Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-03-31
"DELUSIONs.'
An Interesting Lecture bv Rev. D. H. Gels
singer"

Rev. d. 81. Gsissinger, late of Lancaster
now Of New York city, delivered his lee
ture on Exclusions" =" in the lecture room o
Grace church last evening, the entertain
ment being given under the auspices of thu
Young Mems society connected with tht
church. A good audience was present tt
hear the lecture, which was the first
in a course of three discourses to be giver
at the same place and under the same
direction. The next lecture in course will
be by Rev. DR.. Greenwald on "The River
and Region of Jordan" and the third,
and last will be delivered by the pastor
of Grace church, Rev. C. E. Houpt, on
"Sound." Before and after the lecture
last evening Miss Leila Bear, of the
Mozart quartet, sang with admirable
voice two very beautiful solos. Following
is an abstract of Mr.. Geissinger's interest
ing and instructive description of the de-
lusive whims and superstitions that have
filled and are filling mems minds:
Things are not always what they seem.
The world is full of delusions, either be-
cause We think that things are always
what they seem to be, or because we try
vainly to discover the hidden secrets of
the natural and supernatural around U.S.
For instance, the ancients supposed the
rising and setting sun was moving
around the earth; that the stars were
mere points of light that the
world was fiat. Dante placed purgatory
in the other side of the world to him, which
would be where we now live So, too,
Columbus, when he discovered America,
supposed he had reached tho East Indies.
Indeed, a good definition of all science
would seem to be-"that which is true
to-day and a lie tomorrow" Incredible
delusiOns have fallen to the lot of men in
every age, simply because they sought to
penetrate the mysteries of the spiritual
world.
Ono great delusion is alchemy, strange
name to the masses now. 1t is the science
of changing the nature of one substance
into that of another. There were believed
and " sulphur" containing pure gold when
combined. All substances contain these
Separate all others out from these and we
have pure gold. One substance was the grand
elirir rita, red liquid. If this fell upon
any metallic substance. it changed the
substance into gold. The same wonderful
elixir could, if used in smaller quantities.
cure any disease. Another substance was
the philosophers stone of the second de-
gree, whose use turned bascr metals into
silver. After giving long list of names
Of the alchemists ofancient times, together
with somewhat of their history, how that
even the most noted kings were patrons
of this science, and relating many quaint
and curious anecdotes and ridiculous
recipes of alchemists, the lecturer proceed
ed to the delusion called "astrolosy."
The science Of representation, of pen
etrating the darkness of futurity.
Stars, it was presumed, watch over,
and typify by their conjunction the
joys and SORROWS of humanity. Good
Queen Bess and all the English rulers
down to William and Mary trusted to
prosnostics. Cromwell patronized them.
Louis XI., King of France and Catharine
de Medici most superstitiously believed in
them. The mode of casting horoscope
was described, and the drawing by map
of all the stars visible one degree above
the horizon. Astrology disappeared,
however, with the advent of the Coperni-
can system of the worlds, leaving us
vestiges in the medical sign Rx and the
fearfully maltreatcd man on the first page
of the almanac Divination next came
in for share Of consideration 1t referred
to all omens, signs, and arts of interpret
ing dreams. How often do foolish signs
insensibly sway the feelings! What
Four days unlucky for marriage were
spoken of. But if we regard these things
at all, we should look upon all signs as
good signs, all bad signs as evidences of
lack of skill. The great witch-mania, ~
a subject of common credence for
$50 years, was also portrayed. The SEN
tencc "renuicta ct combusta' (found
guilty and burneO was often passed
against poor, old, inoffensive persons. AS
many as 500 a year were
burned in many places. Popes hurled
their anathemas against them, and papal
emissaries went forth everywhere, seeking,
discovering and destroying their victims
with relentless ferocity, for whom the mere
charge amounted to conviction and
death. The intensity of affairs was
heightened by the fact that many of
these poor wretches, when put upon the
rack, would actually confess that they
were witches. or at least through fright
imagined that they were such. In the ex-
tent of the terrific enormities thus prac-
tised, the history of our American Salem
witchcraft," in which nineteen persons and
one dog were hanged, sinks into utter in
and yet it was a part of the
same spirit of superstition that possessed |
the minds of almost every one in those !
days. And we have now vestigcs |
of the things-the horse shoe, the broom
stick, haunted houses, and the like, the |
latter usually the work of living rogues.
Another delusion briefly alluded to was
mineral and animal, in which
the lectured showed the source and progress
of mesmerism. In conclusion the lecturer
touched upon financial delusions such as the
Mississippi scheme, and pointed out how
in stock speculations there is tendency
TO set false values, and to hold appear
snces as realities. But good h as come out
Of these delusions. From darkness we
arise to light Chemistry has come out of
Alchemy, Astrology has given us astron-
omy, the queen of sciences, and dlvination
has yielded place to the true revelation of