, 1874-10-20

erection Of forttcsscs, II, ,e03. 01 tor fund for
invallded aoldters, md Cl,200,oo0 for tho
lscichAtag buildings"
THE LITERARY SOCIETY,
Paper by tho Recv. Dr. K0lAlce on
Myths nnsl Miracles.
regular weekly mooting Of tho Chicago Lit
oraty Society was held yesterday evening At tho
cl'lb-room Of the Sherman House, md WAS very
vol attended. Tho Roy. Dr.. ROLLER, OF tho sinai
Congregation, road tlio following ,'apur on
MYTHS AND M11tAo,E rs.
IL lavD always enttcayorel to comprehend
hnnnn actions mud opinions, lnatond Of lat1gh"
ing ut then1." eays Spinoza. Thoro waH a tino
whom tho entiehtened cnsa looked down with
rcornful emio upon tho religious beIiofe Of Tho
people at largo. and nude the Diblo, with Its
etrango ta1ee, n lnughirg-Btoch. tnockcry, bo-
holding III religion nothing but cunning decep-
tion, . willful durery Of plicstcraft. About
century ago religious topics woro scarcely dis
cussed III philosophica circles for any
An artlole on God was dcc1iuod by tho
Frenoi, philosophers for tbuir Encyo'onoda on
account oi tho lnsient1canco OF !ho subject. But
| times l,ayo wonderfully changed. Our ago haR,
by iiB lnborous strulGa mud doep [nvcatgh' funs,
learned bettor to understand antiquity, atld con.
| 80 o7uontty to DO moro humane and just toward
| those who are our fatllots IN history. aud our
| cl1ron, MS 1t worc, III oxporieuoo. 1nskend OF
QHGlllnE GU IHG ElllHCa4 hull4 lN6tltlA
upon tho dGcront rel'etona from tho Standpoint
! prescribed to us by birth nnd educattont tho
| Science of Religion bids lis to ponotrnto into
thclr depths, IN order to discover tl'otr common
ho'irecs and IN tho hoare OF man. 1alinB
| As our motto tho Nonlan poets worse.
Homo sim, ct nil human mo nirnsm puto-
| 4 nm tnan, mud nothing TINT Ia human hold
| to te ktrango to no), wa listen With sym pathy
| to all tho utterfngs Of primitive mankind, por-
cc.vng III MI its errors SOUL Of tGllth and 1t, Its
Ing after light. "All mon ycarn after tho guda."
| saws postsiatratos to Talomnchos In 1Iumer.
:Ihne, having ro particular religion In viow, while
| treating Of myths mud miracles, 20 not lntcna
aud npos -bty Of miracles, to ta!so sides either
witt, Ntozley OF with Tyndall I ana i.s no wny
couccr.,cd With tho question Of tho authenticity
| of the miracles told about Moses or Btddln,
| about Apol!oniua OF Iyannt or JcsuB 1t Is tho
general nature and csacnce OF miracles as sscll
Ms Of myths which Anthropo!ogy inquiries nftor,
not thu particular truth thoy mAy convey to some
pooplo Of sect. No mattor what tue contont Of
drealn mny be- or tue o!1sct u mas on corsain
person. Psychology deals will, it. not as with wild
fancv, but 40 With fact, subject to certain laws
| Of reflection and association Of ileas, although
| with some Bingnlar-caatcd souls Bnnlo drcamB,
botokening Kind ul forobodng. point to n spir-
ilual Aphero which Btil puzzles tho scientist. In
| like manner Sccnco dealB "lth miracles. not AZ
| ualtele OF belief. but Of fact, nBking for tho
caasca and tho psychological processes TINY ua-
dergo. >
WHAT ARE MYTHS? ..., .
| Ever since Solou gazed With an,azcment ut
! tho Eeyptlan monuments, hearing from tho
| lcarnca priests Of sais lilo worls 'oh, So
| Groclg. 20 orc with uB but children Of yester-
lay!" the hioroglypics were believed to contain
| cculcd by Jealous priesthood from the common
| paoplo. until, at tho ond OF tue lust century,
ChnmpollioI, the lugcniuus Frotich scholar, DIS
covered the 10y for thoae secret troast11es Co. aud,
p.ovea Io to u" 10 ie.ters sci Geionsi"g e''t to t,e
Oldest method Of wiring. The samo was the
oaae with tho o!deat expressions OF thousht,
preserved mud pctI llioa In myths and legends.
