St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-16
SCIENCE AND SPIRITUAL1SM.
Wind and Wisdom Iadiscrimindtels
Mingled an Liberals ADDRESS.

Wind and Wisdom Indiscriminate!y
Mingled an Liberals address.
There could scarcely be more sound sense
and empty sound crowded into one
brief talk all at once than appeared in the
lecture delivered before the Liberal league
Phenomena of Spiritualism, but after having
once started he gave utterance to ideas as
rapidly as they arose in his mind, the result
being an occasional ludicrous tumble of
meaningless phrases. So long as he kept
close to his scientific knowledge it was plain
sailing, utwhen, as frequently occurred, some
spiritualistic doctrine got the better OF him
he followed it away and left his hearers
cropping in a maze of meaningless meta
physics. He began with this idea: Man is
the elimination of nature, the highest form :;
he is the product, what is the force? What
is that mysterious, inscIutable, unknowable
power called God! Answering, then, that
man is the highest form Of development, he
began TO trace that advance, giving Il very
brief epitome of the theory Of evolution.
First, there was protoplasm, the very lowest
form of life, with the one sense, that of
sensation or seDsitivcness. Taking long leaps
through the family of radlates he
arrived at the crustaccOn branch and
touched upon the triobite, the very lowest
form of life where a second sense, that of
sight, had begun to develop. He had a
fossil trilobite on exhibition, which he had
taken from the masonry Of the high school
building. Others had been found in North
Minneapolis, and still more in the lime rock
but oil fba
same stratum. Continuing this line, with
more or less directness, he arrived at man, in
his present state of development and re-
turned again to the problem, how did he get
therel What was the mysterious force that
brought about the product man!
Thus far, strictly following the path marked
out by science, he had proceeded with easy
speed, to the edifcation of his hearers, but
when he reached the climax, spiritualism
reached out and seized him and he wandered
off into platitudes. He declared that spirit
ualsm was coming to all the world and it
meant freedom to the soul. 1t was the great
evangel that knew no law, no statute save
that of growth and development. But let
no man try the glittering ways of spiritual
ism who is not prepared for the results Of
soul development.
NOW" SAID the speaker, you may ask
what are our social laws in the eyes of
spiritualistic philosophy. Some Of you may
have come here tonight to hear something
of myself which has recently been made
public, but if so, not a word will You hear"
And after this Disappointing enunciation he
went on to discuss marriage from the stand
point of spiritualistic philosophy, based I'M
doubtedly on his own ideas. 1t was, in brief
that spiritual weddings cast out the animal
and are unions of souls; they are the result
of affinity, elective and behind the elective
will power Where there is possibility of
divorce there can be no spiritual marriage
and spritualism reverses the quotation aud
makes it read What God hath Joined to-
gether, man cannot put asunder.