, 1877-03-05
eketch of the Life and Labors Of
the Great Philosopher,
1vbo Rrokc the Traditional Fet-
ters Of Religion and
Politics,
Ind Reasserted Mans Divine Right to
His Own Convictions.
meroorlal Grafton by the Rev.
DR.. kohler.

nyAt -%@*"e-~ ~
R.ruch dc Spiuoza, the great Jewish philosopher,
rrste,day morning to large audience:
u.<, ,hou but one blessing, my father: Bless
In me. Genesis J.r1n., 3o.
n all feel ourselves related to great men.
7brv realize our choicest dreams. They
a.n,fest the possibilities, the fine
onsli,ies, Of our manhood As we glance
:, their lives VIC grow in strength. As we in
.a,nfration and reverence follow the keen flights
- their souls, We canuot help being inspired by
+,.;r 1ofty ideals. We ourselves become heroes
rh;e sharing their struggles and their triumphs.
p,r,ch Sninoza, unto whom the best and
INK. enlightened men Of our age unite in doing
horn.ee to-day, was one OF those lnaster-spirits
I'm hy their prominence fail to find their place
,;thn the small circle Of their own time, their
r,donality, and their religious sect, being called
,,n,n hr a wise Providence to lead coming agcs
o1x,ris to higher, untrodden roads. The most
;,a.nculent aud the most original thinker IL nau-
ri,d has cycr produced, he stands alone Isolated
,n1 despised, but only like the great Sirius, to
Ir,shipe his own brilliancy the ruling sun in
rhth our system of planets ceutres, aud to
mint to a higher source Of light Discoutentcl
xth and disowued by the world he was bora in,
b. boldly undertook to build world Of
Is own out Of adamantine rocks,
md on heights SO sublime as to dazzle
the eycs Of the behollcr. A sovereign in his
,rslu1 OF thought, he would bow before no au-
thortr, nor surrender to any power, whether
humsn or divine. Living in al aGe OF bittcFwar-
f,rr and fanatic persecution, both religious anu
roIitical, he strore for that calmness and sercn-
fty Of mind which, being in accord with the Law
p:,yading the universe, would looa down on
human actions and passions as mere curves anu
lines on the r,lfled surface OF Life. Aud to win
for bis rigid and bold system, also, tue sympa-
thy Of the hearts, he, like jeremiah among the
rrouhcts, and Socrates and Giordano Bruno
among the philosophers, wore the martyrs
rToxu. and his life was as unselfish and spotless
n TINT Of saint. Having been excomnuni-
rated OF the Jewish Synagogue, and detcstcd
like dead dor land the, devils ambassador
IN. the following century bT the Christian
world, he was placed on the pedestal OF honor
br Lessing, the inaugura1or of our era OF toler-
mystic, though accusing him Of atheism, ad-
nl1rd him. McndelsohI, the pious Jewish re.
former, while combating his system, shielded
him, together with his departed friend Lessing,
asxinst the charge OF atheism, trying to
do justice to Spinoza's great genius and
The nobility Of his character, and deslar-
tng his system to. be much more in
harmony with Judaism and true humanity
1hau orthodox Christianity. Herder and
64leier1nacher, the Christian theclogians, can
o1isrd him. Hcwcl. Schelling, Schopcnllauer,
and. shove all, Gocthe, the Oiympian ruler OF
moderu thought. WED with each other in offer
inr tributes Of thanks to the peerless p:ailos-
aossr OF The Hague And to-day it is almost re- e:
garded shame not to speak with reverence OF
The .sreje=ted but holy Spinoza.n Judaism,
too, Of late, makes all efforts to reclaim him as
o.c Of its noblcst and greatest chaUlp pious OF
truth in spite OF his na7ing erred iar away,
and given oHeasc to bis :aothcr-reli-iou. In
fart, Tan the Synagogue to-day better atone for
tie wrong committee: a.-.inst him .1oJ years
&C. tlaa y Gesia1l1n. Li.:I ~ nc one OF her mis-
eioGaries, whose divine calling it was TO break
and scatter the idols before which the blind
masses hncel, and to Lit tie souls unto higher
Spheres to be i1nb1ed with h3lier spirit Of
Gudt
History, my friends, is au impartial judge
md friendly redccmec. It brings into esteem
