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NAnONALSEOlIAB BT -
THE BRAIN
London:
WATTS & Co., 17, Johnson’s Court, Fleet Street, E.C.
Price One Penny.
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ALSO BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
WAS JESUS AN IMPOSTOR?—Discussion with Mrs, Wilkie ..
SOCRATES, BUDDHA, AND JESUS............................................
THE MIRROR OF FREETHOUGHT..............................
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THE BIBLE GOD AND HIS FAVOURITES ..
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FICTITIOUS GODS
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CHRISTIANITY UNWORTHY OF GOD
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THE SECULAR FAITH ..
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IS RELIGION NECESSARY OR USEFUL?
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HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS
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THE OLD FAITH AND THE NEW
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THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
AVhat is the soul? is a question that has been asked for
/thousands of years, and those who have been credited with
a full and perfect knowledge of the matter have been unable,
up to the present, to give a satisfactory answer to the oftrepeated interrogation. Not only can theologians not tell
us what the soul is, but they are equally doubtful as to
where it is located. A few years ago, in the little parish of
Horsleydown, two men met at a small public-house. They
talked pleasantly on a variety of subjects, and at length the
problem of the existence of an immortal essence in man
was brought on the tapis. One of them declared his belief
that the soul of man was to be found in his head—in fact,
he was not quite sure that the intelligence of man wras not
in reality his soul. The other said that he was convinced
that the soul was located somewhere in the stomach; and
so the discussion proceeded. But it had not proceeded far
when one of the disputants, who had warmed himself to
the subject by a plentiful doze of alcoholic drink, took up
the pewter pot out of which he had been drinking and
struck his antagonist a heavy blow on the head with it,
felling him to the ground. It was a terrible blow, splitting
the poor fellow’s head in two ; the blood flowed freely, and
in a few moments the man was dead. But the questions as
to what the soul is and where it is located were, I need not
say, not finally settled by this brutal experiment.
And so it is necessary again to ask, What is the soul ?
Is it spirit? If so, what is that? With sublime in
genuousness, a short time ago a theologian answered
that “ spirit is an unknown substance.” But, if it is an
“unknown substance,” how are we to know that it is
a substance at all ? And, if spirit is a substance, whether
known or unknown, is it in the possession of every child
born into the world, at the time of birth, or at what period
�4
THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
of the development in the foetus does it make its first
appearance ? Or are there innumerable souls in the uni
verse waiting to enter the body of each child born into the
world ? These puzzling questions have been put to the
believers in the existence of the immortal element in man
times out of mind, and, though a variety of replies have
been vouchsafed, they have of necessity been of a very
contradictory and unsatisfactory character.
In the present age, when men are seeking rational expla
nations of natural phenomena, it may not be altogether
uninteresting to glance at the views Materialists have taken,
and now take, of this question, which is one of absorbing
interest to every earnest seeker after truth. In recent years
nothing has been made more plain than that, whatever
theologians may think the soul to be in itself, they have
uniformly admitted that it is very closely associated with
the mind of man. Herein they have shown that they have
been powerless to resist the stream of tendency along which
so many are drifting towards Rationalism. Many scientists
as well as theologians of the past were of opinion that the
soul was in the body. Professor Buchner, in his “ Force
and Matter,” tells us that the philosopher Fischer thought
that the soul was “ immanent in the whole nervous system
and Professor Erdmann, of Halle, held that the theory that
the seat of the soul was in the brain was quite erroneous.
Now, the whole question must be determined by the weight
of evidence, and, while there are absolutely no facts at all to
lead us to the belief that the soul is an entity located some
where in the stomach, the evidence in support of the oppo
site theory is simply overwhelming. “No fact in our con
stitution,” says Professor Bain, “can be considered more
certain than this, that the brain is the chief organ of the
mind, and has mind for its principal function.” By the
word mind is expressed the totality of mental phenomena.
Without brain we can have no thought, no intelligence, no
mind. And the power of a man’s mind is dependent
almost entirely upon the size, quality, and constitution of
the brain. With large brain of good quality you have
mental power and vigorous intelligence. Men’s brains are,
on an average, larger than women’s, and women’s larger
than those of children. The average weight of a male
European brain is 49 ounces; that of a female 44 ounces.
�THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
5
But though, as a general rule, the larger the brain the greater
the mental power, it sometimes happens that an average
sized brain is capable of displaying more intelligence than
..an abnormally large one. The quality of brain has much
.to do with this, for not only does it seem necessary that the
brain should be large, but that the convolutions in it should
be complex and deep with sulci between them, before any
■ extraordinary power is shown. Dr. Carpenter says that
almost all men who have manifested great talent have
possessed large brains, and he instances Newton, Cuvier,
.and Napoleon; but it is a fact that some men of genius
have had only average-sized brains, though the quality and
■convolutions of them were doubtless the cause of the
splendid talent. The late M. Gambetta might be quoted
.as an example.
That there is a distinct relation between the size of brain
. and thought-ability may be seen from the fact that the races
lowest down in the scale of civilisation have been shown to
possess the smallest brain. The European brain is larger
than that of the Hindoo, the North American Indian, or
the Chinese. The sane man’s brain is considerably larger
than that of the idiot. Some idiots’ brains have not weighed
more than io ounces, others reach 19 to 22 ounces, and the
largest among them do not exceed 25 ounces. Insanity, as
■distinguished from idiocy, is caused, there is very little
reason to doubt, through disease of the brain, or from
nervous derangement. Now, if intelligence depends upon
the size and quality of the brain, the soul of man is injured
in proportion as these qualities are deficient. In a healthy,
active, well-developed brain you have an active, vigorous,
.and wonder-producing instrument; but in a small, weakly,
diseased brain you have manifestations which indicate either
the total loss of intelligence or a very partial possession
of it.
Now, if the characteristics of the brain, taken collectively,
.are the soul, the question very naturally arises, Have idiots
souls ? And, if they have, will they live again ? And, if
they live again, will they be the same persons as they were
in this world ? If so, they will be idiots ; and, if they are
not idiots, they will not be the same persons; and, if they
are not the same persons, it will not be they who are living
.again, but somebody else. Assuming that the mind of man
�6
THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
is the soul, there is absolutely no evidence whatever to lead'
us to the opinion that it is immortal, except in the sense
that, as matter and force are alike imperishable, the elements •
of which the brain is composed exist through all eternity,
in some form or other, in the universe.
Taking the facts as they stand, we find that the brain of "
the child is altogether inferior in vigour to that of the man,
and that with the growth of the body we have a correspond
ing growth of brain. Not only so, but it is also true that in
the brain substance of the child there is more water and less
cerebral fat than in that of the adult. It follows, therefore,
that, if the soul be identified with the phenomena of mind,
it is subject to change; that it grows with the growth of thematerial organisation; that it becomes strong and active as the individual advances towards maturity, and suffers a
gradual diminution of power in old age.
