It is impossible for the mind to contemplate the scene presented to the world, by the history of that trial and unjust condemnation, without a shudder, if not a premonition of what may yet be in the future.
Religious bigotry is more intolerant than any other power of dominion, and where the mind and conscience is trammelled, and brought under the subjection of superior intellect, the masses become almost as menials, ready to do their masters' bidding. We hold to a system of religion, one which leaves the mind untrammelled, and permits free intercourse with the spirit of God; that which casts aside all that might obstruct or intervene, and which enables the soul to commune with its Maker and Redeemer; that which enables each "to know for himself and not another." This is the Protestant faith and doctrine, contra-distinguished from the Roman Catholic faith, whose Popes, Bishops, and Priests, become, as it were, the arbiters of the minds and consciences of their adherents; stand between them and their Maker, and trifle with the souls of men, as implements and matters of commerce. It is time that the days of superstition were ended.
It is fast losing ground in the old world, where, for long centuries past, it has held the masses in ignorance. But, of late years, it has been rapidly gaining ground onour own continent, and its progress of late has been fearful, and may well alarm the Protestants of our own country. We hold that Catholicism is little else than a complete system of superstition. The minds of the masses of its votaries are trained and educated to it from childhood. Hence, there is no possibility of ever eradicating it from the minds of those thus educated. The priests, cardinals, and Pope, can, at any moment, trammel free thought by their own edicts, and bring their subjects to their own terms. Their subjects are taught to believe them to possess superior power; to be able to stand between them and heaven, or hell, to lock, or unlock at pleasure; and so ingenious is their system of religion taught, that it ensnares the mind and holds it ever subservient.
We have seen with what submission that mighty man of learning and towering intellect, Galileo, bowed to this imperial power. By arduous study, labor and experiments, he had gained a knowledge of his Creators wonderful works, far transcending all that was known of it by the ruling powers of Rome. He knew this knowledge was truth, as immutable as God himself, yet, ifcursedby the Pope of Rome, he, doubtless, believed this curse would place him in perdition, and no one would pray his soul out of purgatory. Therefore, he perjured himself (for when he had sworn it false, he still believed it true) in order to reconcile the rulers, andsecure their intercession. This is only an isolated case out of, doubtless, thousands of others, where mind and conscience is brought fully under their subjection.
Rome to-day, and the Romish Church, is the same in spirit and ambition of universal sway, as in the days of Galileo. Give her but the power, and rather than lose it again, she would bind humanity in chains of perpetual ignorance as to the source and lights of eternal truth, save that which she alone might graciously promulgate; and this to a favored few, whose trainings were such that their consciences were securely chained to her car, more ponderous and destructive, than that of Juggernaut.
Some, perhaps, are ready to say we have borne down too severely upon the Roman Catholics, that they, too, are now more enlightened, and more liberal in their views than formerly, that they have founded schools and institutions of learning, equal—perhaps superior, to those of any other denomination in our country. Grant all this; but why, and for what purpose?Answer.The force of circumstances; the enlightenment of the age has compelled them to move forward. They are ever wily and on the alert; the philosophy of science was marching onward; the millions could no longer be held in the old beaten track of ignorance to pander to the few, and Rome, comprehending all this, foresees her impending downfall, unlessshe, too, steps forward with hergilded robe. She therefore, takes a new tack, with her ponderous ship, upon the sea of mind. She has in store her mines of wealth, gathered daily from the poor sons and daughters of toil, some of whom almost starve themselves in order to pay penance to the Priests for sins laid to their charge, committed—if sins they be, in ignorance. These priests—some of whom are besotted—still stand forth as the arbiters of the consciences of their deluded followers; pretend to bar the gates of heaven; admitting none, save for theshillingsor thepounds, showing plainly that the continued organization of this church, in this enlightened age, is but the force of early education.
Yes, they have erected their school and college edifices, and also theirconventsandmonasteries. They have ample material for efficient teachers: but mark you, these have all been well trained from infancy in the "lap of the Church." They are obedient, efficient and orderly, and, at proper times, are ready to make advantageous displays. They take charge of all the youth oftheirflock, and, alas, by their seductive insinuations, are now making rapid progress against Protestantism in our own country. They are educating tens of thousands of Protestant youth.
Do they ever exhibit to, or instruct them in your Protestant Bible? No, never! but on the other hand;are they not constantly trying to instruct, charm, and fascinate them with their own system of religious worship? They are partial to your children—especially to yourdaughters, who will, in time, be among the mothers of the succeeding generation, and who, of course, will train up their offspring in the same faith. Just let them secure a majority of mothers as firm believers in the Romish faith, and they will bid defiance to all opposing influences. How long since one of their Archbishops said, in a public address, in one of our leading cities:Let us once control the children, the youth of the land, and we can soon control the nation; or words of this import? See their indefatigable exertions; their complete system of organization; their primary schools, their Seminaries, Academies, Colleges, Convents, and Monasteries, already established, and to which they are adding, annually, many more, while Protestants seem to be slumbering over the kindling fires of a volcano, which may in time break forth in all its destructive fury, as it oft-times has during past centuries.
Is it not high time that Protestants of our own country, were waking up in regard to their present, and eternal interests? Let a preponderance of power be centered in any one man, and you may then bid a final adieu to a republican form of government, and must, perhaps, bow to infamous and oppressive "decrees" emanating from an iron will.
In our own country, this cannot yet be, unless the usurper is backed by a soldiery, who are hired, and paid, out of a controlled treasury. This could not long maintain, in this, or any country, where there is freedom of mind and thought, and where conscience remains untrammelled. But let the masses be thus controlled by one superior intellect, and feel that theirETERNALinterests are subject to his will, and they will be ever ready to do his bidding.
The Popes of Rome have—successively—held this power over a portion of Europe, even as the history of the dark days of the "Inquisitions" and martyrdoms attest. Thus it has been, and thus we believe it ever will be, where Roman Catholics gain universal sway: for we believe there is scarcely a member of that organization living to-day, who would not—at the Pope's command—make every desired sacrifice; not only of worldly goods and interests, but even of life itself—if required.
