The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1874-08-20

themselves by tbo title of "scieBtsts,'
aud who openly and shamelsssly avow
a disbelief OF all that was ouac consider
cd the most sacred Of revealed truths,
Binding 81 theory of tbe gfaudest pro-
1 portions upon the slightest foundation Of
I fact, tHey call the structure science, aud
/ they ask The public to accept Il, with the
/ implicit confidence afforded to the math.
ematioardcmonstrations OF O Newton ct
I a La Place. Others undertake 10 popu-
larIEe science, by bringing before a pro-
miscuous audience in the lecture Of an
hour, subjects, which 1t would require
/ the earnest attention of an intelligent
man for halfa lifetime. SO TO iuvesti-
gate, as 60 determine concerning their
truth or talsily, they coptiyate the public
-oye by brilliant displays Of electric light,
aud by solar speclra OF immense size,
aud, by "a system Of imitation with a cur
rency of high-sounding scientific phrases,
they ilatter their audiences with the idea
that they are suddenly becoming inn
meuscly learned and then they gravely
assert, that iuasmuch as the sun contains
/ iron, and Jupiter sodium, therefore, the
Bible is a fable aud confidence in prayer
/ is a delusion. Strange as il may seem,
christian public and learned divnes also,
cowed, perhaps, by the imposing term,
I "science", possibly for the moment stupi.
/ fed by the very boldness OF the attack,
do not deuouncc the new inGdelity with
all the vigor of earlier times Tyndalfs
proposed test for prayer sent q thrill
through the christian community, but its
infdel sentiment did not deprive It's tai
social companionship OF learned theolo-
gians. The odd fancies of a Darwin,
which make no claim to be established by
facts, which at first were compassionate
ly tolerated, as, next TO Gull!vor's tales,
the brilliant efforts Of vivid imagina-
ton, are now admitted to the libraries of
scientific works, and with many are car
dnal doctrines of belief. The picture Of
our first parents, Adam aud Eve eating
the forbidden fruit, has disappeared from
the catcchism of many q modern unbe-
lever, and in its place are seen pair of
hirsuto chimpanzccs, swinging by the
longest of their five eNtremites from the
branches of the farest tree of the garden.
These are the progenitors from whom
some of our modern thinkers seem proud
to deduce their origin. If some venera-
bic Daboon could leave the land Of spirits
where he is entitled to dwell if any of
his descendants are, and could revisit
the scenes of his youth, how would his
ancient heart swell with satisfaction, to
know, that at this late period of the nine
teenth century, his children have at last
learned to recognize and respect their
father. For such fantastic dream, for
such a disgusting theory, and for such an
undesirable ancestry, some claiming to
be intelligent beings. are ready to desert
all the lifelong traditions of their more
recent fathers who wore the human form
. and feature. The science of past age
: was something known; much Of this So
called science Of the present is specula-
J ton, Those astronomical prophets who
, first predicted the hour when the sun
would be hidden by an eclipse, establish
/ ed faith in science, which the Charla-
tans of the present day are using to give
dignity to their theories aud assumptions
When in more recent times the astrono-
mer La Verrier in Paris, decided by
mathematical demonstrations that an
| undiscovered planet ought TO exist in a
certain portion Of the heavens, and when
= by his direction the telescopes Of Stock
holm and st. Petersburgh were pointed
at the spot and discovered the new world,
a modern miracle was wrought, which
inspired reverence for all that bore the
name OF "science D" Yet with the same
! title do the advocates OF the doctrines Of
, evolution and natural selection, dignity
their brilliant theories, and, presuming
r upon the faith which the word heretofore
has inspired, they gravey ask us to
J reject the truths of revelation, 10 forget
+ the faith which has checred the race for a
thousand years, and to ignore all human
testimony concerning the miraculous in
tervcution Of higheL power. They ask
us If we acknowledge a creator at all, to
view him through such a telescope vista
( Of endless ages, that they would lead us
to conclude that he has long ago forgot
! ten the world he once started IN tho pro-
! cess Of evolution, and Tint he no longer
watches the flight Of the sparrow, or
, numbers the hairs OF our heads.
1t may not be the province Of unsophs-
.ticatcd laymen TO question Or dispute
! when scientists have decided, but wien
asked to abandon faith which las sup.
; ported, comiorted, aud improved the race
for the last eighteen hundred years, they
, may justly call for something more than
speculation as the authority. The ques-
/ tiou will occur even 10 an unscieutac
, mind why q creator, who IN the begin.
! ming OF all beginnings could say to au
2 endless ocean of cloud matter, "Reyolvc
. through billions OF years, collect aud be
! transported by the laws Of evolution aud
/. natural selectiou into the bird. o. the air,
, the fish of the sea, aBi the inhabitants
. of tae earth, why such q creator may not
70 sill care for The creatures he has ev8ln-
D. lionized, whg be may not have revealed
himself TO them, and whispered to them
d hope Of brighter things to come, Even
if sueh creator 20 infused . aid chaos
. Of IuafInf ape. aun. with ralI.ln aEnl