Between the ages of twenty-five and fifty the brain reaches
its maximum weight and power, and afterwards slowly
diminishes, until we find the individual has lapsed into a
second childhood, “ sans eyes, sans teeth, sans everything.”
In illness, too, the soul’s power of manifesting itself is
considerably diminished. Under some diseases there hasbeen an entire loss of intelligence ; and often, when the
patient has been restored to health, the previous intellectual
activity has been, in a large measure, wanting. A sailor
who met with an accident, which caused a piece of bone to
lodge on the brain, lay in a state of unconsciousness for a
whole year till the bone was removed : he then recovered
his normal mental state. Now, if the mind is the soul, cam
disease affect it ? Can illness deprive an immortal quality
of its power ? Can an injury to the brain cause its activity
to cease ? If it can, how can it be contended that the soul
can exist apart from the body, and act independently of it,
when we have seen that its power to manifest itself depends^upon the healthful condition of the body, and that a piece
of bone protruding on to the brain will cause its manifesta
tions to entirely cease ? Does this piece of bone really
paralyse the “immortal soul”?
Some contend that the human body is merely an in
strument upon which the soul performs; that, though the
brain appears to be the organ of thought, just as the stomachis the organ of digestion, the lungs of respiration, and the -
�THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
7
kidneys of secretion, it is really the animistic principle which
thinks; and that there are good grounds for supposing that
the essential part of man does think when the body has
ceased to perform its functions. Hence, the brain has been
likened to a piano, upon which the mind performs. To
test the value of this analogy, we have only to ask what is
meant by an organ or instrument but that which produces
certain results, without which they could not be performed?
A knife, for example, is an instrument that cuts. An organ
is only an organ by virtue of producing certain results. The
stomach is the organ of digestion because, by means of its
operations, food is digested; the lungs are the organs of
respiration because they respire ; the kidneys are the organs
of secretion because they secrete; and the brain is the
organ of thought because the result of its workings produces
thought.
It is a fact generally known, but not often reflected upon,
that for every movement of the body or brain there follows
a loss of substance, which must be replaced ; and as neither
the working of the nervous system, nor the muscles, nor the
brain produce anything, the organism, to repair the waste
that is continually going on within, requires nourishment
from without, and this is only to be obtained by the means
of food.
One-fifth of the blood in the human body is con
stantly traversing the brain, and in accordance with the
speed with which it flows are the effects which follow. For
the brain to continue in a healthy condition it is necessary
that the individual shall eat good food, and that the flow of
blood shall be perfectly regular. A too rapid flow may be
caused by the excessive use of alcoholic liquor; and atmo
sphere strongly charged with carbonic acid gas will cause a
decrease in the rate of the flow, and produce a fainting
sensation.
It has been clearly shown that the primary cause of idiocy
is a deficiency either in the size or quality of the brain ; and
in all cases examined by eminent physiologists this unfortu
nate falling off has been completely demonstrated. Insanity,
on the other hand, results, as many eminent specialists have
shown, from a derangement of the nervous system. Many
men who have given splendid evidence of the possession of
great intellectual power—who have, indeed, achieved con
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THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
siderable success in the world of literature, science, and art
—have, unhappily, become insane. In such cases there
was, apparently, no deficiency in size, quality, or power of
the brain, but a complete derangement of the nervous
system. The effect produced by insanity is the total per
version of the moral faculties.
“ It is,” observes Louis Buchner, in “ Force and Matter,”
“ through the nervous system radiating from the brain, and
which may be considered as presiding over all organic func
tions, that the brain sways the whole mass of the organism,
and reflects again to various parts external impressions,
whether of a material or spiritual nature.” A nervous man
turns pale with fright; his brain loses its equilibrium when
he is under cross-examination, and he flounders about in
hopeless bewilderment: if, however, he is encouraged and
spoken to kindly, his eyes sparkle, and his face is suffused
with a pleasant smile ; but, if his anger is excited, his cheeks
colour, his lips are compressed, and a frown disfigures his
countenance. Now, if the mind works through the brain
employing it as an instrument, is it not strange that a de
rangement of the nervous system should cause the mind to
behave in such an extraordinary fashion as to convert an
honest man into a thief, a veracious man into a deceiver,
or a nervous man into a fool? If the mind is an entity,
its quality ought not to be altered by any physical weak
ness of the organism. Nor should any lack of mental
power in the individual interfere or retard the action of
the mind. If the body is only an instrument upon which
the mind operates, it could perform its work just as well
without the instrument as with it; or, if it cannot, what
reasonable grounds have we to suppose that it can exist
without the body ? And, if it can perform it functions only
through the medium of an organ or instrument, that would
lead us to suppose that, if the mind or soul is immortal, the
body must be immortal also, or else the soul, having no
instrument upon which to perform through all eternity,
would remain after the death of the body in endless in
activity.
It has been contended that, if the brain is the instrument
of thought, it ought to continue to perform its work when
the head is separated from the body. But I have shown
that this faculty is kept at work by the regular supply of
�THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
9
blood, and that when this supply is diminished the operations
are interfered with, and, if the supply is stopped, the opera
tions cease altogether. Still, Dr. Buchner has shown that
manifestations of the working of the brain may be produced
even after death. He says (“ Matter and Force ”) : “ On
decapitating an animal, say a dog or a rabbit, the severed
head gradually loses its excitability ; the eyelids are closed,
the eyes rigid, the nostrils immovable. Now, if at that
moment blood of a bright red, and deprived of its fibrous
matter, be injected into the arteries of the brain, the pre
viously lifeless head is re-animated; the eyelids open, the
nostrils expand, warmth and sensibility return, the eyes
revive, look at the bystanders, and move in their sockets.
If the animal be called by its name, the eyes turn in the
direction whence the sound came. These signs of returning
life last as long as the injection is continued, and vanish
and re-appear as the operation is suspended or recommenced.
These experiments have not yet been tried on human heads
severed from their bodies; but we may safely assume that
the same results would follow. M. Brown Sequard, to
whom especially we are indebted for these investigations,
made the attempt on a human arm recently cut off, though
already cold and insensible. In a few moments warmth,
sensibility, contraction of the muscles—in fact, all the
normal activities returned, and M. Brown Sequard was
enabled to repeat the experiment with the same success,
until sheer fatigue compelled him to desist.”
“ The blood is the life ” is a conventional phrase, which
appears to carry with it a great deal more of truth than
most persons imagine. The brain cannot perform its office
normally without a copious supply of it, in all its richness
and purity.'
On the assumption that the soul of man is associated
indissolubly with the mind or intelligence, it is extremely
difficult to understand upon what rational grounds animals
are to be excluded from living again when their organs have
ceased to work and their bodies are converted into dust.
