ERCHOMENON; OR THE REPUBLIC OF MATERIALISM.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1950, 25 May 1880, Page 4

ERCHOMENON; OR THE REPUBLIC OF MATERIALISM.

[Prom the " Hobarfc Town Meroury."] The author of (.his book has thought fit to write anonymously; but we believe we are correct in Baying that he is a gentlemen resident in one of the Australasian colonies. The title is not such an one as will create a great demand for the work, inasmuch as it convjys the idea that the contents are more abstr'js3 and philosophical than most people oars übout; but titles are often misleading in thai respect, and so we find it in the case of " Erchomenon." The book is exceedingly interesting, and may be read with some profit by those who are inclined to adopt the materialistic views of the present day. The object the author had in view, we understand, was not to decry science, but materialism; not the fact, but the doctrine; and there is ample evidence in the book that he has a keen appreciation of the benefits that will accrue from the advances of scientific knowledge. But when it is attempted to infer that there is no room for God, as by Haeckel and tho late Professor Clifford, then there can be no question that it is perfectly fair to endeavor to forecast the kind, of republio which will come into existence under that idea. This is what the author of " Erchomenon" haß done, and in such a way that we do not feel at all enamoured with the republic. Not that it is altogether unattractive, but there are some features of social life so hideously repulsive that we aro thankful we live in a Christian age. The better to understand the tenor of the book we may state that the author takes for his text, as it were, the words " No room for God," utterod by himself as one night he stood contemplating the magnificent speotacle of the starry heavens. He was returning home after listening to a lecture on Darwinism, or evolution. The lecturer had tried to explain that the " heir of all things " was evolved from the primeval mist, self ordered, and that there was no room for God, meaning his operations. The author cogitates on the Bubject, and asks, " Is it possible that all those worlds can exißt, can move in their orbits, in regular order, keeping their ranks unbroken, and yet, that all this is the result of blind chance ; that there is no God ? It 80, how can we be sure of anything ? Would not caueaticn itself, on that supposition, be the greatest of all mysteries ? For causation would be uncauoed. How, then, can we be sure that the methods by which science has arrived at her magnificent results are trustworthy?" As he is ia the midst of hia reverie, he fancies he hears the notes of a distant cuckoo. Ho follows them until he loses himself, and falls asleep. When he wakes he is living 600 years hence, in the 550th year of the Commune. Everything is changed. He is conveyed to London in an aerial machine, which ara as common es cabs now-a-days, and convey passengers at the rate of a mile in fifty seconds. All these machines are winged, and borne by globes of highly rarefied gaa. Of oour*e there aro accidents. " Tho loss of life," says one of the occupants of tho machine, " from such oauses is not nearly so great as in the days of our forefathers by humdrum travelling. Sometimes the cars (as the flying machines are called) run into one another, and then the whole cargo makes for earth. We Boon get accustomed to these things." Oar author finds London a very different place to what it was in the nineteonth century. It has a population of eight millions; wide streets, planted in _ the middle with trees, evergreens and tropical; white birds of brilliant plumage fly from tree to tree, and fill tho air with pleasant sounds. Oxford street has disappeared ; Westminster Abbey is a thing of the past, and its site occupied by the Temple of Humanity. The Thames is no longer muddy with impurity, but clear and sparkling; and in reply to_ an inquiry as to what has become of its impurity, our author is told : " Our drainage system prevents the poisoning of our streams. Science has long ago found out how to utilise tho sewerage of our cities. Nothing ia allowed, to be wasted, and our rivers are kept pure." Other changes, more important than these, had been made. The map of Europe has been altered. The German Commune inoludes France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, JDenmark, and portions of Austria and Poland. Bu9sia includes the rest of Austria and Hungary, all that remained of Turkey in Europe, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and Persia. India ia governed by a native dynasty; and the colonies are powerful Communes. There is nothing objectionable about all this ; on the contrary, the signs of progress that had been made were very gratifying. But there is another aide to the picture. In England the marriage oeremony, our author finds, is a thing of the past. The majority in the Commune hold that there should be no tie whatever between the man and the woman who consent to cohabit together, while the minority think that marriage should be a contract between the man and the woman, the contraot to remain in force for a specified time—one, two, or five years. The marriage tie of the nineteenth century is described as slavery. Children are not brought up by their parents. As soon as born, the law enforces their being sent to a baby farm until they are transferred to a kindergarten establishment, and at the age of seven or eight they enter the gymnasium. Here they learn a trade, business, or and" at fifteen or sixteen are allowed their freedom. Human life is thought very little of. No old or deformed persons are allowed to live; they, with others who may have broken a limb by accident, are put to death by the ward doctor, and the bodies sent to the boiling-down establishment; every portion of the body is made productive, and utilised for the good of tho commonwealth. These are the repulsive features of Commune life, and as we read we feel that we would rather not live in materialistic times. As to religion, it is "that of Humanity. The worship of the Grand etrt prevails. Comte, Darwin, Voltaire, Lewes, Handel, and others are panegyrised by the priests at the Temple of Humanity. Christianity ia nearly obsolete. Thore aro a few copies of the Bible in the British Mußeum, and a few Christians live in an obscure village. They are free from molestation, and allowed to practise their peculiar opinions and practices without active hindrance from the State officers, but they are looked on more as fanatics than anything else. We don't suppose that any suoh marvellous change will occur in tho next six hundred years j but as it cannot be denied that materialism is making advances, it is evident that change of some kind mußt take place. " Erchomenon " shows the view entertained by the author, and though we do not agree with him, we admit that the book is clever. It is a sort of jen d'esprit, it is true, but there are evidences that it is the offspring of deep thought on the subjoct of materialism. The book, however, does not convey the imimpresaion that the author was desirous of unduly decrying materialism ; it rather leaves a vague idta that, after all, the people in the Ccmmuno live pretty comfortable lives, and do not crave for any of the blessings which we so highly prize, so that we are sometimes in doubt whether tho author doea_ not incline towards materialism. On this point he might have been a little more definite.