The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1871-11-23
SeisatiAe Theories Of Or satisa.

~, Yes, WUs Tue TcPiyj ~ 1Sbo o0p
itally."--"Ahy' was Mr.. Masun's
response, Il thought it had been on
tirely superseded by more popu'
lar prcdaciion. Ia it possible that
people still read it?i'
A French clergyman, few years
ago, brought solid mass Of MSS. to
prominent publisher .ia Paris.
"W hat 10 the subject or your book?''
said the publisher. "The Existence
Of God" answered the author, with
q due msekness oftone, feeling, ss he
did, that modern enlightment had
somewhat antiquated his theme. A
little astonished at the simplicity
which mingled his ignorance, the
brisk bookseller replied, "But my
good man don't you know that you
have wasted thought on an hypothe
sis that had ceased to interest the
public?"
When D'Argens, one of the phil.
osophic companions IT the great
Fredrick of Prussia, died, Voltaire,
q strong deist malicionsly announced
that "the Office of Atheist TO His
Majesty was vacant" To Ret. rid OF
God, as an impertinence foisted ,lio-
gically into the great process OF evo-
luton, has been from the time OF
Voltaire's sarcasm, tendency OF
human science. fheologlcaliy, say S
Compte, the heavens declare the
glory Of God. Scientifically. they
simply declare the glory Of hippar
chus and Keeler, and Newton. Mans
thought is the real measure Of the
universe, though the universe was
not made for man. Nothing can be
more ridiculous, we are told, than
the statement that in the ''begin
ming" God created the heavens and
the earth. For God substitute evo.
luton. The thought OF Newton was
latent in the shining nehnlous mist
out Of which came our sun and plan.
cts out Of which came oil the won
ders OF the mineral, vegetable, and
animal kingdom out OF which came
the mind, affections, sentiments and
aspirations of man out of which
came all the explanation eof the
mystery which confcsscdly sur
rounds our mortal existence. The
scientific theory rs bleak aud cold ;
but we arc assured that truth il
better than happiness, better than
comfort, better than any realization
of our foolish spiritual hopes in this
paIpable world or In remotely pos.
sible text
This scientific view OF creation
and life labors under tho dreadful
defect Of being horribly common
place. He'll has no tortures compar-
ed to an uuending existence under
tho conditions proposed by Herbert
Spencer. Able as be is. comprehen-
sivo as he is, thoroughly scientice as
is, we trust that the good God will
save us from the bore of a possible
immortality which rests on an ever
lasting meditation OH spencer's
theories Of the system of the uni
verse. We are content, as long as
our existence is limited TO four scoro
years and ten roast bect and cham.
paigne may enable Us to tread that
path to Mount Auburn but millions
and millions of years of Herbert
Spencer w6nld he Father trying,
even to immortal pstience
Sir William Thompson, one Of the
most justly ceiebrs;ed OF English
scientists, has recently attempted TO
dodge Darwinism By sug ggestins that,
as life can not be evolved from dead
matter, vegetable lite-germs prob
ably came to US in me,eoric stones,
shot into our plsnnet from planets
that had explodeds Mr.. Peter Bayne,
theologian and man of letters.
modestly claims to have anticipated
Sir William in this bright thought.
in one OF his notes TO the life of Hugh
Miller. Neither seems TO be aware
that he has simply removed, by one
step, the mystery OF the origin OF
life 1t requires no great exercise OF
faith to suppose that Alan and
Noah anticipated both Sir William
Thompson and Mr.. Peter BsyDe in
this brilliant hypothesis but Adam
and Noah had minds sufficiently
logical to see that shifting the res
possibility of accounting for the great
fact ofiiio To what we call the .'as
teroids did not explain it.
High as is our admiration Of the
men Of science ct our day, we think
they are all more or less smillen
with the madness OF creating a
world after their own intellectual
image. They are, Us far rs they de,
part from the facts they have diseov
cred and demonstrated, mere quack
doctors and retailers OF universal
panaceas TO allay the curiosity oi
the average human mind. .'ilow
charmipgit il" said Prot. Bache, ito
hear Mitchell discourse on the stellar
system We who are mere pans
taking mathemaiicians and astrono.
mers, know very little OF inc Uni.
verse we creep, be scars he ex-
plains everything; We, poor devils
can explain nothing" Fifty years
heLce we believe that DarwiDism
will rank in the world of mind as
Morrisen's Pill how ranks in The
domain controlled by scientific ply
sicians. A million of years tence
when all intellectual quack mediciue,
have been proved 10 be bad, we fee
confident that scientists, acknowledg
ing the insolutle mystery OF th.
ceration of lite, will say, in despair
"ln the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth. Erer,
Saturday.
An Illinois correspondent OF th,
Detroit Tribune (Rep.) writes: "Th,
conduct OF Governor Palmer towar,
General Sheridan is such "a mlxtur
of folly, vindictivenoss and stupidit,
that is hard to find o motive tor II
He has no more legal right to NOV
in tho matter al this time than ha
tho Governor General of Canada :.
His common sense applauded Sher
dams conduct in the beginning, as th
telegram shows; but. AS usual, sci
Ishness comes uppermost, and bis la
er conduct turns on political hing
. He aspires to be Trumbull's succe
sor in the Senate; he wants Demt
, cratic Endorsement be followed ID
, malicious suggestion ofthat marplo
!. w. F. Storey, who bates Sherida