Even theologians are prepared to admit that many of the
lower animals are exceedingly intelligent; but, when it is
claimed for them that many of their actions give indication
of sound reasoning previous to the performance of them,
they dissent, and assert, in opposition, that animals’ actions
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THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
are instinctive, and that man, in the whole realm of organised
being, is the only animal who is moved to the performance
of an action as the result of the exercise of reason.
The most eminent authorities in physiology seem now of
opinion that the difference between the mind of man and
that of animals is not one of kind, but merely of degree;
that the intelligence of the animal reveals itself after precisely
the same fashion as that of man. According to Carl Vogt,
there is not one intellectual faculty which belongs exclusively
to man ; and though man is, on the whole, much more intelli
gent than the animal, the difference is distinctly relative, and
is brought about by greater intensity and a proper combina
tion of his faculties. All scientific opinion upon this point
points in one direction. In his “ Descent of Man ” (p. 65)
Darwin says : “ If no organic being, excepting man, had
possessed any mental power, or if his powers had been of a
wholly different nature from those of the lower animals, then
we should never have been able to convince ourselves that
our high faculties had been gradually developed. But it can
be shown that there is no fundamental difference of this
kind. We must also admit that there is a much wider
interval in mental power between one of the lowest fishes,
as the lamprey or lancelet, and one of the higher apes, than
between an ape and man; yet this interval is filled up by
numberless gradations.” Louis Buchner says : “ Neither in
form or chemically can any essential difference be proved
between the animal and the human brain; the differences
are great, but only in degree.” Professors Huxley, Carpenter,
Bain, and Haeckel also support this view.
In using the word instinct, theologians have mistaken alto
gether its real meaning ; for it does not imply, at all events
in its scientific sense, that an animal does an act from a
blind, unreasoning impulse, an infallible power implanted
within it by a beneficent deity at its creation, but it rather
means that an animal, after having performed a certain class of
action through successive generations, comes to perform such
actions automatically or instinctively, as the result of repeated
comparisons and conclusions. For instance, a monkey will
instinctively drink spirituous liqours when offered to him
but, if he gets drunk, and, as a necessary result, suffers from
headache on the following morning, he is wise enough to,
abstain from such drink ever after (see Darwin’s “ Descent.
�THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
11
of Man ”). This looks very much as though the monkey
were a better reasoner than many men.
Most old animals are far more sagacious and prudent than
young ones; yet, if animals acted instinctively, and not on
account of the exercise of their intelligence, there ought to
be no apparent difference. T have watched a cat for more
than an hour peeping just round the side of a huge hole
into which it had seen a rat seek refuge. Now, this feline
creature waited patiently round the corner, just as a school
boy does who wants to catch his playmate, until the grand
opportunity came for pouncing upon its prey. Other cats
had been put to the same hole, yet their instinct did not
prompt them to act in the self-same fashion. On the theory
that Deity has implanted in animals an unerring instinct in
lieu of endowing them with reason, all animals, under
similar circumstances, should be prompted to act in precisely
the same way. But this is not found to be so.
In the Zoological Gardens I have often watched the
monkeys in their exceedingly interesting performances. Once
I remember that I gave a young monkey some bread and
meat, the meat having a thick coating of mustard. The
animal took the morsel and tore it into fragments, then smelt
a piece several times, and at last put it in his mouth. For
a few seconds the mustard did not take effect; but presently
the monkey spat the whole of it out, and rubbed his tongue
furiously. Several hours later in the day I presented some
bread and meat to the same animal, but he graciously refused
to accept it. Was this reason or instinct ? Is it from instinct
that dogs go to butcher shops and steal meat when the
master is not looking, or that foxes rob the roost when the
farmer is engaged elsewhere ? I remember a dog that went
to a particular butcher’s shop every week and stole loose
scraps of meat from the board. One day, when the dog
made his appearance, the butcher was waiting to give him a
warm reception, and, when the animal had rescued a large
chop from the board, the butcher gave him another, on the
tail, which the poor beast is likely to remember to the end
of his days. Is it from instinct that this dog has not visited
that shop again ? Is it from instinct that elephants and bears
open their mouths for stray missiles of food, and that thesplendidly-trained horses of Messrs. Sanger go through their
performances with as much apparent enjoyment as the men.
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THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
and women who ride them ? If animals are not intelligent,
and do not reason, how is that they are capable of being
taught anything ? How is it that a monkey can be taught
to beat a drum or fire off a rifle ? How is it that dogs are
trained to go through acrobatic performances, jump through
hoops, etc., with almost as much skill as men. Then take
birds. How marvellously intelligent are some of these ! The
sparrow is never afraid of a man who does not carry a gun.
If you try and catch the young of the partridge, the old bird
will fly by your side and almost throw itself into your
clutches in order to induce you to pursue it in preference to
the young onesid By way of revenge, many a swallow has
been known'-to; wall up the flyhole of its nest on finding it
occupied, on' its-.return in spring, by a sparrow. Was it by
instinct that the swallow acted thus ?
Man, it is admitted, deliberates before he performs an
act. He remembers the effect of past conduct; sees that
similar actions produce like results upon his fellows, and
thus is enabled to judge as to how he should act in the future.
But it should always be remembered that, even in reference
to man, most of his actions are performed automatically,
without reasoning on each occasion as to why he should do
thfifci. For example, when a man rises in the morning he
does not say to himself: “ Well, I must go to work to-day,
and, in order for me to do so, I must dress myself, have my
■breakfast, and walk to the station, and go by rail to town.”
Automatically he rises, gets himself prepared, and starts for
business, and it very often occurs that a man who is accus
tomed to go by one route goes in that direction, even though
he meant to go in another (see Dr. Carpenter on “ Uncon
scious Cerebrum ”). But the point I am concerned to put
now is that, if a man is to live again because he has intel
ligence, or, as the theologian prefers to call it, mind, I see no
valid reason why animals should not live again, inasmuch
as there is overwhelming proof that they also have intelli
gence, which, though it is not so fully developed as in man,
nevertheless exists, and is susceptible of very great improve
ment by contact with higher forms of life.
Turning for a moment from the arguments of the theo
logian, we are at once confronted by the Spiritualist, who
commands us to examine the evidence as to the existence
of the “modern ghost.”
�THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
13
When Hamlet beheld the ghost of his dead father be was
not much surprised, because “ walking ghosts,” clad in full
attire, were among the ordinary occurrences of every-day, or
rather night, life; but with the growth of modern science and
general scepticism concerning the supernatural the ghosts
have been considerably exorcised. Now, if they come at
all, they only put in an appearance at seances specially
arranged for their reception, among people who have a
strong belief in their reality. And w’hen they come, fearing
lest they should shock the delicate or refined feelings of the
spectators, they bring their clothes with them. Cunning
spirits ! sagacious ghosts ! They know full well “ that the
tailor makes the man,” and that their decency, if not their
respectability, might be challenged if they came wrapped
only in the “ garment of thought.” Well might an American
wit observe that “ he could understand the ghost of his
great grandfather; but for the life of him he could not
understand the ghost of his grandfather’s overcoat.”