We do not condemn—collectively, nor individually, the masses, and members of that faith. Far be this from us. We believe that a very large majority of them are honest, and truly devotional. No other class of people on the globe have been more self-sacrificing than many of them, in performing acts of kindness, charity and mercy, and these offices have been performed in a true spirit of Christian benevolence. Wouldthat all other professed Christian organizations would equal them in this respect. All should render relief, when within their power, to suffering humanity. We believe that all such efforts upon the part of any one, will merit, and obtain, individual reward. What we condemn is the spirit of the ruling powers of the Romish Church; its bigotry, and intolerance; and because they—by educating into their system of religion—trammel the mind, and control the conscience, rendering them subservient to the dictation and will of the rulers. The Pope, bishops, and priests, claim to be the mediums through which their adherents are saved, as, also we believe mediums, whose "curses" pronounced against any, will consign the soul to perdition, while they chain the mind to superstition.
The Bible teaches that Christ is our only mediator, that all may come to God through faith in His Son; every soul is held alike responsible, and is alike accountable to its Creator. That life and salvation are freely offered alike to all, the requirement being, to forsake the ways of sin, and through faith in Jesus Christ, "return unto the Lord who will have mercy, and to our God who will abundantly pardon."
It will be perceived that our principal objections to that sect are their superstitions, bigotry, arrogance and intolerance; the chaining down the mind, and controlling the conscience, and using all for temporalsway. The antecedents of this power are sufficient to warn all Protestants against its encroachments, and stimulate them to say, "Thus far shalt thou go and no farther," and in order to this, let every Protestant denomination see to the educating of their own children.
"But," say some of our Protestant mothers, "they have the best schools, and I want my daughters to be well educated, and accomplished; and I do not fear their making Catholics of them." So, likewise, have said thousands of others, and yet, trying the experiment, they have been mistaken. Their daughters have returned home fascinated with show and tinsel, and firm adherents to that doctrine, which, when educated into the mind, can never thence be eradicated.
Few are aware of the rapid advance the Catholics are making against Protestantism, at the present time. It is safe to say, that not less than from fifteen to twenty thousand daughters, belonging to Protestant families, are baptized into that church annually, in the United States. On the other hand, few, if any, Catholics ever become Protestants; and nine out of every ten who do, will—if sick and fearing the approach of death, send for Catholic Priests; make confession, and implore their intercession, to rescue their souls from purgatory, where they feel sure of going for this great sin of apostasy.
Now we ask, how long will it take, with so large andever increasing accessions of our Protestant daughters, for that organization to gain the ascendancy in our country? Their motto iseternal vigilance, while they wage eternal warfareagainst the Protestant faith, and Christian religion. The time was, when they held almost universal sway throughout a large portion of Europe. The edicts of the Pope, and Roman Catholic rulers, must be obeyed byall. Curses, torture, imprisonment, anddeath—where they had the power—was the portion of all who disregarded their mandates. And then, as now, their hatred and persecutions were against those whom they termed "heretical Protestants;" against your ancestors, and your religion. Kings, and Emperors, trembled on their thrones, and lent willing obedience, lest a "Bull" should be issued against them from the "Vatican" by the ruling Pope. Those were dark days for poor Protestants; they had to worship God insecret, or in dens and caves. Even only a few centuries ago, terror and darkness reigned; multiplied thousands were slaughtered, or dragged to the "stake" and consumed by fiery faggots; grey hairs, age or decrepitude, were no shields against their bigoted fury. The priests then, as now, controlled and directed the consciences of their followers. No compassion, could be shown—even to purity and innocence of defenceless females, or helpless children. Those who could manage to escape and flee the country, did so,leaving all of worldly goods and possessions behind themconfiscated to the Church, and, as strangers, poor and friendless, sought, as best they could, asylums in other lands—some of whom, finally reached our own continent, here to enjoy liberty and the freedom of conscience. And we have to lament the fact that many of them, still tinctured with the rule and form of despotism, had, by the force of previous circumstances, imbibed notions akin to despotism and persecution, and were, for a time, while they had the power, disposed to use it as manifested by the Puritans first landing on our shores. But they could not hold this power, because of lack of a complete organization of a hierarchal power. Free thought and free speech, and the liberty of a free untrammeledconscienceprevailed, and soon swept away every vestige of religious intolerance and despotism, and our North American continent soon towered in sublime grandeur and beauty, and became the home and asylum of freedom for the oppressed of every clime. This land is the birthright of Protestants, wherein those of every religious faith, Catholics, and all others, have equal rights and privileges; but to maintain our liberties, we must educate into the minds of all,personal liberty, and accountability, and leave the conscience untrammeled so far as regards popes, priests, bishops, or ministers,controlling man's future destiny. All are held individually, and personally, accountable to God,and He hath sent His Spirit to enlighten every one, and all who go direct to Him in the spirit of humility, with faith and prayer, will obtain this light.
In regard to the workings of the ruling powers of the Roman Catholic Church less than two centuries ago, we give place to the following recent developments, written as a matter of history, by one who assisted in the investigations only a few weeks ago. This is from "Catholic Spain:"
GHASTLY REVELATION!MORE RELICS OF THE SPANISH INQUISITION UNEARTHED.
