Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-01-28

rs HAgn VIII PkDE0OAy TX bAo Ca15s 4 aOAA
you a very brief history of "the New York
Positivist Society,"" and q condensed ana
lysis of q recent publication entitled, IA
Positivist's Primer, by C.eG. David, one
of its members
The History of the New York POsffivist
Society
msy be briefly told. In the latter portion
Of 1868, some few persons living in this
city, having become interested In Comics
system, invited Mr. Henry Edgar from
his suburban retreat at "Modern Times"
Long Islsnd) to deliver q series Of
Sunday afternoon lectures upon the sub
iect. The invitation was accepted, snd
a. the result a society was formed for the
study of the writings of the master. This
proved to be one OF the most snarling in
situations that ever modern society and
modern philosophy produced. All the
old wind bags of this city Joined 1t, and
rightly, IL would seem, for were not their
opinions upon men and things as positive
as snyOne's well could bar All these phi
losopheTs were continually crying out
about experience and facts, and observa-
tions, and yet no " of them could agree
as to what the facts in any disputed topic
wers. Such a happy family carried, in
its inception, the seeds of early decay.
How could s~elf-interest men and men
who held ~self-interest to be deadly sin
agree? How could pantheistE, athe-
lists, unitsrisns and free-religionists
sfhIiatsf How could msn that thought the
world good enough, and the attempt to re-
organize il an impulse of insanity, be sup
ported by men whose one great obisct it
was TO effect such q purpose and form any
organization. Men with beliefs and men
without beliefs; and crszed on woman
suffrage and WorkiDgmen's rights, and
men who thought the q foolish and the
other wicked; men with morality, despite
their hetorodox views, and men who were
perhaps not troubled about either. Such
q tumble was certainly q study, but he
who attempted 1t had better be 8 bold
man. I well remember the picture thai
was once presented to me- when, too sd |
venturous, 1 thrust myself into the ions
den. This den was in an artists studio
on Broadway, corner Of Fourth street,
and the artist was Nj. j. Wilson Mac
donald, sculptor of Lyons statue and
other well known works of art. There
might HAYS been forty people in the room
five or six of them ladies. Some
one had Just sat dow as 1 entered,
and a gladiator jumped for theimprovised
platform. He began to speak In strong
denuncistion of the previous speakers
remarks, and, before l knew 1t, be was
fOsming at the mouth, shaking his fists
at everybody In general, and the last
spesker in particular, and otherwise con-
Quoting himself as though he was fresh
| from q msdhouse, What was my sur
prise on learning thst this wa a we'll
read gentleman q successful nancie
who had once edited q newspaper, and
that bis lame was Charles Moran, queR-
dam president of the celebrated Erie rail-
road. This discussion-aQ of 1t that 1
hesrd-best anything 1 ever listened to
| elsewhere. It Fanbled over everything
The president was powerless. He was 9
Spirituslist, and yet president OF q POSI-
twist society. Oh, incongrultyi Every
one had his speech to make, and he made
it regardless of consequences. 1 was not
much surprised when I heard shortly az
terWard that this society had departed to
limbo. Il was n of those Abortlons
which are so common in our great cities.
Perhaps, as I have said nothing good Oft
heretofore, 1t may be as well TO ssy IL PAID
it's debts. Some defunct organizations do
not.
A Second Society
was not slow in emerging from the decay
ing carcass of the first. There were q few
people in the first who we're enough in
terested In the positive Q to con-
cluds that if they knew it all they thought
they could accept 1t all. They formed q
society. It was very sickly at first. They
would admit no one to their meetings but
those who had predictions for the sys-
tenn. Debate was rigidly escheWed,
though a mild question was not objected
to. The organization grew spsce. l be-
lieve some fifty members attend its stated
meetings now, and some score are Simon
pure P0sitivists. Here Is food for re1ec-
ton. The church is right-no religious
body can become a debating club L as
sisted at one Of the meetings of this so
ciety, and 1 now deliberately say thss 1
have never seen q more orderly mode Of
procedure in conducting the affairs of any ;
public meeting. As it may be OF interest
I will first mention !