Modern Spiritualists acknowledge no essential relation
between brain and soul. To them the soul is an entity,
that has existed from all eternity, and acts just as well—
often much better—apart from than when existing in con
nection with the body. Taking it for granted that he has
always existed, the Spiritualist argues that the “ human
soul” must be immortal, and he does not allow such matters
as those relating to the soul of brutes and to the personal
immortality of idiots—which have been already considered
—to trouble the even tenour of his thoughts. Nor does it
strike him as at all strange that the spirits who make their
appearance at his “ friendly gatherings ” generally come on
foolish errands, and know no more than the “ medium ”
through whom they communicate their nonsense.
The spirit of “John King” makes his entrance silently
and with ghostly tread, and everybody at once recognises
his well-cut features and his long straggling beard; and
when Mrs. Guppy comes mysteriously through the ceiling,
and leaves no trace of the spot through which her portly
body slid, there are no evidences of surprise or incredulity.
“ The greater the miracle, the stronger the belief,” is espe
cially true in regard to Spiritualists. Even Dr. Nichols,
whom I know to be an exceedingly thoughtful gentleman,
said a short time ago, in answer to me, that he had seen a
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THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
■chair “ deliberately walk across the room.” But the learned
Doctor was silenced when I further inquired how long this
article of furniture “deliberated” before it commenced its
journey? If the chair deliberated at all, it must have
thought—that is, chairs must be classed among things intel
ligent, and the probability is—if the reasoning of Spiritualists
on this point is at all valuable—have souls also.
Even admitting that extraordinary psychical phenomena
really do occur, that is no reason for believing that man’s
soul or personality is immortal. If phenomena happen
which we, in our ignorance, are unable to understand, that
affords no ground for the allegation that no possible combi
nation of matter and force could produce them. For man
to say that nature cannot account for such and such a result
is for him to declare that he knows the limits of Nature’s
capabilities, which is tantamount to the declaration that
man can, with truth, dogmatically say, “Nature can go so
far and no farther.” Besides, if the soul is something
different from the body, and distinct altogether from matter,
how is it that this “ immaterial ” element can mingle with,
or in any way affect, matter? And, if the soul can exist as
well without as with the body, how is it that it ever clothes
itself with such a useless encumbrance ? Moreover, if it is
said that the soul thinks, recollects, classifies, judges, may it
not be reasonably asked what purpose the brain serves, and
whether it would not have been quite as easy for God to
have made the brain to perform all these functions, without
complicating matters by the introduction of the “ immortal
clement ” of which man knows nothing ?
In absolute despair, the theologian and the Spiritualist
proclaim in chorus that the belief in the immortality of the
soul is a comforting faith, especially to those whose lives are
miserable on earth, and who, if they did not expect to live
again when their bodies had crumbled to dust, would not
endure the pain and suffering to which “ flesh is heir,” but
would “ take up arms against a sea of troubles and, by
■opposing, end them.”
But is the desire of man for a future life of happiness to
be considered a proof that he will get it ? Are our wishes
to be regarded as the measure of truth ? Do not thousands
of men desire to achieve success in various walks of life,
and yet lamentably fail to accomplish their purpose, how-
�THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
I
-ever noble it may be ? I have known men who have bid.
fair to win honourable distinction for themselves, who, in
the end, have died in poverty and wretchedness, despite
their firm belief that they would one day achieve the greatest
success. Not one-hundredth part of the seeds that are sown
in the earth blossom into flower and come to maturity ; and
out of the hundreds of thousands—nay, millions—of chil
dren born into the world, few, indeed, ever attain to man
hood. The desire for a future life, therefore, affords no
reasonable ground for its reality.
Some theologians have said that the idea of annihilation
is nothing short of horrible; while, on the contrary, lofty
thoughts and silent meditations on life in heaven are com
forting and soothing to the soul. Yet, when we are dead,
there are no dreams of hell flames to disturb the everlasting
sleep. In the beautiful words of Colonel Ingersoll:—“Upon
the shadowy shore of Death the sea of trouble casts no
waves. Eyes that have been curtained by the everlasting
dark will never know again the touch of tears. Lips that
have been touched by eternal silence will never utter another
word of grief. Hearts of dust do not break ; the dead do
not weep ; and I had rather think of those I have loved and
those I have lost as having returned—as having become a
part of the elemental wealth of the world. I would rather
think of those as unconscous dust; I would rather think
■of them as gurgling in the stream, floating in the clouds,
bursting in the foam of light upon the shores of worlds; I
would rather think of them as inanimate and eternally un
conscious, than to have even a suspicion that their naked
soulshad been clutched by an orthodox god.” If, however,
we have an immortal soul, it must be remembered that dis
belief will not harm it. Scepticism has no power against an
immortal essence; but surely, in deciding, each for our
selves, this great problem, we should not be led away by preju
dice or sentiment, but should view the facts in all their naked
force. Looking at the subject in its purely scientific aspect,
and weighing the facts with a full desire to arrive at truth, I
am led to close with Carl Vogt, the great German scientist,
who, as the result of deep study and wise research, says :
“Physiology decides definitely and categorically against
individual immortality, as against any special existence of
the soul. The soul does not enter the foetus, like the evil
�16
THE BRAIN AND THE SOUL.
spirit into persons possessed, but is a product of the develop
ment of the brain, just as muscular activity is the product
of glandular development. So soon as the substances com
posing the brain are aggregated in a similar form will they
exhibit these same functions. We have seen that we can
destroy mental activity by injuring the brain. By observing
the development of the child we also arrive at the convic
tion that the activity of the soul progresses in proportion as
the brain is gradually developed. The foetus manifests no
mental activity, which only shows itself after birth, when the
brain requires the necessary material condition. Mental
activity changes with the periods of life, and ceases altogether
at death.” Yet, if there is no personal immortality for man,
at least we have the consolation of knowing that there is a
practical immortality for the race. Good deeds leave their
indelible impress upon the book of nature, and the influence
an unknown good man exerts in the world can never perish.
The silent deeds of goodness done by a loving mother for
her child, the generosity of the philanthropist, the heroism
of the reformer, produce good fruit and add lustre and
nobility to the human character in succeeding generations.
And when a dear brother dies we will say, in the words of
the Freethought poet, Saladin :—
Was he brave ? We’ll bear his courage
Down the rushing stream of time.
Was he wise ? Then may his wisdom
Make our stunted lives sublime.