The LondonStarhas the following from Madrid:
A somewhat ghastly incident has caused considerable excitement here within the last few weeks. Within a few hundred yards of the new Plaza de Dos Mayo, inaugurated on the 2d of this month, there is a locality called the Cruz del Quemadero. It is a field some three hundred metres square, at the top of the Calle Aricha de San Bernardo, near the hospital built by the ex-Queen. Through it a new road was lately opened, and as the ground was elevated, a cutting of considerable depth had to be dug. The workmen laid bare several peculiar looking horizontal strata, of irregular formation. One was one hundred and fifty feet in length, another fifty, another ten. The thickness varied from eight to eighty centimetres. In color the soil wasblack, the lower strata being much blacker than the superior ones.On examination lumps of charred wood were found, interspersed with ashes, evidently the remains of some huge fire. Curiosity was soon excited, and further investigation demonstrated that in portions of these ugly-looking strata, the finger came upon small pieces of adipose matter, which yielded, like butter, to the touch. Iron rings were grubbed up; human bones, a cranium, a long tuft of hair, having belonged to some female. All these were more or less charred. Some of the iron was partially fused, and the texture of bone intermingled with sand was plainly discernible.A gag turned up.The question, what were these lugubrious records was answered at once. This field of the Cruz del Quemadero was the place where the "Inquisition" disposed of some of its victims. Here were the ghastly proofs of the horrors of which this place had been the scene, suddenly brought to light after the lapse of two centuries. On the 12th of May, 1689, eighty-three heretics, including twenty Hebrews, of whom five were women, were immolated on this very spot. The pile of wood was eighty feet in length by seven feet in height. A great concourse witnessed theauto da fe, and the horrible ceremonial completed, the people buried the remains of their victims under cart-loads of earth. These irregular geological strata are naught else but the silent testimony to the atrocities perpetrated on this in the name of religion and "Catholic Unity." Out of one, your special correspondent hooked out with his finger, one entire bone of a human vertebral column, a portionof the tibia, a fragment of a shoulder-blade with a hole through it, and a bit of a rib, all bearing the marks of fire. Upward of two cart-loads of remains of this sort have been carried away and decently buried. But these horrible strata! There they remain to tell their own tale, and instruct the present generation. On the 13th, a public meeting was convened, to be held at the Quemadero, by the Republican youth of Madrid, to protest against priestly intolerance and to advocatefreedom of conscience. That this discovery should have been made at a moment when the Spanish clergy are striving their utmost to affirm the "unity of the Roman Catholic Church," and are preaching in the churches of the metropolis against heresy, is a striking coincidence.The Quemadero is so frequented by people in search of relics, and the explorations of these strata have been so extensive, that the authorities have barred the frontage off, and prohibited access. It is their intention to cut a square block, and there erect a monument. It is estimated by Llorente, the great historian of the Inquisition, that this atrocious tribunal has deprived Spain of twelve millions of souls, including the Jews, and Moors, expelled from the country. Thirty-one thousand and ninety-two perished by fire; 17,659 were first butchered and then burned; 221,985 died of torture. Total, 270,736.
A somewhat ghastly incident has caused considerable excitement here within the last few weeks. Within a few hundred yards of the new Plaza de Dos Mayo, inaugurated on the 2d of this month, there is a locality called the Cruz del Quemadero. It is a field some three hundred metres square, at the top of the Calle Aricha de San Bernardo, near the hospital built by the ex-Queen. Through it a new road was lately opened, and as the ground was elevated, a cutting of considerable depth had to be dug. The workmen laid bare several peculiar looking horizontal strata, of irregular formation. One was one hundred and fifty feet in length, another fifty, another ten. The thickness varied from eight to eighty centimetres. In color the soil wasblack, the lower strata being much blacker than the superior ones.
On examination lumps of charred wood were found, interspersed with ashes, evidently the remains of some huge fire. Curiosity was soon excited, and further investigation demonstrated that in portions of these ugly-looking strata, the finger came upon small pieces of adipose matter, which yielded, like butter, to the touch. Iron rings were grubbed up; human bones, a cranium, a long tuft of hair, having belonged to some female. All these were more or less charred. Some of the iron was partially fused, and the texture of bone intermingled with sand was plainly discernible.A gag turned up.The question, what were these lugubrious records was answered at once. This field of the Cruz del Quemadero was the place where the "Inquisition" disposed of some of its victims. Here were the ghastly proofs of the horrors of which this place had been the scene, suddenly brought to light after the lapse of two centuries. On the 12th of May, 1689, eighty-three heretics, including twenty Hebrews, of whom five were women, were immolated on this very spot. The pile of wood was eighty feet in length by seven feet in height. A great concourse witnessed theauto da fe, and the horrible ceremonial completed, the people buried the remains of their victims under cart-loads of earth. These irregular geological strata are naught else but the silent testimony to the atrocities perpetrated on this in the name of religion and "Catholic Unity." Out of one, your special correspondent hooked out with his finger, one entire bone of a human vertebral column, a portionof the tibia, a fragment of a shoulder-blade with a hole through it, and a bit of a rib, all bearing the marks of fire. Upward of two cart-loads of remains of this sort have been carried away and decently buried. But these horrible strata! There they remain to tell their own tale, and instruct the present generation. On the 13th, a public meeting was convened, to be held at the Quemadero, by the Republican youth of Madrid, to protest against priestly intolerance and to advocatefreedom of conscience. That this discovery should have been made at a moment when the Spanish clergy are striving their utmost to affirm the "unity of the Roman Catholic Church," and are preaching in the churches of the metropolis against heresy, is a striking coincidence.
The Quemadero is so frequented by people in search of relics, and the explorations of these strata have been so extensive, that the authorities have barred the frontage off, and prohibited access. It is their intention to cut a square block, and there erect a monument. It is estimated by Llorente, the great historian of the Inquisition, that this atrocious tribunal has deprived Spain of twelve millions of souls, including the Jews, and Moors, expelled from the country. Thirty-one thousand and ninety-two perished by fire; 17,659 were first butchered and then burned; 221,985 died of torture. Total, 270,736.
Rome, ever intolerant in spirit, her persecutions have ever been the same through all ages, and in all countries, where she had the power of physical force.And thus, we believe, it would be to-day, on this continent, had she now the ascendency here. Daily, in private, are you denounced by their priests, and minions, as heretics, while it would seem that no bishop, or priest, of that church, can ascend a rostrum in any of their cathedrals, without venting his spleen in outspoken or implied anathemas against all Protestants.
Your daughters, under their special care in their schools and academies, are taught by the Lady Superiors, and sisters—by insinuations, if not directly—to believe theirs the only true church of God on earth. They are told by their confidential associates, that all who do not believe their faith, and in the Roman Catholic Church, are held by them as "heretics" and, without this belief, need never hope to get to heaven. Their governesses and teachers are ever wary, at first, of manifesting, or of exercising a direct influence, as regards controlling their religious belief, and will tell you, when you are about to place your daughters under their care, that they never teach the children of Protestants the Catholic religion, and yet, by their machinations, adopt the most efficient means of accomplishing it. They are sure to gain theirconfidence, and, very soon, with nine out of ten, they have more of this than even the mother enjoys. When they have gained this, confidence, their task becomes an easy one, and theyknow well how to perform it. On each recurring Sabbath, all who are under their care must attend church, and they are accompanied by the superiors or teachers, totheirchurch, and there must sit and hear the religion and faith of their own parents denounced in the boldest terms. They are young and inexperienced; their minds susceptible of impressions, and these they receive and nurture with such effect, that long before the period arrives for them to leave the "Institution," the faith and doctrines of the "Church of Rome" are firmly ingrafted in their minds; and they return home fully resolved to be (even if they have not already been) confirmed by the ordinance of Baptism in that church. Thus, their religious belief is educated into their minds, and no parental influence can ever change their views.
