No scientific student or observer of nature will have failed to notice
that all phenomena around him are ever in a condition of progressive
change, ever advancing from the simple to the complex, and ever
conforming to specific laws. Just as the world in which we live has
gradually developed from a condition of nebulous vapour to its present
complex form, and just as man has evolved from a simple molecule of
protoplasm by wonderful and manifold stages to his present commanding
position, so have civilisation, trade, politics, arts, literature, and
science all been slowly and gradually evolved from the primitive mind
of prehistoric man. A continual change has ever been going on from the
simple to the complex, from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous, from
the imperfect to the more perfect. This continual progress has been in
operation during all time, and will proceed in the future as of old,
leaving the present day far behind in its march, as the present day has
left behind it the past.
In considering the evolution of reform, or progress of civilisation,
we are necessarily limited to a comparatively late period in man’s
history, for many thousands of years had passed away, during which time
man had gradually established himself as a social animal, before any
trustworthy records appeared to throw light in future ages upon the
primitive condition and habits of the human family. From the patient
and persevering studies of scientific men, we are now in possession of
a number of facts which lead us to the conclusion that primitive man
first lived the life of a wild beast, inhabiting caves, and devoting
all his energies to battling with the ferocious monsters around him.
From this condition he developed into a more civilised being, becoming
an agriculturalist, afterwards a manufacturer of stuffs and hardware,
and still later a member of an organised state. These changes probably
occupied hundreds of thousands of years, compared to which enormous
lapse of time the period embraced between the Egypto-Greek or classic
era and the present moment is a mere speck on the face of time. We are
now tolerably well acquainted with the civilisation of the ancient
Egyptians and Greeks, which had existed for many centuries before
the time of Aristotle, and which some four or five centuries before
our era had commenced its entry upon the wide field of scientific
development which followed the conquest of Persia by Alexander the
Great. These civilisations, which for centuries had been bound up
with the vain superstitions connected with the legion of divinities
of Olympus, of Memphis, and of Thebes, were gradually casting off the
yoke of ignorance, and becoming more acquainted with the majesty of the
operations of nature. Philosophers began to publicly declaim against
the Olympian absurdities, and to ridicule the notion of miracles or
prodigies; traditions began to be doubted and were fast being cast
aside; Zeus and his court were ceasing to command respect; and the
priests were often publicly insulted. The Ionian gods of Homer, as well
as the Doric of Hesiod, appeared likely to be quickly committed to
the darkness of oblivion. Powerful and influential resistance was, of
course, opposed to the wave of progress and reason; the philosophers
were branded as Atheists and their followers persecuted rigorously;
Euripides was declared a heretic, and Æschylus narrowly escaped being
stoned to death for blasphemy. So great was the opposition offered
to the movement that the philosophers would undoubtedly have been
silenced for some time to come had it not been for the sudden military
expedition against the Persians. Alexander, with his 38,000 Macedonian
soldiers, having crossed the Hellespont, B.C. 334, proceeded to
subjugate the imperious monarch of Persia, and, after successfully
conquering Asia Minor and Syria, completely defeated the Persian army
led by King Darius, and took possession of the great city of Babylon.
This war engrossed the attention of all classes at home, so that the
philosophers were enabled to prosecute their studies unmolested. It
also in many other ways was a means of furthering the scientific
efforts of that and of future ages. For the first time the Macedonians
beheld the ebbing and flowing of the tides; they discovered and
examined the Chaldean astronomical instruments, and learnt their
calculations, extending over several thousand years; and they observed
the Chaldean division of the zodiac into twelve portions, and of
the day and night into twelve hours each. The particulars of these
they sent home to Aristotle. What a field was here opened out for
Greek speculation! The Chaldeans had detected the precession of the
equinoxes, and were well acquainted with the causes of eclipses; they
printed from a revolving roller, on which they had engraved cuneiform
letters; they possessed magnifying instruments; and were, in fact,
the tail-end of a mighty and advanced Accadian civilisation which
had been in existence for thousands of years. Not satisfied with
these achievements, the conquering Alexander next subdued the ancient
monarchy of Egypt, learnt the great feat of the Pharaohs—viz., the
circumnavigation of Africa by the Cape of Good Hope and the pillars of
Hercules, and founded the celebrated city of Alexandria. He died at
Babylon B.C. 323, after which his huge empire was divided among his
generals; his half brother, Ptolemy Soter, who had been governor of
Egypt during Alexander’s lifetime, taking possession of that country,
and establishing his seat of government at the new city of Alexandria.
