The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-01-26
THE PRIMITIVE RELIGIONS
DR. BUTTONS LECTURE LAST EYEN-
 ING ON THEIR ORIGIN.

ING ON I'll FIR ORIGIN.
 First of q Series of Lectures to be Given by
 Him at Osborn Hall-An Savage Nations
 Have Religion-Superstition as a Term
 Has No Place in Science--Results of the
 Sub-Consciousness of Mind.
 The first lecture in the series on Primitive Religions" was delivered to a large audience at Osborn hall last evening by Dr. Brinton. The topic for the evening was The Scientific Study of Primitive Religions; Their Origin and Sources" Dr. Brinton spoke of the change wrought in this age by educa- tion and explained the use of the word religion in science. He said that su- perstition is a term of contumely, con- tempt, applied by men to the beliefs which they do not sanction. By these people orthodoxy is taken to mean the doxy of one, heterodoxy the doxy of other men. The word Superstition" should be dismissed from scientific par
 
 drawn between the religion of the Aus tralian savage and our own. Let the mind reach above human environ ment.
 The contempt of religion is not to be considered as necessary to religion it. self There is no one article of faith which is found universal in all relig- ions. When we speak of religion we talk of the elements of the human mind, which are the same in the relig- ion of the Australian savages as in the highly developed religions.
 Dr. Brinton challenged anyone to name any tribe on earth now or of past time of which we have sufficient knoWl- edge, which is without religion. He has found stories to this effect con- corning many tribes to be without foundation.
 In answer to the question, Did men always have religion? he said that he knows that beyond the dawn of his tory man was religious Enduring monuments, ,attesting to the religion of those ancient people, are found in all quarters Of the world.
 He also discussed the question as to whether we can say that any of the lower animals had any religion, and said that although Darwin asserts that they have, he has up to the present time been unable to convince himself that any of the lower animals have any religion which belongs to articulate beings.
 There is no man more religious than the savage, who is also the most law abiding man. Religion is confined tc the human species, and so religion must have its origin in the human mind It is claimed by some that re- ligion is a human disease, but this idea is not popular enough to be worth re- futing. Another idea is that all re- ligion arises from the worship of an- cestors. This view was held by Her. bert Spencer but Dr. Brinton says it is not true. In the poems of Shelley we find the assertion that religion is the invention of kings, to keep their sub jects in awe This theory has had it's day, and is lost in the rubbish of his tory.
 Andrew Lang says that the origin of religion is beyond the pen of history or the limit of speculation, but Dr. Brin- ton said that he did not believe it. He then spoke of the consciousness and unconsciousness of the mind. He said that with the impressions of the mind with which we are cognizant we recog- nize thousands of others of which we are not cognizant. This peculiar sub- consciousness of the human mind is productive of great results Inventors say that the ideas of some of their greatest inventions have come to then, when they were not thinking directly of the subject. Theideas flashed through their minds. The poet gets his thoughts by inspiration. Precisely that inspira- tion we find in savage peoples as the origin of their divinities
 Every religion is a revelation. Every article of creed is an inspiration We find it in the history of every primitive religion. And is it any different in high CT religion? The process is the same It is the power of the human mind tc lift itself above the environment ot humanity, where it can see into some realm beyond. We read of theosophy mesmerism, and all that is another form of this sub-c conscious inspiration It is nothing but the development ot this unconscious activity. The mar who has that well developed in his na- ture, feels himself raised above intelli- gence. What are we to make of this ir the light of science? We find in all primitive and in all religious things this characteristic of ecstacy, tenden- cy of the mind to seek in it's uncon- scious cerebration.
 The etenal stimuli are light and dark, night and day, and kindred movers of states of consciousness. All this derogates not jot or title from the dignity of religion itself. All mind is motion, and all motion is mind, and so we are all floating in a sea of uni versal intelligence and all humanity may catch some of the overflow of this ocean, and be raised thereby above the realm of everyday to that which is truly divine.
 Dr. Brintons next lecture will be given on the evening of February when the topic will be Primitive Re- ugious Expression in the World"