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SCEPTICISM
AND
SOCIAL JUSTICE.
BY
THOS. HORLOCK BASTARD.
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS SCOTT,
MOUNT PLEASANT,
RAMSGATE.
Price Threepence.
��SCEPTICISM AND SOCIAL
JUSTICE.
HE time seems clearly to have arrived when
something ought to be settled between the two
parties now admitted to exist—one upholding the
inspiration of the Old and Hew Testaments, and the
other denying it—as to the position which each party
is entitled to hold, and the social rights and interests
that each may claim. Much difficulty will arise
before the matter can be properly adjusted ; but the
necessity for it has become obvious, if justice to both
parties alike is to be observed.
The case, as it stands, may be briefly stated as
follows : Up to a certain period, we have been his
torically taught that the writings known as the Holy
Scriptures were—as to the Old Testament by the Jews,
and as to the Old and New Testaments by Christians—
received as having emanated by inspiration from the
supernatural power, named and described in both
Testaments as Grod; and this teaching was almost
universally acquiesced in throughout what was known
as the Christian world. In this matter, indeed, until
a comparatively late period, there was little option
allowed, for such were the severe laws against all
doubt on the subject that no open questioning of the
T
�8
*■
Scepticism and Social "Justice.
the opinions of these writers to be not well founded,
in order that those who think so may still, if they
can, prove such to be the case. I only desire to
state so much as will, in my judgment, show what
constitutes a fair justification of the opinions held by
free-thinkers, and what they have a right in justice
to demand both from the national laws and from
society. The believers in inspiration have, by their
mere numbers, and by social and clerical support,
hitherto stood on vantage ground, which has per
mitted them with impunity most unjustly to de
nounce, and force into hypocritical silence, those who
have, by honest investigation, arrived at the conclu
sion that the works composing the Bible could only
have been written by men, whose knowledge was
derived from worldly experience alone ; and the main
object now to be attained is to settle whether the
former have any right to a supremacy for their
opinions, and to prevent the latter from holding and
expressing theirs.
I have not mentioned works by foreign writers,
such as those of Spinoza, Strauss, Renan, and others,
as not likely to have been read by the generality of
English people, and I also pass over those works I
have referred to, which are written in a deeply argu
mentative style, and thus not likely to be attractive
to, and make an impression on, common readers; but
coming to those of a more popular description, and
of recent date, I take up first the ‘ Task of To-day,’
by Major Evans Bell, an officer of some repute in the
East Indian Service. This work was published in
1852, at a price which made it widely accessible, and
is written in a style so plain and popular that it is
suited to the comprehension of all classes of readers.
It calmly examines the statements of the Scripture
records relating to the creation, miracles, and pro
phecies of the Old Testament, compares them with
statements in the Koran, so similar that they give
�Scepticism and Social Justice.
9
the appearance of a common origin, and points out
startling discrepancies and errors that seem palpably
inconsistent with what must have been dictated by
unerring wisdom. It also criticises in the same
manner the New Testament, which the writer’s argu
ments tend to show is open to charges of inaccu
racies, errors, and incredibilities, as equally unbeliev
able to have emanated from divine knowledge, as
those of the Old Testament; and the whole book is
written in a strain so telling that it can hardly fail to
lead a large number of readers to acquiescence in its
views. Now if the arguments and reasoning of this
author proceed from false grounds and are calcu
lated to be harmful, how can those whose duty it is
to prevent readers from being misled, and who pro
fess to have the full requisite information for the
purpose, leave his work unrefuted ? I come next to
a book by an anonymous writer, entitled, ‘A Was I
Hind,’ or a ‘ Voice from the Ganges,’ and published in
1861. It is of much the same character as the ‘ Task
of To-day,’ in regard to popularity of style, but it
concerns itself only with the New Testament, in
which the author alleges, with great plainness, are
to be found wrong translations, misinterpretations,
and even interpolations, tending to stagger belief
in its authenticity, as a book written under know
ledge inspired by God. He also points out such
variations and contradictory statements, between
the different Gospel writers, that it makes the whole
book look like fiction; and thus we have another
forcible work, which, if the views instilled by the
author are wrong and groundless, is calculated seri
ously to mislead, and therefore ought to be refuted.
It would take up too much space to particularise
Separately, even in a brief way, all the other works I
have named, but I must state that in that popular
work, the ‘ Constitution of Man,’ by George Combe,
and in ‘ Science and Religion,’ another of his works,
�io
Scepticism and Social Justice.
he plainly demonstrates that a force has been given
to the laws of nature which supersedes the necessity
of their being supplemented by revealed laws ; that
Mr J. S. Mill’s work on ‘Liberty’ contends not only
for freedom to think, but freedom to utter opinions
on matters affecting religious faith, as well as on
secular subjects ; that in ‘ Philo.—Socrates,’ by Mr
William Ellis, the propriety .of making the Old and
New Testaments schoolbooks is questioned on account
of their bad morality; that the ‘ Essays and Reviews ’
(mostly written by clergymen), the works of Professor
F. W. Newman, the Rev. Professor Baden Powell, and
others resort to criticisms of the Bible greatly tend
ing to shake faith in it, and go far to set the intellect,
as a guide to conduct, above Revelation; and, lastly,
that all these publications are written in a style
suited to the comprehension of people of ordinary
intelligence, and the more, therefore, require refuta
tion, if their reasonings lead to unsound views of the
Bible.
I now proceed to notice the numerous publications
that have been issued by Mr Thomas Scott, of Rams
gate. To give a list of them even would require no
small space, and some of them are, perhaps, not very
important. But this cannot be said of such serious
and carefully written treatises as ‘ The English Life
of Jesus,’ with its attack on the credibility of the
Gospel narrative, and another entitled ‘ The Errors
and Discrepancies and Contradictions of the Gospel
Records,’ both of which are by Mr Scott; or of those
treatises written by Presbyter Anglicanus on ‘ Eternal
Punishment;’ by R. W. Mackay (the author of ‘The
Progress of the Intellect ’) on ‘ The Eternal Gospel;’
by Mr John Robertson, of Coupar Angus, on ‘The
Finding of the Book,’ and other subjects ; by Mr
Rathbone Greg on ‘ Truth and Edificationby Dr
Hinds, late Bishop of Norwich, on ‘ The Free Dis
cussion of Religious Subjects ’—a very dispassionate
�Scepticism and Social 'Justice.
11
essay—or of several others which are of great
importance to free inquiry. But I must stop here,
although I could add many more to the list by men
of weight and position, and all written in a style and
manner likely to attract the serious attention of those
who peruse them.
However lightly these treatises may be held by
those who are opposed to their teachings, and to any
question of revelation being raised—foremost amongst
whom, of course, are the clergy—it should be borne
in mind that their issues are plainly stated, and they
are written in a perfectly calm tone of investigation
and truth-seeking, which entitles them to respectful
discussion. Further, that they are very numerous,
and, by Mr Scott’s liberality, have a wide circulation
amongst all classes of the people; and if their
teachings are false, and can be controverted, it is the
duty of divines of all sects to perform this labour,
whilst their omission to do so leads to the natural
inference, that it is a task they fear to undertake.
With regard to Bishop Colenso’s works, it surely
cannot be necessary to do more than refer to the
reception they met with, and the extraordinary inte
rest they excited, in order to show the importance
which has been attached to them by the public. But
has not their grand result been to diminish the
number of believers in inspiration ? And what have
the clergy put forth to weaken the position the Bishop
takes up, beyond the treatise published by Dr McCaul,
which I have never heard regarded as being in the
slightest degree successful ?
Having glanced at the writings of a large number
of authors who have questioned the inspiration of
the Scriptures, and in support of their doubts have
given reasons the value of which may be weighed
and discussed; and having strong grounds for
believing that, in the absence of any convincing
proofs of the fallacy of these works, their teachings
�12
Scepticism and Social 'Justice.
have made a profound impression on a very large
and intelligent portion of the public, the grave ques
tions arise of how long this state of things is to con
tinue ? and what are henceforth to be the legal and
social rights of those persons who have come to the
conclusion that the Old and New Testaments were
not written under any supernatural inspiration ? At
present the latter are prevented from an open and
candid avowal of their sentiments by fear of the ill
consequences it may bring on their social positions
and worldly prospects ; and, where their sentiments
are suspected, they have to lie under a sort of stigma
on their characters, for which, I contend, there is no
justification, unless their honesty is doubted, since
mere error in judgment, in the views they have formed
on the Bible statements and narratives, cannot be a
sin. On the contrary, the fault rests with their
opponents, who are quite confident of being in the
right, and yet have failed to prove it.
As I have before stated, I do not wish to make
this a vehicle of attack on the Scriptures, or on those
holding what are termed orthodox views ; but I must
give some illustration of the difficulties of sceptics,
as shown in the works I have cited. For instance,
in Genesis there are two distinct accounts of the
creation of woman, which are perfectly at variance
with each other, and both cannot be right. Then,
according to the description given of the world—
the little planet in which we live—it is flat, with a
firmament above, in which the stars are fixed as
lights to it, and heaven is above the whole, whilst
the sun is made to revolve round the earth as a sort
of appendage to it, like the moon; and both the sun
and stars are treated as subservient to the uses of
this planet alone. Added to this we find allusions to
ascending to heaven, and descending to hell, which
are obviously inconsistent with a round and rapidly
revolving body like the world. Now in regard to the
�Scepticism and Social "Justice.
i3
double creation of woman, it is unintelligible how
Such could have proceeded from inspired wisdom ;
and it is equally difficult to conceive that the accounts
pf the creation, as well as those of the flood and the
ark—so utterly at variance with what science has
disclosed to us as possible—could have been written
under the inspiration of all-wise and unerring God.
And, contemplating also God as all-just and conscien
tious, many other difficulties arise to the thinker,
such as, in the Old Testament, the glaring immorali
ties related without condemnation or censure, and, in
the New Testament, the variations and wonderful
discrepancies of the Gospel narratives. But I forbear
from particularising in a way that may be painful to
unhesitating believers in inspiration, my only object
in entering so far into details being to show the
justification which sceptics have for their opinions in
the absence of all corrective explanation.
Attempts have sometimes been made by clergymen
to put down sceptical writings by asserting that
their arguments are only a repetition of old ones
that have been effectively replied to over and over
again; but this must be of little avail, without
stating where the replies are to be found,—and this
they fail to do. Other clergymen dispose of the
matter shortly, by declaring that they never read
such works, of course, from fear of their contaminating
influence. But can one who ought to be fortified
by the fullest theological knowledge be justified in
allowing it to be supposed that he can be thus
affected ? And is he not above all men bound to be
aware of, and ready to meet, all sceptical attacks ?
Let me put this case to a clergyman, who would so
evade this important subject. One of his flock,—
say an intelligent young man or woman,—having
read Colenso’s or some similar work, and having had
his or her previous faith in inspiration thereby shaken,
and peace of mind disturbed, and attributing this to
�14
Scepticism and Social "Justice.
inability to discover the fallibility of the writer’s
arguments, goes to his or her minister for help. Is
the latter justified in replying to such applicants that
he does not read works of the kind, because of their
evil tendency, and simply advising their being
eschewed ? Surely he cannot in this easy way
expect to remove the difficulties of reflecting persons
who seek his aid, and who thus must leave him with
all the facts and information they have acquired still
oppressing their minds. The clergyman is the
religious teacher and helper, to whom any one of his
flock has as much right to apply for assistance as he
or she would, in a case of illness, or legal difficulty,
to apply to a doctor or lawyer ; and would either of
the latter be justified in replying, that “ yours is a
case with which I do not feel called on to make
myself acquainted F ” *
I have now endeavoured to show how matters
stand between the two parties, one believing, and the
other disbelieving in the inspiration of the Bible; and
assuming that both have arrived at their opinions by
honest investigation, there remains to be considered
the question, whether the former are justified in
assuming their opinions to be so indisputably right
as to warrant them in pronouncing the latter to be
not only wrong, but sinful, for the opinions which
they hold, and therefore not entitled to the full
enjoyment of the same rights, privileges, and
advantages as themselves. Are there any grounds
for the assumption of such an arbitrary authority to
be found in the notion that it is not permissible to
apply intelligence and reason to the consideration of
matters of religious faith ? If this position be allowed,
then what are the means by which we can understand
* I hope I may not be understood as making attacks on the charac
ters of the clergy. I have had too large an acquaintance with them
not to be aware of the integrity which distinguishes them as a class,
and my observations in the text are intended only to indicate what
appears to me to be their error respecting free inquiry into Biblical
matters.
�Scepticism and Social Justice.
J5
what is written in the Bible, and ascertain in what
to have faith, since it is only through our intellectual
powers that we can know anything at all of the
meaning of its words ? If it be asserted that religious
faith can be arrived at without using these powers,
it may as well be said that it is possible to make a
religious being of an idiot, or even (may the absurdity
be excused) of a cow, or an oyster. No, no. God
gave us our intelligent and discerning powers to
enable us, when facts and information are presented
to our minds, to distinguish right from wrong, and
thereby to learn our duties, and how properly to
conduct ourselves in all the relations of life. Besides,
people cannot choose their opinions, and be of this
or that opinion in obedience to will; for according as
facts and data are presented to the mind, so must
inevitably be the conclusions, and consequent opinions,
which it is as impossible to avoid coming to, as it is
to keep back the tide with a mop. Ignorance may
have no opinion, but knowledge dictates opinion.
I submit that as the right of private judgment is
conceded, without any limitation, to Protestants, they
are fully at liberty to read and study all works bear
ing on the Bible in any way, whether upholding it as
emanating from God, or whether questioning the
accuracy of its statements and the possibility of their
having been derived from the inspiration of a super
natural power. Further, that whatever opinions
Protestants may thus be led to form, they have a
right to hold and also to utter ; and that, supposing
such opinions to be erroneous, the only just method
of proving them to be so is by argumentative refuta
tion. I hold it to be an outrage on justice that any
person, to whom the right of private judgment has
been granted, should be subjected to punishment, as
is still possible under old unrepealed laws, or to
social hardships, on account of his or her opinions,
on any other ground than that of dishonesty ; and,
�16
Scepticism and Social Justice.
further, that the assumption by any one, whatever
may be his station, to say to another, in a matter
open to free discussion, “ I am right, and you are
wrong,” without proving it, and the using of any
power with which the former may be invested, to the
prejudice of the latter, ought to be treated as a grave
offence against justice and morality. It is in the
arbitrary exercise of such power, and in denouncing
such sceptical works, as I have specially alluded to,
without first refuting them, that the clergy have
placed themselves in a very false position, and exposed
themselves to charges of injustice. Unfortunately a
large portion of the community, who may be said
rather to adopt conclusions than to arrive at them by
reasoning, continue to support the clergy in the arbi
trary repression of all opinions on Biblical matters
contrary to their own, and thus have been instru
mental in enforcing silence on their opponents, with
the simple result of engendering a very unwholesome
hypocrisy in many of the latter. There is a floating
notion that no one in this country suffers for opinion ;
but it is pretty well known that some, who have been
unable to conceal their sceptical views, have been
excluded from offices on this account, and it is only
recently that a witness, however respectable, who
objected to substantiate his oath by swearing on the
Old or New Testament, has been allowed to make a
simple affirmation, whilst the oath of a witness of
the. most abandoned character was always receivable.
It is still the case that many writers of heterodox
views are prevented, by family or social reasons, from
signing their names to what they write ; and to these
sufferers for opinion may well be added a very nume
rous and increasing class of persons engaged in pro
fessions and business, who are disbelievers in inspira
tion, but, having families dependent on them, dare
not confess their opinions, and are forced to live
under the constant oppression of conscientious insin-
�Scepticism and Social Justice.
17
cerity, with what advantage to Church and State I
leave others to pronounce.
I must now add a few brief remarks on a new
phase of the foregoing subject. Circumstances have
delayed the completion of this publication, and in
the meantime I have become acquainted with the
effort, which the clergy have at last made, to stem
the tide of scepticism and free-thinking by publishing
the work entitled the ‘ New Bible Commentary,’
which has the advantage of having been written or
sanctioned by an Archbishop and seven Bishops, and
other clergy of high position. The publication has,
it seems, been seven years in preparation ; and here one
might have expected a complete and unanswerable
refutation of all grounds for scepticism, and especially
was it to be expected that all such works as I have
alluded to would have been dealt with, and their errors
clearly demonstrated. Instead of this, however, this
production of the most eminent of the clergy seems
directed only to fortifying those who accept the
traditional interpretation of the Bible, without any
verification of its narratives and statements, and the
first critics of the work are able to show its failures
and weakness. An examination of it by Bishop
Colenso has quickly appeared, charging the authors
with evasion of the main difficulties of the question,
and pointing out mistakes, false reasonings, and even
unworthy quibbles, which, if not replied to, must, in
the eyes of the vulgar, deprive the work of all
respect. This has been followed by some other pub
lications, and by reviews in several of the London
and Edinburgh newspapers, which are pretty severe
in their handling of this famous commentary, whilst
others in a similar strain are spoken of, and, in its
results, the work seems to be of little avail in attack
ing the errors of sceptics.
Two very important matters, however, have been
brought under consideration by the publication of
�18
Scepticism and Social 'Justice.
this Bible Commentary. First, it is an admission
that the translations and meanings of the words of
the Bible are open to discussion and examination by
our intelligent and reasoning powers. Secondly, it is
a yielding up of the plenary part of inspiration,
inasmuch as it gives a meaning quite new, according
to previous clerical teaching, of those words of the
Bible which state that “the world was created in six
days,” by adopting the hypothesis of Hugh Miller
that these “ days ” were, in fact, not periods of
twenty-four hours, as common people suppose from
the Bible words—aye, and as children were un
doubtedly taught by clergymen to interpret the
words, when I was at school—but “ vast geological
periods.” Now, here we have from the clergy them
selves a new version of the sense in which the Bible
is to be understood, showing that reason may be used
in examining the meanings of its words ; and if this
be allowed, then free-thinkers and sceptics can no
longer be justly blamed and denounced for forming
opinions adverse to inspiration, which are founded
on reason; and if certain words in the Bible are not
to be understood in the sense accorded to them by
common acceptation, as the clergy heretofore did
teach us they were to be, then such teaching was
wrong, our spiritual teachers admit themselves to
have been in error, and we have now to consider how
far the clergy may also be in error in teaching us to
accept, in their literal sense, other words of the
Bible.