This period marks the commencement of European civilisation. Owing to
the excellent government adopted by Ptolemy, large numbers of Arabians,
Jews, and Greeks were induced to take up their residence at Alexandria,
which quickly became the centre of learning and first commercial
city of the whole known world, and the resort of people of all
nationalities. The celebrated museum, which was commenced by Ptolemy
Soter and completed by his successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, contained a
library, which grew so largely that 400,000 volumes were soon acquired
by it, and a daughter library, containing 300,000 volumes, built at the
Serapion, or Temple of Serapis. Books were freely bought, transcribers
engaged, apartments set aside, at the king’s expense, for the residence
of Greek philosophers and students, and four faculties established,
for literature, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine, including
natural history. There were also in connection with the university
botanical and zoological gardens, an astronomical observatory, with
spheres, globes, parallactic rules, etc., and an anatomical theatre
for the dissection of dead bodies. It was here that Euclid produced
his celebrated geometrical demonstrations, which are at this day used
in our schools. Here also Archimedes proclaimed his method for the
determination of specific gravities, and invented the theory of the
lever. Here Eratosthenes daily taught that the earth was a globe, and
determined the interval between the tropics. The earth was described
as possessing imaginary poles, axis, equator, arctic and antarctic
circles, equinoxial points, solstices, climate, etc. Hipparchus taught
the precession of the equinoxes, catalogued the stars, and adopted
lines of latitude and longitude in describing the situations of places.
Thus science progressed under the wise and beneficent rule of the
Ptolemies.
But a dark cloud was already looming in the distance, which was
destined to develop into a fierce storm, the effect of whose fury was
felt for centuries afterwards. Julius Cæsar, in B.C. 30, defeated
Cleopatra, then Queen of Egypt, and added that country to the Roman
dominions, the museum and larger library being entirely destroyed
during the siege of Alexandria. From this time learning and science
began to decline. Numerous religious sects arose around Alexandria,
the old mythologies were revived, and the priests once more gained
influence. The temples of Jupiter Ammon and Apollo in Egypt, of Adonis
and Ies in Phœnicia, of Dionysos in Greece, and of Bacchus in Rome,
were again filled to overflowing, and miracles were performed in
abundance. In the short space of about fifty years all the work of the
Ptolemies appeared to have been undone, and the world once more given
up to darkness, superstition, and ignorance, the popular frenzy being
kept up by a number of ascetic monks, called Therapeutæ, who inhabited
the hills around Alexandria, the desert and rocky plains of Arabia
Petræa, and the barren hills of Syria, and travelled about the country,
preaching in the open air to the ignorant and credulous multitudes.
Matters progressed favourably for the revivalists for a short time;
but there had shortly before occurred a circumstance which proved to
be, for us, the most important event in the world’s history, and which
considerably modified the Therapeut programme.
According to ancient records, it appears that a monk, of the ascetic
order of Essenes, called Yahoshuah (Joshua) ben Pandira, was born
in Syria, in the fourth year of the reign of Alexander Jannæus, or
about B.C. 120; and, being educated in Egypt, under the supervision
of Yahoshuah-ben Perachia, soon made himself specially obnoxious to
the priests by his heterodox teaching. From the exceedingly scanty
information to be obtained from the historical writers of the time,
it appears that this young man had, in addition to his knowledge of
Egyptian sorcery, a large acquaintance with the sublime and moral
teachings of Confucius, for whose memory he appears to have had a
profound respect. Observing the despicable manner in which the priests
manipulated their sacred offices for their own advantage, robbing the
poor and credulous people of their hard earnings and indulging in all
kinds of immoralities, this young man boldly attacked these human
parasites in the public places, calling them liars and hypocrites,
preaching Socialistic and Communistic doctrines, and declaring that
there was but one law necessary for man—viz., the golden rule of
Confucius, “Do unto another,” etc. The wrath of the priests knew no
bounds; a council was called to consider the matter, and the bold
reformer was, it is said, sentenced to death for his noble efforts on
behalf of suffering humanity. Whether or not this young man ever lived,
or whether he was merely an ideal creation of the fanatical minds of
these therapeut monks, suggested by necessity, it is impossible to say
positively; for there are no really trustworthy records from which a
safe conclusion can be deduced. It is, however, probable that such a
man did actually exist, for it is not likely that, had he been but
an idea, the fact of his having declared one law to be sufficient
for man’s moral guidance would have been included among the fabulous
performances afterwards attributed to him, as such a declaration was
destructive of all priestcraft; besides which, we are told in the
Babylonian Gemara to the Mishna that Yahoshua, “son of Pandira and
Stada,” was stoned to death as a wizard in the city of Ludd, or Lydia,
after which he was crucified on a tree on the eve of the Passover,
about B.C. 70, which was the punishment generally inflicted on
preachers of heresy and sedition. Whether he had an actual existence
or was but an idea, it is an undisputed fact that his name has been,
during the past eighteen hundred years, a household word, and that the
whole face of European history has been moulded by the various sayings
and doings fabulously attributed to him.