Was he kind ? We’ll bear his kindness
To the savage battle van,
And bandage with his mantle shreds
The bleeding heart of man.
•
Heap the red earth on our brother,
And lay him to his rest,
After life’s weird, fitful mystery,
Close to Terra’s kindly breast ;
Another phase in Nature’s modes,
And this we know alone,
Nor dare to tread in blasphemy
The shores of the Unknown.
Printed by Watts
<Sr
Co., 17, Johnsons Court, Fleet Street, London..
�
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The brain and the soul
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Moss, Arthur B.
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Soul
Rationalism
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Brain
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NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY
o
REVELATION
ARTHUR B. MOSS.
London:
WATTS & Co., 17, JOHNSON’S COURT, E.C.
Price One Penny.
o
��TWO REVELATIONS.
Foremost among the dogmas of the Christian faith is the
one comprised in the declaration that the infinite and intel
ligent Being, who is alleged to rule over the universe, on
one occasion, if not more, revealed himself to man, to
whom he imparted important information which it would
have been impossible for any of the sons of men, by
their own unaided intelligence, to have acquired. To
question this dogma is to plant the “thin end of the
wedge ” under the very foundation-stone of the Christian
religion. To show the gross stupidity of the alleged Divine
revelation, and the truth and potency of the revelations of
science, is a task of no great novelty, but nevertheless is
one which, in these days of constant and numerous acces
sions from the Christian fold to the ranks of Freethought, it
is at once our highest wisdom and duty, from time to time,
to undertake.
To weaken the influence of the Bible, it is only necessary
to expose the monstrous pretensions put forward on its
behalf; and of these none has had, or continues to have, so
strong a hold of the orthodox Christian mind as the doc
trine that the Bible is a revelation direct from the supreme
ruler of the universe. Let it once be admitted that the
Bible is a human production, valuable only in propor
tion to the truth and utility of its contents, and every
thing in regard to it will be changed. It will then be
divested of its supposed “ sacred characterits fictitious
charm will evaporate, and it will be subjected to the
same critical ordeal as any other book. Unhappily, that
time has not yet arrived. It is still pretended that the
Bible differs from all other books in this respect—that,
whereas all other books are the productions of frail human
�4
TWO REVELATIONS.
beings possessing more or less value according to the ability
and skill of the writers, the Bible is an unique work—the
result of a direct and infallible revelation from Deity.
Now, there are many reasons why we should be
sceptical of all alleged revelations of God to man; and
the notion of an infallible revelation is most illogical
and inconsistent. It need not be disputed that, if God
is infinite in power, he could reveal himself if he felt
so disposed. But, suppose God were to reveal himself,
it is questionable whether man, with finite capacities, could
understand an “ infallible revelation
or, even if he under
stood it, that he could infallibly interpret it to others.
For it must be obvious to the dullest mind that, pre
suming God to be an infinite being, and that he revealed
himself to man, it could not have been as an infinite being
that he so revealed himself, man having no capacity for un
derstanding the infinite, except as the antithesis of the finite.
And if God revealed his will to any individual man,
that man could only understand and interpret it up to the
measure of his capacity; so that, if it left Deity as an in
fallible expression of his will, without the operation of a most
stupendous organic change—viz., that of giving infinite
capacity to a finite being—there would be no guarantee that
it was infallibly understood or perfectly interpreted to others.
Moreover, if God has revealed his will to man, he must have
revealed it in some language ; and, even supposing that it
had been perfectly expressed, it would have been a revela
tion only to those who heard it, or, in a limited sense, to
those who understood the tongue in which it was expressed.
On the other hand, if God, instead of personally revealing
himself, had written his will in the heavens, so that all men
might observe it, still he must have written it there in some
language; and, as we have no evidence that the human
race has ever spoken an universal tongue, there would
always be the liability of its being an unknown tongue to
many, or of its being imperfectly translated, and in a mea
sure misunderstood.
With these strong objections to revelation firmly impressed
on our mind, we may go to the consideration of the alleged
revealed record. And what shall we find ? A mass of state
ments that accord with the careful observations of the
wisest among mankind ? Not so; the very reverse of this.
�TWO REVELATIONS.
5
AVe have nothing but statements that are in direct conflict
with the universal experience of mankind, false in regard to
its science, history, and philosophy, hopelessly confused in
its figures, and bad in respect to its morality.
Of the cosmogony of Genesis it need only be remarked
that it is believed only by those who hold faith to be a higher
faculty than reason, and pretend that it is not unreasonable
to maintain that an infinite and omnipotent Deity could
make the universe “out of nothing.” The most thoughtful
even among Christians now admit that there is a great deal
in the objection of scientists, that we know nothing of the
•origination of substance nor of its destruction, but only of
a long series of changes practically infinite.
The Bible astronomy, its geology, and biology are alike
absurd, being diametrically opposed to the ripest knowledge
■of our best scientists, and in conflict with the daily ex
perience of mankind. No schoolboy in the fourth standard
but now knows the falsity of Biblical astronomy, and
could as easily demonstrate that the sun could not have
been created on the “ fourth day ” as that the doctrine of
the “ blessed Trinity ” and the rule of three are not consis
tent with each other. Recently Mr. Gladstone advanced the
ludicrously indefensible theory that the sun was made on
the first day, but that the inspired writers did not mention
it as being in existence until the fourth—or, in other words,
that the sun existed on the first day, but that it was not
turned on, like a modern sun-burner, to give light to the
earth until the fourth day. As, however, the sun is the great
central attractive power round which our earth with several
other planets revolve, this theory will scarcely bear the test
of serious examination. As to revealed geology, the theo
logian finds it necessary, in order to reconcile the Bible
with modern science, to extend a day of twenty-four hours
into a period of indefinite duration, and, in so doing,
without removing a single difficulty, he only renders the
“ revelation ” the more incredible. How the difficulty, that
grass and herbs could not survive an hour without the sun,
is removed by prolonging that sunless period indefinitely, is
past human understanding, and must be relegated to the
region of blind credulity or religious faith.
A serious attempt to reconcile Genesis with the geologi
cal epochs, like Dr. Kinns’s book, may be regarded in the
�6
TWO REVELATIONS.
light of a huge joke—the same in kind as, and differing only
in a very slight degree from, the attempt of Mr. Pickwick
to demonstrate the vast antiquity of the curious inscrip
tion on the stone discovered by the Pickwickians in one
of their famous excursions. Nor is Mr. Gladstone more
successful than Dr. Kinns when he attempts the same im
possible task. A few facts of geology, skilfully marshalled
by Professor Huxley, pulverise the pious opinion of the
great statesman, that the Biblical account of the cosmogony
is in exact accordance with modern science. If any fact
has been brought to light by the researches of geology, it is
that the order of living creatures has been (i) crustacea,
(2) fishes, (3) reptiles and birds, (4) mammals generally,
and (5) man ; but the Mosaic order is threefold—(1) fishes
and birds, (2) mammals and reptiles, and (3) man. We
have millions and billions of fossil shells in the Cambrian
period, long before the existence of fishes ; then the great
fish period of the Devonian period; then the saurian
period; long afterwards come the archaic animals of the
mammoth family; then those still nearer approaching the
types of animals belonging to the history of man; and
finally man, with his contemporaries. Six periods instead
of three.