"But," say some, "we send our children to their day-school, and hence, have them under home influence most of the time, and in this way there is no danger." Let us examine and see whether there is, or is not.
This mode of procedure is one of their organized systems for induction into your "good graces," so that they may eventually accomplish their ends. By this seeming open-heartedness, they allay all suspicion, and overcome any prejudices you may have cherished against their system of religion. They are all working for the future ascendency of their church. It must not be a matter of haste; the minds of Protestants, whoare yet in the ascendency, are not prepared to yield all in open conflict. Hence, they must be patient; must work and wait. Such a course, on their part, will disarm you of even suspicion, and cause you to think and speak well of them. This is always their first step. Soon they will open the doors of their academies to admit your daughters, where theyMUSTremain during all the term—save a short "home visit" now and then, from which they must return on the day, and even the very hour stated by the "Superior." Have you ever noticed howpromptlyyour daughter has felt it her duty to obey this command, and return to that school? Was it ever thus while she was attending a Protestant school? Think you she would be so mindful ofyourrequest; soanxiousto leave pleasant society; unwilling to remain even an hour longer, and return to you and loved ones at home? Nay, I tell you she would not do it under ordinary circumstances. See now who already holds the confidence of, and greater influence over your child!
But see on yonder eminence a Convent, a Monastery, a Nunnery, with its towering dome, and surrounded by massive walls. There, perhaps, is the place wherein your young and beautiful daughter will be immured to spend a weary life incrucifyingherself, and doing penance daily for imaginary sins she has never committed. Thus, shutting herself up within that livingtomb from all the outside world, and the happiness to be enjoyed in social life; she is as dead to you, and to the world, as though in her coffin, and in her grave; while the mind is as obscured as to the true lights and freedom of eternal truth and salvation, as though reason were dethroned, and she a maniac. This condition has been brought about by influences brought to bear upon her mind, commencing with your daughter's first entrance into their primary schools. Confessions must soon be made to the priest, and, by his arts, he soon gains the ascendency over, and becomes the arbiter of the mind and conscience, and more especially is this influence exerted to this end, if the child is anorphan, and is the rightful inheritor of a valuable estate. For it would seem that to this end do the ruling powers of that sect devote time, energy, and influence—as witnessed by so many young females, whose parents left them fortunes, surrendering all to the church, and taking up a life abode in their convents.
We do not condemn the poor deluded victims, nor believe they are held accountable in their delusion. They are honest in their devotions, yet perform these under false delusions. And when their spirits are released from this double prison-house, and return to God who gave them, they will then realize the freedom of the Spirit of God, and how abundantly it givethlight,lifeandliberty. And they will then also realize thattheir salvation is alone of God—through his boundless mercy; and not in anywise through intercession of thePriest.
We warn you to look well to passing events. History so oft repeats itself, that we can but believe there is danger. Remember that when Luther—the bold pioneer of Protestantism—stood forth the champion of Christianity, to his followers there came, from this same source, persecutions, martyrdoms, and massacres—even a reign of terror and darkness upon Europe. But it proved a darkness that preceded a dawn; and although seemingly, at the time, dreadful in its consequences, yet none can deny but that the world is far better because of his efforts, than to have slumbered on in ignorance and in sin. From this same cause, our own continent may be destined to pass through a period like that of the "dark ages." If so, we trust in God it may come forth from it cleansed and purified; even as the current of the "lost river," that loses itself in the bosom of the "Blue Ridge," where, with a wild whirl, its turbid waters dash into the resounding cavern, but on the other side reappear, clear, placid, and beautiful.
We say to all Protestants, remember, that in placing your children under the care and influence of Catholic teachers, and Priests of that Church, you lend your aid to obscuring their minds, and, in accordanceto your own belief, shutting out from the eye of faith God's own eternal truth. They go to men as "intercessors" instead of to Christ the Lord—the Son of God, who redeemed them with His own precious blood—who alone can intercede for them. And you also aid in re-establishing universal sway to the ever-intolerant Romish Church. The time may come when—driven from the Old World—her central power will be on this continent: and, erecting here her gorgeous temples from the estates you leave to your children, the Pope will ascend the throne of the American Vatican—under and around which will be the dark dungeons of the Inquisition—and thence thunder forth his "Bulls" andAnathemasagainst the feeble followers of the blessed Redeemer. That Church is by far the most intolerant of all the professed Christian organizations on this globe. Their members are not even allowed the privilege of attending religious worship anywhere else than under their own instructions, and we opine, that should any one of them do so without "dispensation," they are held as having committed a sin, for which they must soon repair to the Priest, make confession, do penance, receive absolution from him, and pay the price.
Behold the avarice of this "whore of Babylon!" Not content with tribute paid to her—perhaps weekly—through a long lifetime by her deluded followers,when nature yields to the fiat of the Eternal One, mortality drops to moulder into dust, and the spirit returns to God who gave it, so completely are the minds of all her adherents under the control of the Priests, that they can still laypenanceupon the dead, and demand and obtaintributefrom the living offspring.
In closing our remarks upon this subject, we submit, for the reflection of all Protestant ministers and members in every quarter of the world, the following, a portion of the Pope's address to the English clergymen, who presented him an address signed by some eighteen hundred clergy, April 20th, 1869. After examining the document closely, following other remarks, he said:
"In the mean time, we must cultivate in a most special manner thespirit of unity, for in that lies our strength, and its want is the weakness of our adversaries. I have noticed the Protestants are perpetually appealing to the primitive Church; but when I turn to the early ages of history, what do I see? Unity! all the more reasonable because existing undoubtedly in a different state of society from the present. The Apostles were all of one accord, and one mind. * * * * Protestants, on the other hand, are disunited; and our strength, in the difficulties we have to encounter, lies inperfect union. * * * It will be the old story over again. There will be waves and storms and threateningson all sides, but we shall be brought safely through * * * while ouradversariesare struggling with the waves."