From what precedes this my own opinion on inspi
ration may easily be inferred, but the question has
occurred to me whether I ought, or not, plainly to
avow it, and having come to an affirmative conclusion,
on the simple ground of candour, I now state that the
readings and reflections of my youth, middle age, and
old age—for I can refer to all three of those periods
—have led me to the assurance that the Old and New
�Scepticism and Social 'Justice.
*9
Testaments are wholly the works of erring man, and
not of all-wise and all-conscientious God. The ten
dency to this opinion began at a very early period,
and well do I recollect what a source of trouble it
was for years, from a sort of undefined impression
that, on such an important subject, it was wrong to
entertain opinions contrary to what I had been taught,
and to what were generally held around me. To
counteract my supposed error, I procured first Paley’s
works, with which I was dissatisfied, because they
only proved design. I next took up Chalmers’s ‘ Evi
dences of Christianity,’ but this work increased my
doubts, since, in my judgment, it only showed that a
person named Jesus existed at a certain time, but
afforded no evidence of his divinity; and I then deter
mined not to think of the subject, but just to go
regularly to church, which I did for a certain time.
Later a pious friend put into my hands a work of
Bishop Horne’s, in which I found as little assistance
as I did from Paley and Chalmers, and I have ever
since been waiting for something more forcible to
appear. Instead of this, works of a contrary descrip
tion have been multiplying, until the climax arrived
in the publication of sceptical opinions by divines, and
most of them members of the Church of England
itself. Eirst came the ‘ Essays and Reviews,’ then
the works of Bishop Colenso, with those of Bishop
Hinds, Dr Davidson, and others of great weight,
scarcely any of which have been replied to, except in
terms of denunciation ; and I must also now include
the ‘ Speaker’s Commentary,’ under the highest
clerical sanction and authority, in which we are told
that one word is not to be read according to its literal
meaning, but in the scientific sense given to it by
geologists, the natural inference being that there
must be also other words to be read by the light of
science, and, of course, of reason. In fact, for solving
the doubts of inquiring minds relative to the Bible
�20
Scepticism and Social Justice.
having been written under inspiration, no solid assist
ance has yet been afforded by either clergy or laity.
I now conclude with referring to the point with,
which I commenced, that it is time the social positions
of believers and disbelievers in inspiration were
settled on some fair basis; and, on behalf of the
latter, I claim that they should not only be freed
from all stigmas and disadvantages on account of
their opinions, but esteemed according to their merits,
morally viewed, and allowed to hold all positions of
honour and trust, as members of the State, equally
with the former. And lastly, I appeal to the clergy
especially, and to all others who are confident of
their power argumentatively to sustain the divine
inspiration of the Bible, either to come forward, and
show before the tribunals of common sense and justice
that they are right, and we, who have been guided in
our opinions by the teachings of the works I have
cited, or by our own reflections, are wrong, or other
wise to admit us to be entitled to a full share of all
social rights and privileges, and henceforth to let us
be honest and frank.
PROPOSAL.
In the preceding part I have endeavoured to show
that Sceptics and Free-thinkers are fully justified
in the views they hold respecting what is called
Revelation and Inspiration, inasmuch as they are
supported by a large number of serious and thoughtful
men and writers, both of the past and present periods,
whose talents, honour, and judgment have not been
impugned, and whose writings and arguments have
hitherto been met only by denials and denunciations. I
have also indicated the actual wrongs which some
�Scepticism and Social Justice.
21
persons suffer for their known, or supposed, sceptical
views, and the painful positions in which many are
placed by the forced concealment of their real opi
nions on inspiration.
Under these circumstances, and taking into con
sideration that the number of men and women who
claim the right of free and independent thought and
opinion, in religious as well as secular matters, is
become very large,—so large, indeed, that they may
be counted by thousands,—and that they are injuri
ously affected by the unfair prejudices to which they
are subjected,—
I PROPOSE
That steps be taken to form a Society, having for
its main objects the maintenance of the Right of
Private Judgment in its full integrity, together with
the right to hold and express opinions on religious
as freely as on secular subjects, and the protection of
its members from injurious attacks on their characters,
or obstacles opposed to their private or social inte
rests, on account of their opinions.
I do not suggest any working details, because it
is first necessary to ascertain whether a nucleus can
be found of a body ready to adopt the above, or any
similar principles, as the basis of a Society.
THOS. HORLOCK BASTARD.
Charlton Marshall, Blandford,
Marc7i, 1872.
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°
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*
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Victorian Blogging
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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
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Scepticism and social justice
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Bastard, Thomas Horlock
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Place of publication: Ramsgate
Collation: 21, [1] p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: Publisher's list on unnumbered page at the end. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
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Thomas Scott
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1872
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CT167
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English
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Bible
Scepticism
Bible
Conway Tracts
Scepticism
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CT^
THE
SMALL CATECHISM
OF
DR. MARTIN LUTHER.
Jitadlj Sranslatti).
TRANSLATION REVISED AND CORRECTED BY
REV. H. WETZEL,
WOODSTOCK, VA.
187 2.
��LUTHER’S SMALL CATECHISM.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,
As they should be clearly and simply explained to every household
by the head of the family.
The First Commandment.
Thou shalt have no other Gods.
What does that mean ? Answer.
We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
The Second Commandment.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
What does that mean ? Answer.
We should fear and love God, so as not to curse, swear, com
jure, lie, or deceive, by His name; but call upon it in every time
of need, pray to, praise, and give thanks to it.
The Third Commandment.
Thou shalt keep holy the Festival day.
What does that mean ? Answer.
We should fear and love God, so as not to despise preaching
and His Word, but deem it holy, and willingly hear and learn it.
The Fourth Commandment.
Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother.
What does that mean ? Answer.
We should fear and love God, so as not to despise or provoke
our parents and rulers, but honour, serve, obey, love, and esteem
them.
The Fifth Commandment.
Thou shalt not kill.
Wliat does that mean ? Answer.
We should fear and love God, so as not to do our neighbour
any injury or harm in his body, but help and befriend him in
all bodily troubles.
The Sixth Commandment.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
What does that mean ?
Answer.
�4
We should fear and love God, so as to live modestly and
purely in words and deeds, and that husband and wife should
love and honour each other.
The Seventh Commandment.
Thou shalt not steal.
What does that mean ? Answer.
We should fear and love God, so as not to take our neighbour’s
money or property, nor get it by spurious goods or unfair deal
ing, but help him to improve and protect his property and
business.
The Eighth Commandment.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
What does that mean ? Answer.
We should fear and love God, so as not to calumniate our
neighbour, betray, or slander him, or injure his character, but
defend him, speak well of him, and make the best of all he does.
The Ninth Commandment.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house.
What does that mean ? Answer.
We should fear and love God, so as not to try to defraud our
neighbour of his inheritance or house, or obtain it with a pre
tence of justice, but aid and assist him to keep it.
The Tenth Commandment.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his man
servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any
thing that is his.
What does that mean? Answer.
We should fear and love God, so as not to detach, extort, or
alienate from our neighbour his wife, servants, or cattle, but try
to get them to stay and do their duty.
What does God say about all these Commandments ?
He says this: I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy
unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my command
ments.
What does that mean ? Answer.
God threatens to punish all who disobey these Commandments:
we should, therefore, fear His anger, and do nothing which such
Commandments forbid. But He promises grace and every bless
ing to all who keep them; we should therefore love and trust
in Him, and gladly obey His Commandments.
�5
THE GREED,
As it should be clearly and simply explained to every household by
the head of the family.
THE FIRST ARTICLE.
Of Creation.
I believe in God. the Father, Almighty Maker of heaven and
earth.
What does that mean ? Answer.
I believe that God has created me and all that exists; that
He has given and still preserves to me body and soul, eyes, ears,
and all my limbs, my reason and all my senses, and also clothing
and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and child, land,
cattle, and all my property; that He provides me plentifully
and every day with all the necessaries of life, protects me from all
danger, and preserves and guards me against all evil, and all
this out of nothing but paternal and divine goodness and mercy,
without any merit or worthiness of mine; for all which I am in
duty bound to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him. This is most
certainly true.
THE SECOND ARTICLE.
Of Redemption.
And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord; who was con
ceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary ; suffered
under Pontius Pilate ; was crucified, died, and was buried; He
descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God
the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the
quick and the dead.
What does that mean ? Answer.
I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father
from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my
Lord; who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature,
secured and delivered me from all sins, from death, and from
the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His
holy and precious blood, and with His innocent sufferings and
death; in order that I might be his, live under him in his king
dom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and
blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, and lives and
reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.
�6
THE THIRD ARTICLE.
Qf Sanctification.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church ; the
Communion of Saints; the Forgiveness of sins ; the Resurrec
tion of the body; and the Life everlasting. Amen.
What does that mean ? Answer.
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe
in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him ; but the Holy Ghost
has called me through the gospel, enlightened me by His gifts,
and sanctified and preserved me in the true faith ; just as He
calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian
Church on earth, and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ in
the true faith; in which Christian Church He daily forgives
abundantly all my sins, and the sins of all believers, and will
raise up me and all the dead at the last day, and will grant
everlasting life to me and to all who believe in Christ. This is
most certainly true.
THE LOBB’S PRAYER,
As it should be clearly and simply explained to every household by
the head of the family.
Our Father who art in heaven.
What does that mean? Answer.
By this God would make us believe that He is really our
Father, and that we are really his children, so that we may with
assurance and all confidence ask anything of Him, even as little
children would ask their own dear father.
The First Petition.
Hallowed be thy name.
What does that mean ? Answer.
The name of God is indeed in itself holy; but we pray in this
petition that it may be hallowed also by us.
How can that be done ? Answer.
When the word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and
we, as the children of God, lead holy lives, according to it: To
this may our blessed Father in heaven help us! But whoever
teaches and lives otherwise than as God’s word teaches, profanes
the name of God among us. From this preserve us, Heavenly
Father!
The Second Petition.
Thy kingdom come.
�7
What does that mean ? Answer.
The kingdom of God comes indeed of itself, without our
prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may come also to
us. ■
How can that be done ? Answer.
When our Heavenly Father gives us his Holy Spirit, so that
by His grace we believe His holy word, and live a godly life
here in time, and hereafter in eternity.
The Third Petition.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
What does that mean ? Answer.
God’s good and gracious will is done indeed without our
prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done also
by us.
How can that be done 1 Answer.
When God brings to naught every evil counsel and will which
would hinder us from hallowing the name of God, and prevent
His kingdom from coming to us (such as the will of the devil,
of the world, and of our own flesh) ; but makes us strong and
steadfast in His word and faith even unto the end,—this is His
gracious and good will.
The Fourth Petition.
Give us this day our daily bread.
What does that mean ? Answer.
God gives indeed without our prayer even to the wicked also
their daily bread; but we pray in this petition that He will
cause us to understand what is our daily bread, and to receive it
with thankfulness.
What is, then, our daily bread ? Answer.
All that pertains to the nourishment and needs of the body,
as food and drink, clothing and shoes, house and home, land,
cattle, money, property, pious husband or wife, pious children,
pious servants, pious and faithful rulers, a good government,
good seasons, peace, health, education, honour, good friends,
faithful neighbours, and the like.
The Fifth Petition.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who tres
pass against us.
What does that mean ? Answer.
We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven will not
look upon our sins, nor on account of them deny our requests ;
for we are not worthy of anything for which we pray, and have
�not merited it; but that He would grant us everything through
grace, for we daily sin very much, and deserve nothing but
punishment. We will, therefore, also on our part, heartily for
give and willingly do good to those who sin against us.
The Sixth Petition.
And lead us not into temptation.
What does that mean ? Answer.
God indeed tempts no one, but we pray in this petition that
God will guard and preserve us, so that the devil, the world,
and our own flesh, may not deceive us, nor lead us into errour,
despair, and other great and shameful sins; and that even if we
may be thus tempted, we may nevertheless finally prevail and
gain the victory.
The Seventh Petition.
But deliver us from evil.
What does that mean ? Answer.
We pray in this petition, as in a summary, that our Father
in heaven will deliver us from all kinds of evil—of body or soul,
of property or character—and, at last, when our time comes,
will grant us a happy end, aud graciously take us from this
world of sorrow to himself in heaven.
Amen.
What does that mean ? Answer.
That I should be sure that such petitions are pleasing to our
Father in heaven, and are heard by Him; for He has Himsel'
commanded us thus to pray, and promised that He will hear us.
Amen. Amen: that means yes, yes, so be it.
THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY BAPTISM,
As it should he clearly and simply explained to every household by
the head of the family.
I. What is baptism ? Answer.
Baptism is not simply water, but it is the water comprehended
in God’s command, and connected with God’s word.
What is that word of God ? Answer.
It is that which our Lord Christ speaks in the last chapter of
Matthew: Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
II. What does baptism give, or of what use is it ? Answer
�9
It worketh forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the
devil, and gives everlasting salvation to all who believe it, as
the word and promise of God declare.
What are such words and promises of God? Answer.
Those which our Lord Christ speaks in the last chapter of
Mark: He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but
he that believeth not, shall be damned.
III. How can water do such great things ? Answer.
It is not water, indeed, that does it, but the word of God which
is with and in the water, and faith, which trusts in the word of
God in the water. For without the word of God, the water is
nothing but water, and no baptism; but with the word of God
it is a baptism—that is, a gracious water of life and a washing
of regeneration in the Holy Ghost, as St. Paul says, Titus, 3d
chapter: By the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost, which he slied on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Saviour; that being justified by His grace we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is
certainly true.
IV. What does such baptizing with water signify ? Answer.
It signifies that the old Adam in us is to be drowned by daily
sorrow and repentance, and perish with all sins and evil desires ;
and that the new man should daily come forth again and arise,
who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
Where is it so written 1 Answer.
St. Paul in the 6th chapter of Romans says: We are buried
with Christ by baptism into death ; that like as He was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life.
THE OFFICE OF THE KEYS,
As it should be clearly and simply explained to every household by
the head of the family.
What is the office of the keys? Answer.
The office of the keys is the special church power which
Christ has given to His Church on earth, to forgive the sins of
repentant sinners, but to retain the sins of unrepentant sinners
until they repent.
Where is that written ? Answer.
The holy Evangelist John writes thus in the 20th chapter:
The Lord Jesus breathed on his disciples, and saith unto them,
�10
Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whosesoever sins ye remit, they are
remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are
retained.
What do you believe these words mean? Answer.
I believe that those who are called to be Servants of Christ
deal with us by His divine command ; and especially when they
exclude open and unrepentant sinners from the Christian con
gregation, and absolve those who regret their sins and desire to
amend, that it is as efficacious and certain even in heaven, as if
our Lord Jesus Christ himself dealt with us.
How the Unlearned should be taught to Confess.
(Matt,
xviii.
John xx.)
What is confession? Answer.
Confession comprehends two parts : one, that we confess our
sins ; the other, that we receive absolution or forgiveness from
the confessor, as from God himself, and doubt not, but firmly
believe that our sins are forgiven before God in heaven by means
of it.
Which sins should we confess ?
Before God we should accuse ourselves of all sins, even of
those which we do not ourselves perceive ; as we do in the Lord’s
Prayer. But to the confessor we should confess those sins only
which we know and feel in our hearts.
What are these ? Answer.
Here consider your condition, according to the Ten Command
ments, whether you are a father or mother, a son or daughter,
a master or mistress, a man-servant or maid-servant, whether
you have been disobedient, unfaithful, lazy, passionate, immo
dest, spiteful. Whether you have injured any one by words or
deeds. Whether you have stolen, neglected, or wasted any
thing, or done any harm.
Show me a short way to confess. Answer.
Speak thus to the confessor: Worthy and dear Sir, I beseech
you to hear my confession, and absolve me for God’s sake.
Say:
I, poor sinner, confess to God that I am guilty of every
sin ; in particular I confess to you that I am a man-servant,
maid-servant, &c. But, alas! I serve my master unfaithfully,
for I have not always done what they told me ; I have moved
them to anger and to cursing, have neglected my duty, and let
things go to waste; I have also been immodest in words and
deeds, have quarrelled with my equals, have grumbled and
�11
sworn at my wife, &c. For all this I am sorry and ask forgive
ness. I will do so no more.
A master or mistress should say thus : In particular I confess
to you, that I have not brought up my child and household to
the glory of God. I have cursed ; have given a bad example
with improper words and actions ; have injured my neighbours ;
have slandered, overcharged, given spurious goods and short
measure ; and so on with anything he has done contrary to the
commands of God, and what is proper to his position.
If, however, the conscience of any one of you is not troubled
with such or greater sins, do not worry, or hunt up, or invent
other sins, and thereby make a martyrdom out of confession ;
but mention one or two you know of. Thus : In particular I
confess that I have once sworn, once used improper language,
once neglected some duty, &c. And then stop. But if you
should know of no sin (which, however, is hardly possible),
then mention none in particular, but receive absolution after the
general confession which you make to God before the confessor.
Then shall the father confessor say:—
God be merciful unto thee and strengthen thy faith.
Further:—
Dost thou believe that my forgiveness is the forgiveness of God ?
Answer.
Yes, dear Sir.
Then let him say: As thou believest, so be it unto thee.
And I, by command of my Lord Jesus Christ, forgive thee thy
sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. Amen. Depart in peace.
Those, however, who are much troubled in conscience, or who
are in distress or temptation, a father confessor will know how
to comfort with passages from the Bible, and stir up to faith.
This is only a general method of confession for the unlearned.
THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR,
As it should be clearly and simply explained to every household by
the head of the family.
What is the Sacrament of the Altar ? Answer.
It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under
the bread and wine, given unto us Christians to eat and to drink,
as it was instituted by Christ himself.