In the study of geology we find the flora and fauna of
one period differing greatly from that immediately preced
ing it—an appreciable gulf separating the animals of one
age from those of another. Within six days we have,
according to Moses, all living creatures created, from the
sea-worms and great marine lizards to the vertebrate animals,,
including even man himself.
No line of demarcation showing the great periods of
time that must have elapsed in the evolution of the lower
to the higher forms of life, which all true science now
demands, can be found in Genesis, and for this very obvious
reason : because the writer of Genesis was wholly ignorant
of any such evolution, and the all-wise Deity apparently
neglected to supply the information, when he revealed to
his chosen servant his method and manner of creation.
Equally uusatisfactory is the Bible view of biology.
All the races of the earth are practically alleged to have '
sprung from Noah and his three sons ; but, remembering
the long period over which the history of China and India.
�TWO REVELATIONS.
7
stretches—a history written in monuments of stone and
wood—it is impossible for any intelligent person who has
seriously considered the subject with a view of arriving at
truth to give credence to teaching which makes the human
family less than six thousand years old. How infinitely
trivial is all this when compared with the revelations of
science—revelations which the study of man has extracted
from Nature herself. How insignificant is the Mosaic view
of astronomy, when viewed side by side with modern know
ledge ! From a comparatively small luminary, placed
in the heavens to give light to this earth during the day,
the sun is seen to be a vast body, 880,000 miles in dia
meter. The little twinkling stars are magnified into great
bodies, many in magnitude vaster than our sun, and at
such immense distances that the light of some of them
has not yet reached our earth. In our own system we have
Jupiter, hundreds of times larger than our earth, with four
moons dancing constant attendance upon her ‘ in addition
to which we have Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Mars, all
older, and three of them larger, than the earth which we
inhabit.
“ It is difficult,” says Colenso, “ to realise to ourselves the
enormous size and distance from us of the fixed stars, and
the awful solitude in which each separate star and its little
troop of planets exists by itself in the midst of the mighty
universe.” Perhaps the following calculation may assist the
reader’s mind to grasp more distinctly and appreciate more
fully the grandeur of the heavenly host: “ One travelling
at railway speed, day and night, 33^ miles an hour, or 100
miles in 3 hours, would reach the moon in 300 days, and at
the same rate he would reach the sun in 330 years. But, if
he could reach the sun in one single day, it would take 550
years of such travelling to reach the nearest fixed star. And
then it must be remembered that the enormous interval,
on every side of our sun and its little family, is an awful
void of animal and vegetable life. A similar tremendous
void must recur between one star and another, and on all
sides around each separate star—nay, around each separate
mote of nebular star dust.” Now, as far as can be ascertained,
the nearest fixed star is twenty-one billions of miles from our
earth; the next nearest being thirty-seven billions of miles
distant; while Sirius is no less than eighty-two billions of
�8
TWO REVELATIONS.
miles away. Nor is this by any means the most distant, for
the Polar star is calculated to be two hundred and ninetytwo billions of miles distant, and Capella one hundred and
thirty-three billion miles still further off.
To return again to the sun, which is the grand centre and
animating principle of the planetary system, around which
the various planets revolve, and the attractive power by
which they are sustained in their orbits—in short, the source
of light and heat and all that renders the earth fit for habita
tion. In magnitude the sun is so vast that figures fail to
convey any adequate idea of its immensity. As, however,
arithmetical numbers and illustrations are the only means
open to us in which to indicate the vast magnitude of
this body, I may as well say that its diameter is estimated
to be no less than 880,000 miles. Its circumference, or line
going quite round it, is 2,764,600 miles; while its surface con
tains 2,432,800,000,000 of square miles, or, in other words,
twelve thousand times the number of square miles on our
globe. It has been further estimated that its solid contents
comprehend 356,818,739,200,000,000, or three hundred and
fifty-six thousand billion of cubical miles—that is, 1,350,000
times the number of solid miles which our terraqueous globe
contains j so that it would take 1,350,000 globes as large as
our earth to equal the size of the sun. The distance of the
sun from our earth is 95,000,000 of miles. Or, to take a
familiar illustration : a cannon-ball travelling at its utmost
speed is calculated to fly through the air at the rate of 500
miles an hour. Going continuously at this speed, the
cannon-ball would reach the sun in twenty-one years, two
hundred and forty-five days. Or, again, suppose a train to
travel at the rate of four hundred and eighty miles a day,
it would require five hundred and forty-seven years of such
travelling to reach the sun. In view of these facts, is it
not preposterous to suppose that the sun and the stars were
not created until the fourth day ? How could the earth—
nay, the whole of the planets in our system—exist for a
single instant without the sun, the great centre of attraction,
the great heavenly loadstone which holds them in their
respective orbits, and keeps them continuously spinning
along in space ? How could herbs and grass grow before
the existence of the sun ? Moreover, if it took deity six
days to complete the creation of this world—infinitesimally
�TWO REVELATIONS.
9
small as compared with other heavenly bodies—how much
longer would it have required to create the numberless stars
that stud the universe, the magnitude and distance of which
no words can express ?
Geology, instead of showing an earth that has existed
only a few thousand years, makes us acquainted with the
fossil remains of animals that must have existed thousands
of years before Jehovah thought of communicating his
opinion on these subjects to Moses, or any other of the
inspired Bible-makers of the earth. And, while geology
thus opens up for us a vast field for study which inevitably
leads to the revelation of the “ unity of nature,” biology
joins hands to demonstrate the great antiquity of the human
race and the relation of man to the lower animals, tracing
all forms of life down to its lowest condition—the proto
plasmic germ.
By a study of geology we learn to distinguish the epochs
or ages that mark the various changes in the earth’s condi
tion by reference to the rock systems which constitute the
crust of the earth. They are as follows, beginning from the
lowest or first formed :—
1. The Metamorphic system.
2. Laurentian system.
3. Cambrian system.
4. Silurian system.
5. Old Red Sandstone system.
6. Carboniferous system (Devonian).
7. Permian system.
8. P. Triassic system.
9. Oolitic system (Jurassic).
10. Chalk system (Cretaceous).
11. Tertiary system.
12. Superficial Deposits.
Each of these systems, consisting of many beds of rock,
would require ages of long duration for its formation;
yet even the whole lumped together would cover but
a part—and perhaps only a small part—of the earth’s
history. Since the termination of the rock systems
the present tribes of plants and animals have come into
existence; and it will be seen that the stages of develop
ment through which they have passed have been exceedingly
�>
IO
TWO REVELATIONS.
slow—so much so that the evolution of one species into
another is, for the most part, quite imperceptible.