Let all ponder well these remarks. The philosophy that "in union there is strength" is a true one. And if all Protestants cannot unite as one great body and family—because of minor non-essentials in matters of faith, forms and ceremonies—let all unite in the one great essential, that all their children, and orphan children of Protestants, shall be educated in other than Catholic schools. For, in these latter, we hold that the mind is chained to error and superstition, and the true lights of God's truth and plan of salvation are obscured. Every parent and guardian will be held accountable in a coming day, should they neglect to "train up their children in the way they should go."
Our readers will please pardon us for the digression we have made from the special subject we have under consideration. Had we not been duly impressed with the importance and correctness of our views upon the subject of the freedom and liberty of mind and conscience, and of the personal accountability ofallto God alone, we should not have thus pursued the theme. We believe firmly in the goodofficesof a teaching andadvising ministry, but not in anywise where ittrammels the mind or becomes the arbiter of the conscience.
Returning to our subject,viz., the earlier discoveries of the science of Astronomy. The intelligence of the world is indebted to Sir Isaac Newton, who lived during the latter part of the sixteenth century, for the discovery of the laws ofuniversal gravitation. His discovery, and philosophy, furnished the basis upon which all subsequent astronomers have worked.
The power of attraction and force of gravitation are the laws which govern the universe of matter. "The discovery of this law," says Prof. Olmsted, "made us acquainted with the hidden forces that move the great machinery of the universe. It furnished the key which unlocks the inner temple of Nature, and established the science of Astronomy upon a sure and firm basis. Thus we discover in Nature a tendency of every portion of matter toward some other. This tendency is called gravitation. The larger the body, the more powerful the attraction; and this attraction is always toward the centre. Hence, you may cast an object of weight into the air, and, when the impelling force you have given it ceases to force it upward, it falls in a direct line to the earth." So also may the Chinaman, placed on the opposite side of the globe, cast one as he deems upward, which is forcing it in an opposite direction from where you sent yours; yet, when his impelling force is lost, his too falls backto the earth, each falling toward the other. This is gravitation, produced by the power of attraction. Thus we now see this principle made plain to the simplest comprehension.
We come, now, to the contemplation of that which is of far greater importance to us than all other planets, worlds, stars, and wonders in the siderial Heavens. This is the Sun, which warms and lights up our earth, and all the other planets within its sphere.
Says Dr. Child, "There are not a few in this world who habitually receive God's blessings so much as a matter of course, that they are scarcely conscious of any active feeling of gratitude in regard to them. The very regularity and profusion with which these blessings are showered on all alike, seem to have the effect of deadening the sense of individual obligation. A general admission of thankfulness may occasionally be made at church or in the closet, but there is a want of that abiding consciousness of it, with which we ought to be imbued, as well as that frequent pondering upon details which, by illustrating the dependence of every creature upon God, causes the heart to swell with grateful adoration. Such thoughts never fail to improveour moral nature by bringing the truth home to us more and more that we are God's children.
"It would be no easy task for a thankful mind to sum up all the blessings diffused over our planet by the Sun. It is the mainspring of animated Nature. Without its genial rays the present system of Earth's government could not endure, and life itself would soon disappear from the globe. To it we are indebted for light and warmth—the two stimulants of vital force—for our food and raiment; for our busy days and rest-bringing nights, for months and years, and happy alternations of seasons. Its rays, in short, are intertwined with all our wants and comforts; they gladden the eye and cheer the heart. Contemplating all these temporal blessings, thePsalmistexclaims:
"I will praise the name of the Lord with a song, and magnify it with thanksgiving."
"I will praise the name of the Lord with a song, and magnify it with thanksgiving."
"The Sun is the central pivot of the solar system, and round it the earth and all the other planets keep whirling in elliptical orbits. Its power and influence, its light, heat, and attraction, reach through a domain in space which it would requiresix thousand millions of milesto span. With the greater part of this wide field, astronomers are familiar, and it may be truly said that scarcely a man knows the roads of his own parish or neighborhood, or a citizen the streets of his own cityor village, with more exactness than they do the highways of the skies. Not only can they map out to a nicety the paths of the planets careering through it like islands floating through a sea of ether, but they can look backward and tell the exact spot where each globe was at any moment of the remote past, or forward, and point to the place where each will be found at any given moment of the remote future.
"What is the mighty power which maintains such order in the Heavens, which steadies the planets in their orbits, and traces out for them a route so wisely planned as to avoid all chances of collision? Two antagonistic forces—gravitation and attraction, combined with a centrifugal impulse—accomplish the wonderful task. To these faithful servants, God commits the safety of the Universe, nor can anything disturb or derange the order of this machinery, save the Word which created it.
"The Sun was placed in the centre, and became the pivot of the whole system, tying to itself the different planets by the cord of its superior attraction. In accordance with the law we have mentioned, this loadstone power of the Sun is the inevitable result of its superior mass, as it is computed to be six hundred times greater in magnitude than this earth and all the planets put together." But behold the wisdom and wondrous power of the Great Architect, in creatingthese vast worlds, and placing each in its proper position in space; where each revolves within its own orbit—some with the velocity of even one hundred thousand miles an hour—yet maintaining toward each other thatcentrifugalforce which prevents their being drawn by the attractive power of that vast globewithinthe Sun, into certain destruction, by its surrounding fires.