Where is it so written? Answer.
The holy Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, together with
St. Paul, write thus :—
�12
Our Lord Jesus Christ the same night in which he was be
trayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake
it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my
body, which is given for you ; this do, in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had
supped, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all
of it: this cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed
for you, for the remission of sins : this do ye, as oft as ye drink
it, in remembrance of me.
What is the use, then, of such eating and drinking ? Answer.
It is pointed out to us in the words : given, and shed for you,
for the remission of sins. Namely, through these words, the
remission of sins, life and salvation are given us in the Sacra
ment : for where there is remission of sins, there are also life
and salvation.
How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things ? An
swer.
Eating and drinking, indeed, do not do them, but the words
which stand here : given and shed for you for the remission of
sins. Which words connected with the bodily eating and drink
ing are the main point in the sacrament; and whoever believes
these words, has that which they declare and mean, namely,
forgiveness of sins.
Who then receives this Sacrament worthily ? Answer.
Fasting and bodily preparation arej indeed, a good external
discipline ; but he is truly worthy and well prepared, who has
faith in these words : given and shed for you, for the remission
of sins. But he who does not believe these words, or who
doubts, is unworthy and unfit, for the words “ for you” require
truly believing hearts.
How the head of a family should teach his household to conse
crate themselves to God morning and evening.
In the morning when you rise from bed, you shall consecrate
yourself to God with the sign of the holy cross and say:—
Glory be to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Then, kneeling or standing, you shall say the Creed and the
Lord’s Frhyer, and, if you choose, you may also say this little
prayer:—
I thank thee, my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ thy
dear Son, that thou hast protected me through the night from
all danger and harm; and I beseech thee to protect me this day
also from all sin and evil, so that all my life and actions may
please thee. For into thy hands I commend my body and soul
�13
and everything. Let thy holy angel be with me, so that the
evil one may have no power over me. Amen.
And then go cheerfully to your work, singing, it may be, a
hymn, the Ten Commandments, or whatever your devout feel
ings may suggest.
In the evening when you go to bed, you shall consecrate your
self to God with the sign of the holy cross, and say:—
Glory be to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Then, kneeling or standing, you shall say the Creed and the
Lord’s Prayer; and, if you choose, you may al-so say this little
prayer:—
I thank thee, my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, thy
dear Son, that thou hast this day so graciously protected me,
and I beseech thee to forgive me all my sins, which I have wick
edly done, and graciously protect me also this night. For into
thy hands I commend my body and soul and everything. Let
thy holy angel be with me, that the evil one may have no power
over me. Amen.
And then go to sleep cheerfully and at once.
How the head of a family should teach his household to say
the Benedicite and Gratias.
The members of the family shall come to the table reverently
and with folded hands and say:—
The eyes of all wait upon thee, 0 Lord, and thou givest them
their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
Then the Lord’s Prayer, and then this prayer:—
0 Lord God, Heavenly Father, bless us and these thy gifts,
which we receive through thy tender kindness, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Gratias.
Thus, also, after eating should they do similarly, saying reve
rently and with folded hands :—
0 give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good ; for his mercy
endureth forever: He giveth to the beast his food, and to the
young ravens which cry. He deligliteth not in the strength of
a horse. He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The
Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him • in those that hope
in his mercy.
Then the Lord’s Prayer, and then this prayer:—
We thank thee, Lord God our Father, through Jesus Christ
our Lord, for all thy benefits. O Thou who livest and reignest
forever and ever. Amen.
�14
TABLE OF DUTIES,
Or, certain passages of the Scriptures, selectedfor various orders and
conditions of men, by which they are admonished of their duty.
To Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers.
A bishop must be blameless, the busband of one wife, vigilant,
sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not
given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre ; but patient,
not a brawler, not covetous ; one that ruleth well his own house,
having his children in subjection with all gravity; not a novice,
but holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that
lie may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince
the gainsayers. 1 Ptm. iii. 2-6 ; Tit. i. 9.
Of Earthly Government.
Let every soul submit himself to the governments that are
over him, for there is no government but of God. Whosoever,
therefore, resisteth the government, resistetli the ordinance of
God ; and they that resist shall receive to themselves condem
nation. For it beareth not the sword in vain, for it is the min
ister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth
evil. Rom. xiii. 1-5.
To Husbands.
Ye husbands, dwell with your wives according to knowledge,
giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as
being heirs together of the grace of life ; that your prayers be
not hindered. 1 Pet. iii. 7. And be not bitter against them.
Col. iii. 19.
To Wives.
Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands, as unto the
Lord—even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord—whose
daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with
any amazement. Eph. v. 22; 1 Pet. iii. 6.
To Parents.
Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring
them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Epli. vi. 4.
To Children.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord ; for this is right.
Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment
with promise ; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest
live long on the earth. Eph. vi. 1-3.
�15
To Male and Female Servants, and Labourers.
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according
to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart,
as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers ; but as
the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with
good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men ; know
ing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall
he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. Epli. vi. 5-8.
To Masters and Mistresses.
Ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threat
ening ; knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is
there respect of persons with him. Eph. vi. 9.
To Young Persons, in general.
Ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder, and be clothed
with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to
the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty
hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. 1 Pet. v. 5, 6.
To Widows.
She that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and
continueth in supplications and prayers night and day; but she
that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. 1 Tim. v. 5, 6.
To Everybody.
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Herein are compre
hended all the commandments. Rom. xiii. 9. And persevere
in prayer for all men. 1 Tim. ii. 1.
Let each one well his lesson learn,
And all at home to good will turn.
�16
A MARRIAGE SERVICE
For Unlearned Pastors.
Preface
of
Dr. Martin Luther (Extract).
Every land has its own customs, says a proverb. Therefore,
because matrimony is a temporal concern, it behooves the clergy
not to command or ordain anything in reference to it, but let
every town and country keep its own. customs.
Some take the bride twice to church, both in the evening and
in the morning ; some only once. Some announce and publish
the banns from the pulpit two or three weeks before; with all
this I have nothing to do, but leave it to the authorities.
But if we are asked to pronounce a blessing, or to pray over
them before the church or in the church, or also to marry them,
it is our duty to do so. . . . Now, inasmuch as so much show is
made in consecrating monks and nuns, although their station
and condition is an ungodly one, and a pure invention of man,
having no foundation in the Bible ; how much more should we
honor this condition ordained by God, and consecrate, pray for,
and adorn it with much more ceremony. For, although it is a
condition belonging to the world, yet it has God’s word for it,
and is not invented or founded by men as the condition of monks
or nuns is; therefore it should be looked upon a hundred times
more as a spiritual condition than the monastic condition is ;
which last should be looked upon as the most earthly and fleshly
of all conditions, because it is invented and founded by flesh
and blood, and, more than anything else, by the wit and wisdom
of this world.
First. The banns are published from the pulpit in the follow
ing words:—
N. and N. desire, according to the ordinance of God, to enter
into the holy estate of matrimony, and therefore desire a Chris
tian prayer from all, that they may begin it in God’s name and
prosper. And if any one has anything to say against it, let him
now speak, or else hereafter hold his peace. May God give them
his blessing. Amen.
In the church they are joined in marriage thus :—
N., wilt thou have N. for thy wedded wife ?
Dicat. Yes.
N., wilt thou have N. for thy wedded husband?
Dicat. Yes.
�17
Here let him cause them to give each other the wedding rings
and join their right hands, and then let him say:—
What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.
Then let him say to all: —
Forasmuch as N. and N. desire to be joined in marriage, and
have confessed the same here openly before God and the world;
and thereto have joined hands and given each other wedding
rings, I pronounce them husband and wife in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Before the altar, over the bridegroom and bride, let him read
God’s word, Gen. ii. 18, and 21-24.
Then let him turn to them both and speak thus :—
Inasmuch as ye both are joined in matrimony in God’s name,
hear first the command of God in reference to this condition.
Thus says St. Paul: Eph. v. 25, 26.
In the second place, hear also the cross which God has laid
upon this condition. Thus spake God to the woman: Gen. iii. 16.
And to the man God spake : Gen. iii. 17-19.
In the third place : Let this be your comfort, that you know
and believe that your condition is pleasing to God and blessed
by Him. For thus it is written: Gen. i. 27, 28. Therefore also
Solomon says, He who findetli a wife findeth a good thing, and
receiveth blessing from the Lord.
Here let him stretch out his hands over them and pray thus :—
0 Lord God, who hast created man and woman and ordained
them to matrimony, which thou hast blessed with fruits of the
body and made a symbol of the Sacrament of thy dear Son, Jesus
Christ, and of the Church His bride, we beseech thine infinite
goodness that thou wouldst not allow this thy ordinance and
blessing to be removed from us or to fail, but mercifully preserve
it to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
�18
THE BAPTISMAL SERVICE,
-
Translated into German and rearranged.
Let the baptizer say: —
Come out, thou unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy
Ghost.
Then let him make the sign of the cross on the forehead and
breast and say:—
Receive the sign of the holy cross both on the forehead and
on the breast.
Let us pray.
0 almighty, everlasting God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
I call upon thee for this N., thy servant, who asks for the gift of
thy baptism, and seeks for thine eternal grace by spiritual re
generation ; receive him, 0 Lord, and as thou hast said: Ask
and ye shall receive ; seek and ye shall find ; knock and it shall
be opened unto you ; so give now to him who asketh, and open
the door to him who knocketh, that he may receive the eternal
blessing of this Heavenly washing, and the promised kingdom
which thou givest, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, who didst condemn the unbe
lieving world in the deluge, according to thy just judgement, and
who of thy great mercy didst save Noah; who didst drown
blinded Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, and led thy peo
ple Israel through without wetting the soles of their feet, figuring
thereby thy holy Baptism ; and who by the Baptism of thy well
beloved Son, Jesus Christ, didst sanctify the Jordan and all water
to be a holy deluge and an abundant washing away of all sin,
we beseech thee by thine infinite mercies that thou wilt merci
fully look upon this child, and bless him with true faith in the
spirit, that by this healing deluge all in him may be drowned
and destroyed which is born of the old Adam, and which he
himself has added to it; that he may be separated from the
number of the unfaithful, received dry and safe into the holy
ark of Christ’s Church, be steadfast in faith and joyful in hope,
serving thy name, so that he may become worthy with all the
faithful to attain to the eternal life which thou hast promised,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
I summon thee, thou unclean spirit, in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to come out, and go away
from this servant of Jesus Christ, N. Amen.
Let us hear the holy gospel of St. Mark, x. 13-16 : And they
brought young children to Jesus that he should touch them, and
the disciples rebuked those that brought them, &c.
�19
Then let the minister lay his hands on the child’s head, and
pray the Lord’s Prayer, together with the sponsors, kneeling.
Then let the little child be brought to the font, and the
minister say:—
The Lord protect thy incoming and thy outgoing, both now
and forever.
Then let the minister cause the child, through its sponsors, to
renounce the devil, and say:—
N., dost thou renounce the devil?
Answer. Yes.
And all his works?
Answer. Yes.
And all his ways ?
Answer. Yes.
Then let him ask:—
Dost thou believe in God the Father, almighty maker of hea
ven and earth?
Answer. Yes.
Dost thou believe in Jesus Christ, his only, &c.?
Answer. Yes.
Dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost, one holy Christian
Church, the communion of saints, &c.?
Answer. Yes.
Wilt thou be baptized ?
Answer. Yes.
Then let him take the child and baptize it, and say:—
And I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost.
Then shall the sponsors hold the little child over the font, and
the priest say as he draws on the clirisom-cloth: —
The almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has regenerated thee through water and the Holy Ghost, and
who has forgiven thee all thy sins, strengthen thee with his
grace to everlasting life. Amen.
Peace be unto thee.
Answer. Amen.
��
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Victorian Blogging
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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
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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The small catechism of Dr. Martin Luther
Creator
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Luther, Martin
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [S.l.]
Collation: 19 p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: Small handbill comparing Lutheran and Calvinist doctrines, tipped in to last page. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Literally translated. Translation revised and corrected by Rev. H. Wetzel.
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[S. n.]
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1872
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CT13
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Wetzel, H. (tr)
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Calvinism
Lutheran Church
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Catechisms
Conway Tracts
Martin Luther
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Text
THE AGE OF LIGHT,
•
BT
J. KASPARY,
Humanitarian.
LONDON:
F. FARRAH, 282, STRAND.
1872.
THE GOD OF NATURE.
The existence of human intelligence and animal instinct proves
to reasoning beings the existence of unchangeable laws, according
to which the universe is governed; and the existence of these laws
proves to reasoning beings the existence of an eternal, immutable,
all-pervading, omnipotent and infinitely wise just and merciful
Being. For the universe is composed of dividable substance or
matter, and of beings or souls incapable of division, and both
classes of essential existence have changeable qualities. As the
acquisition of human intelligence and animal instinct, however,
would be impossible in an universe subject to changes according
to varying laws, and can be acquired only by life-producing souls
from the contemplation of, and reasoning on, the changes which
take place in matter and souls according to immutable laws, the
existence of human intelligence and of animal instinct there
fore proves the existence of unchangeable laws. But as neither
the whole universe nor any of its component parts has an immu
table nature or unchangeable qualities, there must necessarily
exist an eternally immutable and all-pervading cause for the pro
duction of similar effects (or change of quality) in similar means
(or matter and souls) everywhere, at all times, and even in opposi
tion to the wishes of the whole human race. The existence,
therefore, of unvarying laws according to which changes take
place, consequently proves the existence of an essential Being,
possessing a nature or the attributes of eternity, immutability,
omnipresency and omnipotency, and this Being I call the “ God
of Nature.” As all souls have derived their intelligence and
instinct, or their true ideas of wisdom or goodness, from the ob
servation of, and reasoning on, the immutable laws, which I call
“ God’s Laws of Nature,” every person possessing adequate
intelligence will know, and those having true instinct will believe,
that the “ God of Nature” i3 infinitely wise, just and merciful.
For “God’s Laws of Nature” are the only infallible criterion
by which intelligent and virtuous persons can distinguish wisdom
from folly, morality from immorality, or good from evil. Since
those thoughts desires and acts only are wise, moral or good.
�9
which are rewarded by God according to His nature or laws with
progressive happiness, and those are unwise, immoral or evil, that
are corrected by Him with increasing misery. The existence of
the “God of Nature” excludes, of course, the possibility of
miracles; for the occurrence of even a single miracle would dis
prove. the existence of immutable laws, the existence of human
intelligence and animal instinct, and consequently the existence of
the “ God of Nature/’ Believers in false gods are therefore the
only persons who have faith in miracles, because Pagans have
neither the intelligence to know, nor the instinct to believe, in the
“ God of Nature
since they have either not sufficiently culti
vated themselves, or their intelligence and instinct have been
perverted by the belief in such fictitious idols as Brahma, Jehovah,
Jupiter, the Holy Ghost and Allah, or in such real idols as
Chrishna, Christ, Kabir and Mary, the mother of the Christian idol.
All the miracles recorded in such Heathen Mythologies as the
Vedas, Bible, Tripitakas and the New Testament, are therefore
either fables suggested by priestcraft, or tricks wrought by piously
deceitful jugglers, or natural occurrences which have been re
garded as miraculous by the superstitious and ignorant
All
persons, however, who have no knowledge of, or belief in,
“God of Nature,” but worship any of the fictitious or real idols,
which theMoseses and Aarons have made for the people, are deluded
Pagans, and will be corrected by God with physical and mental
pain until they are converted into Humanitarians, when the
Religion of God will teach them that the only way of salvation is
the worship of the “ God of Nature ” by the acquisition of wis
dom and the practice of goodness.
The Lecture at Midland Railway Arch,
Delivered by the Humanitarian, J. KASPARY,
SUPERIOR TO ASD SUPERSEDING
The Ten Commandments of the Bible,
Probably composed and engraved on stone by Moses, but ascribed to Jehovah.
As Christian Jesuits have no longer the power in England to
imprison, torture and murder by Law, the intelligent and honest
persons who advocate true science and philosophy (the real words
of God), and therefore speak against the paganism, superstition,
and immoral doctrines, contained in the Christian Scriptures and
Creeds., the modern Jesuits are compelled to resort to the primitive
Christian practice, either of flattering mental idleness and en
couraging wickedness by promising salvation in return for
credulity, or by committing pious frauds in favour of their creed
and against the opinions of their opponents. One of the Bible
defenders, for instance, knowing that it is impossible to defend
Christianity, or to attack the Religion of God by fair means, told
the writer’s audience at Chelsea Bridge, only a few weeks ago, that
�3
the Ten Commandments secured to the working classes of this
country their Sunday, of which the Religion of God wanted to
rob them, giving them instead only four Mondays in the whole
year as days of rest and recreation. The few Christians present,
of course, cheered the eloquent defender of the Bible—for when did
deluded Christians and similar Heathens by mistake not love their
greatest enemies and hate their truest friends ?—the majority of
the audience, however, being composed of thinking men and women,
scarcely needed to be reminded that every Christian who does not
work on Sundays and rest on Saturdays breaks the Fourth Com
mandment of Moses, and that the Religion of God teaches “Every
Sunday, and the first Monday in January, April, July, and Octo
ber, you shall keep holy throughout the globe, as days of rest and
recreation.” This Bible defender, therefore, committed two pious
frauds,—one in favor of the Bible, and the other against the
Religion of God. The writer believes, however, that when this
Christian will cease to be his own greatest enemy, he will make
atonement by speaking truthfully against Christian paganism and
superstition and in favor of the Religion of God; for every sane
and honest person will acknowledge in time that the Lecture at
Midland Railway Arch is infinitely superior to the Ten Command
ments of the Bible, but if there be conscientious representatives
of Judaism or of any Christian sect who differ from this opinion,
they are invited to debate or to correspond with their brother, the
Humanitarian, J. KASPARY, 5,
Row, High Holborn,
London, W. C.
