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


camel. etc. The whole OF the feeling
throughout and activity.
Hnmsnffy Succeeds GOd-Ls It Afhsfsm.
To be sure that there shall be no mistake on
this point, as this sect is very sensitive about
being called atheistic, ] give extracts from Mr..
Daytds book. The dedication Is as follows:
"To the ynly supreme Being man can yer
know" "Tne Great but Imperfect God"
" Humanity, in whose image all other gods
were made, and for whose service all other
gods exist and 70 whom all the children Of
Further on we find:
Querist-To begin at the beginning, has this
religion, or faith, Of Positfvtsm any eoncep-
ton Of Deity2
Positivist-Au Posittvists believe In a su-
preme being, and yet that statement needs
explanation. We do not believe In the God
OF the Jew, the MOhammedan. or the Chris
tian. We do not believe in a First Cause. We
do not believe In an Author o fnature. We do
not believe in an infinite and absolute God.
Our God Is a relative God, IL a demonstrabIe
Soo1 an ImpefIset COO IN snort, our
Supreme Being Is humanity, which we affirm
Is the only Gud man ever could or ever can
know. In other words, all conceptions Of deity
are anthrOpomoFphic-are simply prrtecttons
out Into the Infinite space OF notions incident
to human nature. Emerson says, ITO know
God we must be gods" which is true. tits OBJ
vtous that the lOftiest conception Of deity we
can have Is necessarily purely human We
affirm that modern science has taken all past
conceptions OF deity, has put them in a cruel
BILE, and after the gases have been driven of
and the dross burned out In the fire of criti-
ctsm, all the pure metal which has been found
remaining Is humantty-notbing more.
To this It may be added thar the Positiv-
isis do not believe in q personalimmortal-
ity, but only in the indestruetibility of the
atoms of which they are formed, and the
blessed memory Of their good deeds pre-
served IN the race.
Now, this may and possibly is not athe-
a--1. H.A 49,, 49, 4 u
practical difference to Ohristiansf The
atheist denies God, the OOmtist ignores
Him; both exercise Him out. Of human
affairs and, for that matter, out of the in
ception OF MANAGEMENT Of the affairs Of
the universe. Both are alike fatal to
Christian theology. This godhesd OF hu-
manity is certainly q startling dogma,
and not the less startling is the marvellous
array Of facts which have been collected
by Comte and others to show Its legiti-
macy. VIII it have q ritUslf Let Us
hear the Primer agatn. Certainly; and
the noblesG and most elaborate of which
the human mind can conceive. Il Ia our
intention to use all the OF art In
magnifying the deity we Worship-this
grandeur that music can lend to our
praise; all that art can do, by ststuary
end paintings, TO elaborate our concep-
lions and ennoble our ideals; all thst
poesy can do to enkindls our imagins-
tions-sl viii be used to sdorn and
glorify and magnify the Being to whom
we owe everythi1g-our whole service
and our whole heart.
The Primer also informs us that the
Pcsitivistsssre going to spend two hours
In prsyer-busy men, think Of thsti
-as q means, not Of obtsinining anything
asked, but Of Pertecting their emotional
natures,
The Woman Question
is also discussed ~ Mr.. David, and bs /
succeeds In showing that Oomte was more
conservative than he church IL his views
of the feminine sphere. This man Ia TO
support the oms When the Comtist
scheme has extended over any city or ma
ton, no woman viii have to work for her
bread. If she has neither father, husband
or brother to depend upon, the State will
give her ~susteEsnce. The home is her
kingdom. She is to be not only priestess,
but goddess, as to her the aspirations Tor
prayers) of the dsvout Comtist will be
addressed. According to Comte, If we
could eve realize the tabled heaven of
the ~theologisns, then woman should be
the ruler supreme, but as he wisely Judges /
impossible on this globe, he interdicts
her peremptorily from any thinking but
" sucking fools" and sitting like sub
scribers at a charity dinner, to the extOll-
of her own perfeotionss
Women-women are not likely to ba
satisfied with this regime, and hencs all
"free-lovers" look upon Comics
as the very perfection of hslIish
hate against WOmankind.
The WOrkinEmen's MuddIe
Is another point treated at some length in
the Primer. I venture 10 assert thar
when the takers who have taken il In
hand to sgitate for some new distribution
Of property, leave Comte's solution, they
will be inclined to give It the cold shoul-
der. If the writer OF this book states the
Positivist scheme correctly, it may be
up Is follows: Far from think
.ng that the concentration of capital In the
Of q few men Is an evil in itself,
g looks forward to q further concsntrs-
ion. Modern industry depends upon
srge amounts of money, under the com
Ole5e control of SONS man. POsitfvism
iistrusts, or rather hates joint stock COM
1snies as it hates parliamentary or talk
ng" governments. II does not sim st
skiing away from any person or any
Dody of men, his or their properties, but
t hopes to mske the way Easy for the
Of the wealth OF corporations into
hands,. But this would not
atisfy ths workingmsn. P~ositivists do
lot care They claim that their scheme
5 scientific and hat events should con. |
rol the observation of facts. Posisivism
8 IN this the very reverse Or Communism,
hough they are often jumbled together I
4 Conversation. What the former does
'orrow of the latter Is the belief +,
hat wealth Is social. That It, like
II other material forces, should be {
to moral control. The Positivist I
cheme proposes to keep before the eye of &
he capitalist continually the one thought [
hat he should consider himself as much
ound to provide for the wants of his )
Tork-people, as hs is to provide for the !
omforts Of his houss. The great capital I
vt Is to be g captain OF industry-ths pro- {
ucers and distributors of the latter bsi1g c
rganiEsd as nearly like the army Of the @
asst, as the fundamental sssimllsrities {
Teach will permit. This Is what is meant a
y "morslislng capital" about which you ,
lay hsvs heard. !
Mr.. Dsvid's "Positivist Primer" Is ;
'ritten ia interviewing style. It Is en- 1
rely popular, and gives, without any az {
,mpt ct diving into the msIss of the Ct I
of "relativ1ty," 3 very clear anC Z
lccinct account Of this new faith which .
hardly yet known in America. II the =
'msrks with which I set out be trus, :
lere Is enough heavy mstter in the fore II
ping letterto keep one laughing for some .
me at the crotchets Of really sble. but b
Iigled men. COMES.