Though the earth has undergone many transformations
since the first geological epoch, no doubt can exist in any
thoughtful mind that, in its general features, it remains the
same. Sea and land, atmosphere and light, rains and winds,,
summer and winter, have remained pretty -well the same.
Fishes, birds, and quadrupeds have lived for seons, and'
preyed upon each other, as they now do. These, though
altering from time to time, the sea and land often changing
positions, remain the component parts of the world as we
know it this day.
Taking the earliest series of stratified rocks—those that
are found above the granite—no life-remains are discover
able in them. This series, having been brought into their
present condition by being subject to continuous burning,
are for that reason called “Igneous Rocks.”
In the Laurentian system, so called from the St.
Lawrence of North America, only the very lowest form of
life-remains have been found : something approaching in
simplicity to a spreading bunch of coral. Sea-weeds,
zoophytes, burrowing worms, and shrimp-like animals are
yielded in the Cambrian. In the Silurian are found the
remains of a number of marine creatures, numerous species
of zoophytes, or animals allied to the “ sea pen,” corals,
crinoids, some species of shell fish, worms, and Crustacea..
Marine plants, seed weeds, and the Trilobite—a curious,
creature, in every respect a well-developed crustacean,
covered with shelly plates, terminating variously behind in a
flexible extremity, and furnished with a headpiece composed
of larger plates ; eyes of a very complicated structure, which,
according to the best fossil anatomists, were fitted with noless than 400 spherical lenses—are also found here.
In the following age we have the Crinoidea and the
Cephalopods.
In the fifth epoch (blocked sandstone) appear a largenumber of now extinct fishes, such as the Placoidians and
the Ganoidians.
The Carboniferous age is chiefly remarkable for the pro
duction of a land vegetation called coal, no new form of
animal life being discernible during this period; but when
we come to the New Red Sandstone we find novel
�TWO REVELATIONS.
II
and superior forms of plant and animal life appear, though
the greatest and most marked departure occurred in the
Oolitic age, when, for the first time, insects are brought upon
the scene, and such extraordinary reptiles as the Saurians, or
lizard family.
Of these saurians that curiously-formed creature known
as the Ichthyosaurus is well worth a passing notice. This
gigantic saurian had the backbone of a fish, the long tail of
a crocodile, the snout of a porpoise, the head of a lizard,
with a large number of strong teeth, large eyes, and the
paddles of a whale, which enabled it to propel itself rapidly
through the water. The remains of these creatures show
that they varied between twenty and thirty feet in length.
Later, we find what are called land or crocodile lizards,
such as the Megalosaurus and the Pterodactyle, or Flying
Dragon.
According to Dr. Buckland, in this age are to be found on
the surface of slabs, of calcareous grit and stonefied slate,.
“ perfectly preserved, petrified castings of marine worms
and, though traces of the footprints of animals may be found
on the surfaces of these rocks, there are no indications during
this period of the existence of man. By reference to these
footprints the existence of birds at this early period of the
world’s history has been pretty well established ; and it is
probable that a gigantic kind of gallinaceous bird, larger even
than the ostrich, waddled about the earth, to the danger,
perhaps, of birds of smaller size.
Rock salt is found in the Triassic age, and on the top of
the Oolite formation are found innumerable beds of what is
familiarly known as limestone in some parts of England and
Germany, several hundreds of feet in thickness. Professor
Huxley and other well-known scientists consider the for
mation of this substance due mainly to the “ siliceous
coverings of animalcules the remains of some of which
animals have been discovered in these beds.
But we must pass rapidly on, and come to the Tertiary
system. In this age we come across great rock for
mations such as the Tripoli, now believed to be composed
exclusively of the solid remains of animalcules, so minute
in structure as to be imperptible to the human eye
without the aid of a microscope. We are now introduced
to several orders of reptiles, such as the Chelonia (tortoises),
�12
TWO REVELATIONS.
Crocodilia and Batrachia (frogs), and birds of the genera,
represented by the owl, woodcock, quail, etc.; while among
the quadrupeds were the Palaeotherium, the Glyptodon (a
sort of armadillo), and the Anoplotheria, in addition to
■certain of the wolf, fox, racoon, doormouse, and squirrel
tribes.
In what is termed the Miocene period of the Ter
tiary formation are found the remains of the gigantic
Dinotherium and of the Hippotherium, an animal allied to
the horse, hogs, cats, and animals, bearing resemblance to
the tiger, the dog, and bear; while the sea was alive with
marine mammalia, such as whales, seals, dolphins, and so
on.
Characterising the Pliocene age, which is again divided
into two periods, we find the remains of Pachydermatous
families, such as the mammoth, rhinoceros, and hippo
potamus, take the place of the extinct thick-skinned
animals before mentioned, and traces appear of the exist
ence of some ruminants, such as oxen, deer, and camels.
It has now been established that the great Mastadon, a
■skeleton of which -was dug out of the earth in America so
recently as 1801, belongs to this period; as does also the
Megatherium, a huge creature, slow in movement, and
larger somewhat than the common ox, with tremendous
toes and claws; while, in the second half of this period, a
number of animals have been discovered similar to species
now existing; and from this period downwards progress
towards the present types of the animal world becomes
more and more manifest.
Now, if the earth has existed only some six thousand years,
and if, as Genesis states, everything was created within six
days, how is it that the remains of animals, of various stages
of growth or development, are to be found thus embedded
in the rocks ? How is it that the Bible makes no mention
of the extraordinary creatures named, the ancestors of the
animals now existing on the earth ? Besides, if we would
study aright the age of the earth, we must not fail to take
into account the important discovery of William Pengelly in
Kent’s Cavern. “ We know,” says this scientist, in his lec
ture on “ The Time that has Elapsed Since the Era of the
Cave Men of Devonshire,” “ that in Kent’s Cavern there
are inscriptions on the granular stalagmite; and we know
�TWO REVELATIONS.
TS
further that the lines of drainage of the cavern have not
changed. Now, if it has taken 250 years to form the twentieth
of an inch in thickness in a part of a cavern where the stalag
mite has been formed with unusual rapidity, judging from
these bosses, you perceive clearly enough that it would take
twenty times that amount of time at that rate to represent
an inch—that is, 5,000 years, and we have fully five feet to
account for in the granular stalagmite only. Now, ladies and
gentlemen, are you prepared for that amount of time ? Five
thousand years for an inch, and sixty inches—sixty times,
five thousand years!”
