Freethought Review.

Freethought Review, Volume I, Issue 10, 1 July 1884, Page 1

Freethought Review.

VOL. I.—No. 10.

The ' Presbyterian ' expends some of its vituperation on our claim to Plato as a Freethinker, displaying its " sweetness and light " in such terms as " impudence " and stupidity," " shamelessness," " dragged in the " mire," with the following choice illustration: " Perhaps " our friends count their adherents much as dressmakers " do the reckoning of a lady's dress, taking the qualities "by the imagination." And this is the way our Presbyterian clerical friend goes on. We are not surprised on our part that the Christians should dispute the right to include the name of Plato in the calendar of Freethinkers. Doubtless in one sense the glorious old Pagan is entitled to the gratitude and veneration of Christians ; for Christianity is very largely indebted to him, as anyone may see from a comparison of the Gospel of John with some of his writings. But the disciple, friend, and admirer of Socrates could not have been anything but a Freethinker in the truest sense of the term. The offence for which Socrates suffered death, and which is glorified by his pupil, was the same as that for which modern Freethinkers have suffered fine and imprisonment, and Bruno and Vanini were burnt. It is not any particular form of belief which constitutes the Freethinker, and we strongly recommend our friend of the ' Presbyterian ' to turn up his Plato for the purpose of discovering whether he was a man who could have satisfied himself with the husks of a Westminster Confession.

And claiming Plato, the Pagan philosopher, as a Freethinker who rejected the national theology, we find we can also claim him in this, that, without the pains and penalties and rewards of a Christian, he found the end of morals and religion in the fulfilment of duty. He anticipated Jesus by exhorting, "to "love righteousness and to be convinced of the " unprofitableness of iniquity ; " he speculated on the nature of the Logos, and was the innocent author of the metaphysical Christianity of the fourth Gospel; and but for the introduction of Christianity, the metaphysics of Plato and the material philosophy of Democritus and Lucretius might have laid the foundation of a far higher civilisation than any the world has yet witnessed. But it is not to be expected that believers in the Presbyterian Creed will be able to look outside that plot of weeds for flowers from the garden of the old Pagans.

Mr Matthew Arnold told the Americans in his lecturing tour some plain truths. One of his lectures entitled " Numbers," is published in the ' Nineteenth Century' for May, wherein it is urged that numbers cannot save a nation unless there is a "remnant" possessing sufficient authority, culture and strength to guide the nation in the paths of righteousness. He makes appeal to the " remnant " to seek a lofty ideal of purity and good report, telling it that the salvation of the country is in its hands. He conveys a strong denunciation of the worship of the goddess Lubricity

SCIENCE. RELIGION. PHILOSOPHY

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or Aselgeia, in France, where the standard of morals is low, where gallantry and impurity have been elevated to the rank of a national virtueif the term can be used in such an association. The sanction to sensuality in that country is given wholesale in the literature of the day, while vice is gilded by the approval of writers whose own lives are above reproach. Though Mr Arnold makes the mistake of attaching too much importance to maxims, we like the essay as much as anything he has written. It is an eloquent appeal to the minority to set an example, by the purity and righteousness of their own lives, to the majority. The " remnant " has in fact the education of the nation in its hands. No nation is saved by numbers ; it is the quality and not the quantity which is the secret of national greatness and stability.

A curious controversy has just taken place between Bishop Nevill, the Anglican Bishop of Dunedin, and one of the clergy of his Diocese. The Rev. Mr Stanford wished to give up his cure to enter the legal profession. The Bishop objected and threatened to " degrade" him. Mr Stanford rejoined that the Bishop had been engaged in land speculations and pottery ventures, and threatened to publish the correspondence unless the Bishop withdrew his threat of " degradation." The Bishop refused, as the situation was so " novel," to enter into any arrangement, and the correspondence has been published for the edification and rejoicing of the sister Churches. The law, in the estimation of Mr Stanford, offers more opportunities for the support of one's family than the gospel, and as he evidently does not believe in the text Take no thought, &c, he enters the most lucrative of the professions. The Bishop appears to have thought the change one which should be marked by " degradation " in order that the sacred profession should not suffer in sanctity by alliance with another profession supposed to be under the patronage of the impersonation of Evil. The retort courteous about land and pottery speculations is intended as reprobation of conduct unbecoming in a Bishop. If there is any moral in the controversy it is, that Mammon disputes with Jehovah the right to preside over the Church.