THE LECTURE AT MIDLAND RAILWAY ARCH,
Delivered on the two first Sundays in September, 1871, contains a translation by the
Humanitarian, J. KASPARY, of the following Eight Commandments, which the God
of Nature Himself eternally teaches by His laws of nature to every human being possess
ing adequate intelligence and goodness:—
1. You shall know that Z alone am God, the ever conscious, omnipresent, omni
potent, and infinitely wise, just, merciful, and holy Being, in Whom the universe
exists, and Who eternally pervades all divisible and indivisible essence (matter and
souls). You shall, therefore, neither believe in fictitious beings (the creatures of
human imagination, as, for instance, Brahma, Jehovah, Jupiter, Allah, the Devil,
and the Holy Ghost), nor bow down to any real idols (the objects in nature and art,
as, for instance, the sun, the elements, animals, Mary, Jesus, a golden calf, Jehovah’s
ark, and the crucifix). You shall, however, devote your whole life to worship Me
with the acquisition of wisdom and goodness ; for I, your only Lord and God, reward
the good with progressive happiness, and correct the evil with increasing misery, yet
pardon even the greatest sinners after their purification by repentance, and after
their consecration by an abode in the garden of virtues.
2. You shall not swear, but speak what you know or believe to be the truth,
your affirmation being Yes, your negation No.
3. You shall not believe that the invented Jehovah created the world in six days,
and rested on Saturday, or that the body of the real Jesus rose again from the grave
on Sunday or in similar pious frauds of priestcraft; for I, the only Lord of all
existence am eternally active, producing all the phenomena throughout infinite space
according to My own immutable nature. You shall, therefore, regard as equally
holy all the seconds of eternity and every part of the infinite universe ; but in com
memoration of the blessing I conferred upon the human race (by rewarding with a
knowledge of the only true religion your best human friend), on the first day of the
week, you shall on that day exclusively serve Me with mental and moral culture and
�rational enjoyments. Those who minister for the instruction and pleasure of the
people shall serve Me with rest and recreation the next day. On the other six days
of the week (with the exception of a few days during the year), you shall serve Me
with working moderately for the commonwealth. Remember that I am the Lord
of active life, resting death, and life and death-like sleep, clothing you with a new
body or taking it from you, rewarding you with happiness or correcting you with
misery, according to your merits.
4. You shall be loving and grateful children towards your parents, but follow only
their good example and precepts. And when Z, the foundation of life, bless you
with children, you shall set them a good example by taking care of your own and
their physical, mental, and moral health, that Z, the universal parent, may reward
mankind with increasing bliss, and change your eternal abode into a progressive
paradise for your present and innumerable future human lives.
5. You shall not take your own life nor that of any other human being, except in
self-defence. You shall, therefore, not execute even the greatest tyrants and mur
derers when you have taken them prisoners, but liberate them after their conversion
into Humanitarian defenders of liberty. You shall, however, risk your life in the
defence of others, and rather endure imprisonment, torture, and death, than lend
yourself as a tool in an offensive war, when Zwill clothe you with a new, superior
human body and place you under the most favorable circumstances, rewarding you
with long and happy lives.
6. You shall marry only one of the other sex from rational love, and (during your
married life; forget self in the happiness of your partner, when bliss will pervade
your whole being. I shall visit, however, with misery those who prefer celibacy, or
pollute themselves with seduction, adultery, and polygamy.
7. You shall restore inherited property, stolen from the people by cunning and
force, and use your superior talents, not to accumulate excessive private fortunes, but
to enrich the commonwealth, when happiness will be your reward. Z shall correct,
however, with increasing mental and physical pain the dishonest stewards who
take more than their proper share from the gifts I have given them for distribution,
the dishonest idlers who deprive society of due labour and other thieves, until they
become converted into honest people.
8. You shall use your present and future conscious existence to examine yourself,
either to exterminate stupidity and wickedness and to develop the intelligence and
goodness acquired in your former human lives or in the present one, or to create
more talents and good desires within yourself by your thoughts and acts. Z will
bestow all My blessings upon those who keep this, My commandment, for in it are
contained all the ways that lead through the infinite regions of eternal bliss.
The Lectures at Chelsea Bridge,
Delivered by the Humanitarian, J. KASPARY,
SUPERIOR TO AND SUPERSEDING
The First Four Chapters of the New Testament,
AND
The Sermon on the Mount,
Composed by, and receiving interpolations from unknown Christians, but ascribed
to Jesus and Matthew.
The Lectures at Chelsea Bridge have been composed, delivered,
and published, in order to convince Christians that the Religion
of God, which the Humanitarian, J. Kaspary, is advocating,
teaches wiser doctrines than even the Sermon on the Mount. The
whole world will admit in time that the Lectures at Chelsea
Bridge, which contain only a small part of the eternal and infinite
Religion of God, are superior to the first seven chapters of the
New Testament ; but contemporaries, who differ from this opinion,
are earnestly requested to make an impartial comparison. These
lectures and the other publications of the Humanitarian, J. K.,
�5
will be sent to the Pope, Roman Catholic and Protestant Arch
bishops, and Bishops of Great Britain and Ireland, the Lower
House of Convocation, and the most eminent Ministers of Dissen
ters. Humanitarians invite and accept the representatives of any
Christian church or sect to examine with their representative in
debate the superiority of the Religion of God over Christianity.
They are confident that truth, though taught and defended by a
lisping foreigner, will prove victorious over error, thotigh advo
cated by the most eloquent English Christians.
THE LECTURE AT CHELSEA BRIDGE,
Delivered on Sundays in June, 1872.
Avoid the extremes of credulity and excessive scepticism, but
examine impartially and be a rational believer of probabilities in
matters in which certainty is unattainable. The superstitious
Christian who believes that Mary was still a virgin after the con
ception of her first son and that therefore Jesus had no human father,
does not indulge in much greater folly than the extreme sceptic who
denies the existence of the man Jesus on account of the impro
bable events recorded of him: for the unwise credit either every
thing or nothing, but the wise reject only fables and other evident
untruths. Humanitarians will therefore believe that weak Joseph
seduced frail Mary, and then made the best reparation by marrying
her, an example every seducer ought to imitate. This marriage of
Joseph with pregnant Mary undeniably proves to the intelligent
reader of the Gospel the seduction of Mary by Joseph, and at
least Joseph’s belief that Jesus was his son.
You shall neither honour nor despise any person on account of
ancestors, but regard all children as brothers and sisters, assisting
every one to exterminate stupidity and evil desires by the develop
ment or creation of intelligence and goodness. It is, therefore, no
disgrace to Jesus that he was procreated before the marriage of
his erring, ignorant and despised parents, or, if it were true, that
he was the descendant of the great criminal David. It is, however,
the height of Pagan folly to esteem persons because their ancestors
have been such great knaves, murderers, thieves, adulterers and
seducers, as most founders of Christian aristocratic families have
been.
The unknown Christian who wrote the genealogy of Joseph, the
husband of Mary, in order to make the reader believe that Jesus,
as the son of Joseph, was the descendant of David (Matt. i. 1—17),
cannot be the same person as the piously deceitful author, who
invented for Jesus a fictitious father, called the Holy Ghost
(Matt. i. 18—25): for every intelligent and honest critic of the
Gospels will admit that the first seventeen verses were most pro
bably composed for the perversion of the Jews, by a perverted
Jew who believed in the Biblical Messiah, whereas the last eio-ht
verses of the first chapter, ascribed to Matthew, were most pro
bably invented for the perversion of the Gentiles by a perverted
�6
Gentile who believed in the incarnation of the deity: as this idea
was always and is still rejected by the Jews but was accepted by
almost all the Heathens of antiquity, and even to-day the majority
of the inhabitants of the East Indies believe as strongly in the
incarnation of the second person of their Trinity as the veriest
Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, Wesleyans, Methodist
Ranters, Mormon Saints and High Churchmen. The truth of the
axiom that of two contradictory propositions only one can be
true, but both may be false, will perhaps be evident even to Gospel
believers. If, therefore, the first seventeen verses (especially
Matt. i. 17) of the New Testament are true, the rest of the chap
ter (especially Matt. i. 25) must be the greatest Christian untruth;
but were even the Holy Ghost a reality, and not a mere personifi
cation of Christian priestcraft, then Matt. i. 1—17 which wants to
prove that Jesus, as the son of Joseph, was a descendant of David
and the promised Messiah of the Jews, must be a great pious
fraud of primitive Christian Jesuits. Even school boys, when
counting the generations from Abraham to Jesus in the Gospel,
will find that the Christian Holy Ghost (the reputed inspirer of
the unholy Scriptures) was deficient in arithmetic : for Matt. i. 17
states that from Abraham to Jesus are three times fourteen
generations, which according to the wisdom of this world make
forty-two generations, but according to the infallible Gospel
(Matt. i. 2—16) there are fewer than forty-two generations.
Learned Christians therefore act consistently when after swallow
ing the camels of the Scriptures they (like Dr. Newman and Arch
bishop Manning) do not strain at Papal infallibility and other
gnats of Roman Catholicism. The preceding remarks justify the
statement that only dupes conscientiously believe in the first
chapter of the Gospel: for every intelligent and honest reader
must disbelieve in the cunningly devised fables which are the
foundation-stones of Christian superstition and paganism.
You shall not pervert reason and morality by Trinitarian and
other forms of paganism and superstition, but advocate a religious
education, which alone can develop or create intelligence and good
ness in the human soul and convert mankind into Humanitarians
and our earth into a real paradise. You poison, however, the
mind of your children and perpetuate human misery by recom
mending such wolves in sheep’s clothing as the Vedas, Bible,
Tripitakas, Koran, and other Mythologies of priestcraft, since all
revealed irreligions teach more or less that folly and vice are wis
dom and virtue, and vice versa. The second chapter of the New Tes
tament, for instance, inculcates the belief in astrology, dreams
and fortune-telling. Hence the traders in Christianity have been
compelled to keep the people in ignorance, or to pervert reason by
a Biblical education which inculcates credulity, called faith, as the
highest wisdom and virtue; but stigmatises rationalism, or the re
jection of Christian fables and immoralities, called infidelity, as
the greatest folly and vice.
�7
A truly religious life consists in the acquisition of intelligence
and goodness. For intelligence is the acquired quality of the
human soul which enables man to distinguish wisdom from folly.
The acquired quality of goodness, however, inspires persons to
love and to follow the principles of virtue, but to hate and to
reject those of vice. Paganism and superstition seduce Christians
to become Ascetics, like John the Baptist, and to believe in the
third chapter of the Gospel which approves of the folly of bap
tism, and contains a silly tale, viz., that “the heavens (which have
never been shut) were opened and Jesus saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove lighting upon him : And lo, a voice from
heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.” Humanitarians will best show their pity towards deluded
Pa er an s who believe in such fables by converting them into Humani
tarians, when the converts will purify themselves from Christian
stupidity and corruption by mental industry and good thoughts
desires and acts, and also practice external cleanliness by a fre
quent application of water, without indulging in the superstitious
rite of the Baptists and of the pilgrims to the rivers Ganges and
Jordan.
The existence of the a God of Nature,” of course, excludes the
existence of beings like the Christian Devil. For the belief in
all the various fictitious devils has its origin in the personification
of temptations which arise in corrupted human nature or through
unfavorable circumstances. The inherent egotism, ambition, stu
pidity and wickedness, and the external conditions created by
them, are therefore the only real devils which tempt human beings.
For instance, egotism and ambition enter especially on a fierce
struggle for the expulsion of wisdom and love, when men of
genius are starving in garrets, laughed at or hated by the very
people who ought to reverence and love them most. “ Follow us,”
say Egotism and Ambition to a talented young politician, “ and
our servants, the knaves and their dupes, will shower upon you
riches, honour and power. Hitherto you have listened to Wisdom
and Love and their advice has rendered you poor, despised and
powerless. We shall make of you, however, not only a leader of
the great egotistical and stupid party, but a prime minister, the
defender of church and throne on which our empire rests, and the
creator of archbishops and peers in whom the egotistical and am
bitious multitudes find their models and masters.” The aspiring
young politician listens to the seducers and follows their advice,
yet tries to delude himself with the belief that he is cheating
them, that the end in view justifies the means, that his actions are
inspired by wisdom and love, and that he has changed from a
liberal Cosmopolitan into a conservative Nationalist, not for the
sake of riches, honour and power, but for the sake of educating
the great egotistical and stupid party in the divine principles of
wisdom and love. In countries, the inhabitants of which are
mostly fools, all successful politicians must have been panderers to
�aristocratic or popular folly and vice. For none but Humanitarian
politicians will perseveringly try and succeed in obtaining a good
end by pure means. It is less wicked, however, in Pagan or
Atheistic politicians to employ impure means to obtain the good
end of establishing a Republic (or the government by the best and
the wisest), than the evil end of perpetuating a Monarchy (or the
government by the most vicious and stupid, if he happens to be
the Prince of Wales).
The geniuses of wisdom and love, however, have been and will
be repeatedly sent by the infinitely wise, just and merciful God
of Nature to illuminate the dark atmosphere of popular supersti
tion and vice, by unveiling some of the divine and inextinguishable
Light of the eternal Religion of God, the spreading of which
may be delayed, but cannot be prevented, by the friends of dark
ness or the servants of egotism and ambition. Light is therefore
in the world, although the blind people do not know it, but grope
in darkness till comparatively intelligent and good persons, who
have preserved their sight by resisting the blinding process of
priestcraft, cure them of their mental blindness. As egotism and
ambition have no dwelling-place in devotees of wisdom and good
ness, the temptations resulting from external circumstances are
easily conquered. For, wisdom teaches Humanitarians that our
own happiness, or progress in the paradise of bliss, is secured in
proportion as we forget self and become the most attentive and
loving children of our Father, the best brothers and sisters of
human beings, and the kindest masters and mistresses of useful and
harmless animals.
THE LECTURE AT CHELSEA BRIDGE.
Delivered on Sunday, July.31st, 1870.
True philosophers, or lovers of wisdom, will create eternally progressive heavens
in themselves and a real paradise npon earth, since the infinitely wise Teacher
inevitably rewards with happiness those who acquire wisdom, but corrects by misery
those who, from mental idleness, remain ignorant and credulous. Blessed, therefore,
are the rich in intellect, for their’s is the republic of heaven ; but miserable (until
their conversion) are the poor in spirit, for their’s is the kingdom of hell.
Wretched are the credulous sinners, for the God of Nature will certainly not com
fort them that waste the present by mourning over an iniquitous past, and by intoxieating themselves with the poisonous spirit of priestcraft, instead of employing their
time in making themselves happy Humanitarians, since the God of Nature gives peace
to those who were formerly sinners and are now working out their future salvation, or
that will employ the rest of their present life in exterminating stupidity and evil desires
by the persevering acquisition oi wisdom and the practice of goodness. Blessed,
therefore, are the true Humanitarians, or the constant followers of the Religion of
God, for He will always give them cause to rejoice.
Proud tyrants and meek slaves are not Humanitarians, but miserable sinners, for
the God of Nature corrects with mental or physical pain those who establish or main
tain such pernicious institutions as priesthoods and hereditary aristocracies; hut
eternally blesses those courageous and liberty-loving Humanitarians, who enlighten
and regenerate human souls and establish the divine Republic upon earth.
happy are the converts that desire to live righteously, but happier are those
Humanitarians that actually lead a virtuous life.
The God of Nature is merciful even towards the greatest sinner, but blesses
especially those who exercise mercy towards their erring brothers and sisters, and do
not wilfully cause pain to animals.
�Eternally blessed are those human souls that have acquired good desires and great
talents, for the beings that possess such qualities will always have the truest and
most comprehensive knowledge of the God of Nature and be the greatest human
benefactors of mankind.
The credulous (especially those who worship a man as God) cannot but quarrel
among themselves and with those from whom they differ in opinion and language;
but Humanitarians will always live in peace with each other, and consider it as
their special duty to prevent war by exterminating sectarian and national prejudices
(which especially Christian priestcraft and statecraft have implanted in the human
mind) and by inspiring mankind with the eternal truths that the God of Nature is
our common father, that every human soul is His child, and that, therefore, all men
and women are our brothers and sisters. Ambition and credulity, however, will
always govern credulous slaves; but love and wisdom cannot but lead enlightened
Humanitarians. More blessed than the peace makers are therefore the peace preservers,
who consider mankind as their family and the whole earth as their residence; but
miserable are the war makers, who are either deluded by ambition or by superstition.
The greatest crimes any person can commit are preventing the credulous from
being converted into Humanitarians, by knowingly telling falsehoods, and by com
mitting other pious frauds in support of any priestcraft, or by wilfully misrepre
senting and perverting the Religion of God, or by slandering and persecuting Hu
manitarian teachers. Their own greatest enemies are also those talented persons, who
devote none of their time to the teaching of the people, and those wealthy persons
who do not assist in the promulgation of the Religion of God according to thenmeans. Those blessed men and women, however, who (from love towards the God
of Nature and man} set good examples and perseveringly make known the intel
lectual, moral,social, and political truths of the eternal and unerring Religion of God
(regardless of slanders and persecution of the very persons who will be most
benefited by the exertions of such true Humanitarians), develop their own heavens in
themselves, and cause the growth of their own paradise upon earth.
The Religion of God is the light of the world, which (more or less) has been shut
out from the people by the various walls of superstition, raised by deluded or ambi
tious priests in order to keep the multitude in darkness or twilight. The duty of
Humanitarians, however, is to pull down these pernicious walls, so that the light
emitted by God may illuminate all the atmosphere in which man moves. The love of
superstition and the aversion to knowledge, which many persons have contracted,
will, however, speedily pass away when man compares the beautiful realities and ten
dencies of the Religion of God with the revolting fictions and consequences of
priestcraft.
Humanitarian teachers will destroy the pernicious laws, invented by priests and
blasphemously ascribed to the God of Nature, but they will expound more clearly
the truths taught to their predecessors and contemporaries, and discover some of the
eternal commandments of the God of Nature as yet unknown to man. The vicious
teachers of erroneous doctrines (such as are contained in the Bible and sanctioned in
the sermon on the Mount—Matthew v. 17—19) enlarge the kingdom of hell within
themselves and others, as well as the vale of misery upon earth, until they are con
verted into Missionaries of the Religion of God, when they will change their own hell
and that of others into a heaven, and this earth from a vale of misery into a pro
gressive paradise.
