The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1854-01-05
From the PhiIadelpha Pcnnsy lvanian.
Value of Correct knowledge.

ing wiser, but better-and nothing has conduced to
ths desirable state OF facts, more than the accuracy
and solidiiy of modern learning. The vague mis,s
and stperStitlons which cloued the intellect of past
ages have, IN great degree, been dissipaed and
men Begin TO for themselves and the people
are wiling 10 be guided by what appears he in ac
cordance with the dictates Of common sense. The
instructors OF youth and the promugators of the
truths OF science, are longer afraid To follow the
prompngs Of genius, by the of british pub
lie opinion, which made whole nations fools or
madnen.
When the belief was universal Of the inmobi,v
OF the earth, COrpcnicus conceived the idea tha, the
sun was The centre vi the SYSTEM and that the earth
was planet, like Mars and Venus, and revolved
round the sun. And yet this founder of ID new sys-
tenn OF astronomy was accommodated from the
Vatican IN lji3. Tor maintaining hercicai doctrines
and the para court annulled the sentence til
1921
When Calico, his great follower in the cause of
scientific tnh was thrown IN the prisons of the In
qnisiton IN 1913, and was compelled TO solemnl, re-
his knees in the presence of an ASSEMBLE,
OF ignorant monks, with his hand upon the Gospel
the glorious truths he had taught and to declare that
the ear tn stood still; he from his huniIiating
position, he indignantly exclaimed, stamping his foot
-" and yet IT movcs.'' For this he was again as
sisned to the dungeon for indefinite period Of
time, and required TO repeat every week, Tor three
years, the seven Penltentia psalms Of David.
But the Copernican system is now established, and
mas thuS recommended itself 10 the scientific world
through much trihulation. That Tycho, Kepor, the
iicrScht lis, and Newt ton, permitted to enunciate
the result Of their labors in peace, may be attributed
TO other causes. and in spite OF the natural aud uni
versai perversiiy TO sustain error.
Calico and Socrates examples Of the sacrifices
men have sometimes made for the advancement Cf
truth, under adverse circumstances, and against the
preconceived ideas, prejudces aud super >tons of
ignorant ages. Columbus, Fulton and Franklin were
all opposed, each in his particular path of discovery
by the public sentiment by which they were surround
ed, and nothing but their actual and uncialed tri-
umphs saved them the reputation of being fit subjects
for an insane asy lum
How much does the world owe to Ieibnitz Le-
verrer, Lambert, Michael Angelo, Delamber, Des-
caItcs and Galvani, for their painful and aborious
mathematical calculations, compos of torces and
great ANALYSIS Blot their discoveries from existence
and all becomes dark, chaotic, and given up to un-
certainty.
1t was fashionable twenty wears ago TO denv that
the world was more than SIN thousand wears old. but
the geological researches Of DR.. Buck land Professor
Siiliman, DR.. John Pye Smiti, Mr.. LveM President
Hitchcock, and others have proven by ncontroverti-
bic facts that it have existed for many hundred
thousands Of years. And yet So far from these n-
vestigat'ons leading TO atheism, they lead to a
knowledge Of nature. Those who contend for the
limited existence, stand on the very verge of denying
indirectly the existence of divine power, and uproo
the whole system of natural theology. The SUPPOSE
ton Of Chateaubriand, that the earth was erected
just is, with its millions OF fossil shells imbedded
in the rocks, would all the foundations Of
Dr. Parleys theory, and lead the rankest scepti-
cism. 1t The mountains, hoary with aye, do not give
evidence OF their volcanic fires for many
il the bones of fishes with their fins were not intend
ed for moton-if the eyes Of the fossil insects were
not intended tor sIeht-then the most admiral adapt
ations Of the animal economy do show desisa or
point with unerrns certainty to the great Architect
and Designer,
Yet how often do the discoveries Of true science
pass unrecompensed, while the various systems of a
stuliityng humbuggery meet with favor the eye and
ear Of the public. William Harvey, who discovered
the circulation of the blood, met with detractiun and
persecution that destroyed his practice and reduced
him to poverty, while inventors of g cough Ozenges'
" tumeN bitters,' 90 liver pills., &C., roll in wealth
and dress in purple and fine linen. Before the time
OF Francis in the early part Of the 10th century,
tbc surgeons staunched the blood when a nb was
ampuated, by the application Of pitch to the su, face
OF the stump Ambrose Bare, the principal surgeon
to that king, introduced the ligature. cllmor wa
raised, and this experienced surgeon hcoted and
how led down by the faculty Ct ph,:ic who rculed
the idea Of hanging hunan life on a thread" when
boiling pitch stood the test Coz centuries.
When Parceaus. Of Switzerland, introduced the
employment OF antlmony medicine, at the nsga-
ton OF the Medical College, The French Param Mt
voted it IA crime and passed act making it penal
offence to administer It for any disease.
The Jesuits introduced into Europe the Peruy ian
DARK, ana IN England they at once rejected The drug As
an invention oi the father Of lies. Frederick tue
Great took 1t in spite Of the remopstrances Of his
physicians, and restored to health.
In 1893, Dr. GrCercyette discovered the curative
power of the Spanish lily in dropsy, but sooner
did his beg 10 be noised abroad, than he
at once committed to Newsate, by warrant of the
President Of the College of Physicians. for presci-
bing canthardes internally.
! Lady Mary Montague, who had spent some time
in Turkey, first introduced nnocuIa,on lor the small
FOX into England, she had witnessed its happy ei.
ects during her foreign residence. She tried the
pertinent upon her children, and the common
people hoo;ed at her unnatural mother, wbo
risked the lives Of her own offspring. The faculty
in arns oreteiiing failure and disastrous conse
q,ences, and the clergy preached from their pupts or
the impety Of thus seeking to take of the
hands Of Providence. She protested that in the four
or five years after her arrival home, she seldom pass
ed day without repenting Of her patriotic underia
king, and she vowed she never would have attempted
it, had she iorseen the vexation and persecution i
/ brought upon her.