The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-03-25
1HE HARMONIC CORONATION.

Davis, the man who has placed himself at the
head Of that school of free-thinkers who lay
great stress upon the "harmonicsn OF nature,
would give light to such as might wish for
little Of that commodity, was sufficient to ill
Washington Hall, at the corner of Eighth and
Spring Garden streets, both in the morning and
evening. Owing, perhaps, to the threatening
aspect of the weather, his audience
in the evening was composed almost exclu.
sively of men, some of whom continued to keep
their eyes open during the whole of the dreary
DISCOURSE while many others prepared them
selves for homeward jaunt through the rain
by slight instalmepts of slumber. The exercises,
as usual, were opened and closed with singing;
and in order that the Harmonic Corona
tiOnistsn might show how absolute and
customary observance of the Chris
tian Sabbath, this singing was OF
decidedly secular character. When the initial
''song" had died away, the great harmonic
philosopher appeared upon the stand, and
proved to be man of stout build and bushy
beard, with voice far from pleasant, espe-
eially at the end OF every other sentence, which
was wound up with pee uliar intonaton. lie
discoursed somewhat as follows:-
MANIFESTATIONS OF THE INFINITE.
Man is allied to all forms of life-to animal
lite, as that of bird or fish, and likewise to
vegetable and floral life The instinct Of mere
which all men are endowed. Sometimes how
ever, manifestations Of mans inmost spirit,
composed of certain eternal principles, concern
ing which the Harmonic philosopher hadSdls
COursed at length in the morning, have been de-
veloped. Many are yearning for this manifesto
ton, worshipping at unknown shrinesl and
invoking unknown gods, hoping thus to
arrive at its realization. For the purpoes of
achieving this object, they endure privatons,
trials, and penanCes. 1t is the grand exercise
of this yearning spirit for an entrance into the
realm of the infinite that makes the cross
crown, and places the masses under the iLfu-
ence OF priestcraft. II is this vague alliance of
man to the vastly infinite that makes him such
an lnComprehensible problem to himself that
makes his life so vague and dreamy. This
yearning for the infinite is what renders man
Religious; the lack of 1T is what prevents mere
animals from being religious. When touched
by these infinite yearnings, man is reused to
place himself higher than the brute creation,
higher than he was before. The object of rel-
gion is to bring out these manifestations of the
infinite; and were 1t not for this, his life would
be like that of any other animal, up hill ami
down alike,
THE PERCENTAGE OF LOVE AND WISDOM.
The inner or spiritual life of man is made up
of the elements of love and wisdom-loye, dtty
per cent; wisdom, fifty per cent. Love is the
Centremost of this inmost lie, and is divided
into different classes-love ofself love OF paren-
tage, love of ones companion in marriage, love
OF superiors, and universal love OF all. Wisdom
likewise appears under the different forms of
utilization, Justice, a desire of power,
the principles of duty, OF beauty, and
OF as plration, and, last and greatest, an acqu-
escence in the vast harmonic coronation OF
everything in the universe. The fundamental
principle of the harmonic philosophy which
Spirltualists have been proclaiming for years, is
now being developed in science by those who
discourse upon the new doctrines of the CORE
lation and conservation of forces. Sprituaists
have had all manner OF cOntumely heaped upon
them for proclalming doctrines similar to those
hi ornT mt tnH i'm thn ncnip tH,
world.
THE EDUCATION OF MANS MENTALITY.
Having thus defined the character OF the mar
nome philosophy, the speaker proceeded into
a lengthy and delectable treatise upon he rela-
tUns OF mind and matter, and the manner IN
which the former is brought into realization
of the nature of the latter. Man is situated i'll
nature so as TO know nothing Of 1T save through
the mediEm of the senses, and these are capable
OF graspng no part of nature until motion OF
some kind is impaired TO it. The susceptiOii-
ties of M an are touched only by those portions
OF matter which are attenuated. Through these,
education is impaired to his mentality. On the
contrary, mere animal only learns to initiate
its progeny is as ignorant 1t was itself before
it was taught this imitation. But by this edu-
cation of his mentality, man is rendered capable
OF mparting knowledge to his progeny, wnicn
is the source of the worlds progress.
WHY CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT BE CHEERFUL.
Having disposed of this branch of his subject,
the speaker proceeded 10 demolIsh the Chrs-
tian Church, and the religion which it ptotrsses
and teaches, because 1t stood so stOutly in the
way of a more general acceptance OF his n4r.
monial principles. He could not see how any
man could be so hypocritiCal, 80 recreant to all
the instincts of humanity, as to be a cheerful
Christian, when almost the whole OF the human
race was on the way TO hell. Unitariauism,
however, the speaker considered as nothing
more than one phase of SplrItuallsm, and there
fore he excepted from his severe judgm ut
Christianity all who proiessed this peculiar
creed, which was sometimes confoOnded with it.
LUNATIC AsYLUMs THE PROPER PLACES FOR
CHRISTIANS.
Having thus graciously relieved the feelings
of the Unitarians, the speaker returned t. the
onslaught on pure and unadulterated Chris
tianity, declaring that It Is a despicable and
atrOcous outrage tor an evangelical to be
cheerful. If he believed that anything human
was destined to undergo perpetual torture, his
proper place would be in an insane asyllm
Ali who are sincere evangelical Christians are
to be found in such places; and all who profess
10 be evangelical Christians, and are not made
insane by their belief, are hYpOcrites.
The announcement by the speaker that all
the true and honest Christians in the world are
10 be found in luDttic asylums, appeared greatly
TO ediiy and delight a large majority OF his
audience. round Of applause went up from
different quarters of the hail. aud when few
nersons piesent testified their dissent by tant
Kisses. the clapping of hands and stamping of
feet were renewed with greater vigor and zeal
than before.
HOW CHRISTIAN CHILDREN ARE SOLD TO THE
DEVIL,
The speaker then returned to his theory OF
the progression of mankind through innate
knowledge bequealhed by parent TO Offspring
and starting from the ancestor TO whose meu
tality IT was originally impaired by means o.
attenuated matter operating upon the senses
He stated that in this way the minds OF chilireI
were corrupted, Just as pure water Is blackene(
by the admixtuIe OF ink. Children are borI