The reason of this is as follows. The therapeut monks of Alexandria,
who flourished in the first and second centuries of our era, in
attempting to revive the old mythological systems, and thus to deprive
scientists and philosophers of their late rapidly-increasing power,
were at a great disadvantage, owing to the length of time that had
elapsed since the wonderful feats of the gods had been performed. They
well understood the absolute necessity of keeping alive in the memories
of the people the older miraculous events by the performance of fresh
wonders in their own day; but the difficulty they had to encounter was
in finding suitable individuals for the occasion. The Syrian Essene
monk, who had infected a great number of the lower classes of society
by his heretical and revolutionary teachings, which, at first sight,
appeared likely to be damaging to the cause of the priesthood, was
quickly requisitioned by these astute monks for the great purpose
they had in view—viz., the reproduction on earth of the popular god
Bacchus, the Greek Dionysos, and Phœnician Ies. They boldly declared
that this man was, when on earth, an incarnate deity, and proceeded to
attribute to him all the wonderful performances that had previously
been imputed to the young sun-god Bacchus, such as miraculous birth
from a virgin, resurrection from the grave three days after death,
ascension to heaven, etc.; and, finally, gave him the Phœnician name
of Bacchus, Ies, in its Greek form Iesous—Greek being, at that time,
the prevailing language around Alexandria. The new religion gradually
spread from Egypt over the European provinces of the Roman empire,
and soon became such a great political power in the State that the
incarnate fiend and Emperor Constantine, in A.D. 312, was induced
to place himself at its head, and use its increasing influence to
further his own wicked projects. The new Church, by this act, gained an
enormous power; its priests became arrogant, the philosophers were even
more persecuted than before, and learning was fast approaching its end.
The only scientific work which the Church retained was the “Syntaxis”
of Ptolemy, the Alexandrian astronomer, which taught that the earth
was the fixed centre of the universe, around which all other heavenly
bodies rotated. It also treated of the precession of the equinoxes,
the milky way, and the distances of the various bodies in the heavens
from the earth; but, as the geocentric theory was clearly taught in
conformity with the Bible records and the religious convictions of the
people, this system was gradually adopted by all classes of society,
and became the recognised authority on astronomy.
A furious and important controversy about this time broke out between
Arius, the leader of those who retained the original belief in the
manhood of Jesus, and Athanasius, the leader of the Christians, who
declared him to be divine, which culminated in the celebrated Council
of Nicea, A.D. 325, at which it was decided that he was actually god.
From this moment not only Arians, but all others who refused to believe
in the god Jesus, were savagely persecuted, until, at last, science
and learning received their death-blow by the destruction of the
Serapion, under the order of the Emperor Theodosius, and the murder of
Hypatia at Alexandria. This philosopher was in the habit of lecturing
on mathematics at the university, and was so popular that the jealousy
of Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, was aroused; she was seized by his
fanatical followers as she was going to her lecture-room, stripped
naked, dragged into a Christian church, and there brained by the club
of Peter the Reader, in A.D. 414.
Justinian next ordered the teaching of philosophy to be discontinued
at Athens, and closed all the schools. The sciences were made to
conform to Genesis, which was declared to be the only true account of
the origin of nature; and the earth was declared to be flat, the sky
spreading over it like a dome—or, in the words of St. Augustine, like
a skin—in which all the bodies moved to give light to man. Lactantius
declared the globular theory to be heretical. “Is it possible,” he
said, “that man can be so absurd as to believe that the crops and the
trees on the other side of the earth hang downwards, 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 towards 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.” St. Augustine also said
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;” and again: “In the day of judgment men on
the other side of a globe could not see the Lord descending through
the air.” Thus perished all the grand work effected by the Ptolemies.
Science was annihilated, progress arrested, and the dark ages had
commenced, which lasted until the time of Luther and Copernicus,
in the commencement of the sixteenth century. Throughout this long
and dreary period the most cruel enormities were practised upon
unoffending people; the Church became gorged with wealth; the clergy
gave themselves up to all kinds of lust and debauchery; relics were
sold, dispensations bartered; and no one’s property or person was safe.
Progress was, however, only arrested for a time.
About the year 570 Mohammed was born in Arabia, and in 610 he declared
to the world that he had been commissioned by the angel Gabriel to
preach the unity of god. He appears to have been a very remarkable
religious enthusiast, who believed himself in his divine mission,
and was eminently successful in his arduous undertaking. Idolatry was
quickly abolished among the Arabs, and replaced by the religion of
Mohammed. On the death of the prophet his successors as vigorously
pursued the course he had entered upon. Ali, the general of Khalif
Omar’s army, in A.D. 637, captured Jerusalem and conquered Syria in the
name of the one true god and his prophet Mohammed. The Khalif rode from
Medina to Jerusalem upon a red camel, and, as he entered the conquered
city, issued the following proclamation: “In the name of the most
merciful God. From Omar Ebno’l Alchitâb to the inhabitants of Œlia.
