Kircher, the German philosopher, had a wick made of amianthus, which burnt for two years without injury, and was at last destroyed by accident.[8] The Greenland stone flax, which is the same as amianthus, the Rev. Mr. Edge says is used in Greenland for lamp wicks, and burn without being in the least wasted, whilst supplied with oil or fat. Ellis (Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage), found the mountain flax, (asbestus), among other minerals, on the Resolution Islands, inhabited by the Esquimaux, which is used for similar purposes. We may remark here, that the Esquimaux use stone for lamps, which they hollow out, and, according to circumstances, use also dried goose dung for wick.
Sec. V. Of some of the Feats or Performances by Fire.
We introduce this subject to show, that certain kinds of fire-works have been employed for the purpose of deceiving the ignorant, and amusing the better informed part of mankind. Many of the tricks of jugglers and slight-of-hand men, and the performances of certain rites, particularly by the ancient magi, and pagan priests, come under this head. Sundry substances, in connection with artificial fire, have been employed by persons of this description. It is true, our account of them is rather imperfect. Had the works of Celsius, which he wrote against the ancient magi, been preserved, we would, no doubt, have been better acquainted with the art of the ancient conjurors and jugglers.
Professor Beckman has endeavoured to trace the origin of the necromantic art; but although of opinion that it is very ancient, and founded in superstition and unnatural causes, he is of opinion, that the works of Celsius, which are lost, were full on the subject, and for that reason our account must be imperfect.
Plain common sense, but with enlightened reason, has alone convinced mankind of the follies of older generations, and of relying on superstitious ceremonies, or believing in miracles, exorcism, conjuration, necromancy, sorcery, or witchcraft.
The torch of reason, and experimental philosophy have dispelled the clouds of ignorance and superstition; and men, becoming more enlightened as they progress in the investigation of truth, are no longer under the influence of false doctrines, or led away by a bigoted priesthood. Philosophical experiments, the various optical illusions, the effects of electricity, magnetism, &c. are founded on immutable truths, which become the more familiar as we progress in science.
Truth, however, although elicited by the genius of great men, who have lived in every age, was suffered to be brought to the rack; because it either militated against the views of the priesthood, and enlightened the people, or curtailed the ecclesiastical power and authority of the church.
Because Anaxagoras taught that the sun and stars were not deities, but masses of corruptible matter, he was tried and condemned in Greece. Accusations of a similar nature contributed to the death of Socrates. Copernicus, in consequence of the threats of bigots and the fear of persecution, was prevented from publishing, during his life time, his discovery of the true system of the world; and it is well known, that the great Galileo was imprisoned a year, and then obliged to renounce the motion of the earth, because he asserted it. In 1742, a commentary on Newton's Principia, one of the first productions of human genius, was not allowed to be printed at Rome, in consequence of its promulgation of this doctrine; and, in the true spirit of priest-craft, the commentators were obliged to prefix to their work a declaration, that on this point, they submitted to the decisions of the supreme pontiffs! Such are the results of bigotry, ignorance, superstition, and especially of civil and ecclesiastical governments, that consider learning a curse, and ignorance a blessing! Happily for the people of the United States, their co-equal rights and enlightened reason, will ever guarantee them against tyranny on the one hand, and fanaticism on the other. Superstition has always been an engine of oppression, and wherever it prevails, the powerful are sure to make use of it to oppress and destroy the weak.
Another instance of the assumed prerogative of the holy fathers may be found in their conduct towards the house of Medici; for the pontiffs, it is known, induced the house of Medici, by granting it the cardinalship, to suppress the academy del Cimento. The reason of this step is obvious to all; for they were sensible, that, if the people became once enlightened, they would lose their weight, their influence, and authority. But as jugglers are conscious of their gross deceptions, working on the imagination and credulity of the multitude, they in this respect appear at least to know themselves. Like the juggler mentioned in Xenophon, who requested the gods to allow him to remain in places, where there was much money and abundance of simpletons, they acted as the prototype. We might enumerate, if it were not irrelevant to our subject, a number of facts concerning these impostors.[9]