"Astronomers inform us there are innumerable Suns, each of which is supposed to control a separate, or its own system of planets; giving light and heat thereto, even as our Sun does to this Earth, and its own system of planets. Their distances from the Sun that lights up our Heavens are immeasureable—far transcending our conceptions, or even our imagination—in illimitable space. They also inform us that the distance from this Earth, to the nearest one of these distant stars, or suns, is abouttwenty billions of miles." So vast is the distance here stated, that the mind cannot grasp or comprehend it. We can more nearly approximate by the measurement of light; a ray of which darting from its surface and travelling at the speed of 192,000 miles a second, would not reach our eye under three years and eight months. "Such then," says Sir John Herschel, "is the length of the sounding-line with which we first touch bottom in the attempt to fathom the great abyss of the sidereal heavens." Says Olmsted, "Until recently, astronomers gave almost exclusiveattention to observations, and the study of the solar system. But Dr. William Herschel turned his attention to the sidereal heavens, and opened up new and wonderful fields of discovery, as well as of speculation. His son, Sir John Herschel, and Sir James South, of England, have followed the old master, with grasping minds and brilliant intellects, until more has been accomplished by them, and others of the present day, than all preceding astronomers had even ventured to conjecture," and that their deductions are founded mainly on facts, no intelligent mind will—on investigation—have reason to doubt.
But having thrown anchor and "touched bottom" in the wide expanse of the unlimited sphere of the sidereal heavens, "let us," says Dr. Child, "take another flight. Here next, within the domain of Sirius, we find ourselves six times as far distant as when at Centauri, first mentioned"—say one hundred and twenty billions of miles—"from which it would requiretwenty-two yearsfor a ray of light travelling at the rate of 192,000 miles a second to reach our Earth." But, far distant, yonder, we behold the beauteousCapella, in all its splendor and glory, throwing its effulgent rays across the wide expanse of universe, and yet these rays of light, travelling at the same mentioned rate—192,000 miles each passing second of time—require aboutseventy yearsin transit, before the inhabitants ofour Earth catch a glimpse of their brilliancy and beauty. And yet now the mind has only entered the borders of 'the starry regions'—far beyond, in illimitable space, lie the 'Hosts of the Stars;' their vast distances cannot be computed even by light itself."
It is wonderful to contemplate the probability that of some of the more distant stars discovered, the rays of light which have found rest in the eye of the Astronomer, through the aid of the telescope, may have left their native sun thousands of years ago, and travelled at the rate of 192,000 miles a second ever since. "A certain cluster of stars was estimated by Sir William Herschel to be 700 times the distance of a star of the first magnitude—therefore at least 700 times nineteen billions of miles!" But, observes Guillemin, if this cluster was removed to five times its actual distance, that is to say 3,500 times the distance of Sirius, the large Herschelian telescope of 40 feet focus would still show it,but only as an irresolvable Nebula. It is, then, extremely probable that, among the many Nebulæ indecomposable into stars, beyond the Milky Way, in the depths of the heavens, many are as distant as that of which we speak.Doubtless many are more so.Now to reach us, light-rays must have left stars situated at such a distance more than 700,000 years ago!" Says Child, "When we have touched the verge of this uttermost range, Infinity, boundless as ever, still lies beyond.The idea of God extinguishes in our mind every suspicion that there can be any limit to space, magnitude, or power, in relation to His works. The mighty universe we have been considering is but the stepping-stone to what is farther on; and although our imagination fails to grasp it, our reason assures us it must be so. There is no such thing as taking from or adding toThe Illimitable.
"With what just propriety of thought has light been called the 'voice' of the stars. * * * In the 'speechless' voice of light the stars proclaim to us from the depths of space, the existence of innumerable other worlds which, like our own, share the Creator's care. * * * With mute argument stars prove to us that, in those far-off regions, gravitation—the power that brings the apple to the ground—still reigns supreme, and with suggestive whispers of probability, they persuade us that, like our own Sun, they bathe attendant worlds in floods of light; deck them in colors of beauty, and shower countless blessings on the life of myriads of beings.
"Having glanced at the distances and magnitudes of some of the stars, or suns, let us pause for a moment to consider their number, and the vast space they must necessarily occupy in the domain of Creation. By the most moderate estimate the number of stars that can be counted in the firmament by telescopic aid,does not fall short ofone hundred millions. There is no doubt that most of those stars areSuns, dispensing light and heat to earths and planets like our own; and, indeed, no bodies shining by reflected light would be visible at such enormous distances.
"From the superior magnitude of those that have been measured—as compared to our Sun—it may be assumed that the average diameter of their solar systems must exceed our own; but taking them as nearly equal, it would give a breadth of at leastsix thousand millions of milesas the field of space occupied by each, while every star, or sun-system, is probably begirt with a gulf or void like that encircling our own, in which the antagonistic forces of attraction are lost, so as not to disturb each other. Hence, the distance from each of those suns to its nearest neighbor is probably not less than that which intervenes between our Sun and the nearest star, which cannot be less than abouttwentybillions of miles. How inconceivably vast, therefore, must be the space required to give room for so many and such stupendous solar systems. The mind absolutely reels under the load of conceptions so mighty.Yet Infinity still lies beyond."
"For what purpose," says Sir John Herschel, "are we to suppose such magnificent bodies scattered through the abyss of space? Surely not to illume our nights, which an additional moon of the thousandthpart of the size of our own would do much better; not to sparkle as a pageant, void of meaning and reality, and to bewilder us among vain conjectures. He must have studied astronomy to little purpose, who can suppose man to be the only object of his Creator's care, or who does not see, in the vast and wonderful apparatus around us, provisions for other races of animated beings."
The Psalmist says:
"Whoso is wise will ponder these things, and they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord."
"Whoso is wise will ponder these things, and they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord."
Let us here suggest the reasonable hypothesis, that those distant suns, standing far out in the sidereal regions of illimitable space—created, and placed there by the "Word" of the Almighty architect—may have been shining thus for untold billions of years; and so, also, the sun which shines upon and lights up and warms this earth, and the other planets within its domain; and will thus remain forever, as God's own lamps of eternal light, to all created intelligences.
Hear the Psalmist break forth again,
"Thy testimonies are wonderful. Who alone doeth great wonders.The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handy works.Such knowledge is too wonderful for me."
"Thy testimonies are wonderful. Who alone doeth great wonders.
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handy works.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me."
Job tells us,
"He alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea, and doeth wonders without number."
"He alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea, and doeth wonders without number."
Fixed stars—held by astronomers to be suns—are known from the planetary stars by their perpetual "twinkling," and by their being, apparently, always in the same position relative to each other. Now, while the number of stars to be seen in the heavens by the naked eye on a clear night does not exceed about 3,000 in each,—the northern and southern hemispheres,—yet Herschel, Olmsted, and other examiners tell us that by the aid of the telescope, many millions stand out in brilliant array—so vast their number that they cannot be correctly computed, but are supposed to be at leastone hundred millions.