They shall be protected and secured, both in their lives and their
fortunes; and their churches shall neither be pulled down nor made use
of by any but themselves.” Sophronius, the chief Christian priest,
having invited the conqueror to pray in a Christian church, received
a polite refusal, Omar contenting himself with kneeling on the steps
outside, so that his followers might not have any excuse for seizing
the edifice or otherwise annoying the conquered Christians. The Khalif
and his followers then pressed northwards, conquered the Roman Emperor
Heraclius, sent a fleet to the Hellespont, defeated the Roman fleet,
and laid siege to Constantinople, then called Byzantium. Egypt was
next conquered, the remnants of the Serapion destroyed, and the whole
of North Africa added to the dominions of the Khalif. Spain was then
seized upon, and the entire country, as far north as the Loire, annexed
to the growing empire. In 732 Charles Martel succeeded in stopping the
Saracen foe at Poictiers and driving him back to Spain, thus relieving
the anxiety of the Church, which was now becoming intense. In 846 a
Mussulman fleet sailed up the Tiber, menaced Rome, and carried away
St. Peter’s altar to Africa, the Christian empire being saved from
further trouble only by the Mohammedan power being divided into three
Khalifates.
According to the Koran, the earth was a square plane, on the edges of
which rested the heavenly vault, divided into seven stories, in the
topmost of which dwelt god in his omnipotence. This theory, however,
was quickly given up by the learned Saracens, Al-Mamun declaring it
to be unscientific, and asserting that the earth was globular, with
a circumference of about 24,000 miles, which was not far wrong. In
661 the Khalif Moawyah encouraged this new teaching, and ordered the
writings of the Greek philosophers to be translated into Arabic. In
753 the Khalif Almansar recommended the study of astronomy, medicine,
and law at Bagdad; and his grandson, Haroum-al-Raschid, ordered that
every mosque should have a school attached to it, and established
a large library at Bagdad for the use of learned men. The sciences
of chemistry and geometry were revived, and algebra invented by the
Saracens. At Cairo the Fatimist Library became the wonder of the
world; and the great library of the Spanish Khalifs had 600,000
vols., its catalogue alone occupying 44 vols. Gibbon tells us that
they “diffused the taste and the rewards of science from Samarcand
and Bokhara to Fez and Cordova, and that 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 first medical college in
Europe was founded by the Saracens at Salerno in Italy, and the first
astronomical observatory was erected by them at Seville in Spain. The
streets in Spain were lighted, baths were erected, and total abstinence
universally practised. Thus we see that, while the power of the Church
was gradually steeping central Europe in darkness, ignorance, and
wretchedness, progress was on the march again in Western Asia, Africa,
and Spain. During this period, however, there were not wanting in
Europe bold men who attempted a revival of philosophy; but these were
quickly suppressed by the Church. In A.D. 800 there appeared a man
in Britain called John Erigena, who, having read Aristotle’s works,
adopted his views and attempted to reconcile them with the Christian
religion. There were also many Christian divines who had crossed the
Mediterranean to study philosophy secretly from Mohammedan doctors.
Erigena declared that every living thing evolved from something that
had previously lived; that each particular life-form was but a part of
general existence or mundane soul; and that all life must be eventually
re-absorbed in deity. The Church became infuriated and alarmed at this
heretical barbarian, who taught the pernicious doctrines of emanation
and absorption, and steps were immediately taken to suppress him.
During the period of quiet which followed a certain priest of
Thuringia, Bernhardt by name, created a great sensation in central
Europe by declaring that the end of the world was fast approaching;
that the prophecy contained in the twentieth chapter of Revelation
would be fulfilled on December 31st, in the year 1000—or possibly
immediately before that time—when the devil would be unbound; and that
unutterable calamity or annihilation would come upon the world. The
clergy quickly followed suit, and as the fearful day approached every
church and cloister in Europe resounded with the frantic appeals of
the monks and priests for their flocks to prepare for the awful doom.
Europe was turned upside down; business was suspended; kings, princes,
senators, nobles, and peasants all alike left their occupations to
seek refuge in some holy sanctuary against the coming event. As the
dread moment approached there was not a church or convent in Europe
that was not crowded to suffocation, the people imagining that, if
they were found at the last moment in some consecrated place, their
chances of being saved would be better. Hundreds and thousands of these
poor wretches never had opportunity of obtaining the coveted shelter,
having been bereft of their reason under the awful excitement of the
hour. Amid prayer, faintings, hysterical screaming, and chanting of
choirs—priests, monarchs, and beggars all huddled together anyhow—the
clock struck twelve, and dead silence prevailed. Gradually the people
roused themselves from their stupor to find themselves the victims of
a cruel hoax. Strange to say, not any attempt was made to punish those
who had produced such a melancholy state of things. Kings and nobles
had endowed monasteries and churches with lands and wealth, which they
believed would soon be of so little use to them, and became suddenly
penitent, assuming the monk’s shirt of hair, and otherwise showing
evidence of their piety and humility. William of the Long Sword, Duke
of Normandy, Hugh Duke of Burgundy, Hugh Count of Arles, the Emperor
Henry II., all renounced their wealth and position to become monks.