,
Do not kill any man except in self-defence, nor any harmless animal except foi
food and other useful purposes ; do not torture even dangerous or obnoxious animals
but kill them quickly.
If your brothers and sisters speak the truth and act justly, feel grateful, and if they
slander and persecute you, be not vexed but pity them and defend yourselves.
Good desires, created by virtuous thoughts and acts, and great talents, created by
mental industry, are the only acceptable sacrifice man can offer to the God of Nature
but evil desires, created by vicious thoughts and acts, and stupidity, created by
mental idleness, profane His altar, which is every human soul. Do not, therefore
desecrate yourselves by causing unnecessary mental or physical pain to man or animals
but consecrate your souls by contributing to the happiness of sentient beings.
A man or a woman ought to marry only from rational love ; i.e., with the desire
and means to make the other party happy. A marriage without rational love is
worse than prostitution, for it leads to adultery, and a gradual suicide and murder
Divorce will never take place between husband and wife whose marriage is inspired
by rational love; but it is better that ill-assorted couples voluntarily agree to a
separation than that they should respectively commit adultery or mutually embittei
and shorten their lives. It is no sin for the divorced husband and wife to contract a
second alliance, but it is licentious for either man or woman to marry again aftet
�10
having been twice separated. The children of separated parents shall be supported
by both their father and mother, and will alternately reside with either parent but
during infancy exclusively with their mother.
r
’
Folly and dishonesty invented swearing, but wisdom and honesty will abolish it •
for lying is encouraged if statements which do not deserve credit without an oath aré
believed m, because the liar became a perjuror. Do not, therefore, swear at all but
always speak the truth; for those who swear, tacitly admit that their bare word is not
to be trusted.
Resist evil with all your might, but do not revenge yourself. If any man, there
fore, smites you on the right cheek do not turn to him the other also, but defend your
self, and pardon his assault, for stupidity, cowardice and vindictiveness make tyrants
and enemies, but intelligence, courage and forgiveness convert them into your equals
and friends. If thieves will sue you at law and take away your coat, let them not have
your cloak also, but take care of your property; for folly makes knaves, but wisdom
com erts them into honest people. Judiciously lend to them that want your assistance
without waiting till people ask you, and do every thing to oblige, but nothing from
compulsion.
Imitate the infinite wisdom and love of our ever living Father, who pervades all
human souls, but rewards with the knowledge of His presence only true Humani
tarians, or those who deserve it ; yet mercifully corrects the evil, and comforts His
repentant children. Love therefore your friends and deserve their friendship by
making them and yourself happy through mutual promotion of wisdom and good
ness, Love also your enemies by converting them into your friends throughbyour
courageous self-defence ; the consequent correction which this inflicts upon them, and
the kindness and regard for their welfare which you will afterwards display towards
these erring beings.
Persons, who give alms to gain the applause of the servants of ignorance and
mediocrity, will scarcely benefit others, but certainly injure themselves. Humani
tarians, however, when judiciously contributing towards any cause that promotes
human happiness, will not trumpet their names in pulpits and newspapers, or on
monuments and institutions (as especially ambitious Christians do) ; but their con
science will tell them that God approves of, and rewards the giving of alms only
when personally- given in secret or when anonymously sent.
Do not esteem and follow European and American hypocrites, who love to turn
up their eyes, and to pray aloud in churches, chapels, and in the corners of the
streets, that they may be seen and honoured by Christian dupes. Also do not par
ticipate in the prayer meetings of evangelical Heathens, who beg much of their
favourite idol, thinking that a man (who was wrongly (crucified by Bible Believers,
more than eighteen centuries ago, and may now be living and persecuted by Christian
Pharisees) is residing somewhere beyond the clouds, and will hear and reward
their blasphemous utterances. Irrational persons, or those who have no knowledge
of an infinitely wise Governor of the universe, can only believe, for instance, that the
immutable God of Nature sends rain because of the prayers uttered by Christians. Our
infallible Father certainly knows better what things we have need of, than His erring
children, the Roman Catholic, Protestant, and other Heathens. Do not therefore
resemble them—for the pernicious influence of begging prayers, seduces the suppli
cants with false hopes, encourages idleness, prevents self-reliance, and the full display
of those mental and physical exertions, which alone can elevate human beings or
ensure their own progressive bliss. The Prayer of Humanitarians, however, can
only reform the wicked and confirm or improve the good, as it cultivates gratitude ;
teaches self-examination, repentance and self-reliance ; inspires good resolves, and
exhorts Humanitarians to lead an exemplary life. Your brother recommends you
therefore to meditate every morning and evening on the following prayer, since there
cannot exist one single human soul that will not feel wiser, better, and happier
after the meditation.
THE PRAYER OF HUMANITARIANS.
“All-merciful God of Nature ! in Whom all beings are, accept my sincere thanks
for Thy goodness. Thou hast given all to all, and I acknowledge that but for the
ignorance, wickedness, and indifference of many erring brothers and sisters, all man
kind would live in a real paradise.
“Accept my vows to love my own soul by enlightening her, to love my own body
by living virtuously, so as to render my present life long and happy.
“I therefore vow to love each and all the members of the human family as myself, by
setting them a good example, by assisting them in their bodily sufferings, and by
enlightening their minds in order to render them, especially children, happier than
�11
myself, since this alone is the true preparation for my own progressive bliss after
death.
“ To fulfil my vows, I solemnly promise to the God of Nature and mankind to per
form the Twelve Principal Duties, and to keep the Constitution of Humanitarians,
and to try with all my might to promote the spread of the ‘Religion of God.’ ”
Fasting, vigils, celibacy, and other mortifications of the body are suicidal, and
consequently irreligious observances ; but the proper use of wholesome food and drink,
moderate sleep and work, marriage with one wife or husband, and living in society,
are religious observances, for they prolong human life. Do not therefore imitate the
pernicious example oi Christian ascetics, monks and nuns, but thankfully enjoy the
present, and the God of Nature will reward you with greater happiness in the future.
Employ your present life in creating and developing heavens in your eternal souls,
or in laying up treasures within yourselves of which all the monarchs and priests
cannot rob°you : for tyrants and knaves may confiscate your property, injure your
bodies, or even deprive you of life, but they cannot take away good desires and
great talents, as these remain inherent in the human soul after the separation from
the temporary body. Men, however, cannot acquire or possess a genius for wisdom
and goodness without improving external circumstances by assisting others to create
heavens within themselves, and by laying up material treasures for contemporaries
and posterity upon earth, which is the only and eternal abode of human souls.
You cannot serve the God of Nature except you love yourselves, by spiritually and
materially enriching the human race. Take care therefore to prolong the present life
of man by providing food, drink, clothes and shelter : for the God of Nature rewards the
human soul with intellect, and successively clothes her with a newly organized body, in
order that man may sow, reap, eat and store up food that nourishes the soul and body.
The thoughtlessness of the ignorant and credulous who erroneously believe that the
God of Nature is both the universal and the special providence of sentient beings, (Mat
thew vi. 25—31,) has diminished the stature of man, and shortened human life : the
thoughtfulness of Humanitarians, however, who know that the God of Nature is only
the universal providence, and that man must be his own special providence, will add to
the stature of man and lengthen human life. Take thought also for your innumerable
future lives by providing your children with better organized bodies and with a bettei
intellectual, moral, and physical education than you received from your parents, so that
the future generations may more easily earn for themselves the necessaries and luxuries
of life, and enjoy greater happiness than yourselves at present. Do not, however, ren
der yourselves miserable by anxieties, but live happily by being provident, by always
trying to improve your circumstances, and by having the implicit faith that the God
of Nature will reward your wise and persevering exertions with success in due time.
The good, think that everyone is animated by pure motives, until they have unde
niable proofs to the contrary ; the wicked, however, believe that everyone is bad, and
attribute impure motives to the most excellent actions ; for man cannot but judge ol
others from himself. The Humanitarian, for instance, thinks that his Christian
opponent, who receives honour and money for defending Christianity, is animated b}
pure motives, even after having convicted him of employing so impure a means a;
uttering falsehoods in the defence of Christianity, and in the attack on the Religion
of God. That very Christian, however, publicly accused his Humanitarian opponent,
who has to give his time and money in return for curses, slander, and persecution, o
teaching the Religion of God from the impure motives of honour and money, althougl
everything shews the contrary. Learn therefore to know and improve yourselves
and you will do justice to the good, exercise charity towards the evil, and point ou
mistakes, not for the purpose of reproaching and offending your erring brothers an
sisters, but of amending them.
As wise physicians visit first those who are dangerously ill, so Humanitarians wi
teach the Religion of God, especially to the ignorant, the deluded, and the viciou
They will perseveringly cast the pearls of knowledge and virtue before the dupes ar.
knaves until they pick them up ; for though these pearls may be trampled under foo
yet they cannot be injured ; and though the sower of them may prematurely lose h
or her life, yet not the consequent blessings, which consist in an eternally progress?
heaven, as well as in long and happy lives, by means of well organized bodies ar
favorable circumstances. Humanitarian teachers of both sexes will thereto
courageously visit the neglected, perverted and vicious : for those who are more ab
to appreciate the Religion of God, and are longing for it, will visit its teachers, ar
become themselves Humanitarian missionaries.
Wise parents encourage their children to grow wiser and to earn their own live I
hood, in order that they may become independent, but dissuade them from becomi.
�12
dependent through idleness and folly. If human parents have sufficient wisdom to
act thus beneficially to their children, how much more does our infinitely wise and
omnipresent Father encourage in His children mental and physical industry the
creators of self-reliance, but dissuade them from folly and idleness, the creators of
begging prayers ? Every one therefore that asketh, receiveth not ; and he that
seeketh in the wrong place, findeth not ; but those who judiciously sow, will reap •
and those who wisely look after realities, will find them.
From Love towards the God of Nature and mankind, perseveringly try to become
the best and wisest human being by desiring and actingfor yourself and others, even
the wisest and best would desire and act for themselves and others under similar
circumstances; but the foolish and evil things the unwise and wicked would that
men should do to them, do you neither to them nor to others.
Beware of the various priestcrafts which come to you in sheep’s clothing but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth
good fruits, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring
forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit ; hence all the
various priestcrafts, Christianity included, are corrupt trees, on which are grafted
more or less a few branches of the only good tree, the Religion of God. Every tree
that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore
by the fruits ye shall know that the Religion of God is the only good tree, but that
all the various priestcrafts, called revealed religions, and derived from the Vedas,
Bible, Koran, etc., are corrupt trees, or wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Sinners can only save themselves by real repentance and a persevering trial o
making either a direct or indirect restitution and a return to the path of wisdom, love.f
and the viitues. Humanitarians know that the most ignorant and vicious human
selves, or souls, whether life-producing or not at present, must grow wiser and
better in one of their future lives than the wisest and best of their contemporaries.
The latter, however, will always transcend the former in wisdom and goodness, both
of which are the attributes of the God of Nature, and are therefore infinite. The
gradual conversion of every human self, by means of an infinitely wise, just, and mer
ciful correction in order to convert the sinner from folly and vice to wisdom and
goodness, and the progressive bliss or salvation of all human selves without one single
exception, is the true future that is in store for every man and woman, but it depends
upon the individuals themselves whether they will lay the foundation of their
i heaven in the present life or not.
The Humanitarian, J, KASPARY,
TO HIS BROTHER
The Christian, C. H. SPURGEON.
The so-called Religious Tract Society, 56, Paternoster Row, and 164, Piccadilly,
circulates an Illustrated Handbill entitled “ 7he Freethinker ” the contents of
which are extracted by your permission from your sermons, and printed for the Lon
don City Mission.
As this Tract may prevent credulous believers from becoming reasonable persons, I
feel it my duty to address you, although the most eloquent advocacy of Trinitarian
Paganism and Superstition will certainly not change one single real Freethinker into
a Christian Baptist.
About four years ago, when I listened for the first time to your oratory, I detected
doubt still lurking in your soul ; the vehemence with which you declare your belief
may mislead the credulous (of which your congregations are mostly composed), but
not God, or his real disciples—the true philosophers.
You may intoxicate others and yourself with the spirit of Christian delusion, and
temporarily stupify your reason and conscience ; but this will only increase your
misery Tour brother rejoices, however, in the certainty that you will not be
eternally damned, but that at some time you will save yourself by speaking against
starvation {Atheism) and gluttony (Christianity), and especially by advocating the
G^d)11^’ Ca^n^’ and digesting of wholesome and sufficient food (the Religion of
The love of ignorance, credulity, (both of which are the children of mental idleness)
money and honour, may temporarily detain people in its clutches; but it cannot pre
vent you from becoming a Humanitarian, even in this life, for when you deserve it,
God will certainly ordain you as an Apostle of His religion.
�13
Your brother feels only love and pity towards you, but he hates {not the truths')
the paganism and superstition you are teaching, since you have no right to recommend a wolf because of his sheep’s clothing.
You dare not deny that millions of men (Jesus included) have been murdered be
cause the Bible commanded it, and that millions of men are living now in ignorance,
credulity, slavery’, poverty, and vice, because the teachers and defenders of the Christ
ian Scriptures know that no wise and good person can believe in witchcraft, or in
capital punishment for blasphemy, adultery, disobedience to priests and parents, for
nication and sabbath-breaking (which latter you do yourself every Saturday, though
you teach the ten commandments on Sunday), all of which the Bible commands
and the New Testament sanctions.
When you slipped the anchor of your faith, you merely changed from a credulous
Christian into an unreasonable sceptic, and from the latter you changed into a
Bible idolater. You have, however, no need to retract the false statement that “ once
you were a man of reason,” and that “reason was your captain,” because you have
done so without knowing or intending it.
Every reader of this pamphlet will admit that only an unreasonable person, who
takesfolly for his captain, can say like brother C. H. Spurgeon :—
“ I gloried at the rapidity of my motion, but yet shuddered at the terrific rate with
which I passed the old land-marks of my faith. As I hurried forward, I began to
doubt my very existence ; I doubted if there were a world ; I doubted if there were
such a thing as myself; I went to the verge of the dreary realms of unbelief. I
doubted everything.”
Once you were in one extreme and doubted everything, now you are in the other
extreme, and believe that an ass has spoken, that a woman became pregnant without
having sexual intercourse with any man, that from Friday afternoon, the burial
of Jesus, till Sunday morning, the fabulous resurrection of Jesus are three days and
three nights, and that similar impossibilities invented by pious imposters have taken
place.
Once you were a mental Anarchist, now you are a mental Slave. When will you
deserve to enjoy mental Liberty ?
Do not blame Reason (the greatest gift of God, with which people are rewarded
in proportion to their merits), but blame the folly of man. Will you sneer at liberty
because slaves become anarchists, and vice versa ?
In future, confound neither Reason with credulity and scepticism, nor Liberty with
slavery and anarchy, because those who prejudice the people against reason and
liberty, blaspheme God, and injure themselves and others.
_ Your brother, like yourself, rejected his hereditary superstition ; but God being
his guiding star, Nature his ocean, and Reason his captain he is either sailing on a
calm sea (interspersed with beautiful islands, each transcending in beauty the pre
ceding ones), or anchoring in safe harbours during storms.
Parents and teachers had instructed you to remain in one of the narrow pools of
Christianity, but when you grew up, and your taste became developed, you found the
water putrid from the filth which priests had accumulated during many centuries.
You then left your native pool for the ocean, but instead of apprenticing yourself to
the greatest captain, commanding the best constructed ship (until you became
superior to your master, and could improve upon his vessel or invent a new and
better one), you plunged bodily into the breakers (like a reckless boy) and the waves
threw you bleeding upon the rocks. Howling, you left the ocean for that narrow
and putrid pool of Christianity, in which you are now living in the society of thcBaptists.
The arguments of hell moved you toplunge into the ocean and afterwards return tu
your present pool, but the arguments of heaven will move you to follow my example.
For at present you do not stand upon a rock of adamant, but you are gradually
sinking into the mire from which the Religion of God alone can extricate you.
Dr. Mosheim (the greatest Protestant authority in ecclesiastical history, who lived
and died as an orthodox Lutheran) states Book I, P. II, Ch. II, that,—
“ A variety of commentaries, filled with impositions and fables, on our Saviour’s
life and sentiments, were composed soon after his ascent into heaven, by men who.
without being bad, perhaps, were superstitious, simple, and piously deceitful. To
these were afterwards added other writings falsely ascribed to the most holy apostle?
by fraudulent individuals.”
This proves that the early Christians were as piously deceitful as the unknown
authors and interpolators of the accepted Gospels and the present Jesuits, who
knowingly tell falsehoods in order to promulgate or to maintain their paganism and
superstition.
1
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You say:—“Now, lashed to God’s (say priests’) gospel more firmly than ever,
standing as on a rock of adamant, etc.” Your supposed rock is rotten and crumbling.
After the revision of the gospel by the Houses of Convocation, you will find that
former Christian priests or monks have made the following remarkable interpolations
even after the year 350, viz :
Matthew v, 44 ; Mark xi, 26, and xvi, 9—20; Luke ix, 56, and xxiii, 34 ; John viii,
I—11; and 1 John v, 7.
My brother, C. H. Spurgeon, has based his faith on parchments, and upon the
honesty and infallibility of ancient miracle-workers and fortune tellers, but not upon
those of Spiritualists and Mormons. He swallows the camels of the Trinity, and of
the infallibility and honesty of the inhuman Moses and Samuel, as well as those of
Pope Peter and Jesuit Paul, but he strains at the gnat of the infallibility of the
Roman Catholic Pope.
I have not written a single word in this letter with the intention of offending any
person; but, nevertheless, I beg pardon for the necessary pain I must cause in order
to effect the cine of my mistaken brothers and sisters.
Do not prostitute your talents as an orator to render the people credulous, but
merit eternally progressive bliss by becoming a teacher of the Religion of God, and
assisting me to convert the English into a nation of Humanitarians.