Prof. Olmsted declares it fully demonstrated that "the fixed stars are suns," and, with other astronomers, argues the fair probability of many of them being of far greater magnitude than our own sun. Dr. Wollaston, a distinguished English philosopher, attempted to estimate the magnitude of certain of the fixed stars from the light which they afforded. "By means of an accuratephotometer(an instrument for measuring the relative intensities of light), he compares the light of Sirius with that of the sun. He next computed how far the sun must be removed from us in order to appear no brighter than Sirius. He found it would require to beone hundred and forty-one thousand timesits present distance, and even at that great distance Sirius must give out twice as much light as the sun, or that, inpoint of splendor, Sirius must be at least equal to two suns." "But," adds Prof. Olmsted, "asSiriusis more thantwo hundred thousand timesas far off as the sun, he has rendered it probable that its light is equal to that offourteen suns." (We wish you to bear these facts in mind, they will serve you when we come to speak of the magnitude of our own sun.)
But let us follow Prof. Olmsted a little farther. He says, "We have already seen that they are large bodies; that they are immensely farther off than the farthest planet; that they shine by their own light; in short, that their appearance is, in all respects, the same as the Sun would exhibit if removed to the region of the stars. Hence, we infer that they are bodies of the same kind with the Sun.
"We are justified, therefore, by a sound analogy, in concluding that the stars referred to were made for the same end as the Sun; namely, as the centres of attraction to other planetary worlds, to which they severally dispense light and heat. Although the starry heavens present, in a clear night, a spectacle of unrivalled grandeur and beauty, yet it must be admitted that the chief purpose of the stars could not have been to adorn the night, since by far the greater part of them are ever invisible to the naked eye, nor as landmarks to the navigator, for only a small proportion of them are adapted to this purpose, nor, finally, to influencethis Earth by their attraction, since their distance renders such an effect entirely insensible." Therefore, arriving at the only rational conclusionthat they are Suns, many of them suns of vast magnitude; shining with splendor and brilliancy equal to, or surpassing that of our own Sun; each giving out light and heat to their attendant planets and revolving worlds within their own domain, or sphere,—"may we not ask, for what purpose are these gifts dispensed to those surrounding worlds, if not for the use of percipient beings?
"We are therefore led to the inevitable idea of a plurality of worlds; and that they are inhabited by some order of intelligences, and the conclusion is forced upon our minds that the spot which the Creator has assigned to us is but a humble province in his boundless empire."
None, however, can form a correct estimate, or comparison, between this, our diminutive Earth, and those vast orbs—suns—fixed so remote from us in the sidereal regions, nor of the numbers, until in some measure they have familiarized their minds with, and understand, to some extent, the science of astronomy, and then survey the vast field through a suitable telescope. "Even the first view through it, pointed heavenward, will astonish and fill the mind with awe and wonder; and as each new-grasping power is given to the instrument; new fields of those regions are joinedon to those already explored, and every new stratum of space thus added is found to be studded with stars in ever increasing ratio; until myriads have come forth from the dark depths of the firmament, and they have a grand panoramic view of a Universe of Worlds peopling the realms of boundless space." Then, in wonder and amazement, they will more fully realize and comprehend the Omnipotent power of God in the manifestations of His creative word. Then, in comparison, each realizing his own diminutiveness: that he is even less than an unperceived infinitesimal atom floating along in the gentle breeze, he will be led to exclaim with the Psalmist:
"How wonderful are thy works, O Lord of hosts!What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou takest knowledge of him?"
"How wonderful are thy works, O Lord of hosts!
What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou takest knowledge of him?"
Dismissing, for the present, the further contemplation of those far-off millions of stars, or suns, and their multiplied millions of attendant planets and worlds, we come back to the contemplation of our own Sun, and its attendant planets, things with which we are more familiar, and which are—seemingly—more tangible.
As we have before remarked, the Sun governs and controls our Earth, and the other planets and worlds within its domain. Some of these worlds are not greatly dissimilar to this in which we live; some are smaller, while others are vastly larger—some computedto be even a thousand times larger than this Earth, and, as we believe, all are peopled with some high order of intelligence.
Having gathered the foregoing facts from the most undoubted authorities—astronomers, whose mathematical and philosophical calculations have for their base the immutable laws established by creative wisdom, as now revealed in Nature, we shall still rely—more or less—upon them for statistical facts and data, in further expositions from which to make deductions and draw our conclusions.
We are desirous of familiarizing your mind with the mighty and wondrous works of God, so plainly manifested in His creating and sustaining power, which few, comparatively speaking, seem to comprehend in any other way save in the daily temporal blessings of life. Should our feeble efforts raise your thoughts higher, and enable you to contemplate Him with the eye of faith in the light of reason, and Divine revelation; to know more of His greatness and power, and your entire dependence upon Him for all temporal blessings in life; for theonlyconsolation you can have in the dying hour, and as your only hope for the future, and should such contemplation draw your mind and heart to Him in holy love, and godly fear, we shall be well rewarded for our efforts.
We now propose to dwell for a short time upon the distance, magnitude, elements, and offices of the Sun.
The Sun itself speaks to us with its voice of light, and it is our high privilege to understand, and thus comprehend mysteries long hidden, which are now being revealed. Special manifestations were long since made by Jehovah, which were left for those of the present enlightened age to comprehend; when the mind of man is more fully able to grasp His truths, and look up through Nature to Nature's God.
Now fix your mind's eye upon that brilliant orb of—seeming—eternal day; that Sun which is ever shining, ah! whose light never pales, nor fails its vast empire. No storm-clouds obscure its brightness in the higher realm, neither is there waning of light, nor a wasting of its substance. Possibly, from all eternity of the past it has been, and through eternity to come it will remain the same. We, on this Earth, have our days and nights, our sun-shine and shadows, tempestsand storms. Our nights are the result of the daily revolution of the Earth, these are when that portion of it on which we dwell is turned away from the Sun, and the shadow of the Earth—which is surrounded by a dense atmosphere—is that which constitutes our darkness. This atmosphere is a screen to us by day to modify the intense heat of the Sun's rays. Otherwise, it is possible that no animated life could exist. This atmosphere has in it the elements of production, which—when absorbed by the Earth—assists in bringing forth for the sustenance of man and beast, and all living things. Did not this atmosphere exist, our midnight hours would be almost as bright as noonday. See in this the wise provision of our heavenly Father.