Nobles had left lands and castles to the Church, the deeds being drawn
up by monks and witnessed by prelates and sovereigns, as though no
day of reckoning was at hand, the form being invariably as follows:
“Seeing that the end of the world is now approaching, and that every
day accumulates fresh miseries, I, Baron —— (or King ——), for the
good of my soul, give to the monastery of ——,” etc. The Church, which
before was poor, now became gorged with wealth, and the ignorance and
credulity of the people secured the treasures to the now powerful
prelates.
During this period of excitement and terror the number of pilgrimages
to the Holy Land had enormously increased, so much so that the Saracen
masters of Jerusalem, with the view of putting a stop to the now
troublesome and inconvenient influx of Christians to the Holy City,
commenced to persecute the pilgrims, thus creating a very great
ill-feeling against themselves throughout Europe. Peter the Hermit,
a monk of Amiens, took up the cause of his ill-treated brethren, and
forthwith commenced to preach a holy war against the Saracens of
Syria, Pope Urban II. and his priests promising absolution from all
sin to those who took up arms against the Infidel. A vast multitude
of rabble from all parts of Europe soon started on their march to
the Holy Land, being divided into three large armies, one led by
Walter the Penniless, another by Peter the Hermit, and the third
by Gottschalk, a monk. The armies gave themselves up to unheard-of
iniquities, spreading poverty and misery on all sides in their march,
braining all who refused to give up their provisions and property to
them, and, at last, arriving in Constantinople footsore and diseased,
having left two-thirds of their comrades to die of starvation on the
road. Crossing over into Syria, they met the Saracen foe, who quickly
put an end to their sufferings by annihilating the whole lot. Seven
other Crusades followed, one composed altogether of children, who,
the priests declared, were to be the inheritors of the Holy Land, it
being now apparent that full-grown men were too sinful to conquer the
Infidel. The army of children was accordingly shipped off to destroy
the Saracen foe, but never reached Palestine, the boys having been
sold as slaves, and the girls drafted into Turkish harems. When, at
last, Acre surrendered to the Crusaders under Richard Cœur de Lion,
the leniency displayed by the Khalif Omar in his capture of Jerusalem
in 637 was repaid by 2,700 Saracen hostages being brutally beheaded
outside the city walls for the sport of the Christian soldiers. All
this time Europe was in a constant state of agitation and alarm, which
was further intensified by the revival in 1180 of the doctrines of John
Erigena by the Saracen philosopher Averroes, who boldly preached them
in Spain, making converts in all directions, among whom was the great
Jewish writer, Maimonides, who had been held by the Jews in the highest
esteem, and considered second only in wisdom to Moses.
Under the tolerant and liberal rule of the Saracens Averroism made
great progress in Spain, where Mohammedans, Christians, and Jews were
permitted to live peaceably together, and where philosophical theories
were openly and fearlessly taught; but a day of reckoning was at hand.
On the death of the Caliph Hakem, Almansor usurped the throne, and, in
order to secure his position, entered into a secret treaty with the
orthodox section of the Mohammedans, thus establishing a Church and
State party of enormous power, which culminated in the expulsion of
Averroes from Spain and the suppression of the study of philosophy.
Thus were crushed again philosophy and progress in 1198. The Christians
of Italy, Germany, and France followed suit, ordering all Averroists
to be seized and punished, and shortly afterwards extending the order
also to Jews and Mohammedans. From the accession of Almansor dates the
downfall of the Mohammedan power in Spain and the commencement of the
fearful persecutions of Infidels by the Christian Church, which has
left such a dark blot upon the pages of European history.
The Saracen power in Europe was annihilated by Ferdinand and Isabella,
and the Inquisition established by Pope Innocent IV. in 1243. For
two hundred years it seemed as though philosophy and progress were
indeed dead, so relentlessly did the Church persecute all heretics and
denounce all scientific studies. But an occurrence took place in 1440
which completely turned the tide of events. In that year the art of
printing was introduced into Europe by the Venetians, who had learnt
it from the Chinese; and in 1469 it was carried to France, and from
thence to all the great cities of the continent. At first the Church
paid little heed to the innovation; but it soon became apparent that
a dangerous medium had been introduced for intercommunication of the
people and their governments, which must lessen the need and importance
of a religious medium. Books were only allowed to be published under
the supervision of the ecclesiastical authority, and heavy penalties
inflicted upon all who attempted to circulate any heretical works. The
writings of Averroes, Maimonides, and other heretics, were ordered to
be burnt, the doctrines taught by them being declared blasphemous and
subversive of all good government. The leading and most learned Jews
and Mohammedans in Spain and Southern France were avowed Averroists,
and did not shrink from preaching their doctrines in the public
thoroughfares; and the infection was extending so rapidly that the
Church feared that a great calamity would overtake the orthodox
faith unless some steps were taken to put a stop to the heresy. The
Inquisition, which had been found so effective in silencing heretics
in France, was now utilised for dealing with the Jews and Moors. A cry
was made in Castile by the orthodox Christians for the establishment
of the Inquisition in Spain, which was immediately taken up by all
haters of progress; and so great was the influence brought to bear by
the Dominican monk and arch-fiend, Torquemada, upon the Queen Isabella
that the Pope was petitioned for a bull, which was issued in 1478,
for the detection and suppression of heresy in Spain. The Christian
monster, Torquemada, proved himself a worthy agent of the Inquisition,
burning at the stake in eighteen years about 10,220 persons of both
sexes. Dispensations from the operation of the Inquisition were sold
by the Pope to such as could afford to purchase them; and in 1492 all
unbaptised Jews, old or young, were ordered by Torquemada to leave
Spain within four months, and to leave behind them all those effects
they could not sell in the meantime. These poor wretches swarmed in
the roads in their thousands, rending the air with their piteous
cries, the Christian Spaniards being forbidden to render assistance
under penalty of torture. The consequence was that hundreds and
thousands of men, women, and children died by the wayside from hunger,
thirst, and fatigue. In 1502 a further order was issued at Seville
for the Spaniards to drive out of their country every Infidel they
could hear of, no matter what the nationality might be. The Moors
were particularly indicated in the document, one clause stating that
it was justifiable to kill Mohammedans on account of their shameless
infidelity. The consequence was that, in a marvellously short space
of time, there was not a Mohammedan to be found on the European side
of the Straits of Gibraltar. In spite of the precautions made use of
by the Christians for the prevention of the study of philosophy and
the acquirement of knowledge, the news of the discovery of America by
Columbus, in 1492, very soon found its way all over Europe, producing
the most intense sensation, for the discovery came as a terrific
blow to the Church and its inspired Bible. To make matters worse, in
1522 Magellan sailed completely round the world, thus demonstrating
conclusively that the earth was a globe.
Matters appeared to be going wrong with the Church, in spite of the
recent bloody triumphs of the Inquisition; and the clergy and laity
were not slow to notice the turn events were taking. Martin Luther,
a young Augustinian monk, in particular, took advantage of the
unsettled state of the mind of Europe to make a furious onslaught
against the Pope and the Church. Having been told by Cajetan that he
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,” this young
priest declared he never would accept such a doctrine, and commenced
forthwith to preach openly against the sale of indulgences, declaring
that the Church must stand or fall on the Bible, which taught no such
doctrine. The orthodox clergy, on the contrary, declared that the
Bible derived its authority from the Church, and not the Church from
the Bible, and demanded that Luther should be arrested for heresy. In
1520 the Pope excommunicated the bold monk, who, in return, defiantly
burnt the Papal bull, for which he was ordered to appear before the
Imperial Diet at Worms, when he deliberately refused to retract.
The views of the reformer quickly spread through Switzerland and
Germany, Pope Leo thundering forth his anathemas upon all who joined
the dangerous movement, until, at length, after many bloody wars and
horrible massacres, such as the slaughter of the Huguenots, etc.,
the Reformation was firmly established, and the Bible became, to the
Reformed Church, the only guide to morals and duty. At first, the Pope
sullenly submitted to what appeared to be the inevitable; but soon
it became apparent that, in order to keep any authority at all over
the people, some plan would have to be adopted to curtail the growing
influence of the Reformed Church. Accordingly, Pope Paul III., in 1540,
established the Society of Jesus, the members of which order were sent
abroad all over Europe for the purpose of secretly undermining the
influence of the Reformers. Three years afterwards, as if to counteract
the evil designs of the Jesuits, there appeared on the scene the
celebrated work of Copernicus, which was destined for ever to demolish
the geocentric theory of Ptolemy, and to establish the heliocentric
philosophy, which taught that the sun was the centre of our system,
and that all the planets, including our earth, revolved in regular
order round it, and which, of course, called forth a volley of abuse
from the Vatican, the theory being declared heretical and its author
anathematised. The effect of all this was to cause quite a revolution
in thought among the learned of Europe, which gave rise to another
schism in the Church, departure being this time from the ranks of the
Reformers.
Arianism was once more revived by a number of people, who maintained
that the doctrine of the Trinity was un-Scriptural, and that Jesus was
but a man like themselves, though endowed with great authority from
god. The orthodox and reformed Churches both alike were alarmed at this
turn of events, and co-operated to suppress the new heresy, denouncing
all philosophical studies, and branding the Unitarians as Infidels.
The upshot was that Servetus was burnt to death at the stake by the
order of the Trinitarian Calvin, and a check was thereby given to the
propagation of the Arian doctrines. It is satisfactory to note that
a Unitarian College now stands upon the very spot where Servetus was
murdered.
Again progress was arrested, and this time it seemed as though a mortal
blow had been dealt at all acquirement of knowledge, for shortly
afterwards, in 1559, Pope Paul IV. established the Congregation of
the Index Expurgatorius for the purpose of examining all books and
manuscripts intended for publication, and of deciding whether the
people should read them. The usual counterpoise, however, quickly made
its appearance, proving once more that progress cannot be arrested for
long.
In 1563 the first newspaper was produced in Venice, which again set the
ball of intellect rolling along, never more to be stopped by priest
or prince. The new Copernican philosophy was now accepted by many
learned men, among whom even were some of the priesthood. Giordano
Bruno, an Italian Dominican monk, among others, embraced these truths,
and was not afraid to openly teach them, for which daring act he
was soon obliged to seek refuge in Switzerland, where he prosecuted
his studies for some time in peace. The fiends of the Inquisition,
however, soon discovered his whereabouts and drove him into France,
then into England, and then back to Germany; in the end arresting him
at Venice. He was taken thence to Rome, publicly accused of teaching
the plurality of worlds, and burnt at the stake by the Inquisition in
1600. Eighteen years after the murder of this noble Italian, Kepler,
of Würtemberg, published his “Epitome of the Copernican System,” in
which he demonstrated for the first time that all the heavenly bodies
are bound in their courses by various laws. This work, like those
of Copernicus and Bruno, was prohibited by the Congregation of the
Index Purgatorius, and Kepler himself declared a dangerous infidel.
Still, in spite of the fury of the priesthood, Catholic and Reformer
alike, the study of the sciences made rapid strides, and in 1632 the
venerable Galileo published his “System of the World,” in which he
maintained the accuracy of the Copernican theory. For this daring
disregard of the Church’s warnings he was summoned to Rome and brought
before the Inquisition, accused of having taught that the earth moves
round the sun. The poor old man was compelled to kneel on the floor
of the court, place his hand on the Bible, and recant, after which he
was incarcerated in the prison of the Inquisition, where, ten years
afterwards, he died. Still science progressed, and was considerably
aided by the rapid increase in the number of newspapers throughout
Europe. In 1631 the _French Gazette_ was established, and, soon after,
newspapers appeared in all important cities, much to the discomfiture
of the Church, whose power was now more seriously imperilled than ever.
Confidence was gradually becoming established, and Descartes dared,
in 1680, to make an attempt to analyse the mind, declaring that the
necessity of universal doubt was the only starting-point of all true
philosophy. He was followed, six years later, by Newton, who published
his “Principia,” in which he demonstrated the grand truth which has
immortalised his name—viz., that all bodies attract each other with
forces jointly proportionate to their masses, varying universally as
the squares of their distances. Thus was established the great law
of universal gravitation, which marks an epoch in the intellectual
development of man. Owing to the constantly-recurring feuds between the
Lutherans, Calvinists, and Catholics, this great discovery passed for
a while almost unnoticed; but it soon became apparent that the final
blow had been given to the old theory of divine intervention in the
movements of the universe, and that learned men of all countries were
rapidly embracing the Newtonian theory of irreversible laws.
It was, however, now too late for the Church to interfere, for all
classes were quickly becoming impressed with the grand theory of
gravitation, which was destined for ever to remain the most wonderful
discovery of man; and, although the clergy still continued to
anathematise all scholars and scientists, the study of nature was
pursued with rapidly-increasing enthusiasm, as though to make up for
lost time. In 1690 Locke, the physician and philosopher, published his
“Essay on the Human Understanding,” in which he declared all human
knowledge to be the result of experience, thus entirely upsetting the
old theory of intuition. Twenty years later Leibnitz published his work
entitled “Theodicée,” in which he endeavoured to solve the difficult
problem of existence of evil in the world under the moral government
of Deity. These two rival philosophers soon became the leaders of
philosophic thought in their respective countries; but barely thirty
years had passed away before an iconoclast appeared, in the person
of David Hume, who cut away the ground ruthlessly from beneath their
feet. His “Treatise on Human Nature,” published in 1739, upset all
the philosophical systems of the past, replacing them by the great
theory of causation, which was soon accepted by every philosopher and
scientist. Kant followed in 1781 with his “Critique of Pure Reason,” in
which he submitted matter to analysis, and declared it to be possessed
of inherent force.
The other sciences were also joining in the march of progress.
Chemistry was fast becoming a settled science; Priestley’s discovery
of oxygen, in 1774, had created a great sensation; Cavendish shortly
afterwards, in 1783, discovered the constitution of water; and
Lavoisier, in 1789, summarised the combined researches of these two
chemists and himself in his “Elements of Chemistry,” which at once was
recognised as the standard work on the subject. Astronomy had, since
Newton’s discovery of gravitation, assumed a more settled condition,
but was destined to further modification by the enunciation of the
nebular hypothesis by Laplace, who commenced to publish his bulky work,
“ Mecanique Celeste,” in 1799.