The Order of Business. I
First-Reading of an extract from some !
part of Comts's work in the vulgar tongue :
they have not yet accepted French as ,
the sacred language. !
SeeOnd-Resding Of correspondence :
The day l was there q letter was read ;
from Dr.. Congreve, the head of the Eng !
ish branch the of Positivists. It must be :
remembered that In the contest scheme I
the United States ia an outlying portion .
of Crest Britain. Hard grating this is on :
Yankee patriotism. !
Third-Then followed g recitation from :
the poets-s very bsSuttful sonnet OF 4
GOeihe's. :
F'urth-Ths lecturer Of the day wss in :
troduced. This individual for an hour :
spoke in illustration Of the Positivtst =
scheme, and was carsfully followed. a
And what of the lecturs-wss it dullf :
Strange enough, it was not. Il was athe- :
.isticAl, or rather was intensely human 4
No personal God in 1t snd no personslim- =
AIlLHaAlEYs Il h6 Will uOL 70 ESECu HSdNEu | n
TO save your miserable soul, - not because =
God says so, but because humanity is y
looking down upon you, not as from the !,
pyramids, with forty centuries saying to !
you {" mans only right is to do his duty, .
without fear of punishment or hope of =
reward" such was thei burden OF his =
III lecture was 80 striking =
that I inquired into the sutecedents OF =
lecturer, and found him to be q law -
yer in good practice, q college graduate, n
and q man Of means. I looked around, :;
but I recalled few Of the faces that met =
On my visit to the former society. The !,
meeting was held In an elegantly fur =
IA An sristocratic portion OF y
he city. As far as 1 could lesrn-for =
hess people fight shy of populsrity-the -
Of this society sre professional =,
journalists among them, and :;
business men of standing In the city. -
some are young, Others middle aged, none -
I'D. Perhaps . doEsn of ladies were in
he room. Only two Of these, I was
OWEN to understand were devoteea
II his religion But the rest were
Tot woman women"-they were the
7ery reverse. They have given up the J.,
New York district as & bad Job. The u
general air of responsibility and gentility az
n the meeting surprised me. The lam al
used was polished, as many pres g
mt were well accustomed to expressing 1e
heir thoughts in suitable words. Here a.
vas a phenomenon. Men swearing, al ~
most within esrshot OF Grace church, ~
md many others of the various denoui- %
lsttons, as though God was an absolute III
tradition, and Christ and Paul great men, m
like Buddhs and Mshomet. In tn
losing this part of my sketch, I must n,
thst what attracts my attention to- NJ
Ts.d POsttivism Is that so many men Of y
cal ability belong to it. They are mostly OF
men, too, n hence their ideas, pa
ven without any active propagation on sfC
heir part, are learning the reading public WI
WHAT the COmtfsts Believe. M
Enough of the society. Let US turn 81
ow to the Po~sitivist scheme and endeavor WI
ascertain exactly what this strange sect bu
elieve, Il Is necessary to do this owing fol
} the misspprehenslons In the public IN
lind upon the subject. Many people a.
nagins that becsuse they know the name IS
lsy Know the thing, and others that to "
al 1t atheism or ms~terialism accurately pa
Inns up Its tenets, In order to deal with bu
his question i~ntelligently, nc better ere
annual could now be put into the hands Sh
the inquirer than the Primer, to which nc
have more than once referred. 1t is AZ,
In interviewing style, and the NJ
naturally grow out of the ques- M
ems. There is little attempt at system col
ie arrangement, and no attempt to puzzle the
10 with long and obscure dissertations All
l abstruse points In metaphysics. After ua
aiding the book carefully through, we NJ
I'D out hat the following are the main III
ssons for and the main points OF this spe
wv faith;
Since the middle ages there has been :
ing on = sloWsnd steady disintegrstion
Christian theology and modern social
ganiE stion, Of which the Lutheran re-
rmstion and the French revolution were al
g most characteristic specimens. By uoi
mparisOn With other crises in the his. ne
~ Of the ~race-with, for instance. the ma