That Sun is farther away, and of far greater magnitude, than you now comprehend, or even imagine. We will now state its dimensions, distance, elements, &c., as measured and determined by the science of astronomy, and as agreed upon by all the best informed and most profound mathematicians and astronomers throughout the world.
The diameter of the Sun iseight hundred and fifty-five thousand miles. It would requireone hundred and seven worlds, the size of this Earth, set side by side to reach across it, andone million four hundred thousand Earths, the size of this, to make a globe of equal magnitude. It istwo millions six hundred and fifty-five thousand miles round it,while its bulk is not less thansix hundred timesas great as all the worlds and planets it controls within its sphere put together,—some of which, as we have told you, are estimated to be a thousand times larger than this Earth.
Is your mind expanding? are your views enlarging, so as to enable you to comprehend its vast dimensions? Let the revelations of astronomy assist you. Look at it again. From the comparatively small size of its disk as we see it from the Earth, the distance must be vast indeed to dwarf it down thus. The distance is great, no less than aboutninety-five millions of miles. It is three hundred and eighty-five times as far away as the Moon: it is estimated that a cannon ball fired from this Earth and keeping up its velocity at the rate offive hundred miles an hour, would not reach it in less time than about twenty-two years. Still, though these are well demonstrated facts, ascertained by very correct measurement, by the most scientific mathematical surveyors of the heavens, yet we desire some more plain or familiar illustration. Let us investigate. Here we have it; are you ready for a journey? The celebrated Braley has calculated the time required for a trip of ocular exploration. He observes, "A railway train starting from this Earth, and running continuously, at the rate ofthirty miles an hour, would arrive at the Moon in eleven months, but would notreach the Sun in less time than aboutthree hundred and fifty-two years." We can partially comprehend this by calculation (although the years of the oldest individual of our country have not been sufficient to take him more than one third of the journey, even had he been placed on such train and started when an infant at his mother's breast). Had the train been started only nineteen years later than the discovery of North America by Columbus, in 1498, and travelled thirty miles each hour since, it would just now be approaching the border of the Sun, and, on arriving there, if a tunnel was opened and a track laid direct through it, "this train, continued at the same speed, would require more than a year and a half to reach the Sun's centre; three years and a half to pass through it, and more than ten years to pass round it.
"Now this same train would attain the centre of this Earth in five days and a half; pass through it in eleven days; and go round it in about thirty-five days." Thus you see the diminutiveness of this Earth as compared to the Sun. These calculations are founded on facts so clearly demonstrated by the science of astronomy, that but few who examine into it will question their approximation to correctness.
Now while the mind is somewhat familiarized with that vast globe, the Sun, let us contemplate it further.
Sir John Herschel, the most profound philosopherin the science of astronomy the world has ever known; one whose inventions and improvements in the telescope have far surpassed those of all others; one who has enjoyed the highest advantages in the study and demonstration of the science, and who has made most important discoveries in regard to the sun, and moon, and the planets—and even the fixed stars, or suns, in the far off sidereal regions—tells us that from his investigations and discoveries in regard to the Sun, there appears to bea vast globe withinthe surroundingphotosphere of fire, shielded by a void or non-luminous atmosphere, thus apparently protecting it from the surrounding flame of fire, and rendering it possible that the vast globe within is susceptible of animated life, which may exist there in some form. This, with the general corroboration of other astronomers, as to the two encircling volumes of atmosphere—the outer a luminous, and the inner a non-luminous one—is strong evidence confirmative of our hypothesis of the existence of that immense inner globe, or world, which is doubtless in reality theHeavenly world; the Saviour's empire, and the abode of the righteous.
Methinks, had Sir John Herschel but turned his attention for awhile to the flood-lights of Divine Revelations, made by God himself through His Spirit to fallen man, he would ere this have opened the "gate" to the eye of faith, and bid the weary Christian to lookand behold the confines of that bright world which was opened, and flashed its inner light upon the eyes of the dying martyr Stephen, when,
"Being full of the Holy Ghost, he looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see heaven opened."
"Being full of the Holy Ghost, he looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see heaven opened."
Thus, we are led to the inevitable conclusion that heaven is not so far distant but that it can be seen from earth by thespirit-eye, if God shall but open, and disclose it to view. Where else can we imagine its location, to be within range of—even immortal—vision from this earth? St. John, while in the spirit, had a view of that heavenly world, and the vast city with glittering jasper walls, and gold-paved streets, and even the "great white throne," the Saviour on that throne, surrounded by an innumerable company that no man can number.
St. Paul, in spirit, was caught up, even into the "third heaven," and "saw and heard things which it were not lawful for man to utter" to mortals on earth. He tells us that "eye hath not seen, neither ear hath heard, nor hath it entered the heart of man, the glory that shall be revealed." But we will not here anticipate the still stronger evidence we have yet to lay before the mind as we pursue this interesting theme.
Bear in mind the fact that heaven is considered by the most learned and ablest writers on theology, as "a fixed place," permanent and abiding. That it is vast in extent, and glorious in appearance, and has, within, all the necessary elements and arrangements for complete happiness. And, we believe, that not very remotely distant from it is the place where is the element of punishment for the wicked. We think the revelations of God, and the manner and mode of his manifestations to the children of men, together with the revelations of astronomy in regard to the Sun; its magnitude and elements, will, when we come to consider them further, not only startle the mind, but prove our hypothesis well-founded.
Just here, may we not, for a few moments, speculate in mind upon a possibility, which, as we advance, will assume more the form of a probability?
Look once more upon that brilliant orb, whose light,without, may be one of the lamps of eternal day. Look but for one second of time only; for, as we have told you, a steady gaze into its fiery flame of brightness for one minute alone is fatal to the blinding of the unprotected eye. May notwithinbe the place of which the poet's spiritual eye caught a glimpse, when alone in silent meditation he penned those sublime and beautiful lines: