The Survival of Barbarism.—Amid the fussy pomposity of the Queen’s jubilee, the voice of the thinkers has not been entirely silent. The utter failure of her reign to present a single noble thought or impulse, a single evidence of sympathy with the immense mass of suffering, has been sharply commented on, not only in prose, but in the vigorous verse of Robert Buchanan.
The scientific periodical Nature suggests very appropriately that, although the progress of the last half century has been due mainly to the labors of scientific men, the leaders in science have been unknown to the head of the government, and their labors prosecuted without aid or sympathy from the throne. “The brain of the nation has been divorced from the head.”
But why not? Has it not always been so; did not the barons who once ruled boast of their illiteracy? Science and philanthropy produce wealth and elevate the people. The rulers consume that wealth and keep the people down. Of course two classes so opposite are not in sympathy. In the late jubilee, the titled, the wealthy, and the hangers-on of government were given the prominent positions, and the scientists ignored; as Nature said: “England is not represented, but only England’s paid officials and nobodies.”
But it is too soon for scientists to demand an honorable position. They should be content to escape the prison and the ostracism which was once the reward for nobly doing their duty.
Concord Philosophy.—The summer school of (so-called) philosophy still meets at Concord in July—the last survival of the speculative ignorance of the dark ages, and the worship of Greek literature. The copious ridicule of the press has no effect upon this serious gathering. Its verbose platitudes and pretentious inanities continue to be repeated, furnishing almost as good an antithesis to science and philosophy as Mrs. Eddy and her disciples. There is no lack of fluency and ingenuity in the use of language, and occasionally there are glimmering and flashes of common sense, but to wander through the first report of the present session, in pursuit of a correct philosophic idea, is as unprofitable as to wander all day through wintry snows to find a little game already dying of starvation. The first lecture on Aristotle is the most unmitigated rubbish that the year has produced. I regret that I have not space to criticise the proceedings into which, however, Dr. Montgomery of Texas has injected some bright thoughts, and the displays of learning relieve the general monotony, while considerable intellectual energy is displayed in the discussions; but to see a conclave of learned professors devoting their time to the examination and discussion of Aristotle’s writings is about as edifying as to see a geographical society devoting its time to discussing the geography of Ptolemy.
The Andover War to enforce the damnation of the uninstructed heathen has been very unlucky. It has not disturbed the teachings of the professors, but it has shown the public very plainly that it was simply a malicious attack on the president, Professor Smyth, the other professors, who teach exactly the same doctrines, being entirely undisturbed, although they presented themselves for trial. The time is coming when intelligent men will be ashamed to confess a belief in the devil, and the old-fashioned hell-fire,—indeed the time has already arrived among the most intelligent.
The Catholic Rebellion.—About five years ago it was predicted, through Mrs. Buchanan, that Catholicism in New York would undergo a change, as many spirits were actively at work to liberalize the minds of Catholics, especially at the time of Easter, and to wean them from their attitude of abject submission. There were no indications of such a tendency at that time, and the movement of the Catholic masses in sympathy with Dr. McGlynn, who tells the Pope that he shall not meddle with the politics of Americans or dictate their political action has come like a sudden storm from a clear sky. Liberalized Catholics may move in advance of Protestants for they have preserved a more vivid spiritualism and religious faith.
Stupidity of Colleges.—Clairvoyance and spiritual phenomena have been in progress all over the world from periods beyond historic record, but colleges have not yet learned of their existence. They are now becoming familiar to millions, from the emperor to the beggar, and still the colleges plod on in sanctified ignorance where the priest rules, or in insolent dogmatism where the medical professor rules. Is there anything in the way of demonstration that can overcome this pachydermic stupidity?—doubtful! Clairvoyants have described diseases, described distant places, described things in public, while their eyes were bandaged—but the colleges learn nothing. Now there is another test of the collegiate amaurosis, or cataract, or whatever it may be, which has lasted 700 years, and has thus attained its incurable character. A blind man is clairvoyant and psychometric. He travels about almost as well as those who have eyes. His name is Henry Hendrickson. The Chicago Herald gives an interesting description. He can find his way, can skate well, can read finger-language, and can describe objects with a cloth thrown over his head. But this is only another demonstration of second sight which has been demonstrated a thousand times. Why should colleges recognize such facts? have they not old Greek books for oracles which were written before the dawn of science! What are Gall and Spurzheim, Darwin and Wallace, Crookes and De Morgan, to professors who can fluently read Aristotle in Greek, and can tell how Plato proved that a table is not a table but only a mental phantasy!
Cremation is making great progress in Europe. It is an old idea, not only among the ancients but in modern times. In the last century it was advocated in a very artistic way by Dr. Becker, a physician of Germany, and Guirand, an architect in France. These gentlemen proposed that the ashes of cremation should be fused into a glass and moulded into all sorts of ornamental designs, fit for trinkets, monuments, etc. This has a very fantastic appearance. What would we think of General Washington’s remains preserved in the Capitol as a crystal globe of green glass? or how should we like to have our own remains preserved in that brilliant manner? A beautiful woman might thus be converted into some brilliant “thing of beauty—a joy forever.”
Col. Henry S. Olcott,—President and founder of the Theosophical Society, is travelling in India, lecturing before the branches scattered in every part of the country. He has been for months on this tour, and spent last winter in Ceylon, where he was royally welcomed and entertained by the Buddhists. Some years ago Col. Olcott joined the Buddhist sect, and has done it good service in publishing a Buddhist catechism, which has been widely circulated in the West. He was, at last accounts, at Allahabad, where the thermometer stood, day after day, at 105°, and at nearly that night after night. Despite the heat his lecture rooms are crowded with interested listeners, and his popularity was never so great as at present. He will return to Adyar, the headquarters of the society in southern India, in October. The report that he had returned to Europe this summer is incorrect, and arose from the fact that Mme. Blavatsky was on the Continent very ill, and her companions were several Theosophists who had been in India and had returned to Europe. She is at present in London.—N. Y. Sun.