, 1876-05-13


ness crcpt over you, because tho nature o!
the phenomena YOU Witnessed was SO ny'-
telious .IoW YOU shut yea: eyee. at Tile
t,a.tu. ,ashes ot che !oy,ied Lightning, and
rcrvonsly clnnr to tile ROUNDS OF your chair,
"a sou listened to the muttrrlngs al Ilie d!s-
liant thunder And how, as the ias!ie Of
the lightning grow brighter and more ire
uucni the salvas of heavens artillery more
,leafcning. making the very earth even to the
mountain tops tremblr you hastcned within,
gathered your little ones about your Knees
and waited in terror and dread, and, with
muttcrng prayer, the climax OF what you
had been taught from the cradle to believe
was manifestation, a rlsitati0n even, 0i the
wrath OF your offended Maker. How differ
cnt the conduct of the man ofscience. With
sparkling eye, and beating heart, he watches
the forming of the first tiny cloud, mo lar
gel than mans hand" His attentive ear
catches the first faint rumbing Of the far,
distant storm. Watch in hand he counts
the intervening seconds between the feeble
flashes and the scarce audible thunder.
Listens again and again, and learns that the
time between the flash and report Is lesen-
ing at every succession. by thia he cacu-
lates within few minutes, the rate Of speed
at which it is approaching; knows when 1t
viii burst upon his Louse; can tell whether
it ia Increasing or diminishing in force:
finds time perhaps to send \ word 10 rhe
! hu,bandman In the field shelters such Of
| his domestic animals as require it, aud never
lea7es the open Olr, till the petiug hail and
pouring rain in his upturncd face, co'npels
him 10 dc 50. And when beneath his roof,
! he sccs tue binding fash and hears the ter
rife taunavrs crash be docs not think or
dream of fear. The awe inspiring phenom'
cua to him more simple and easier compre-
hcndcd, than that mysterious, unseen power,
that causes blade of grass to spring from
| the naked soil He knows it to he q dis
urbed condition of electrical currents in
| the atmosphere. That the sudden rush OF
electricity through the air at such tremend-
Gus velocity, consumes, burns up all the air
in its immediate track, and the concusson
of the atmosphere, as its divided walls come
together, cause the deaieuing crash and re-
| vcrberating roar so fruitful in inspiring
terror in the iniantilc mind. And, az vast
| multitude of men and women, in mental
development, never get beyond the cmbry-
otic stages OF infancy and childhood, this
simple phenomena has been made q bug
bear, with which to irightcn little and big
children, into orthodox goodness and the
kingdom of Heaven. Thanks TO that gray
headed old fool, who hadn't sense enough to
| come into the house when storm was com
| ing" but remained out in the fields, " tlaunt.
ing his kite in the very face of the AL.
mighty; "scrved him right, too glad he did
ret wet. catch cold, and have the wheezcs,"
lie ought to be punished for it, This
the language Of bgotry, Ignorance, intol-
crancc, superstition, and opposition to free
investigation, free thought, free expression
of opinion, and even free government itself.
used by the worshippers at the shrine of
moral and mental darkness. no longer ago
than good old Ben. Franklin's day. Thanks
to his intrepid perseverance, and patience,
that terrible tightening, once denominated
the scourging rod of offended Omnipotencc,
has been laid hold oi by the hand OF science,
tanned, Curbed and harncssed up and made
the harmless bearer OF messages OF COM
mcrcc, friendship, love and peace TO the,
"utlermnst parts OF the earth;' "to the
four winds Of heavcn;' under the oceans
depths, and to the far of isles of the sea.
Fairly ecipsing the time of little fairy
Puck in, Shakespeare mid summer dream
who could put girdlc round the world
in forty minutes. Science has made the
fairy fairly ashamed Of himself She ac-
Complishes it in no time. So plain, and 80
commonly understood, are the natural phe-
nomena of electricity at the present day,
that no one but puerilc old men and nervous
old women nre disturbed by the lightenings
flash or the thunders roar. Perhaps |
ought to include the untutored savage, who,
mutters &ockerle 7yee sollebs, wien he hears
the distant thunder roaring in the mountain
tops, But then, we cannot say for certainty
whether even he entertained the idea of an
angCred deity originally himself, or whether
he imbibed it, from those who were anxious
10 proseite him 10 a belief in the dogmas Of
our civilization. Sciences is slowly, but
surely dissipating the dark cloud that hung
for 50 many ages over the human mind.
Her truths are bright, warm, genial and
sparkling like the beams of sunshine. Her
tread is as firm and majestic in its moral
progress, and as irresistible al the march Of
the glasser from the mountain heights to
the valley below.
The great battle between religious intol.
eranSe began IN Europe in the last century
with the thirty years war in Germany and
probably its last great struggle, ended dur
ing the recent ultramontane war between
France aud Germany. The great struggle