted in _The Clouds_ of
Aristophanes.
[151] These texts are Ezekiel v. 5 and xxxviii. 12. The progress of
geographical knowledge, evidently, caused them to be softened down
somewhat in our King James's version; but the first of them reads,
in the Vulgate, "Ista est Hierusalem, in medio gentium posui eam et
in circuitu ejus terras;" and the second reads in the Vulgate "in
medio terræ," and in the Septuagint _ἑπι τὁν ὁμφαλὁν τἡς γἡς_. That
the literal centre of the earth was meant, see proof in St. Jerome,
Commentar. in Ezekiel, lib. ii., and for general proof, see Leopardi,
"Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi," pp. 207, 208. For an
idea of orthodox geography in the middle ages, see _Wright's Essay on
Archæology_, vol. ii., chapter "On the Map of the World in Hereford
Cathedral." For an example of the depth to which this idea of Jerusalem
as the centre had entered into the thinking of the great poet of the
middle ages, see _Dante_, _Inferno_, _Canto xxxiv._:
"E se' or sotto l'emisperio giunto,
Ch' è opposito a quel, che la gran secca
Coverchia, e sotto 'l cui colmo consunto
Fu l'uom che nacque e visse senza pecca."
[152] See _Michaelis_, _Commentaries on the Laws of Moses_, 1874,
vol. ii., p. 3. The writer of the present article himself witnessed
the reluctance of a very conscientious man to answer the questions
of a census marshal, Mr. Lewis Hawley, of Syracuse, N. Y., and this
reluctance was based upon the reasons assigned in II. Samuel chapter
xxiv. 1, and I. Chronicles, chapter xxi. 1, for the numbering of the
children of Israel.
[153] See _De Morgan_, _Paradoxes_, pp. 214-220.
[154] For _Dupanloup_, _Lettre à un Cardinal_, see the _Revue de
Thérapeutique_, 1868, p. 221.
[155] For general account of the Vulpian and See matter, see _Revue des
Deux Mondes_, 31 Mai, 1868. _Chronique de la Quinzaine_, pp. 763-765.
As to the result on popular thought, may be noted the following comment
on the affair by the _Revue_, which is as free as possible from
anything like rabid anti-ecclesiastical ideas: "_Elle a été vraiment
curieuse, instructive, assez triste et même un peu amusante._" For
Wurtz's statement, see _Revue de Thérapeutique_ for 1868, p. 303.
[156] _De Morgan_, _Paradoxes_, pp. 421-428; also, _Daubeny's Essays_.
[157] See the Berlin newspapers for the summer of 1868, especially
_Kladderadatsch_.
[158] In the _Church Journal_, New York, May 28, 1874, a
reviewer, praising Rev. Dr. Hodge's book against Darwinism, says:
"Darwinism--whether Darwin knows it or not; whether the clergy, who
are half prepared to accept it in blind fright as 'science,' know it
or not--is a denial of every article of the Christian faith. It is
supreme folly to talk as some do about accommodating Christianity to
Darwinism. Either those who so talk do not understand Christianity,
or they do not understand Darwinism. If we have all, men and monkeys,
women and baboons, oysters and eagles, all 'developed' from an original
monad and germ, then St. Paul's grand deliverance--'All flesh is not
the same flesh. There is one kind of flesh of men, another of beasts,
another of fishes, and another of birds. There are bodies celestial and
bodies terrestrial'--may be still very grand in our funeral-service,
but very untrue to fact." This is the same dangerous line of argument
which Caccini indulged in in Galileo's time. Dangerous, for suppose
"Darwinism" _be proved true_! For a soothing potion by a skillful
hand, see _Whewell_ on the consistency of evolution doctrines with
teleological ideas; also, _Rev. Samuel Houghton, F. R. S._, _Principles
of Animal Mechanics_, London, 1873, preface, and page 156, for some
interesting ideas on teleological evolution.
[159] For some excellent remarks on the futility of such attempts and
outcries, see the _Rev. Dr. Deems_, in POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY for
February, 1876. To all who are inclined to draw scientific conclusions
from Biblical texts, may be commended the advice of a good old German
divine of the Reformation period: "Seeking the milk of the Word, do not
press the teats of Holy Writ too hard."
[160] In an eloquent sermon, preached in March, 1874, Bishop Cummins
said, in substance: "The Church has no fear of Science; the persecution
of Galileo was entirely unwarrantable; but Christians should resist to
the last Darwinism; for that is evidently contrary to Scripture." The
bishop forgets that Galileo's doctrine seemed to such colossal minds as
Bellarmin, and Luther, and Bossuet, "evidently contrary to Scripture."
Far more logical, modest, sagacious, and full of faith, is the attitude
taken by his former associate, Dr. John Cotton Smith: "For geology,
physiology, and historical criticism have threatened or destroyed only
particular forms of religious opinion, while they have set the spirit
of religion free to keep pace with the larger generalizations of modern
knowledge."--_Picton_, _The Mystery of Matter_, London, 1873, p. 72.