Dealing with the Palaeontological evidence, the same
authority enumerates the kind of animals found in the
earth. They were “ the cave lion, felis of the size of
the lynx, wild cat, cave hyena, wolf, fox, canis vulpes var
spelseus, canis of the size of isatis, glutton, badger, cave
bear, grizzly bear, brown bear, mammoth, rhinoceros, tichorhinus, horse, urus or wild bull, bison, ‘ irish elk,’ red
deer, reindeer, hare, lagomys spelaeus, water vole, field vole,
bank vole, arvicola gulielmi, beaver, and machairodus
latideus.” Here we have three groups of animals—many
extinct; some, though not extinct, only to be found on the
continent, and others, such as the fox and the hare, still
existing in Great Britain.
Biological research proves beyond the shadow of a doubt
that man’s existence on the earth dates not 5,000, nor 50,000,
but probably hundreds of thousands of years, and Karl
Vogt, the great German scientist, goes as far as saying that
“ there is no longer any doubt that man existed in Europe—
probably the latest peopled part of the world—at a time
when the great southern animals—the elephant, mam
moth, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus—were found there.
Even when no human remains or tools have been found
the acute researches of Steenstrap have found traces of man
by distinguishing the bones, which have been gnawed by
animals from those which show signs of having been split
by man for the sake of the marrow, or otherwise handled
by him” {Anthropological Review, page 219); a state
ment corroborated by Sir Charles Lyell in his “ Anti
quity of Man,” page 204, and also maintained by Professor
Huxley and other leading scientists of the day.
It is of no avail for theologians to declare that the
�14
TWO REVELATIONS.
passages in the first chapter of Genesis are susceptible of
bearing the interpretation that ages elapsed between the crea
tion of the vegetable kingdom and man. The Bible says that
the evening and the morning was “the first day,” and we
refuse to confuse ourselves and others over the meaning of a
verse which ought to be clear to every person possessing
only a grain of common sense. This portion of my subject
I close with a quotation from the late Bishop Colenso, with
which I entirely agree. He says : “ We have thus seen that
in Genesis i., if regarded as statements of historical matter
of fact, are directly at variance with some of the plainest
facts of natural science, as they are now brought home, by
the extension of education, to every village, almost we might
say to every cottage in the land. It is idle for any minister
of religion to attempt to disguise this palpable discordance.
To do this is only to put a stumbling block in the way of
the young—at all events of those of the next generation—
who well instructed themselves in these things, and, having
their eyes open to the real facts of the case, may be
expected either to despise such a teacher as ignorant, or to
suspect him as dishonest, and in either case would be very
little likely to attach much weight to his instructions in
things of highest moment ” (Bishop Colenso, in “ Examina
tion of Pentateuch,” page 324). But, if we turn our atten
tion from the narrow and puerile view of the Bible to the large
and comprehensive view of science, we shall find that the
universe is in reality the one great open book—a revelation
to man just up to the measure of his capability of reading
and understanding it. The diligent and earnest student
of Nature day by day grasps some new fact, and, speculating
upon its value, opens up new mines of thought for future
exploration. It is worthy of remark, too, that Nature is
a book that is open to all peoples; it recognises no
distinction of colour, or nationality, or sex ; it is free to
impart its wonders to all who are prepared to read its ever
unfolding pages. Better far than any revelation contained
in the numerous bibles of the earth ; for these, though con
taining the best guesses at truth that man could make in
past ages of ignorance, could not in their very nature con
tain an infallible record of Nature’s final words to man.
Never for a moment silent, this universe, in its ceaseless
changes, is ever ready to deliver its message to whosoever is
�TWO REVELATIONS.
15
willing to receive it—a message that is exactly suitable to the
progressive nature of man; it is delivered, not all at once,
but in piecemeal; for, as man is incapable of grasping or
understanding all the truths of Nature at once, she is slow
and persistent in the gradual but everlasting unfolding of
her wondrous book.
These natural revelations, moreover, are never finished.
The knowledge of one age becomes the ignorance of the next,
as surely as the heresy of to-day will become the orthodoxy
of to-morrow ; for, with an ever-widening grasp of facts, the
half-truth that was known yesterday will bear a new meaning
in the light of the additional half that has been discovered
to-day. Well, indeed, is it for man that he acquires his
knowledge thus by small, but never-ending, instalments.
Just as a story loses its charm to the reader the moment
the plot is disclosed, or interest wanes as the reader can,
with some degree of certainty, predict the course of events
as they are likely to affect the hero or heroine, so life would
lose its charm, its chief source of happiness, its motive
power, if man could interpret now for all time the meaning
of Nature’s wonders. Fortunately for man, such knowledge
is not possible. Could he live for a thousand years, there
would always be some fresh lessons for him to learn; and,
though there is a limit to his power of grasping the meaning
of Nature’s truths, the facts within his reach are so numerous
that he need never seek in vain. Not by spasmodic effort,
nor by any series of such efforts, can he encompass all truth
that to him is knowable. Only by ceaseless accumulation of
facts, only by a careful classification of those facts, only by
well-reasoned deductions, can man hope to understand their
real significance. As the great mountains of the earth are
but the deposits, through thousands of ages, of small particles
of matter that, from their inherent properties, have thus
been drawn together, so is the knowledge of man : every
moment there is a fresh deposit of facts for him who will
study, and the great accumulations of the past make up the
sum of man’s knowledge to-day. The universe is a great
panorama; it is continually unfolding new pictures to
satisfy our mental cravings, and this unfolding seems likely
to go on forever.
Printed by Watts & Co., 17, Johnsoris Court, London, E.C.
�WORKS BY ARTHUR B. MOSS.
Was Jesus
an
Impostor ? ioopp., cloth is., boards 6d.
A Discussion between two Freethinkers—Agnes Rollo Wilkie
and Arthur B. Moss. The most blasphemous book of the age.
Freethinkers enjoy it ; Jews like it amazingly ; Christians detest it.
It strikes at Jesus the God, demonstrates the hollowness of his pre
tensions, shows that he deceived himself and his followers, and
that through them the world has been deceived ever since. With
Introductory Paper by Mr. Charles Watts.
The Mirror of Freethought. Cloth, is.
Waves of Freethought. 6d.
Man and the Lower Animals, id.
Natural Man. id.
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The following Pamphlets are Sold at One Penny each:—
Bible Horrors ; or, Real Blasphemy.
Bible Makers.
Bible Saints.
Moses Versus Darwin.
M't -, - Socrates, Buddha, and Jesus.
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The Old Faith and the New.
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The above twelve Pamphlets will be sent post free on
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�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Two revelations
Creator
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Moss, Arthur B.
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 15 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: List of works by the same author available from Watts & Co. on back page. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
Publisher
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Watts & Co.
Date
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[1886]
Identifier
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N505
Subject
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Science
Religion
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Two revelations), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
NSS
Science and Religion