Ancient Babylon and the Babylon of the Book of Revelation Compared.
THE use of names in Bible prophecies, in a descriptive sense, is evidently for the purpose of obtaining instruction from the original use of the name, as well as from the city, or the place and nation to which it formerly belonged. Thus Babylon is introduced into the prophecy given to John on the isle of Patmos as a descriptive name only; and on reading what relates to it in this prophecy we are convinced that the Lord does not intend we shall place this last of all prophecies back on to the ancient city or nation of Babylon. But the characteristics of ancient Babylon were so peculiar and so new to the world, and by which that city was enabled to become the leading one of its time, that all reference made to it by the Lord, especially after its downfall and destruction, convinces us that it is to be considered like a standard book from which instruction is to be obtained on all the points covered by its title and chapters of contents.
The study of the history of ancient Babylon helps greatly to the right understanding of the prophecy relating to modern Babylon; and for the benefit of Bible students we here give a few of the leading characteristics of the two cities, placed side by side. By comparing the two together, we arrive more readily and correctly at the truth the Saviour sought to give his church by means of this most wonderful of all the prophecies.
LOCATION OF CITY.
Ancient Babylon was built on both sides of the river Euphrates, and represented as dwelling "upon many waters." Jer. 51:13.
Modern Babylon is said to "sit" upon "many waters," which are declared to be peoples, multitudes, nations, tongues. Rev. 17:15.
TREASURES.
Ancient Babylon was "abundant in treasures," and was called the "golden city." Jer. 51:13; Isa. 14:4.
Modern Babylon was "decked with gold and precious stones." Rev. 18:16. "Abundance of her delicacies." Rev. 18:3.
LADY.
Ancient Babylon was called "the lady of kingdoms," Isa. 47:3; "the glory of kingdoms," Isa. 13:19. "And thou saidst, I shall be a lady forever." Isa. 47:7.
Modern Babylon is called "the mother of harlots," and says, "I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow." Rev. 18:7.
SORCERIES.
Ancient Babylon was punished for the multitude of her sorceries. Isa. 47:9.
Of modern Babylon it is said, "By thy sorceries were all nations deceived." Rev. 18:24.
IDOLATRY.
Ancient Babylon was the first to make idolatry the national religion. Image worship began at Babylon in its earliest history. The three worthies, Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, were cast into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to the idol Nebuchadnezzar had caused to be erected on the plains of Dura. By means of idol worship much gold was obtained at Babylon. Giving money to the god Bel, as an offering, was supposed to gain mercies for the suppliant worshipers.
Image worship began at Rome, under the sanction of the bishops, about the fourth century, and was finally incorporated into the religion of the papal Roman empire, and has ever since been regarded as a part of the worship of the Roman Catholic church. And for this judgments were pronounced against it. See Rev. 9:20. By the worship of images and patron saints Rome swallowed up the wealth of the nations; and often under the pretense of getting souls out of purgatory the poor were robbed of all they had; another means of obtaining money was by the sale of indulgences.
DRUNKEN.
Ancient Babylon "hath been a golden cup, that made all the earth drunken." (Drunkenness, when used as a metaphor, signifies unbelief. See Isa. 29:9.)
Papal Rome, as the modern Babylon, "made all nations drink of the wine of her fornication." (Idolatry and false worship are symbolized by the words adultery and fornication).
WILDERNESS.
Ancient Babylon made the world "as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof."
Modern Babylon is found in the wilderness—that is, her surroundings became a wilderness—i. e., separated from God. "And the woman fled into the wilderness." Rev. 12:6; 17:3.
ITS FIXED TIME.
The Jews were held in captivity to ancient Babylon seventy years, at the end of which Babylon was punished. The handwriting on the wall caused Belshazzar to tremble; and his wise men and magicians could not deliver him. See Isa. 47:12, 13.
God's people were trodden under foot and given into the hands of papal Rome for twelve hundred and sixty years, at the end of which time the French revolution broke out, which proved to be the beginning of religious toleration throughout Europe, and also the overthrow of the papacy.
BLASPHEMY.
Babylon was full of blasphemy, defying even the God of Heaven, and using the holy vessels of the temple in a feast to its gods. See Dan. 5:23.
When the pope was the mouth-piece of the European world "he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven."
