Evening star., 1928-05-20

scribed hiIn as puEzling st. Peter, VIII
/ when ponponazzi faced him did no
| quite know whether to damn him ol
not: Polnponazd explained again thS'
| his hereSies were spoken only as Z
| philosopher, and that as Christian
he remained quite orthodox. Very
we'll then," said st. Peter, ''let him bt
burned as a philosopher"
In the case of Vanini the church
| did not wait for Peter; 1t led the youns
| hereto gently to the stake. In vain ht
| protested his earnest belief in a per-
| sonal diety. and his reverence FOL
Christianity. He was condemned by q
| divided court; he was drawn througt
the streets on a hurdle, clad only in a
| shirt, with a placard on his shoulder:
| denouncing him as an atheist: his
! tongue was torn out. and he was burned
alive in the name Of God. THE in
| fanny of having rendered science atlc
| philosophy abortive in italy when Its
/ early show of blossom was so promis-
| ing says Symonds. falls upon tho
popes and princes Of the last half OF
the sixteenth century"
The Price Of Courage.
Conceive, then, the courage it mus
have taken Bruno. aged 26, and ALREADY
IS years a monk, to leave his monas.
tery and face a hostile world friend
less and destitute. One sees him pass
ing out of the gates, with no baggage
but few books that pity had permit
ted him to take; one sees him trudg-
ing along the road pondering now no
airy metaphysics, but the problems OF
bread and butter. and shelter against
the night. He works his way to a sea-
port, and takes ship for Genoa: but
2t Genoa civil war and peStilence are
in the saddle, and he hurries on wear
lily to Noli, little town hanging down
from the mountains into the sea. There
he teaches grammar so some children
in return for something to eat: but
burning with ambition. he must also
lecture to some curious adults on the
new-fangled astronomy of Copernicus;
in little while he is baniShed. and Is
on the road again. He passes to Turin,
finds the JeSuitS In power. and con-
tinues on to Venice, at the very time
when Titan and $4,000 others are dy-
ing of the plague. He turns back %
Padua: and thence. sick at heart of
his native land. finds his way over the
mountains into Switzerland. Geneva,
like himself, had rebeiled against the
church. here he viii find safety and
peace.
On the contrary. he finds there only
another dogma. even harder than the
Catholicism that has lost its leniency
in terror of the spreading Reformation.
Calvin has announced new gospel, a
hundred times more absurd than the
old: and none who rejects it can re-
main safe in Geneva; Servetus. who
had questioned 1t, has been burned at
the stake. Bruno goes TO Lyon. and
thence TO Toulouse; for q time he
teaches philosophy there in the uni
yerSity: but civn war breaks out, Huge
notS and Catholics hunt one another,
and Bruno, suspected by both, passes
on. In 1891 he is in Paris, lecturing
under his own auspices In little hall,
and arousing attention at once by the
brilliance of his speech and the novelty
OF his views. The university offers him
a chair in philosophy, on condition
that he will attend mass regularly; he
refuses the condition and the chair.
King Henry III asks to see him, and
is so astounded at Bruno's powers OF
memory that he suspects him Of magic
and intercourse with the devil But he
gives Bruno letter OF introduction TO
the French ambassador In London: and
IN 1888. prodded on with wanderlust,
Bruno makes his way TO England. He
talks TO Queen Elizabeth, who delights
TO show him her knowledge OF Italian
he basks In high society. meeting Sir
Philip Sydney and tperhaps) Sir Fran
els Bacon. He lectures at Oxford, de-
feats another jealous lover Of wisdom
in q debate. and is at the height of
his curve.
One Of the Early Moderns.
What is 1t in his teaching that arouses
such interest and such hostility? First
OF all, his complete acceptance of the
Copernican point Of view; in this he
stands at the very beginning Of modern
thought. at the source of broadening
stream that viii sweep everything be-
fore 1t IN the nineteenth century. There
are an infinite number of worlds, he
says. each world with its central sun,
its planets and satellites: ours is but
a fragment OF the cosmos. not the
center Of things: We must think now In
immeasurably larger terms than before,
and conceive God in fashion worthy
Of Copernican universe.
Every particle of the universe emit
lates the complexity of the whole; in
every smallest fragment, or monad,
there Is matter and there Is life; body
and mind are in everything: In every
substance there is an inward urge, or
form in the AriStote1ian sense, which
ultimately shapes the thing In the
image OF is inherent effort and pur-
pose, giving II form In the modern
sense. AL things strive to reach high
er stage Of development: even the In
organic" Ia organic with life and viii
struggling and rising. In man this
power of growth is called the soul; but
everything. in different degrees. has soul
in IL as deathless as In ourselves; only
outward form decays: and the inner
impetus and uplifting passion find an
other vehicle when one breaks down
and life. IN the midst of death, leaps
over every defeat and passes upward
and on.
Philosophy Of Life.
The best life is that which mosI
reflects the law and the unity and
growth Of the world morality has III
Bible not in book. but in the flowers
and the stars. The harmony of tins
spheres becomes social law that bindl
citizens into order and peace and the
unity Of character In which conflicting
purposes fall into order and unity. The
light Of the heavens becomes science
among men and intelligence and wis
dom In the soul: these are more i'm
portant than the old virtues Of obedi-
ence, chastity, humility and devotion
growth lies for us in the highest de-
yeiopmenl Of the highest faculties oi
man: IL is not grace that illumines and
guides US TO wisdom, it is knowledge
sought and gathered through many
years. Only through that knowledge
can We achieve immortality, which Ia
not of time, but OF understanding.
The intellectual power Is never con-
tent nor satisfied with comprehended
truth, but ever proceeds onward u
truths incompEehensible, Our
c0gnlti0n Will never be perfect IN 90
far a. understanding the highest object
Is concerned. but only 50 far as our
intellect can understand 1T. Let suffice
that III this and In other states there