I take the liberty of sending you my pamphlet, treating of the Religion of God,
which please to accept and to peruse. I shall also be most happy to correspond, converse, or debate with you (as two brothers who differ from each other ought to do)
whenever convenient for you and possible for me.
This letter will be published as an antidote against Christian tirades, designed to
bring reason and freethought in disrepute, but from personal regard towards you, I
shall not circulate this letter among your congregation.
There are not yet many persons fit to be Freethinkers, but there are many who are
able to promulgate the discoveries of worthy Freethinkers and all sane persons can
understand these real words of God. With or without your assistance you may rest
assured, however, that the whole human race will in time acknowledge the Religion
of God, so that every person will become a Humanitarian.
London, 13th July, 1870.
Pl
ci,
_
_______________________ _
■ “
’
f'Fifteen Doctrines of the Religion of God.
1. The God of Nature, beside whom there are no other gods, is
an eternal, omnipotent and indivisible Being of infinite wisdom,
justice and mercy, whose intellectual essence pervades the whole
universe, or all souls (undividable beings) and matter (dividable
substance). The God of Nature is therefore, to speak figuratively,
the soul of the whole universe and the latter is His body, or, to
cjj Quote the poetical language of Pope—
1 he;
wi
do
“ All are but parts of one stupendous Whole,
Whose Body Nature is, and God the Soul.”
fee' 2. The whole universe, or all undividable beings and dividable
Pa substance, is eternal. The God of Nature is therefore not the
a Creator of souls and matter but the eternal Organizer of the latter
d0>nd Rewarder and Corrector of sentient beings.
m; 3. The eternal earth, one of the innumerable stars, consists of
nia finite portion of matter, is the abode of a limited number of souls
1 ter0^ different species and has eternally all the requisites for the pro
mi: gressive happiness and misery of its human inhabitants.
sta
species of human souls is not only the highest species of
eai individuals on earth but in the whole universe. The wisest and best
Gc human soul is therefore the greatest being next to the Godof Nature.
o. The eternal human soul produces all the phenomena, called
vei
1 Go
�
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Victorian Blogging
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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
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Title
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The age of light
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Kaspary, Joachim
Description
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Place of publication: London
Collation: 16 p. ; 21 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. P. 11 cropped so that characters missing at end of line. Contents: The God of nature -- The Lecture at Midland railway arch -- (delivered on the first two Sundays in September, 1871) -- The Lectures at Chelsea bridge (delivered on Sundays in June, 1872) -- The Lecture at Chelsea bridge (delivered Sunday, July 31st, 1870) -- The Prayer of humanitarians -- The Humanitarian J. Kaspary to this brother the Christian, C.H. Spurgeon -- Fifteen doctrines of the Religion of God.
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F. Farrah
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1872
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G5328
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Natural theology
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (The age of light), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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English
Conway Tracts
Humanism
Natural Theology
-
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Text
CLERICAL INTEGRITY.
BY
THOMAS LUMISDEN STRANGE,
AUTHOR OF “THE BIBLE; IS IT THE WORD OF GOD?” ETC.
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS SCOTT,
MOUNT PLEASANT, RAMSGATE.
Price Threepence.
��CLERICAL INTEGRITY.
----------- ♦------------
HE Record of the 27th May, 1872, notices, with
animadversion, the
Mr
TVoysey has received encouragementof which clerical
from some
his
brethren, whose names are published among his avowed
supporters, and who retain their position in the ranks
of the Church of England, while thus manifesting their
sympathy with the free utterances of one who holds
and inculcates a line of doctrine so conflicting with that
to which they themselves stand officially committed.
No doubt the position of these gentlemen, if they are
in accord, broadly, with Mr Voysey in his views, and
that of all similarly situated, is one which every friend
to consistency must deeply lament. They profess to
fight under banners the devices on which they no
longer respect. They have to lead their followers by a
way other than along the “ old paths ” hitherto
venerated. Their trumpets give forth uncertain sounds,
or what assuredly cannot be recognized as the regimental
calls. If the freethinking laymen are out of place, who,
for the sake of appearances, swell congregations to
which in heart they do not belong, much more so are
those clergy who have habitually to enact beliefs at
violence with their real sentiments. The Record does
well to call for integrity of profession on the part of
the recognized ministers of the Church of England. It
sees no advantage in having possession of the persons
of the clergy without their operative souls: while, on
�6
Clerical Integrity.
the other side, those who feel that the inner men are
with themselves, naturally desire to see the outer men
openly associated with their convictions. No one,
therefore, is satisfied with the anomalies of a position
so false as that pointed to, while the subjects of the
disorder themselves, can scarcely find satisfaction in
the self-examination which at times must press itself
upon them.
The only cure that can be offered, where self-cure is
not effected, is to unmask the real character of therprofessions made and abused. A recent pamphlet by a
beneficed clergyman, entitled “Clerical Dishonesty,”
wherein the writer assumes that the ordination vows
pledge the utterer to nothing seriously binding on him,
is one among many evidences that such an exposition,
though dealing with much that must to most minds be
self-evident, is not a task altogether supererogatory.
The distinction between the two parties who are in
question—the orthodox anglican and the free-thinker,
is one concerning practice rather than principle. The
free-thinker avows that his belief is one not formulated
for him, but arrived at under his proper convictions.
He is under no compulsion but that of his own ex
ercised mind and conscience. The other party profess
to enjoy a like liberty, but are far from really possessing
it. There was a time when the whole Christian world
found themselves under the dominion of a priestly body,
from whom they had to accept their creed in all its
material characteristics. The mould was made for
them out of which they were to be cast, all in the same
shape. Some freer and more enlightened spirits, after
a course of centuries, objected to the thraldom and its
results. The mould they saw to be a piece of human
machinery, designed to effect conformity to other
human minds, but not securing, what was professedly
aimed at, conformity to the divine mind. That they
conceived to be exhibited in a certain book, and by
that book, and that alone, they claimed to guide their
�Clerical Integrity.
1
ways. These, accordingly, made their protest, which
in effect was, that the Bible was the sole, sufficient, and
perfect rule of faith, by which each, according to his
apprehension, was to govern himself. Nor was it com
ceded that even the Bible stood on a platform beyond
the reach of judgment. The Protestants chose to
exercise their discernment thereupon, and excepted
from its pages, as apocryphal, a considerable portion
of its hitherto received contents. Now if the move
ment represented a real freedom, the very book itself,
evidently, stood in the utmost jeopardy. The process
of excision might advance until nothing was left of
the work but its binding. There are many in fact,
at this moment, who would gladly expunge from it
much that it asserts, and who would question the
genuineness of whole sections of its writings. It
is clear that the principle avowed was one that could
not be maintained. To abide by a revealed faith, by’
something outside of human thought or experience, a
recognized vehicle for the faith was obviously necessary;
and beyond proclaiming the vehicle, and stamping it
with the signet of authority, practically it was found
necessary, also, to educe from it the creed to be followed.
All this the Church of England has done for herself in
her Articles and other formularies. The liberty to each
to shape his faith according to his convictions is gone.
The Romish mould, it is true, has been removed; but
the Anglican mould has been substituted for it.
A variety of subordinate protests and dissents have
ensued, as an inevitable consequence. Whenever the
restraint upon the convinced and dissatisfied mind be
came unbearable, and sufficient numbers joined to form
a new section, there was a departure from the parent
stock, or a split among the already divided members, as
when Protestantism came originally out of Rome. The
elements for these divisions have continually multiplied,
and several very decided offsets are now visibly ripen
ing for independence in the bosom of the original in
�8
Clerical Integrity.
stitution. The difficulty is an inherent one, never to
be surmounted. The revealed creed cannot be ascer
tained, or maintained, without descriptive bounds.
The Anglican mould has therefore been repeatedly cast
' away for the adoption of some one of the hundred
minor Protestant moulds that have appeared to approach
nearer to the ideal truth aimed at.
Some years ago a notable effort was made by some
fervent spirits to establish a basis of Christianity with
out a formal creed. I refer to those currently known
as the Plymouth Brethren, though the designation is
not one of their own adoption. They said, let com
munity of faith be our sole requisition for fellow
ship. The proposition was, however, far from realizing
an entire liberty of conscience, seeing that the faith it
self had to be defined, and the possession of it ascer
tained. Still it was the best attempt that circumstances
allowed of towards freedom of thought in the avowal of
a revealed religion. For some years this party stood
together in happy communion without a formulated
creed, but liberty of thought over the accepted vehicle
of the faith led to its unavoidable l’esult. On one im
portant subject in particular, the ascription, construc
tively, of a sinner’s position to Christ, and the con
sequent character of his alleged sufferings, independent
views in a certain quarter prevailed. From another
quarter these were denounced as heretical. And then
a fresh term of communion was introduced. One
“ Article of Religion,” if not thirty-nine, was prescribed,
and all who held the reprehended views, and even all
who tolerated those who held them, were ejected, and
.the broken fragments of the party exist to this day in
a state of irremediable disunion.
It may then be accepted for a certainty that what is
to be upheld as a revealed faith can only subsist by
means of an organized system. The book conveying
the faith has to be acknowledged, and its recognition
made sure. After which the characteristics and bounds .
�Clerical Integrity.
g
of the faith, as ascertainable out of the revelations of
the book, have to be precisely described. The work,
accounted a divine one, has, inevitably, to poise and
support itself on humanly devised props and founda
tions. Can such an unseemly partnership be’’based
upon any true reality ? Man’s portion therein is most
apparent. That attributed to the Almighty is what
has to be severely questioned. Whatever their views
on this momentous point, the clergy of the Church of
England stand bound to assert the divine origination
of the incongruous and ever-failing system.
Then there is the status of the clergyman himself.
He professes to be an ambassador for God. Is he sure
of his credentials ? Has the Divinity, who is accessible
equally to all, chosen out a select few on whom to
confer special power and obligations ? Such is in truth
the theory; but how are these elected ones separated
to their work and held together ?
Again, it is apparent, if the thing designed is
ascribable to God, the whole apparatus for its realiz
ation is palpably of man. The calling of the clergy
is ordinarily taken up at the outset of life as is
any other calling. It has its pecuniary and social
advantages, with prospective temptations, conferring
wealth, dignity, and power. Certain formulae are pre
scribed, passing which the ambassador for God comes
forth fully equipped with his human testimonials.
Whether the Divinity has complacently endorsed these
is of course a question. But, whatever his own con
sciousness may be, the individual himself has, hence
forth, and for ever, to assert his divine appointment and
heavenly mission. What a standard has he adopted
by which to test, in all sincerity, himself and his
appointed work!
And thus we really get back to Rome. The freedom
of the Protestant movement becomes swamped in the
method taken to give it realization. The articles, the
creeds, the formulated services, the organized ministry,
�io
Clerical Integrity.
are all required to ensure to the machine its appointed
action. Seeking for God in his asserted word and
work, we everywhere fall in with the human agency.
Nor is the operation attended with anything like
success. The object is to ascertain the truth as coming
from Divine revelation, and then to secure conformity
to this truth. For this purpose, all the stated defini
tions are given, and the appointed teachers tested and
banded together. And the result of all is failure.
The Church of England, in its ministers and congrega
tions, represents every shade of opinion, from the type
of Rome to the utmost bounds of liberalized Deism.
Are the tests so loosely drawn as to justify such
latitude? Judicial decisions would certainly warrant a
reply extensively in the affirmative, but will the appeal
to the conscience endorse such a conclusion, especially
in the instance of the free-thinkers ?
The author of the pamphlet on “ Clerical Honesty ”
appears to flatter himself that the bonds are of this
imperfect nature, or have been made so by the prevail
ing laxity with which they are put to use. He con
fines himself to the actual questions and answers which
occur when the candidate offers himself for ordination,
without attempting to define the tenets then supposed
to be avowed. The candidate, he thinks, may be per
mitted to express the hope that “ the Holy Ghost ” has
moved him to take up his office ; that he has been
truly called thereto “ according to the will of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the due order of the realm; ” that
he “ unfeignedly believes all the canonical Scriptures
of the Old and New Testament,” as much, at least, as
do some of the questioners ; that he will read the same
to the assembled church, however painful it may be to
him to do so; that, “ by the help of God,” he will
“ gladly and willingly ” perform all his appointed duties,
with whatever repugnance to his mind and conscience :
that he will “fashion” his life to “the doctrine of
Christ,” “the Lord being his helper;” and that he
�Clerical Integrity.
11
will “ reverently,” and 11 with a glad mind',” obey his
clerical superiors, and conform himself to their “ godly
admonitions.”
After this follows the ordination of the priesthood,
or, as the writer prefers to read the term, the presbytery,
in which very much the same ground is gone over,
except that here the doctrine of 11 eternal salvation
through faith in Jesus Christ ” is expressly required of
him in his ministrations, and that he receives a com
mission to forgive, or refuse, forgiveness of sins, which
the writer hopes may be considered to mean no more
than transgressions against ritualistic order, “ involving
no question of morals.”
On one of these points the writer confesses
that his conscience stands wounded by the pledge to
which he has been subjected; and that is the expression
of his “unfeigned belief” in the whole of the canon
ical Scriptures. The details given of the process of
creation, for example, he has the evidence of his en
lightened senses are untrue, and there is much more,
no doubt, of that stamp, in these pages, which the
knowledge of the day must make it impossible for him
to receive. He laments, then, for himself, and his
clerical brethren, the being “ compelled to read as God’s
word what we know well God never said.” The admis
sion is an important one, and in fact concedes the whole
question. If a clergyman can surmount such a difficulty
as this, to what stretch of elasticity may he not bring
his ministrations? When can we be sure that his
belief and his tongue are in real unison ? That many
are guilty of such a compromise, in no way affects the
character of the evil, save to enhance it.
The ordination service is the Church’s safeguard for
the maintenance and promulgation of her doctrines, and
the pledges then exacted are by no means of a loose
and insufficient sort. It binds the candidate to the
whole contents of the Scriptures, not as he may choose
to understand them, but as interpreted for him by the
�i2
Clerical Integrity.
Church herself, and commits him to matters of faith at
least as difficult of acceptance as the account of the
creation, or any other of the representations made in
the record at variance with physical facts.
The service opens with the Litany, containing these
well known protestations.
“ 0 God the Son, Redeemer of the world: have
mercy upon us miserable sinners.
“ 0 God the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the
Father and the Son : have mercy upon us miserable
sinners.
“ 0 holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three persons
and one God: have mercy upon us miserable sinners.
“ Spare thy people whom thou hast redeemed with
thy most precious blood.
“ From the crafts and assaults of the devil; from
thy wrath, and from everlasting damnation, good Lord
deliver us.
“ By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation ; by thy
holy Nativity and Circumcision ; by thy Baptism, Fast
ing, and Temptation, good Lord deliver us.
11 By thine agony and bloody sweat; by thy cross
and passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by
thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension; and by the
coming of Holy Ghost, good Lord deliver us.
“ Son of God : we beseech thee to hear us.
“ 0 Lamb of God : that taketh away the sins of the
world ; have mercy upon us.
“ 0 Christ, hear us.
“ Christ have mercy upon us.
“ 0 Son of David, have mercy upon us.”
The doctrine of the Trinity, the incarnation of the
second person of this triune Godhead in the form
of Jesus of Nazareth, all the circumstances associated
with his alleged birth, vicarious sacrifice, and resur
rection, are here openly paraded as the faith of the
recipient of the ordination, and of all concerned with
him in this appointed service. When he himself speaks
�Clerical Integrity.
13
of being moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him his
office, he acknowledges the existence and functions of
the divine emanation, so designated, which is alleged to
have proceeded from the other two persons of the
Trinity, the Father and the Son. When he describes
himself to be acting “ according to the will of the Lord
Jesus Christ,” he is referring to the teacher of Nazareth,
now translated to heaven and ruling there as a divinity ;
and when he declares he will fashion his life to “ the
doctrine of Christ,” in glad submission to the admoni
tions of his seniors, he avows all that the Church
maintains to be involved in this doctrine—the con
dition in himself of a lost sinner, heir of the wrath of
God, and saved from that wrath by the outpouring of
the blood of the Nazarene teacher. He also proclaims,
through the means of the Litany, his belief in the
being, power, and attributed operations of the devil.
We have the expression here of all that characterizes
what is known as orthodoxy, and no essentially un
orthodox person can minister to such a system without
violation to his estimate of truth. The Record, justly,
and warrantably, calls upon all such to abandon their
false positions, and not to weaken the community to
the support of which they stand pledged by a fictitious
adherence. A party to an engagement is not warranted
in straining the document to free himself of his obliga
tions. He is bound to understand what is expected of
him, and to do it faithfully. Mental reservations,
undisclosed to the other side, form no part of a
genuine transaction. The Church of England has
carefully and fully announced her doctrines through an
extensive range of formularies, and they are not to be
misunderstood, in their broad features, by any intelligent
mind seeking to apprehend them. The clergyman is
engaged to propagate these doctrines, and it is im
possible that he can deflect therefrom, materially, without
being conscious of the divergence. He professes to
have been called of God to his ministrations, and has
�Clerical Integrity.
14
engaged to discharge them with unfeigned mind, gladly
and willingly. Under no other conditions would the
Church have accepted his services; and when he finds
that he cannot, with a free conscience, meet the condi
tions, the path of duty should be clear to him. He
should not flatter himself that he is doing good in the
measure that he is advancing his true sentiments. A
sermon can have little power which is contradicted,
out of the same mouth, in the liturgy. He is but
confusing truth with untruth, schooling his hearers in
subtleties, and bringing them down to his own level
of conscious inconsistency.
Great Malvern,
June 1872.
TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
�
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
A name given to the resource
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>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
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
A name given to the resource
Clerical integrity
Creator
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Strange, Thomas Lumisden
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Place of publication: Ramsgate
Collation: 14 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Date of publication from KVK.
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Thomas Scott
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1872
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CT110
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English
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Church of England
Clergy
Church of England
Clergy
Conway Tracts
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4
OF THE
BY
J. M. DIXON,
Minister
of
Bowlalley Lane Chapel, Hull.