BURNED WITH FIRE.
Babylon was called a "destroying mountain." The city was built in the midst of a fertile plain, and the immense height of its walls and palaces and temples (some of which were six hundred feet high), and its hanging gardens, gave it the appearance in the distance, to the eye of the beholder, of a mountain. But it was to become a burnt mountain. Babylon rebelled against the Medes and Persians B. C. 518. Darius brought his whole force against it, destroyed the one hundred gates, and the walls of the city. It was depopulated by Seleucus Nicator B. C. 294. Afterwards it was burned, and is now cast "up as heaps," or like a burnt mountain. Not a stone or brick can be used for building purposes. Utterly desolate, without inhabitant.
Rome papal is to be burned with fire; to be first made desolate, and naked, consumed away, and finally destroyed. Fire, in the prophecy of Revelation, often signifies war; and "fire and smoke and brimstone," terrible destructive battles. "So many losses have totally exhausted the old carcass; we are making it consume by a slow fire." (French ambassador to Napoleon.)
TIME OF JUDGMENT.
Babylon's princes were to be made drunk, and in a drunken feast the king and his lords were slain, and the kingdom overthrown.
Babylon, the "woman," is represented as drunk with the blood of saints. At this time she is to receive her judgment. See Rev. 17:1.
FINAL DESTRUCTION.
The prophet Jeremiah was to take a stone and bind it to the book (see Jer. 51:63), and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates."
Modern Babylon is to be thrown down with violence, like a millstone being cast into the depth of the sea; "her place found no more at all."
In closing our chapter on the two Babylons we give a summary of the characteristics of modern Babylon, which we condense from the notes of a recent lecture delivered in Boston by an eminent Baptist clergyman.
Three hundred and fifty years ago the work of Martin Luther was in its infancy. The people of God were then leaving the Roman Catholic church by hundreds. Soon hundreds became thousands, and finally, before Luther's death, whole nations began to favor the work of God. Now, what has been the result? In almost every nation where, three hundred years ago, the abominations of popery prevailed, we now see moral, healthy, liberty-loving people. Popery, when in its glory, produced beggars, law-breakers and questionable characters. One of Italy's historians gave a graphic picture of the Roman court, when he wrote that the Italians were made corrupt by the court of Rome, and "if there be a hell, Rome is built above it." "The nearer we get to Rome the more corrupt we are." Yet the popes claimed to be the successors of Peter, and holding the only true faith. If Peter did plant that church eighteen hundred years ago, its fruits of to-day prove it to be one that has long since ceased to bear the fruits of the Spirit of Christ.
Protestantism gives man the Bible, and his liberty to work out his salvation; Romanism takes these blessings all away. Protestantism gives vigor to healthy action; Romanism takes away both vigor and action, and binds its adherents in chains of ignorant superstition.
Three facts concerning the church of Rome:—
1. Her distinguishing dogmas are an insult to the common sense of the whole Christian world. While it is admitted that Rome holds to some Bible truth, it is a fact that her distinguishing dogmas are absurd and preposterous. The infallibility of the pope, teaching that he is incapable of making mistakes or falling into errors; the immaculate conception of the virgin Mary; and the doctrine of transubstantiation, which teaches that in the communion the bread and wine are turned into the veritable body and blood of Christ, not in figure, but in fact—are all shocking to common sense. The wicked lies and enormous blunders of many of the popes disprove the first; the testimony of Jesus himself denies the second, and the testimony of our senses repudiates the third. And yet a church with tenets like these asks predominance in the world, and claims to control its destinies!
2. What is the history of Rome? The open record of the ages will tell us. Who instituted the Inquisition and employed St. Dominic to set its infernal engines in motion? The church of Rome! Who protects and fosters the order of Jesuits? The church of Rome! Who gave Torquemada power to burn his victim in Spain? The church of Rome! What inspired the bloody Bishop Bonner to do his infernal work in England? The church of Rome! What church is responsible for the atrocities of St. Bartholomew's day in France? The church of Rome! Who persecuted the Waldenses, Albigenses, and Huguenots of the Alps? The church of Rome! Who kindled the fires of Smithfield? The church of Rome! History shows us what Rome has been in all time.