those who once we're unjustly east aside, and
tl3sses thuse who we're but yesterday Innocent
u cursed, while, sat the same time, it bcstows
charity on the Wroug-duers And pity on the
fanatic mob. For this reason let me, before
tketc1ing the life and tca-nings of splnoza,
tsst glance Oh his aye, in order more thorough
ly to understand his position. and better to
appreciate his value aud lnankind's indebted
nEss unto him. ~
BarucI de Sp;noza wns born on the eth Of
Sorembe:, 1b3.!., on Tue Hur9wall OF Atnster-
dam. right behind the Portuguese Synagogue
It was The same year in which Gallleo, tug great
astronomer, in order to escape tEe ia1e y; G!oI-
G2no Brunu, on his knees abjurcd the belief,
expressed in h;s writings, i'll the Copcrnicln
system, then condemned us l1crcsy by the ttoly
kee- In the same mouth Gustayus Adoiphus,
tie stronghold Of Protcstantisin, had died on
tae battlc-tield ut Luetzeu, and Germany was,
1or the sake of religion, doomed to bleed for
In Eraiu and TOT3f1V1l
The smoke Of burned hcrctics, OF Jewish VIC
LES hunted for in the secrecy OF the night to
satisfy the hunger Of the Christian 3lolocl,, still
lose to heaven strangely to ulumine the worlds 5
1aith i1f loving Savior. In England sober Fu-
lstanis1n had, while taking hold Of the State,
Of the Elizabcthan age with blood Tor the sake
ii looscninE the yoke Of the people. Holland,
too, had no sooner emancipated itself from tn
thrsildom II Spain than 1t stained its free soil
b shedding the blood aud e1pelling some Of
is best and greatest citizens On account OF
their belief in 4 tree and humane religion.
lei, as the lofty mountain peaks reflect the
71ys OF the rising sun when the night still
*presds its shades on the plain below, the dawn
u new era was hera1ded by the men OF sclence-
Astronomy, armed By the telescope Invented
u the Netherlands, unveiled ever new worlds II
1ae distant sky. Natural scicnce made Fap!d
ppgTess, helped along by discoveries never
Dreamed OF before. The foundations o! the
Church We're undermined, new methods we're
sFplied, and other systems Of thought required
thaa those offered by scholastic philosophy.
Doubt stirred the minds aud spurrcd them on
Talds to new philosophical systems To turn
asade from the useless treadmi1l Of Aristoteiian
aud Platonic phrascology, and to study Natures S
mnesmost secrets for the benefit Of man, was
the common watchword Of the thinkers u tue
sixteenth century, Of Which Bruno in Italy,
Lord Bacon in England, and Dcscartes in
france aud partly in Holland. were the repre-
tsatatiyes- And 1t is quite interesting to com
taFc the life With the system OF these three plll-
ioeophers, who exercised more or less influence
N SpinGza+ While all agree in rejecting the OLD
conception Of the world which concentrated
around man as its last purpose, Giordapo Bruno
oeclartd God to be Nature as an actlng 1ofee,
and the universe, infinite in time and space, to
oe Nature as put into existence, thus identify,
to the stake for his disbelief III creation
and tn the existence Of an absolute evil, be re-
Piled to his judges: IL suspect you pronounce
ny sentence with greater fear than receive It. "
Lord Bacon wanted knowledge to begin with
observation and experience, but end where 6ou
aad the soul is concerned, since these are en-
srel5 incompaehensible unto man. He unre-
serredly submitted to the dogmas OF the
Slhurct. and at last proved to be liar and
1ypoc1ite- Descartes was pupil OF the Jesalts,
9nd having made a pilgrimage to the Holy
1rgtu at Loretto, in fnlhllmcnt Of VOW Tor
nnoing the solution Of his doubts, he at last at.
tempted to reconcile the mntczialstic views oi
nature, prompted to him By his studies, Wltn
Ue inuatc ideas Of faith, without, however, ar
5isangg at any clear and consistent system. But,
nsing in no accord with the dogtnas OF the
Ssausch, his theory WIS refuted as heresy bY tne
sFnod OF DoTt, in Holland.
. Ihn r<a1ifft.A1 yroriYn of ssrfa head md one