HULL :
Fisher, walker, and brown, 7, scale lane.
1 8 7 2.
�The prayer of faith shall save the sick.
ST. JAMES,
The doctrine of the Old Testament is the religion of England. The first
leaf of the New Testament it does not open. It believes in a Providence which
does not treat with levity a pound sterling. They are neither transcendentalists
nor Christians. They put up no Socratic prayer, much less any saintly prayer
for the queen’s mind ; ask neither for light or right, but say bluntly “grant her
in health and wealth long to live.”
EMERSON.
Thrice blest whbse lives are faithful prayers,
Whose loves in higher love endure ;
What souls possess themselves so pure,
Or is there blessedness like theirs ?
TENNYSON.
�/
/
/
Did Prayer Save the Life
OF THE
Prince of Wales?
HE child feeling the smart of physical pain, and knowing nothing
of the imperiousness of natural law, runs to his parent for relief.
The little one imagines that his father has control of the powers
of nature, and can grant all his childish desires. He petitions his father for
the gratification of his wishes, and cries, kicks and rebels, when his prayers
of ignorance are not answered according to their folly. It is much the same
in the mental childishness of man. The savage thinks that he can manage
the capricious temper of his god by the offering of human blood. The
semi-barbarous Hebrew imagines that he can change the frown of Jehovah
into a smile by the sacrifice of animals, or his own child ; and, St. James,
in sublime ignorance of the Divine order, says, prayer can change the weather,
and restore the dying human body to health.
Such conceptions were the creation of the mental child, when the great
unknown power of the universe was conceived as a capricious man, to be
changed in temper and action by the sins and prayers of his creatures.
Now, we know that the Eternal blesses in reward and penalty by law, fixed
and unchangeable.
Every revelation of science confirms the lesson of
experience, that prayer cannot influence the Author of Life to produce a
physical effect by a spiritual cause. Were God to act out of the order of
his law in the domain of matter, in answer to man's prayer, the whole world
of physical law would be uncertain. Fire might refuse to burn or warm,
boiling water might bite us like frost, and ice burn us like fire, the solid
earth might become water, and water be changed at any moment into dry
land. The law which served us yesterday might utterly fail us to-day—the
material world be the sport of prayer. The fixed order of the world, the
�4
DID PRAYER SAVE THE LIFE OF
universal prevalence of law, is our protection against fanaticism, and our
assurance that no breath of man’s can pluck the order of nature out of the
Father’s hand, or induce Him to suspend, in any case, the action of cause
and effect.
We had thought, that as a nation, we had outgrown the childish theory
of St. James on the subject of prayer, and risen to the higher view which
sees the order of law in all things, in the smallest as well as the greatest, in
the modest lily, the hair of the head, and in the falling sparrow. But we
have been recently told, uot merely by fever-heated revivalists, and dull-eyed
fanatics, but also by men of culture, in high places, that the prayers of this
nation have saved a human life. The God of England, we are assured, has
been persuaded by the clergy and their people to step out of the order of the
physical world to save the life of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
This young man has recently been at “death’s door.” The demon of bad
drainage seized him and pulled him down to the lowest point of life. A good
constitution, the best medical skill, with every facility for recovery, success
fully resisted the demon of disease. The battle between life and death was
for a considerable time doubtful. And in this state of suspense the sympathy
of the nation went strongly and tenderly to the sufferer. He has never been
a light of the land, or bread of life to the nation, never distinguished for
wisdom. But he is probably wiser and better than he has generally been
represented. He will, however, be our future King, if he live, and his death
at this time might have caused some trouble in our land. Besides, he is a
young man, and it is always peculiarly saddening to see death in the morning
of life, or biting winter rush into the full spring time. We all rejoice in the
Prince s recovery, for his good mother’s sake, for his sweet wife’s sake, and.
for his own sake.
But, while we thus rejoice, we are saddened by the general manifestation
of dark, heathenish superstition, which ascribes the cure of the Prince to the
prayers of the nation. The Rock (December 22, 1871), the organ of the
largest party in the Established Church, says :■—“ A tidal wave of prayer
rolled through the country on Sunday week, which, we may hope and believe,
will have saved the Heir Apparent for the kingdom, and perhaps a kingdom
for the Heir Apparent. ‘It was a great salvation,’ and so signal an answer
to prayer that the secular journals of all classes have acknowledged the plain
connection between cause and effect in the standing miracle of covenant
prayer.
Here we are told that a miracle was wrought to save the life of
the Prince, in answer to prayer. If the crisis in the sufferer had passed
immediately after the prayers of the churches, minds unperverted by theology
�THE PRINCE OF WALES ?
5
would have said a happy and remarkable coincidence. But this case is not
even a coincidence, for the crisis had passed some hours before the telegram
prayer of the Archbishop was read in the churches. Thus the clergy ascribe
to their prayers what is due to the skilful medical men and the good
constitution of the Prince. We have known cases that seemed to have far
more of miracle on the face of them than the recovery of the Prince of Wales.
Take one as a sample. We once heard an old man say in a Methodist
meeting, that God had sent him bread in answer to his prayer. The poor man
was hungry and knew not how to get a crust honestly. He went down on
his knees, and in old Methodist fashion prayed to God to send him something
to eat, and when he rose from his prayer the cart of the provision dealer was
at his door, with the needful for him. A happy coincidence. But the simple,
good, old man gave all the credit to his prayers. It did not occur to him,
what we knew to be a fact, that the provisions had been put in the cart long
before he began to pray for them. Still, this is a more plausible case of
miracle in answer to prayer than the recovery of the Prince. It is also an
easy and a cheap way of getting bread, and an excellent plan for keeping
down the poor rates. But, unfortunately, or fortunately, God does not give
the daily bread in this way. Neither does he work a miracle or breathe through
natural law to save the life of Prince or beggar.
Do the clergy and their followers really believe that their prayers saved
the life of the Prince of Wales ? If they do, why do they not exercise that
mighty power more for the good of the world ? This Royal life is not more
precious than many others. This young man has nothing to recommend him
to the special sympathy of the nation, but his high station. There are lives
far more valuable to the country than his. And if prayer can save life, why
is not that magic power exerted to keep the Kings and Princes of intellect
and heart in this world their full natural time ? Does the God of England
care more for social status, sounding titles, and gilded mediocrity, than for
genius of mind and wealth of heart ? If prayer can save human life why all
this suffering, and all this death before the night of life ? Priests and people !
if you have this power, go at once and comfort every weeping Rachel. At
this moment, yea, every moment, there are poor, lonely, broken - hearted
women sitting at the bed sides of their dying sons. How these mothers pour
out the prayers of their hearts that their sons may be spared a few years
more. But the sons die, and, with their death the light of life goes from the
hearts of the mothers. What a dark, dismal night in the hearts of the poor,
weeping Rachels, without a ray of light in the valley of time. If ever God
saves life in answer to prayer, surely he would save in such cases as these.
�6
DID PRAYER SAVE THE LIFE OF
Men of the pulpit, and people of the pews ! if your prayers could be effectual
in such instances why do you not offer them? Or, is the God of England a
respector of persons ? Does he save the son of the Royal widow in answer to
prayer, and refuse to spare the life of the poor widow’s son when she cries
her prayer of agony ? Are the lives of the common people and the Royal of
intellect and heart of less importance in the eyes of God than the life of this
young man ? Surely no professed follower of the lovely Nazarene will answer
in the affirmative.
If men have this miracle power of prayer, away with medical skill,
science, and sanitary reform. Let us go back to “ the good old days ” of
ignorance and dirt. Break up our Boards of Health. Why waste our money
for these when we can have health by the short and easy method of prayer ?
When we are sick we will pray, and be made whole. When the drainage is
bad, and the ah’ laden with poison, we will pray, and be saved. And if God
will do miracles for the body, why not also for the mind ? Let us live in
wilful ignorance, and pray to be wise. Yea, let us have the miracles which
will make us all men and women of genius. And surely if prayer can save
the bodies of men it can also save their souls. How is it then that we have
so many heathens in our land ? There are thousands upon thousands of
human beings in the hells of time in all our large towns. Men sunk in crime,
women who have sold their purity, children lost in moral and physical
corruption. Day by day, countless numbers of earnest men and women pray
that these poor home heathens may be delivered from the devil of vice ; and
still the vicious are unsaved. If prayer could make men wise and good, earth
would be a Paradise, for there are no lack of prayers for Heaven's will to
“ be done on earth.”
It clearly is not the will of the Eternal that prayer should save men,
mentally, morally, or bodily. And the very people who say that God saved
the life of the Prince of Wales, in answer to their prayers, do not practically
believe in such efficacy of prayer. They recently denied their own theory
in prosecuting the “ Peculiar Family,” for trusting to prayer and anointing,
to save the lives of their children. That people kept to the Bible lesson—
“ The prayer of faith shall save the sick.” They had a larger faith than the
ministers and members of the popular churches. They would have no
secondary cause to cast suspicion on the cause ; doctors and medicine they
would not have. This lamentable fanaticism is the logical sequence of the
church theory that prayer has saved a human life. And the ministers and
congregations in our land, with few exceptions, have recently encouraged
this superstition, which confronts God’s law, and calls human attention from
the Divine order.
�THE PRINCE OF WALES ?
7
After this we must not be surprised to hear of church prayers for the
death of such troublesome persons as unorthodox thinkers. The notion that
God will save men in answer to prayer, naturally leads to the other ignorant
presumption—that he will remove obnoxious persons from this world for the
petitions of the self-styled faithful. If God saved the life of the Prince for the
prayers of the nation, why not those whose heaven cannot admit a thought
beyond their little theology, pray that those whom they please to call heretics
and unbelievers, may be sent to a speedy death ? The recent fanaticism of our
churches finds genial society in that bigoted zeal which in America, a few
years ago, thus prayed for a great preacher and author of unpopular belief :—
“ O Lord, if this man is a subject of grace, convert him and bring him into
the kingdom of thy dear Son : but if he is beyond the reach of the saving
influence of the Gospel, remove him out of the way, and let his influence
die with him.” “ 0 Lord, send confusion and distraction into his study
this afternoon, and prevent his finishing his preparation for his labours
to-morrow ; or if lie shall attempt to desecrate thy holy day by attempting to
speak to the people, meet him there, O Lord, and confound him so that he
shall not be able to speak ! ” How very kind, thus to pray, for a man whose
sin is that of refusing to bow to the popular theology.
This baneful superstition — this folly of prayer — means that the
government of the world is in the hands of caprice. It would throw the
world back to the dark days, when men cowered before a tyrant and an
uncertain God, the creation of human ignorance. But light is coming before
which superstition wanes. “ The religion which is to guide and fulfil the
present and coming ages, whatever else it be, must be intellectual. The
scientific mind must have a faith which is science. ‘There are two things,’
said Mahomet, ‘which I abhor—the learned in his infidelities, and the fool in
his devotions! ’ Our times are impatient of both, and especially the last.
Let us have nothing now which is not its own evidence. There is surely
enough for the heart and imagination in the religion itself. Let us not be
pestered with assertions and half-truths, with emotions and snuffle.”
The wisely devout man will not take prayer into the region of physics.
He who is wisely impressed with the solemn mystery of life, and the secret
emotions of his spiritual nature, will be reserved in his devout utterances.
The things of his deeper life are often too delicate and sacred to be proclaimed
in the ears of men. In such spiritual moods man prefers the prayer of hidden
desire to that which goes forth in speech. He loves to be with the Lord of
�8
DID PRAYER SAVE THE LIFE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES ?
life, in the lone garden of devout soliloquy, and on the holy mount of
aspiration, where
“ No voice breaks through the stillness of this world,”
where there is deep, deep silence, which to the listening ear is the most
audible speech. Above all, he will have the prayer without ceasing, the life
of devotion, by living in the spirit of truth, and in the constant unfolding of
his powers. Thus, his life will be a perpetual prayer, and an unbroken hymn
of praise, making part of the full choral service in Mother Church—the
Cathedral of Nature. And, yet, he will feel that he is but a stammerer in
the choir of ‘‘ St. Nature” :—
“With stammering lips and insuffi cient sound
I strive and struggle to deliver right
That music of my nature, day and night
With dream and thought and feeling interwound,
And inly answering all the senses round
With octaves of a mystic depth and height
Which step out grandly to the infinite
From the dark edges of the sensual ground.”
Printed by Fisher, Walker, & Brown, 7, Scale Lane, Hull.
�
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Did prayer save the life of the Prince of Wales?
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Dixon, J. M.
Description
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Place of publication: Hull
Collation: 8 p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
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Fisher, Walker and Brown
Date
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1872
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CT23
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Religious practice
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Conway Tracts
Edward VII
Prayer
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Isogal institution of threat ^Britain,
WEEKLY EVENING MEETING,
Friday, March 15, 1872.
Sir Henry Holland, Bart. M.D. D.C.L. F.R.S. President,
in the Chair.
John Evans, Esq. F.R.S. F.S.A. &c.
On the Alphabet and its Origin.
The subject of the Alphabet and its Origin is one which has attracted
the attention of many observers, and must indeed at some time or
other have forced itself on the consideration of nearly all thoughtful
minds.
What is the meaning of those six-and-twenty symbols which serve
to render our language visible ? Why have they assumed the forms
in which we now find them ? and whence have they been derived to
us ? These are questions which most of us must have asked, and
many of us may have attempted to answer.
Gesenius, de Vogue, and Lenormant on the Continent; Professor
Hewitt Key, Professor Rawlinson, and Mr. E. B. Tylor in England,
as well as others, have done much to throw light on this field of
research, and have left but little room for after-comers to add to the
stock of information on the subject.
The questions connected with it appear to divide themselves under
three heads:—
1. As to the origin of writing and the method of its development
in different parts of the globe.
2. As to the original Alphabet from which that in common use
amongst us was derived : and
3. As to the history and development of that original Alphabet.
The art of writing is that by which, as Bacon says, “ the images
of men’s minds remain in books for ever, exempt from the injuries of
time, because capable of perpetual renovation.” It is that by which
human knowledge has become cumulative, so that the stores acquired
during one generation are handed down to those which succeed; and
is indeed one of the most important characteristics which distinguish
civilized from savage races of man.
So mysterious does this power of conveying information to others,
however remote, appear to savages, that they regard written documents
as possessed of powers no less than magical, and have been known to
B
�2
Mr. John Evans
[March 15,
hide them at the time of committing a misdeed which they feared
might be discovered by their means. Yet many of those in the lower
stages of civilization have some ideas as to pictorial records.
The cave-dwellers of the south of France at a time when the use
of metals was unknown, and when reindeer formed one of the princi
pal articles of food in that part of the world, possessed considerable
powers of drawing and of sculpture. On some of their bone instru
ments figures of animals are engraved, which possibly may to the
original owners have conveyed some reminiscences of scenes they had
witnessed when hunting. Among the Esquimaux such records are
frequently carved on their weapons, and the taking of seals and the
harpooning of whales are often depicted. Capt. Beechey says that
he could gather from these representations a better insight into the
habits of the people than could be obtained from any signs or other
intimations.
Among the North American Indians the system of picture writing
has been more fully developed, and numerous instances are recorded
in Schoolcraft’s ‘Indian Tribes.’ A census roll of 1849 gives the
details of 34 families comprising 108 souls, by means of symbols for
the names of families, such as Catfish, Beaverskin, &c., with marks
below showing the number of individuals in each. Records of the
events of a deceased warrior’s life are often given on his tombstone
in much the same manner. The totem of his tribe, such as the Rein
deer or the Crane, is reversed to show that he is dead; there are marks
recording his war parties and wounds, the number of enemies he has
killed, or the eagles’ feathers he has received for bravery. Even love
and war songs are symbolized by a kind of pictorial memoria technica,
and the record of a night’s encampment with details of a party of
sixteen, how they had supped, and what they had for supper, has been
depicted on a small scrap of birch-bark.
In Mexico, the art of pictorial representation had at the time of
the Conquest been carried to great perfection. The bulk of the
pictures, however, merely represent wars, migrations, famines, and
scenes of domestic life. They were, moreover, able to record dates by
means of an ingeniously-devised cycle, and had some idea of attach
ing a phonetic value to their symbols. Thus the name of Itz-coatl,
the fourth king of Mexico, is found represented by a snake with knives
of obsidian issuing from its back—the reason being, that the word
Itzli meant knives of obsidian, and Coati meant snake. The same
name was also symbolized by the representation of a knife, a pot and
water, which shows an approach to a syllabic system of symbols.
For the names of the objects, if given at length, would form ItzliComitl-Atl, so that the pot—Comitl—would appear in composition
merely to have represented Co—. At a somewhat later date, we find
the words Pater Noster represented by a flag, a stone, a prickly pear, and
a stone. Pantli being a flag, Tetl a stone, and Nochtli a prickly pear.
Here also the first and third symbols appear in composition to have
been monosyllabic, and the Aztec version of the Latin seems to have
�on the Alphabet and its Origin.
3
been Pan-tetl Noch-tetl. What might have been the results of the
development of such a system, we shall never know, as it was brought
to a close by intercourse with Europeans.
In Peru, though some sort of hieroglyphic writing appears to have
been known, the chief substitute for writing was the Quipu or knotted
cord. This consisted of a main cord with strings of different colours
and lengths attached. The colour, the mode of making the loops,
knots, or tufts, their distance from the main cord or from each other,
had all of them their meaning. Each Quipu had its own keeper or
interpreter, and by their means all public accounts were kept. The
Wampum in North America was of somewhat similar character, and
in Polynesia also the same sort of Quipu is in use. One kept by the
principal tax-gatherer in Hawaii, is a knot of cord of 400 or 500 fathoms
in length, subdivided again and again for the different districts and
families.
There is a tradition among the Chinese of a similar system of
recording events by means of a knotted cord having been in use among
them previous to the, invention of writing. The Chinese system of
writing, though far superior to that of the Mexicans, is still not
alphabetical but syllabic. At the outset, the characters seem to have
been pictorial, but the representations of the objects have now become
so much conventionalized and changed, partly in consequence of the
method of writing by means of a brush, that there is much difficulty
in recognizing them. In the characters representing the words Sun
or Day, Moon, Door, Carriage, Boy, the original pictorial origin is
evident, as indeed it is in several other instances.