3. Her present attitude is dangerous to the peace and hostile to the liberties of the world. Some say Rome has changed; that she is different from what she was in the days of Hildebrand and Borgia. But Rome never changes. She only adapts herself to circumstances, until she has power to do her will. Her present position is one of hostility to an open Bible—popes have condemned the Bible, and condemned Bible societies; priests have burned the Bible, and popish power has secured its banishment from the public schools in many places in the United States; one of hostility to liberty of conscience—listen to the voices of her bishops, who have said that when Catholicity comes to rule in America, religious liberty will be at an end. Christians of all sects are called upon to unite as one man to resist the aggressions of a church whose head is in Rome, and whose spirit is that of devils.—Independent Catholic.
Christ The Fountain.
By Dr. Cuyler
"If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink!" This was an astonishing announcement. If Plato had uttered it from his Academy, it would have savored of boastful presumption. Yet, a Galilean peasant, whose whole "school" of followers scarcely went beyond a dozen fishermen and publicans, makes this proclamation to all humankind: if any one is thirsty for pure happiness, I will satisfy him; if any one is suffering from a sense of guilt, I will relieve him; if any one is heart-broken, I will comfort him. There is no alternative. Either this carpenter's son from Galilee is an insane impostor or else he is a being clothed with divine power. No madman ever talked for three years without uttering one foolish syllable; no impostor ever pushed himself before the public eye for three years without doing one selfish act. Jesus of Nazareth, then, was what he claimed to be—the Son of God.
He does not draw from others his supplies for human needs; he invites everybody to come and draw from him. He is not a reservoir filled up from some other sources and liable to be exhausted; he is an original, self-supplied FOUNTAIN-HEAD. Never had the face of humanity been more parched and dusty and barren than was that Oriental world when Jesus burst up through it like an artesian well. Even Judaism had become like a desert, and lo! there breaks forth this gushing fountain of crystal waters. He is more than a teacher, giving instruction on all profound and29practical questions.
He is more than a miracle worker, giving sight to the blind, ears to the deaf, and healing to the diseased. His supreme gift to man is himself. From himself flows the recovering influence; from the inexhaustible depths of his own being, as "very God of very God," a whole thirsty race may draw refreshment.
"The water that I give shall be in you a well of water springing up into everlasting life." It is not simply profound truths that Jesus offers, or a system of doctrine, or a beautiful model of right living. He offers himself as the satisfier: drink me, take me into your souls, and ye will never die of thirst.
This fountain never dries up. It is never frozen over. No sediment defiles it. Every good thing that I ever sought for outside of Jesus Christ has had its defects, and the very best has brought a shade of disappointment. But, whenever I get a deep draught of Christ's wonderful words they were like Jonathan's honeycomb, they "enlightened my eyes." Whenever I have swallowed his promises, they have acted on me as Professor Tyndall says the canteen of fresh Swiss milk acted on him before he commenced the ascent of the Weisshorn. It lubricated his joints and put new strength into every muscle for the hard climb.
But we must drink from the fountain, if we would receive strength, joy, and life. The proclamation is, "Come unto ME and drink." This is a voluntary act; so simple that a babe understands it by instinct. On a hot summer day we dip the vessel into the cool spring, and, as its delicious draught passes into the lips and through the whole system, an exquisite refreshment steals through every nerve and fiber of the frame. So doth faith take in Christ, and his grace reaches every faculty and affection of the soul. Coleridge said that the best proof of the inspiration of God's word was that "it is the only book in the world that finds me at every point of my nature." The best argument for Jesus Christ is that he alone satisfies me. His grace goes to the right spot. His comfort soothes the sore place; his atoning blood makes me sure of pardon; his love cures my wretched selfishness as nothing else can do it; of almost every one and everything else we can get tired, but what true child of Christ ever got tired of the water of life? With joy doth he ever draw water from this well of salvation.
Yet tens of thousands around us are perishing—not from want of the life-giving water, but because their foolish, depraved hearts do not thirst for it. A lady who visited one of the tropical islands, for health, wrote home to her friends: "This is a lovely spot. I have every kindness, and abundance of food and fruits, and luxuries; but I have no appetite. If I could only get an appetite, I would soon recover." Alas! within a month she was gone! She died not from want of food, but from want of hunger; not for lack of refreshing drinks, but for the lack of thirst for them. So it is the worst symptom of sin in the human soul that it kills the appetite for holiness. It craves other sources of enjoyment than Christ offers. Drugged with the devil's treacherous draughts, it cries constantly for more, and yet refuses to touch the water of life everlasting. Blessed are they that thirst after purity and pardon and peace and power; for in Christ they may be filled.