Many wiYo uan, from rhnlos mud Pluto down
10 Lord BACON, or oven to Krouzer aud Glad
stono of our Owl, davs, attempted to detect in
Bacrod relies Of divine inysloiios., History
| md natural philosophy. moral and political
| lore, wore thought to bo treasured up IN
| those odd and monHtrous fables. mud what
| not. "TAcy arc too absurd and toO oxt1nyagant
not to involve aosuo higher meaning that IL
The way Lord Hacon reasonh III his curious book,
ontiton "The Wisdom Of the Ancients." Hence
| llo feols justified to Interpret Tho classic 1nyths
tlas mnny-ahapcd SPHINX Il to be talon u.s. tho
| personihcasion Of mauy-sidcd Wisdom, orplcus
Us n metaphor Of Philosophy, "llosa Btudy draws
man awny from the Gear bonds Of conjnGal life.
rciscus as symbol Of wnr, aud Scylla aild Cha-
rvbdB aa figures Of tho rock and tho whirlpool
| cncompaEsing tho middle why Of v1tue.
| All these interpretations labor lndar tho false
assumption tint Mythology ,s tho invention Of
| DuctB and snScs, maao for tho purpose OF coll
yoying kor,iels Of truth to tha neorte in somo
tgi,rat,yo way OF specch. Having outg,own
cuildhood's fable-world. men wondered at and
polllercd over tho signiiicance OF those fanciful
traditions OF bygono ages. which aoundci to
| them like echoes from swcct Eden land. vol
| nfH hntl0wa,1 toti
only within onr slays by the discovery of tho
| fcdic language and comparative phlology.
Thoy ut once opened q now insight into tile
Workshop Of primitive thought. They brought
| to light Ill tho supposed hidden wisdom Of tho
apcients, aud lo!-lt dissolved into vapor.
| MANS rn1ot1T1yE LANGUAGE
il poetry. liz thinks aud speaks in pictures.
aIy,h9Iogy H., Il tue hiet9slyphes Of human NJ
man reads and translates unto himself tue
workings Of nature. Endowing cvory being
rith life, and with a soul like lis OWL, Le be-
holds swimming mermaids IN tho gray wuves OF
tic stormy soa, heats Whispering "ootl-nympha
III tho rus.lu4 trees Of tho forest and witnosscs,
with awe, tho battles fought IN thesky by lun,in-
oua hosts resplendeut With glory. Listening to
his curious tales. We arc struck by His keen
poetical gonius being unaware that oil that
makes upon ns tho impression Of FREQ piay Of
imagination is with him dreadful roRlsty.
Ho has not yet learned to discern tile idspl
from, tLe real; object md figure are to him
ident1cal. LIZ caunut Pecce!Va lne idea o. t0dt
except az mighty thuudcrer, or the like IIcdoca
not SEQ tno clouda except as rain (mllk> giving
cows or flying birds. OF bags. filled with water.
Heading ia tho Vcdas of tho hcavou-god lnda,
who lnsls iiis thundeEbolts against his ene,aiez
shattcring thcn into fragments to pour dow,
ran on cnrtb, and dispellMg them 10 make the
sun appear again In lis triumphant brigatnesn,
It, Of course. Affects us liko ski!lful poetry.
Fihdlng, however, the Btor1n-cluuds to be
often called dragons, aud the lghtningf
tlundorbolts tho god lndra being alwayt
represented aB . wnrrior-god. aimed with 9
golden bow, tue charm OF poctirai play disap.
poars moro md moro, tho moro We SEQ tho poet
to 10 in earnest. Wo aro compelled TO roalize tc
our mind tho world Of tho lI,ndoo, by forgetting
for q moment all that no knuw about tho laws oi
hcut mud evaporation, Of oectrlctty, aud radia.
ton Of light, md looling unon Nil tic pllenon,-
ena Of naturo with tho childish mind Of i savage
Indeed, We seldom recognize tho onlightonine
INFLUENCE lnnRuage haH upon our way OF think.
lug anu inquirinR. On teariug liz say: It ra.us
it tllslnaeih, there is storm aud liFhtnIng,-