In another column will be found the speech of a Wesleyan Minister, in which he says: " Political " economy must become an ethical science. Ricardo " and Mill were discredited in the great seats of learning " on the Continent, and even at Oxford and Cambridge " a new school was arising which brought the old dogmas " to the impartial test of history. Christian effort had " been too exclusively individual in its modes of action. " It was time to save society. The great need of our " time was Christian Socialism ! " There is much extravagant sentiment, and many incorrect statements, scattered through the speech from which we have made the above extract, all, however, tending to indicate the movement at present going on in the Churches of Chris-

tendom. The Bismarks and Napoleons have found allies among the priests of all persuasions, and society is to be " saved "by Christian Socialism. In other words Christianity is to be taught with more regard to the doctrines of its founder, for the divine communist was undoubtedly himself a Socialist. But in what respect is Mill discredited ? And what is the new ethical science which has overthrown his school ? These questions require answer. The evils are patent, The patient is suffering from a malady the symptoms of which are on the surface. In the search for the remedy which is to prevail— science or sentiment ?

In a lecture on " Spiritualism, Occultism and Science," Mr Charles Bright is reported by the ' New Zealand Times ' to have said : " The radiometer proved that in " a vacuum as complete as we have knowledge of, there " was really matter, which, by the aid of light, might be put " into a state of commotion. Where could the line be "drawn between the material and the spiritual universe ?" The answer to be given to the question is, the line would be drawn where matter ended and spirit began. The illustration of the radiometer does not lead up to the question, or justify the confidence exhibited. If there is matter in the vessel in which the radiometer is enclosed, there is no occasion to infer spirit. On the other hand the illustration leads us to suppose that matter may account for the phenomena of the Spiritualists. The theory of an ether through which the waves of light are transmitted, and the medium by which gravitation attracts, does convey an exalted idea of the extreme subtility and potentiality of matter and in proportion as it does this, it weakens the assumption that there is something termed spirit which operates independently of the laws which govern matter.

The Gospel of Dynamite " has not been inappropriately named, as Mr Moncure D. Conway has shown in a recent address entitled Evolutionary Errors." He observes:— " M. Jules Simon, whose Jewish ante- " cedents lead him to cling to J alive as President of presidents, has just written a pamphlet in which he " declares that this chaos is gradually dividing into " parties of violence and apathy,—' the Dynamite party " and the Folded arms party.' This is to assert that the " most active power in France is becoming a destructive " power. His remedy is a restoration of belief in God. " But he forgets that for a thousand years the French " God has been leader of the Dynamite party. For so " many generations these people have been trained " under the picture of a God with brimstone breath " kindling Tophet for his opponents. What is hell but " the divine dynamite? What are all the fire and fagot " of Christian history but the canonical reign of dyna- " mite ? The trouble is not that the sceptics have ceased " to believe in this only God they ever heard of, but that " they still believe too much in him. He has gone out of " their intellect, but survives in their temper. The " Church has taught them so successfully the divinity of " dynamite for differences of opinion that the lesson " cannot be unlearned at once. The intolerance so long " sown in every child— nay, still sown in the majority of " children — steadily reaped by the sowers of such " dragons' teeth." And Jesus himself was particularly careful to enforce his doctrines by a reference to brimstone. We repeat the unanswerable indictment : " The Church has taught them so successfully the " divinity of dynamite for difference of opinion that the "lesson cannot be unlearned at once.''

