The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1895-12-14
c.ei,,,tx AMI iIn, lief.
If lis he All a.cof skrpiicism Il

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and fan,astca' that 1t has not its pa.
, sionate and devoted believers.
, is an age VIII cli men believe nothing
and every hing; IN which tha
which seems 10 be established invitel
suspicion and that which makes III
fret appearance fluids hospitable en-
tertainn ent. Perhaps we should saJ
period, rather than age, for much Of
the prevailing temper and habii OF
mind may be regarded as a passi z
fashion and not radical charge in
tie conditions of intellectual life.
The ease and IlgbtDess with winch
men turu from faiths that are woven
into the whole variegated fabric Of
modern llfe and Institutions and EN-
brace new mysteries and improve n
discoveries or imaginings can not be
permanent state Of mind. Yet tv-
en- the fads and humhugs aud vaga-
ries that command such great, though
ephcmeraI, popularity are indications
and effects Of deeper mental activ-
iiy and Of the profound change in
the attitude Of mind toward all creeds
and faiths and subjects Of intellec-
tual thought. 1t Is cniy when the
deeps are stirred and lifted that the
foam gathers upon the wave. The
same iorce that burls the biliow
against the rock leaves upon its crest
the mere spume aud froth of the sea.
The folIies and absurdities of modern
credulity and unbelef are simply
the fantastic capers of mind newly
released from its manacles and Just
co nscious Of its freedom. This, we
suppose. accounts for many of the
absurdities that have been elevated
TO the dignity Of cults and creeds, !
having their formal worshippefs and
regular expounders, priests and tenn
Piles. People realize now that they
don't have TO believe anything and
that they may believe what they
choose. And so they reject without
reason and accept without examina-
tion, and do and say and believe all !
sorts of foolish things just to show
themselves that they can, and for very
much the same reason that colt Just
released from the stable proceeds To
kick his heels 10 the air and other
wise give vent TO bis sense of free
dom,
Then, too, there havs been so many
and such startling and such ge.I,iine
revelations In almost every depart
ment OF human knowledge that the .
old attitude OF doub. which eve,y |
new discovery or alleged discovery
had TO encounter has gwen away to
hearty sympathy and instant creduli-
ty. II it is impossible, it is all the
more credible because so may impos-
sible things have been proven or ac-
compli shed. The tendency now is to
the other extreme, and there is
proneness to believe things just in
proportion TO their inheIent incredi- |
bility and to ignore the natural and
the probable in looking for reasons
and causes. Thus, there was great
deal Of learned discussion brought
out some month ago by the convic- |
ton Of man IN Kansas Of the crime |
Of murder, committed by exerling |
hypnotic influence on the person
who really did the killing, tue latter
being acquitted. Newspapers and |
magazines fairly teemed with articles
on "hypnotism and crime" and the
awful possibilities sown in the facts
Of this particular case. Now comes
the alleged hypnotee and confesses
that the whole story was a lie and
that he was hired to tell it. In the
meanwhile the alleged hypnotlst is
in the penetentiary.
The other day we spoke of the case
OF the man Langerman in New York,
convicted of rape on the testimony
of woman named Barbara Aub,
who .afterward confessed that she
had perjured herself from the first TO
the last Of her story, A great many
people who heard her testimono be-
lieved so all the time; but that has
not deferred lot of sillybillles from
advancing the theory that she was
"lypnotized' into making her con
fessiou. There is no authentic case
Of any one having committed crime
or done any other important act un
der hypnotic influence, and the only
danger thus far developed in con-
nection with hypnotism is that it may
he feigned or imagined where it does
not Exist. A return to the old at
tiLude OF doubt where anything new
or out Of the common is put forward
would be healthy change. - Mem
phis Commercial Appeal.
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