In some cases compound characters are formed by the junction of
others of a simple kind. The Sun and Moon together represent the
word Ming, bright or clear; Water and Eye together symbolize tears.
With a monosyllabic language, the words of which are of necessity
limited in number, one sound has often to represent more than one
sense, and the Chinese characters have therefore been divided into
phonetics or radicals—those which give the sound,—and the classificatory or determinatives, or those which give the sense.
Thus the sign for a door with the determinative an ear, means to
listen ; with that of a corpse or of the heart, means sorrow, &c.
The Egyptian hieroglyphics present much analogy in character
with the Chinese method of writing. In their earliest form they seem
to have been principally pictorial, though also at the same time
symbolic. We find, for instance, that the representation of the vault of
heaven, with a star suspended from it, typifies darkness or night; that the
arms of a man holding a spear and shield are the symbol of to fight, and
that thirst is typified by a calf running. The next stage would appear
to have been syllabic, when a certain sign represented a syllable, though
often with a second more truly literal sign affixed, denoting the final
consonant of the syllable. To prevent mistakes, the signs representing
words were often accompanied by other signs, which were merely
determinative of the meaning.
Thus three horizontal zigzag lines
b 2
�4
Mr. John Evans
[March 15,
representing water, showed that the previous symbol designated some
thing connected with liquids—or two legs walking, that the word bore
reference to locomotion. Many hieroglyphics, however, appear to be
purely literal, though in the case of consonants often having some
vowel-sound implied. These literal hieroglyphics stand for the initial
letters of the objects or ideas they represent. For instance, a goose
flying is the equivalent of P, the initial of Pai, to fly; an owl stands
for M. the first letter of Mulag, the Egyptian name of the bird.
The more careful pictorial representations of the objects such as are
to be seen in sculptured hieroglyphics and in formal inscriptions,
required, however, too much time for their execution to be adopted as
an ordinary means of writing.
In consequence, the signs became
conventionalized, and the salient characteristics of the object were
seized on for the more cursive form of writing known as the hieratic.
From this again was derived the writing known as demotic, in which
many of the symbols have become so much changed and simplified,
that it is with difficulty that they can be identified as descendants of
originally pictorial forms.
A modified form of hieroglyphic writing is still in use among us,
more especially in connection with the science of astronomy; and the
conventional forms which now represent the signs of the Zodiac are
very instructive as to the amount of modification such symbols are
liable to undergo.
In Aries (cyo) and Taurus ( 8 ) the heads of the ram and the bull
may still be recognized. Gemini is represented by the twin straight
lines, n; Cancer by its claws, es ; and Leo by its head and tail, <Q.
In the symbol for Virgo there appears to have been some confusion
between Astrasa and the Virgin Mary, the sign being symbolized by
the letters ptb ng. The scales of Libra, the sting of Scorpio, and the
arrow of Sagittarius, can still be traced in the symbols, =n=, nt, /.
The twisted tail of Capricornus survives in VS, and Aquarius is
represented by two wavy lines of water,
The remaining sign of
Pisces has been much metamorphosed, but the two fishes, back to back,
with head and tail alternating, can readily be reconstructed from the
symbol
The gradual simplification of form exhibited in these signs, and in
the Chinese and hieratic systems of writing, must be borne in mind
when studying the development of other systems.
With regard to the origin of the alphabet in common use in
Europe there can be no doubt; the testimony of classical historians,
as well, as that of the letters themselves, being conclusive as to its
Phoenician source. The Greek myth of letters having been introduced
by Cadmus the Phoenician, seems simply to embody this truth, for
there is much probability in the view which connects the name of
Cadmus with the Semitic word Kedem, the East.
At what date letters were first in use in Greece is by no means
certain, but Grote thought that they were absolutely unknown in the
days of Homer and Hesiod (b.c. 850-776).
It seems, however,
�1872.J
on the Alphabet and its Origin.
5
probable that they were introduced at a somewhat earlier date. If the
date which has been assigned to the famous “Moabite stone,” of about
900 b.c., be correct, the correspondence in form between the archaic
(Sleek letters and those on the stone raises a strong presumption in
favour of letters having been imported into Greece at the time when
the Phoenician alphabet was in that stage of development in which it
occurs on the stone.
Even the name of the alphabet preserves the memory of its
Phoenician origin, for Alpha and Beta, the names of the two letters
from which the word is derived, are not really Greek, but merely the
Hellenized forms of the Phoenician Aleph and Beth. The same is the
case with the names of all the other Greek letters down to Tau; the
last five letters, Y, $, X, 'k, £2, being of later introduction.
The correspondence in form between the Roman, the Greek, and
the early Phoenician alphabet, as given on the Moabite stone, can
readily be traced. It must, however, be remembered that the letters of
the latter are written from right to left, or in the same manner as
Hebrew, and not, as is the case with us, from left to right. In the
early Greek inscriptions it appears to have been a matter of indif
ference in which direction the letters were placed. In some the lines
are alternately in either direction, and this form of writing was known
as Boustrophedon, or that which turned backwards and forwards like
an ox in ploughing.
In tracing the correspondence between the Roman, Greek, and
Phoenician alphabets, but little need be said with regard to most of
the letters.
A. —Alpha, or Aleph, was at the outset, like most of the letters
which have now become vowels, rather a representative of a vowel
sound than of an absolute vowel.
B. —Beta, or Beth, has to a great extent preserved its sound,
though originally softer and more like V.
C. —Gamma, or Gimel, affords an illustration of change in the
power of a symbol, the Greek T having become the Latin C. There
are indeed several words which until a comparatively late date were
written indifferently with a C or a G, as Caius and Gaius; Cneius and
Gneius.
D. —Delta, or Daleth, requires no comment.
E. —Epsilon, or He, was originally an aspirate, but, like some
other aspirates to which probably some vowel-sound was as it were
attached, it gradually softened into a vowel.
F. or Vau. This letter has dropped out of the Greek alphabet,
but is found on coins and early inscriptions as the Bau or Digamma,
and as the representative of the numeral 6.
G. —Zeta, or Zain. It may seem strange that the Greek Z is re
presented by the Latin G, a letter which is said to have been introduced
by Carbilius. The sound, however, of the Greek Z appears to have
been somewhat like Ds, which readily slides into a soft G. One form
of the Greek Zeta, corresponds closely with an early form of G.
b 3
�6
Mr. John Evans
[March 15,
H. —Eta or Cheth affords another instance of an aspirate becoming
a vowel in Greek, though it retains its aspirate character in Latin, as
indeed it did in some early Greek inscriptions.
—Theta or Teth has disappeared in the Latin, though it was re
tained in the Etruscan alphabet, and moreover is found as a barred D B
on ancient British and Gaulish coins, and reappears in Saxon as B.
I. J.—Iota or Jod. This letter, from the name of which our word
jot is derived, though originally as large as any of the other letters,
becomes the smallest in some alphabets, such as those in use on
Cilician coins of the fourth century, b.o., and on steles and papyri
from Egypt of the first three centuries b.o. It was about that time
that the square characters in which Hebrew is now written were
gradually being developed from the older forms of letters.
K. —Kappa or Caph. In Latin words this letter only occurs joined
with A, as if possibly the original form had been syllabic. In the
same manner Q occurs only with U.
L. —Lambda or Lamed.
M. —Mu or Mem.
JT.—Nu or Nun, requires no comment. It has been supposed by
some that the word elementa, occasionally applied as the Latin name
for letters, was compounded from these L.M.N. Such a derivation is,
however, by no means certain.
—Xi or Samech. This letter is unknown in the Latin alphabet.
The correspondence in form of the early Greek E and the Samech of
the Moabite stone shows their identity'; though Gesenius thought that
the Greek Sigma was derived from the Samech, and that when the
Sigma coalesced with the Doric San—the equivalent of Shin, E was
put in the vacant place.
O. —Omicron or Ain, like some other vowels, was originally an
aspirate, or rather a strong guttural.
P. —Pi or Pe are the same letter, though the second stroke of IT
was lengthened to distinguish it from T and P.
—Tsade appears never to have come over into the Greek or Latin
alphabets.
Q. —Koppa or Koph has become obsolete in Greek, though found
on coins and in inscriptions, and retained as the numeral for 90.
R. —Eho or Resh has in Greek retained the form of P, from which
in Latin it was necessary to distinguish it by a tail. The same
necessity did not exist in Greek, where the Latin P is represented
by nS. —Sigma or Shin. This letter has in Latin entirely lost its
angularity, while in Greek the S was placed vertically instead of
horizontally, as in the Phoenician, on account of its resemblance to M.
T. —Tau or Tau. With this letter the original alphabet terminates.
The other letters of our alphabet are in some cases, like X, almost
superfluous, in others, like U and Y, different forms of the same Greek
letter; and in the case of Z, an old form reintroduced with a fresh value.
As to the original identity of the three alphabets which have been
�on the Alphabet and its Origin.
18W
73
EwIWSm,
there can be no doubt; neither can any exist as to the
order in which the letters were originally arranged.
For in the
Hebrew Scriptures, the language of which may practically be regarded
as the same as the Phoenician, there are several instances in which .
a succession of passages, each commencing with a different letter of
the alphabet, present them in this order. A well-known example is
afforded by the 119th Psalm, each of the twenty-two sections of which
Bommences with a different letter, the name of which forms the head
ing to each in the English version of the Bible.
When, however, we come to consider the history and development .
of the Phoenician alphabet, we are no longer upon so sure a footing.
The manner in which Some other forms of writing, such as the
Chinese and the Egyptian hieratic were developed, will have prepared
us for the probability of the Phoenician alphabet having also been
evolved from a pictorial source, and for finding in it a similar history
to that recorded in the nursery rhyme—
A was an Archer and shot at a frog,
B was a Butcher and had a big dog.
It is a by no means unimportant fact in reference to this view, that
the names of the Phoenician or Hebrew letters are not arbitrary, but
each significant of some object; though the meaning of the names
cannot in all cases be recognized with absolute certainty. For instance,
Aleph, Beth, Gimel, and Daleth, mean Ox, House, Camel, Door, and if
we find that these and the succeeding letters, when in their most
primitive forms (so far as known) present similarities with the whole
or a portion of the objects by the names of which they are distinguished,
there is a strong probability of a pictorial origin for the letters.
Taking the forms of the letters, as given on the Moabite stone, in
conjunction with the meaning of their names, such a similarity can in
all cases be traced, though more certainly intentional in some letters
than in others. This will be best shown in a tabular form. *
N
Aleph.
An ox
..
..
Beth..
Gimel
Daleth
He ..
A house, or possibly
a tent.
A camel.................
A door .................
A lattice or window
Vau ..
Zain ..
Cheth
A peg or nail ..
A weapon
An enclosure, or field
...
The head of an ox.—That this letter was
known to embody this symbol is recorded by
Hesychius about a.d. 380. The correspond
ence of a small a or a with the sign for
Taurus when placed horizontally is worth
notice, OC.
A house, showing one wall and the ridged
roof.
The head and neck of a camel.
The triangular door of a tent.
A lattice ?—The meaning of the name of
this letter is somewhat doubtful.
A peg.
An arm holding a spear t
An enclosure.—Much like the Chinese
figure for the same meaning.
* The letters are here given in the ordinary Hebrew character instead of the
older form.
�Mr. John Evans
8
Teth ..
t
A serpent
Jod ..
The hand
5 Lamed
The palm of the
hand.
An ox-goad ..
Q Mem..
Water
j Nun ..
D Samech
A fish
.................
A support
y Ain ..
The eye.................
3 Pe
The mouth
“) Caph..
..
Tsade
p Koph
•q Resh..
Shin ..
j") Tau ..
.................
A reaping hook
The back of the
head ?
The head
A tooth.................
A mark.................
[March 15,
A coiled snake.—This letter does not occur
on the Moabite stone.
The hand and wrist in profile, similar to
what may be seen on some early Hindu
coins.
An open hand, as in some drawings of the
North American Indians.
An ox-goad 2—The meaning of the name
somewhat doubtful
A wavy line.—Like the representation of
water on early coins and sculpture, and as in
the sign Aquarius
.
The head, gill,, and back of a fish.
A kind of prop supporting a trellis for vines.
—Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood has pointed out
the similarity of this letter to the figure of
a sculptor’s bench or easel in Egyptian
pictures.
The pupil of the eye, as in Egyptian
hieratics.
The two lips open at an angle, much like
the mouth as represented on some ancient
British coins.
A reaping hook or scythe attached to its
handle.
The head and neck ?
The head in profile.
A tricuspid tooth.
A cross, like the mark still made by those
who cannot write.
This correspondence in form can hardly be appreciated without
diagrams, but in many instances is striking, and in none absolutely
forced. There have, however, been numerous objections raised to such
a view of the derivation of the forms of the Phoenician letters.
Lenormant and de Rouge would rather trace them to Egyptian
hieratic characters, but the resemblances they point out between them
are but slight, and in no instance does the Phoenician name of the
letter agree with that of the object represented by the Egyptian
hieratic. Moreover the resemblances, when traced, are rather with
later forms of Phoenician letters than with those on the Moabite stone.
Mr. E. B. Tylor also considers that the theory maintained by
Gesenius of the Phoenician letters being pictorial, can be shown to be
unsafe.
He thinks the resemblances between the letters and the
objects to be but small, and the bond which attaches the name to the
letter to be but slight; that the coincidences are not primary and
essential, but secondary and superficial. In support of this view he
instances the old Slavonic alphabet, and the Runic Futhorc, in which
the letters have names unlike those of our alphabet, but each with a
meaning—the initials of the names giving the power of the letters.
He suggests that in a similar manner Hebrew words may have been
�1872.]
on the Alphabet and its Origin.
9
chosen as names for letters derived from some extraneous source, such
names having the proper initial letter, and also some suitability to
describe its shape—the same as if in English we called
A—Arch or Arrowhead.
B—Bow or Butterfly.
C—Curve or Crescent.
This, however, is contrary to all analogy among methods of writ
ing of which we know the development, and moreover, several of the
names of the Hebrew letters are not actual words in common use in
the Hebrew writings, but words which have become obsolete, and of
which in one or two cases it is hard to recover the meaning. The
letters, moreover, cannot originally have been mere arbitrary signs, or
there would have been greater distinctions between some of them,
such as it was subsequently found desirable to introduce.
If too, the Phoenician letters came from an extraneous source, we
may well ask where it was, and how does it happen that no traces of
the original names of the letters have been preserved. In the Greek
alphabet, which is undoubtedly derivative, the names of the letters
would alone suffice to show the source from which it came; and the
case of the Runic alphabet, derived from the same source, though with
the letters rearranged and with new names given at a comparatively
recent date, seems hardly to apply. The Runic names, moreover,
exhibit no attempt to denote the forms of the letters, to which they
are as inapplicable as the names in one of the Irish alphabets, in
which each letter is called by the name of some tree.
It seems, on the contrary, far more probable that the Phoenicians,
possibly in the first instance borrowing the idea from the Egyptians,
struck out for themselves a more purely literal and therefore a more
simple and useful alphabet. A classification of sounds once established,
and a system of syllabic symbols once invented, the transition to a
pure literal alphabet is comparatively easy, especially when once the
syllabic symbols have, from the introduction of foreign words or from
other causes, been employed for the initial sound only of the syllables
they represent.
Such a change, involving a departure from old practice, might
perhaps more readily take place in an adjacent country to that in
which the syllabic system prevailed, than in the country itself; and
we may readily conceive a practical people like the Phoenicians importing from Egypt a system of pictorial writing thus modified.
Certainly their alphabet, unlike the letters of the later class of
Egyptian hieroglyphics, does not appear to consist of merely a few
survivors from a whole army of symbols. On the contrary, it seems
to present some traces of arrangement; for the objects representing
the letters appear to be grouped in pairs, each comprising two objects
in some manner associated with each other; and between each pair
is inserted a third letter, represented by an object not so immediately
connected with those preceding it, but still not absolutely alien from
them.
�10
Mr. John Evans on the Alphabet and its Origin.
[March 15, 1872.
Thus the ox and the house are followed by the camel—an animal,
by the way, not represented in Egyptian hieroglyphics. The door
and the window are followed by the peg; the weapon and enclosure
by the serpent; the hand and the palm by the ox-goad; the water and
the fish by the support; the eye and the mouth by the reaping-hook;
the head and the back of the head by the tooth; and the alphabet
concludes with the final mark, x •
It would be superfluous to attempt to point out the bearings of
this question of the origin and development of the Phoenician alphabet
on the history of civilization in Europe and Western Asia.
Future discoveries may possibly bring us nearer the cradle of this
alphabet, but it seems probable that on the Moabite stone we find the
letters still retaining enough of their original pictorial character to
justify a belief that they there occur in a comparatively early stage, and
not removed by many centuries from the time when they were merely
delineations of the objects, the names of which they have preserved.
Assuming this to have been the case, what is the stage of culture to
which the inventors of this alphabet appear to have attained ?
They were not mere nomads or hunters, but a people with fixed
dwellings for themselves and enclosures for their cattle. They were
acquainted with agriculture, and had domesticated animals, and
employed the ox as a beast of draught to cultivate fields, the produce
of which they reaped with metallic sickles. In fact, their civilization
would seem to have been at least equal to that of the- bronze-using
people of the Swiss lake-dwellings.
[J. E.J
��
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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
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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On the alphabet and its origin
Creator
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Evans, John
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [London]
Collation: 10 p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: Lecture given at the weekly evening meeting of the Royal Institution of Great Britain held Friday, March 15, 1872. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
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Royal Institution of Great Britain
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1872
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G5559
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<p class="western"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" name="graphics1" width="88" height="31" border="0" alt="88x31.png" /><br />This work (On the alphabet and its origin), identified by <span style="color:#0000ff;"><span lang="zxx"><u>Humanist Library and Archives</u></span></span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</p>
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Text
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English
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Language
Alphabets
Conway Tracts