New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-09-05


from hs relation 10 the gods And IT Ia assuredly TACT
that oness and serenity of thought may be promoted
by pdons which involve no idea OF pront OF TINS
kind ibid not believe" said great man 10 me once
that intelligence is at the heart OF things my lie
on earth would be lntoerabe" The utterer OF these
words is not in my opinion rendered less NOBLE ou.
more noble by that the need OF ethical
harmony here, ard the thought OF personal proh'
hereafter. that prompted his observation
THE THEORIES OF LUCREuus.
century aud half after the death OF Epicurus, LII
eretius his great poem, On the Nature of Things
IN which he, a Roman. developed with extraordinary
ardor the philosophy Of his Greek predecessor. de
wishes TO win over his friend Memmus to the school OF
Eplcurus and although he has no rewards ID future
life Offer altho Igh his object appears 10 De purely
negative he addresses his friend with the heat OF an
apostle His object like that OF his great forerunner, Is
the destruction of superstiton and considering 'nat
men trembed before every natural event as direct
monitor from the gods, and that everlasting torture
in prospect the freedom aimed at by LucfeuS
might perhaps be deemed positive good. ms
terror" he says, and darkness OF mind, must DC ds
PEELED by rays OF the and gtterng shafts OF
day but by the aspect and the law of nature He re-
flutes the notion anything come out Of nothing
or that that which is begotten be recalled TO
nothing. The first beginnings, the atoms, are lnde-
structiDe, and into them all things can be dissolved
at last. Bodies are partly atoms and parity conioha-
tons Of atoms; but the atoms nothing can queneh.
They strong in solid sngeness and by their denser
combination all things can be closely packed ana
exhibit enduring strength. He denies that mat
ter infinitely divisible. We come at length
10 the atoms, without which, as an impershaoie
substratum all order in the generation and development
Of things would be destroyed The mechanical shock OF
the being In his view the alsufcient cause OF
things he cOmbats the notion that the constitution OF
nature has been in way determined by intelligent
design The interaction of the atoms throughout In
dnfta moi nd "a
BILE or these the fit persisted while the unit ones
disappeared. Not after sage elaboration did the atems
station themselves in their right places nor did tney
bargain what motions they should assume. From all
eternity they have been driven together, and after
trying motions and unions OF every kind they fell at
length the arrangements out of which this system
things has been formed. His grand conception OF the
atoms falling silently through unreasonable ranges OF
space and time suggested the nebular hypothesis 10
Kant its first propounder "f you will apprehend and
keep mind these things nature free at once aud no
of her naughty lords, is TO do all things sDont-
neOusy Of herself without thelmeddling OF the GODS
During the centuries between the first OF these three
philosophers and the last the human intellect was
active IN other 1eds than theirs The sophsts had run
through their At Athens had appeared the three
men, Socrates Plato and Aristotle. whose yoke remains
10 extent unbroken 20 the present hour. Within
this period Also the School of Alexandria was founded
Euclid wrote his Elements" and he and others made
the theory of the lever and the principles OF hydro
states Pythagoras had made his experiments on the
harmonic intervals while astronomy was Immensely
enriched by the discoveries OF Hpparchus, who was
followed by the historically more celebrated Ptoemy
Anatomy had been made the basis Of scientific medicine,
and il is said by Draper that viysection then began La
fact science Greece had already cleared
the world of the fantastic images of divnes operating
caprciousy through natural phenomena. 1t had shaken
itself free from that ruess scrutiny "by the internal
hight Of the mind alone" which had vainy sought to
transcend experience and reach knowledge OF ulti-
mate causes Instead of accidental observation, 1t had
introduced observation with a purpose; Instruments
were employed to aid the senses and scientific method
was rendered a great measure complete by the union
of induction and experiment.
ECCLEsIAsTICIsM RETARDING SCIENCE.
What. them stopped its victorious advanced Why was
the scientific intellect compelled ike exhausted SOIL
lie taow nearly two milenna before 1t could re-
gather the elements necessary TO Its fertility ana
strength Bacon has already let us know one cause
Whewel ascribes this stationary period TO four causes
obscurlty thought servty, intolerance Of dsposi-
ton, enthusiasm of temper; and be gives striking ex-
amples of eachi But these characteristics must have
had their causes winch lay the circumstances of the
time. Rome, and the other cities of the Empire, had
fallen into moral putrefaction. Christianity had ap-
peared Offering Gospel to the poor and by modera
ton not asceteism OF life practically protesting
the prO1lgRcy the Ihe suHerlnRs
early Christians and the extraordinary exaltation Of
mind which enabled them 10 triumph over the diabol-
cal fortunes which they subjected must have
left traces not easily eAced They scorned the earth
of that building OF God that house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens" The Scriptures
which minstered to their spiritual needs were also
the measure of their science When, for example,
the celebrated question OF antipodes TO be dis
cussed, the Bible with many the ultimate
court Of appeal. Augustine, who hourished A. d.
400, would not deny the rotundity of the earth, but
he would deny the possible existence OF Inhabitants at
the other sde because such race Is recorded In
Scripture among the descendants OF Adam" Arch
bishop BOniface shocked at the assumption OF q
world Of human beings of the reach OF the
of salvation" Thus refined in science not likely to
make much progress, Later on the political and theo-
logical strife between the Church and civil governments
powerfully depicted by Draper, must have done much
10 stihe Investigation Whewel makes many wise and
remarks regarding the spirit OF the Middle Ages
II mental spirit. The seekers after natural know
edge had forsaken that fountain of living waters the
direct appeal TO nature by observation and experiment
and had given themselves up the remanipuation Of
the notions OF their predecessors 1t time when
thought had become abec and when the acceptance Of
authority led. it always does In science, 10 in
telectual death. Natural events, instead OF being
traced physical referred to moral causes while
exercise of the phantasy almost degrading the
sprituan Of the present day took the place Of scen
tlfc speculation.
INFLUENCE OF ARISTOTLE.
Then came the mysticism OF the Middle Ages magic
alchemy the neoplatonc philosophy, with It's visionary
though sublime distractions. which caused to look
with shame upon their bodies hnderances to the
absorption of the creature the bessedness OF the
Creator. Finally the scholastic philosophy, a
fusion according LANCE OF the least
Of Aristotle with the Christianity of the Intel
lectual mmobility the result AS traveller with
a compass in fog may wander long, imagining he
is making way and find himself after hours Of toll at
his starting point. the schoolmen having tied and