It is gratifying to have to note that the Roman Catholic Church is moving, however slowly, with the times. At a recent Conference at Rome of American Bishops, the Propaganda submitted a " schemata " of thirteen points, which were taken up and discussed one by one, and (herein lies the moral) considerably modified to suit the more liberal public opinion of the New World. With regard to education, it was decided that the Bishops should do their utmost to found great seminaries and appoint able professors to instruct in the physical sciences, so as to compete with the secular and scientific schools. Parents are not to be condemned for sending their children to public schools where no Catholic schools exist; and those intemperate priests are censured who have condemned such. Parents and children are not to be denied the Sacraments for preferring the public schools where there is no immediate danger of perversion. Clerical banks are to be wound up within five years. American Catholics are not to strive after the " Cooperation of the State," but to let the State alone, if let alone by the State. And lastly, nothing decided at the Congress was to be considered final, as all can be modified at the coming Baltimore Council.

We have a pleasing testimony from America of the honesty and integrity of woman when placed in a position of trust. Of the several thousands employed by the American Government as clerks, accountants, postmasters, and in other capacities, not one has been discharged for dishonesty or unfaithfulness to her trust. Can the same be said of an equal number of men employed ? Let testimony such as this give another argument to those advocates of woman's true rights ; the right by virtue of her moral, mental, and physical attributes to win her bread and food, and clothe those often dependent on her exertions by means other than making shirts at sixpence per dozen, match boxes at less ; or other less reputable though more remunerative calling.

Morgan, the Panmure murderer, made the following confession before the Governor of the Ararat Gaol: —■ " I had five or six drinks, and must have been made " mad by them. It must have been poison. I had " seen the little girl before this day. When I overtook " her I asked her to hold my horse, and then it was " but a minute when the deed was committed. I then " killed her, to hide my sin, and get time to repent and " take care of my family." This Christian metaphysician thinks that it takes time to repent of what he calls his sin, and so commits a greater crime to gain this time— (and take care of his family). Now this is contrary to the teaching of many divines, who hold that repentance should follow immediately, or very soon after the commission of sin. The advantage is obvious and great, as a new insurance policy is taken out on the lapsing of the old one. Is it not strange that this murderer, Henry Morgan, though " made mad " with drink, should believe that if he had time he could atone by repentance for his act, and add to his crime to ensure that time; or is it not rather that, because of the madness, he believes that repentance can wash the blood stains from his hands and the responsibility from his wretched soul, and make him a fit companion. for God and His saints ?

North of Auckland, in the Kaipara district, is a

i settlement named Paparoa, founded we believe originally by Nonconformists. We extract the follow-

ing from a northern contemporary :—" Paparoa.—A " large and influential meeting ot the members of the " Wesleyan Society was held last week in the church, to "take into consideration the advisability of giving the " society's storekeeper a monopoly of the district's " trade. The Rev. Mr Abernethy was voted to the " chair, and introduced the business of the meeting. " Mr Wilson, after giving a short address in which he " pointed out the duty of each member of a society to " advance the interests of his co-religionists, in " preference to those of outsiders, moved, —' That this " « meeting bind itself to deal only at the store of Mr " ' Cliff,' who, he said, was deserving of the unanimous " support of the district, on account of his well-known " untiring zeal in promoting the welfare of Church and " Sunday-school matters. Mr Sykes seconded the "motion. The chairman took the liberty of strongly " condemning the motion, which, he contended, " although quite justifiable, and even necessary in the " early stages of a society, was no longer required, and " was, in point of fact, an arbitrary interference with " the common rights of the community. After much " desultory talk the motion was put and carried " unanimously, the chairman alone voting against it." For igth century or indeed any other century bigotry recommend us to the above. Our contemplation of the pious Church and Sunday-school grocer making up numerous packets of tea and sugar for the " Wesleyan " Society " is somewhat marred by sympathy for the other Paparoa storekeeper (Anglican); who doubtless is either meditating suicide and bankruptcy, or thanking God for the present manifestations of Christian brotherly love.