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May2%W3 THE LEADER. 497
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LA JUIVE. Uses are- not to be tested by ...
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Comxe's Positive Philosophy. By G. H. Le...
on the connexion between our astronomical knowledge and the whole ^ s of concep tions on other subjects , I feel called upon to express the ^" st decided and unequivocal dissent from his views on the connexion iTtween Astronomy and Religion . I will quote them , and then answer them . What he saysabout final muses , every genuine Baconian will accept . j but hat he says abotitasixonomy destroying religion , can only be accepted by those who identify Religion with the theologies which from time to time endeavour ta create its formula , « To those who are strangers to the study of the heavenly bodies , although f eauently masters of the other parts of natural philosophy , astronomy has till the reputation of being an eminently religious science , as if the famous erse i The havens declare the glory of God , still preserved all its value . To minds early familiarized with true philosophical astronomy , the heavens
declare no o ther glory than that of Hipparchus , of Kepler , of Newton , and of all those who hftve aided in establishing their laws . It is , however , certain as I have made out , that all real science is in radical and necessary opposition to all theology , and this characteristic is more decided in astro- , nomy than anywhere else , just because astronomy is , so to . speak , more a science than any other , according to the comparison made above . No other has given more terrible shocks to the doctrine of final causes , generailv regarded by the moderns as the indispensable basis of every religious
system , although , in reality , it has only been a consequence of them . The simple knowledge of the movement of the earth must have destroyed the prime and real foundationi of this doctrine , the idea of the universe subordinated to the earth , and consequently toman ,---as I shall specially explain when treating of this movement . Besides , the accurate exploration of our solar system could not but dispel that blind and unlimited admiration which the general order of nature inspired , by showing , in the most sensible manner , and in a very great number of different respects ,
that the elements of this system were certainly not disposed in the most advantageous manner , and that science permitted us easily to conceive a happier arrangement , finally , under a last point of view , and a still more important one , —by the development of true celestial mechanics since Newton , all theologicalphilosophy , even the most perfect , lost for ever its principal intellectual _ function ,----the most regular order being thenceforth conceived as necessarily established and maintained in our world , and in the entire universe itself , by the simple mutual gravity of its different parts . " _ In reference to this doctrine of final causes , Comte remarks , that much
eloquent declamation might be spent on the great idea of the essential stability of our solar system , and yet it i » a simple and necessary consequence of certain characteristics of that system ,- —the extreme smallness of the planetary masses in comparison with the central mass , the slight degree of eccentricity of their orbits , and the moderate mutual inclination of their planes . Besides , from the very fact that we do exist , we ought , a priori , to expect to find a disposition qf matter , such as would permit of that existence , which would be incompatible with the total want of stability . The alleged final cause amounts to this childish remark : that there are no inhabited planets in our solar system , except those that are habitable . In a word , we land at the principle of the conditions of existence , which is the true positive transformation of the doctrine of final causes , and which is much the superior to it in range and fecundity .
Let me call attention to the one fundamental and extremely vicious assu mption which lies at the basis of this unphilosophical— -I had almost said petty- —outbreak against the grand old Hebrew phrase , so potent with rhythmic meaning , " The heavens declare the glory of God . " The assumption is one which I find lurking in every theology and metaphysic that ventures into the arena of debate ; and because it is begotten of intellectual pride , it will long be cherished by the intellect . The
assumption is , That what we can conceive as the Perfect , must necessarily be the Perfect . In other wotds , it is the old sophistic canon of " Man the measure of all things . " I repudiate this with all my soul and with all my strength ; and I label it as the last refinement of the Anthropomorphic tendency in the human mind—a tendency which , in the earlier epochs of Humanity , we see investing Gods with the Passions and Caprices , no less than the Reason of men . At all times man has made God in his own
image ; he has idealized and intensified his own nature , and worshipped that . This ho has ever done ; this , perhaps , he ever will do . But we , who in serene philosophy smile condescendingly on the ill-taught barbarian , whom we find attributing his motives , his passions , his infirmities , to the Creator of aH , we who " shudder" at the idea of such anthropomorphism , how comes it that we also have fallen into the trap , and having withdrawn from God the i nvestiture of Passion , persist in substituting for it an abstraction named Reason ? Is not God conceived to be pure Reason—omnipotent Intelligence ? and as Intelligence is . Lord and Master of this Universe , so what intelligence recognises as perfect or imperfect , must be perfect or imperfect ! r
* find this anthropomorphism among almost all speculators . What they jeek in tho universe is not Life , but " evidences of Pesign V * If they can "jut make out the presence of a " skilful Designer , " they believe they have « one everything . With a mechanical theory of the universe , they place a great Mechanician who " contrives" so adroitly ( it being so necessary for mmP ° tence to « contrive ! " ) and having proved that , all is said 1 I do * l hesitate to declare my preference of the primitive spontaneous conceptions of the Deity , which gave hint at least tho grand idealization of tho
totality of our nature , to this weak abstraction of a part of our naturer —• this deification of Intellect . I would rather worship Jupiter than the metaphysician ' s Reason . But if I object to that metaphysical aberration named " Natural Theology , " founding its pretensions not on the true and devout interpretation of Nature , but on its interpretation of " contrivance" and * desijgn >" which it is clever enough to detect , and to applausively appreciate ; still more do I object to Comte ' s unwarrantable and ( strange accusation !) equally metaphysical assumption couched in that phrase , " science permits us easily to conceive a happier arrangement . " Science permits it ! Wherefore is Science to be final arbiter in questions wholly beyond its
competence ? We can conceive simpler arrangements ; does it therefore follow that our simpler conceptions would be better ? What is simplicity , but a human convenience , and how is it better in . esse than complexity ? It would be simpler to have no serpents , no lions , no crocodiles , no fleas ; but what would those serpents , lions , crocodiles , and fleas say to such simplicity ? It would be simpler for man to be born at once and immortal ; but what has philosophy to do with such simplicity ? I agree with Comte that the pretended beauty of " design" manifested in astronomy is not a possible argument , but I protest against his asserting that the elements of our universe are not arranged in the most advantageous manner , and that science could better have arranged them .