The nineteenth century opened with progress, as it were, on the gallop.
In 1804 the first locomotive engine was started in England, at the same
time that the first screw steamer was run at New York. It is needless
to enumerate all the inventions of scientific men during the century,
which are so well known to every one. Suffice it to say that, in a
marvellously short space of time, the whole face of Europe has been
changed. Railways cross each other at all points, like a huge network;
telegraph wires link together as one place all important centres of
population; public buildings are protected from nature’s freaks by
lightning conductors; lighthouses dot the whole length of our coasts;
the penny postage conveys our thoughts to and fro throughout the
length and breadth of the land; a free press ventilates our grievances
and enlightens our minds; hospitals and dispensaries minister to the
sick and maimed wherever we go; and the Habeas Corpus Act endows each
well-disposed individual with freedom and liberty. What a metamorphosis
to be effected in so short a time!
The lesson we learn from such a cursory glance as this necessarily is
at the intellectual progress of Europe during the last two thousand
years is full of the deepest meaning. We cannot help being struck by
the dogged manner in which the Christian religion has opposed all
progress, ruthlessly murdering in cold blood any who dared to suggest
that the now-established and universally-accepted theories might
possibly possess some little of the truth. Every new scientific truth
or discovery has been denounced by the Church, every great benefactor
to the human race persecuted and hunted to death by the sleuth-hounds
of bigotry and intolerance, and every European war or massacre hatched
out of religious differences. To this very day the Church, though
robbed of all its old power to inflict evil and misery, persists in its
denunciation of all scientific discoveries; and not one of the numerous
sects which at present divide the Christian Church is exempt from
this charge. Hegel, Bunsen, John Stuart Mill, Rénan, Huxley, Darwin,
Tyndall, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Carpenter, Herbert Spencer, Emerson,
Haeckel, Schopenhauer, Victor Hugo, and, in short, all the leaders
of thought of our century, have incurred the bitter hostility of the
various Christian sects; and yet what a heirloom the works of these men
form for the coming generation!
The discovery of the power of chloroform and ether to relieve pain was
denounced by the Church because it was proposed to apply it to the
relief of the agony of childbirth, the natural inheritance of woman
under the divine curse of Eden; the abolition of slavery was also
opposed by these human parasites because the practice was ordered in
the Bible; and it is well known how the priests of the Church utilised
for their own purposes those abominable texts of the Old Testament,
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” and “Neither shalt thou
countenance a poor man in his own cause.”
The Middle Ages bear attestation to the fidelity of the priesthood to
their sacred oracles. Have not two honest citizens of London quite
lately undergone one whole year’s imprisonment for the grave sin of
ridiculing the notion of the Hebrew and Christian gods being other
than creations of man’s imagination? This very lecture will probably
be the means of bringing down the wrath of the priesthood—State Church
and Nonconformist alike—upon its author. And why? Are the facts
untrue? Just the reverse. The writer, historian, or pseudo-scientist
who writes volumes of falsehoods for the purpose of propping up for
a short time longer priestcraft and tyranny will assuredly fare well
at the hands of these insinuating gentlemen of the cloth; but let
the man who dares to write the honest, unvarnished truth beware!
His fair name, his business, and his social and family ties will be
undermined and destroyed in an incredibly short space of time. All
honor, therefore, be given to those brave ones who have dared to stand
before the world and speak out the truth in the cause of humanity! They
have done their share in helping forward the march of intellect, in
stifling superstition, and in uprooting ignorance. The state of Europe
to-day, as compared with its condition two thousand years since, is
overwhelming evidence of the continual progress of civilization, which,
in spite of the opposition from its old enemy, the Church, in the past
and, to a limited extent, in the present, has proved to the world that
it must, of necessity, continue for all time as one of the great and
immutable laws of Nature.
GENESIS I. 1, according to authorised Hebrew version, with final
letters, but without vowel points and breathings.
בראשיתבראאלהיםאתהשמיםואתהארץ
“In the beginning the ram (or lamb)-sun-gods (or the good gods)
renovated (reorganized or re-started) the heavens and the earth.”
This refers to the commencement of the Persian new-year, at the vernal
equinox, _Aries_, the ram or lamb.
GENESIS I. 1, according to the Samaritan Pentateuch, transcribed into
ante-Masoretic, or original Hebrew, as written before the invention of
the five final letters.
בראשיתבראהעזאתהשמימואתהארצ
“In the beginning the goat renovated the heavens and the earth.”
This refers to the commencement of the Egyptian new-year, at the winter
solstice, _Capricornus_, the goat.
[Illustration: Fac Simile of fragmentary MS. of sixth century (Luke
XX.9.10.), written in Greek and partially covered with Syrian writing
of 10^(th) century.
Copied from “Secular Review,” of March 27 1886.]
[Illustration: Small fragment from John’s Gospel, taken from the Cotton
Manuscript.]