" C ' est dommage Garo que tu n ' es point entre , Aux conseils de Celui que preche ton cure , Tout aurait ete mieux . " Science has no knowledge of such things ; to assume such a competence is to assume that " is the measure of all , " and that Intellect is the final arbiter of Life . Astronomy has destroyed theologies ; and it must destroy our theology . It must destroy it , if only by its emphatic condemnation of the capital point
in all theological systems ,- —viz ., the subordination of the Universe to Man . When the sun was regarded as a light to rule over the day , and the stars were only lesser lights , it was natural enough for man to suppose them created solely for his use . But that conception is no longer tenable . Now that man knows what a mere speck is his World in . the awful Universe of Worlds , he feels himself to be more insignificant ; and , accompanying this feeling , the grander conception of the universe and of God emerges eminent in his soul .
I say , therefore , that if Astronomy must destroy Theology , it will not destroy , it will deepen Religion . No man walks out on a starlight night without religious emotion ; no man sweeps the heavens with his telescope without religious emotion ; whatever may be the litanies most suitable to his mind , under some form or other man cannot help worshipping when under this canopy of the " Cathedral of Immensity . " It is an . indestructible privilege of the stars to excite this emotion within us ; and although the emotion will translate itself intellectually into various dialects and formulas , according to the various intellects of men , yet the emotion itself is constant ; and the Last Man , gazing upwards at the stars , will , in the depths of his reverent soul , echo the Psalmist ' s burst of emotion—The Heavens declare the glory of God !
May2%W3 The Leader. 497
May 2 % W 3 THE LEADER . 497
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La Juive. Uses Are- Not To Be Tested By ...
LA JUIVE . Uses are- not to be tested by abuses , but they may be appreciated by the light abuses throw on them : the consequences of an act are often the sole means we have of appreciating the act . I begin with a philosophical formula , because it gives an air to criticism , and may predispose you to respect ; and I want something of gravity on my side now more than ever that I ana going to fling a heresy at you . Tho heresy is , my very moderate admiration of Meyerbeer , and my total dissent from his " school . ' With works so effective as the Ilitgucnots and tho Prophete , it is not easy to persuade readers that the composer ia on tho wrong path ; but ifyou wish to see the secret weakness of Meyerbeer ' s system , trace it in Halovy . The system—to express it in a phraao —consists in tho subordination of musical effect to theatrical effect . An opera one used to imagine was a dramatic form of Music j it was essentially and primarily Music ; it was to Music what the Drama is to Poetry . And as in the Drama wo have soon Poetry gradually disappear before the ti ©
encroaching demands of theatrical eltect , n Arc uas given up me pmc to real water , and Mr . Thurtell's " real gig "—as , in short , one species of amusement has gradually been supplanted by another ; bo wo shall some day soo Music banished from Opera , and in lieu of the graceful soulentranoing melodies in which genius can express emotions , we shall be roducod to recitatives , turbulent choruses , noisy finales , and orchestral " offeots . " Now , although I do not deplore the modern taste with respect to Dramatic Poetry , conceiving that poetry ia better on tho printed page than * 4 . % . ^ * v . « nr * 1 nr 1 « l r » mifinn of " HlialcHnnrian antors i" votlmustaavthoidea
„ of Music left to tho execution of gentlemen who bring a roll of songs ( and voico-lozonges ) to private parties , does not seem an agreeable substituto for music sang by La Diva , by Mario , or by Tamberlik . Moreover , a 8 wo havo the drama for thoatrioal effects , let us bo content , and try to preserve tho opora for music . Yet that the tendency of tho Meyerbeer school is to banish molody , and to substitute for it tho clang and uproar of " grand opera" under tho idea of " effects , " fow will doubt . Take the Huguenots from tho stage , and what becomes of the music P ^ But take Don Giovanni , ffidelio , Alceste , Semirayiidc , Normct , Der Freisohutt , or
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1852, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22051852/page/21/
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