These words are written for those who are thirsty. Ye who have a real aspiration for a nobler and purer life, ye who have never yet been delivered from the plague and power of sin, listen to that celestial voice: "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink!" There is a flock at the fountain now. Go and join them. Draw for yourself. Drink, that your joy may be full. In Heaven there is a perpetual Thanksgiving Day; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne is their Shepherd, and he leadeth them to ever new fountains of waters of life. -Dr. Cuyler.
The Sabbath-School.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
Notes on Sabbath-school Lesson for January 27.
As the lesson for this week is a review of the whole book of Genesis, it is evident that only a few points can be touched upon. The great point to be kept in mind is the plan that runs through the whole history. This will be spoken of more fully hereafter. One thing that is worthy of mention in passing is
THE DAYS OF CREATION WEEK.
Several years ago it was thought to be nothing less than rank heresy to deny that these days were any other than literal twenty-four-hour days. Now, however, he who ventures to intimate that they were literal days is looked upon as an ignoramus. Very recently we saw the statement in one of the leading religious journals, that no one whose opinion is worth anything believes the old theory. But for all this, we hold unflinchingly to the fact that the days were literal days. We believe that this is really a vital point, and not a mere matter of opinion. Once admit that these days were long periods, and the way is open for a disbelief in the entire Bible; for if this part of the Bible does not mean what it seems to mean, what warrant have we for thinking that any of the Bible means what it says?
Suppose the days to have been equal to one thousand of our years. Now it is evident that the seventh day of the creation week was of the same nature as the other six. If not, then the case is worse than ever, for there is nothing said by which we can infer that there was any difference. But on the seventh day God rested, and afterwards, because of his rest, he blessed it, and set it apart for man's observance. See Gen. 2:2, 3; Ex. 20:8-11. But how absurd to command man to keep holy a day a thousand years long.
It is sometimes urged in favor of the popular view, that "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years." Exactly so; God is not obliged to have just so much time in which to perform his acts. He could create the world in one day as well as in a thousand years. One would be no more wonderful than the other, for the simple act of creation itself is something that man cannot comprehend. The psalmist says, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." "For he spake and it was (done); he commanded and it stood fast." This describes the work of creation. God did not speak and set forces in motion that after the lapse of ages would result in the formation of our world; but at his word everything came into existence perfect and good.
As has been said, the works of God are infinite. The mind of man can find ample scope in contemplating them. And it is proper, and pleasing to God, that we should think upon his works, for the psalmist says, "The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." "He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered." But if men were constantly engaged in their own affairs, their minds would not be upon God and his work. In order, that man might have an uninterrupted period for meditation, God gave him
THE SABBATH.
This institution was not an arbitrary affair, given simply for God's pleasure, that he might be remembered, but was given because man needed it. God can exist without us, but we cannot exist without God. The Sabbath was a necessity of man's nature, therefore God made it for him. It is his to use to the glory of God, and only by so doing can he get the benefit from it. All the commandments are for man. It is absolutely necessary to his happiness that he should refrain from murder, theft, etc. It is in this sense that the Sabbath was made for man. Only by keeping all of God's commandments can man attain to the highest possible state of enjoyment both here and hereafter.
It is not in the province of these brief notes to say anything about the perpetuity of the Sabbath. The natural conclusion of any unbiased person would be that the Sabbath is of perpetual obligation. If it was necessary for man six thousand years ago, it is necessary now. If there was danger of forgetting God then, there is a thousand-fold more danger now. And it is "The day of the Sabbath" that is to be kept. No other day but the seventh day can be the Sabbath, for upon no other day did God rest and pronounce a blessing, and no other day was sanctified. It is not true, then, that all days are alike, and that any day will do for a memorial. All days are not alike; for one day in the week has been blessed and sanctified, made holy and set apart from the rest. It is a poor excuse for any one to say that he can see no difference. God expects us to make a difference between the holy and the profane. Read what he says about it, and the consequences of not doing so, in Ezekiel 22:26-31.
THE RESURRECTION.
Not only is the resurrection taught in the New Testament, but it was understood centuries before that book was written. When Abraham was called upon to sacrifice his only son, the one in whose name, it had been said, his seed should be called, there was no natural probability that the promise could ever be fulfilled. But Abraham, like Paul, knew whom he had believed. The reason for his great faith is found in the fact that he knew that God possessed all power, and was able to raise Isaac from the dead. He had received his son by a miracle, and he knew that God was able to work another. The "friend of God" was not above believing in miracles. Perhaps if there were more nowadays who held that relation to God a belief in miracles would be more general.
E. J. W.
The Non-Thinker and His Dog
"I TELL you," said a non-thinker, who fancied himself a free-thinker, "the idea that there is a God has never come into my head." "Ah! precisely like my dog. But there is this difference, he doesn't go around howling about it."
Living by the Son of God
HE who would surely know that Christ is his, must seek to be able with his whole heart to confess that the "life that I now live in the flesh I live by the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
The Cost of Revenge
It often costs more to revenge injuries than to bear them.
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Bible Inspiration and Reverence
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
“I BELIEVE there is no part of the Scriptures which may not be made profitable to the Christian mind; that every single part of it was given for our edification. I have no sympathy whatever with that spirit which finds myths and mixtures in the word of God. I do not underrate true criticism. It is exceedingly important to determine the genuineness and accuracy of the text. I appreciate highly the labors of such scholars as Griesbach and Alford; but when they have determined for me what the true text is, I accept it in my heart of hearts as the word of God. Adopt no theory of inspiration which diminishes your reverence for the Bible as the expression of the thoughts and will of the Almighty. By whomsoever he speaks, howsoever he speaks, whosoever language, memory, and imagination he may have employed, the revelation is all his own.”—Bishop Simpson.
Scriptural Meaning of the Word Soul.
THERE is no point in connection with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul upon which more dust has been cast in the eyes of the common reader than that of the
PROPERTIES OF MATTER.
Since the days of Plato this has been a fruitful source of argument on that side of the question. Yet the arguments consist mainly of illustrations, and these are defective in their application, because the reasoning is invariably from unlike to unlike. The known properties of inorganic or lifeless matter are taken to illustrate the properties of organic or living matter. A musical instrument has been a favorite subject with which to illustrate the powers, or lack of power, of the human frame. The instrument in itself is as destitute of music as a tree or a stone. But a skillful performer can bring music out of it, or produce music with it. And so the human frame: It is material, powerless, possessing only the properties of matter, subject to all the conditions of matter. But the soul takes possession of it, and uses it as an instrument, and thus accomplishes wonderful results. The life, the energy and power, are all in the soul—not at all in the body.
But the proof and the conclusion are both assumed. The likeness supposed in the illustration cannot be proved. To the contrary, the proof is all against it. Take, for instance, the very lowest form of animal life, the “stupid potto,” as Dr. Clarke has it. Has the body of the potto, or of any other animal low in the scale, an immortal, intelligent soul, by which it is animated and caused to move and act? If it has, then wherein is man superior to the lowest brutes, as far as the possession of a soul is concerned? If it be replied that it is too low in the scale to be possessed of immortality, then two difficulties to the argument result. 1. It must be determined how high in the scale of animal power any being must be in order to be possessed of immortality. Some animals, as the elephant, are higher in the scale of intellect or reasoning power than some men. Some men are deprived of reasoning power; they are descendants of Adam—they are of the human race. For lack of reasoning power are they deprived of man’s supposed heritage of immortality? And shall we say that the elephant is possessed of immortality, because of his wonderful sagacity? No answer can be given to these queries which will save the assumptions in favor of natural immortality. 2. Another difficulty is presented in the fact that the very lowest forms of animal life, to which no philosopher or theologian ascribes the attribute of immortality, is actually possessed of those properties which, it is assumed, matter does not and cannot possess. They have the power of self-motion and of choice; the power to will. But philosophers or philosophizing theologians tell us that those powers in man do not belong to the matter of which his frame is composed—they belong only to the soul—and that which possesses these powers must be above the nature of matter; it must be spiritual, and therefore immortal. Then the tadpole, the sloth, and the “stupid potto,” must certainly have immortal souls. This conclusion is unavoidable if the premise be correct.
But we believe that neither premise nor conclusion is correct. Matter may be so organized and possessed of life as to manifest those powers which, in man, have been supposed to contain evidence of the immortality of his nature.
A religious teacher stands before a class of pupils. He is going to teach them the great truth, so often heard declared in funeral sermons, that that which you see is not the real man,—the thinking, acting man,—but only the casket, or case, in which the real man dwells. He has an old-fashioned watch in his hand, which he displays to his pupils. He then, unobserved by them, removes the works from the case, and again holds up the case to view. They suppose it is the watch that they see. But he opens it and shows that it is empty, while in the other hand he displays the works, which are moving and marking time as before. This, he tells them, is the relation of body and soul. The body is only an outer case for the soul; when the soul leaves the body, the body is empty, lifeless, powerless; but the soul keeps on in its volitions and actions, just as the works of a watch keep on marking time when taken out of their case. He has two reasons for pursuing such a line of argument: (1) Little children can understand the illustration; and (2) he can do no better! Thus are children trained to believe that which has never been proved—which cannot be proved. And those older than children continue to accept the illustration in lieu of proof.
In the case of the removal of the works of the watch, no power is lost; there is no cessation of action in any part which ever acted. But that is not true in the death of man. “The living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything.” Eccl. 9:5. Here is a loss of mental power; for that which knows something in life, knows nothing in death. There is a cessation of vital activity. It is not so in the case of the watch as given above, nor in the case of any instrument upon which an illustration is based. And see Ps. 146:4. Speaking of the death of man, the scripture says, “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Does any power or activity perish by the removal of a watch from its case? The truth is, that no man can use such illustrations unless he is ignorant of the Scriptures, or indifferent to their teachings.
We actually heard a well-educated minister carry the illustration to the following extent. He said: “Some people say that the brain has power to think. But, imagine that we test the question. Let us take out a man’s brain and lay it on the table before us; will it think? it cannot; the power of thought is not in the brain, but in the soul, which inhabits the brain.”
Let us apply this method of reasoning to other parts of the body, and see the result. Some people, and all physiologists—all scientists—among them, suppose that the stomach has power to digest food. But that is an error, as we can easily prove. Take out a man’s stomach and lay it upon the table; now put a piece of bread in it; will it digest the piece of bread? It cannot; the power to digest food is not in the stomach; it is the soul that digests the food. And so, of course, of all the other organs. The soul, not the heart, propels the blood; the soul, not the liver, secretes the bile; and thus of all the secretions of the system, of every nature.
Very well, says the soul-theorist, we accept that as a fact. All the powers of the system inhere in the soul. Matter is inert; it cannot act; the soul can act, and it uses matter as its instrument. But then we ask again, Can the matter act of which a turtle or a serpent is composed? Has the turtle an immortal principle within it which causes it to move and act? And we might well retort upon the illustration: If all the power of thought is in the soul, and none in the brain, why is it that the soul cannot use the brain to think when the brain is taken out and laid upon the table? If the power never was in the brain, why cannot the soul use it when it is on the table as well as when it was in the skull?
We have never supposed that a dead brain could evolve thought, or a dead stomach digest food. The power is in the living organism, as is proved by the action of all animals, even of those of the lowest grade. Allowing all that can possibly be allowed in favor of the assumptions under consideration, it must of necessity be conceded that the soul can never properly digest food if the stomach is impaired, nor can the soul manifest thought by means of white brain matter. And we might go on to any extent and hedge up the supposed “immortal soul” with conditions, until we find that it has no power at all. All the power is in the living organism.
A man once said to us: “I am not dependent on what are called my senses for my knowledge. If you put out my eyes, I shall retain the conception of colors; destroy my organs of hearing, and I shall still have a clearly-defined idea of sounds; and so of all my senses.” We replied that his expression was correct; he would retain the ideas by the power of his memory; but the ideas had been furnished to him at first by the means of the senses. Then we questioned him: If you had never possessed the sense of hearing, you would have no idea of sounds; if you had never possessed the sense of seeing you would have no idea of colors. Now suppose you never had possessed any of the five senses, what would be your condition? After a little reflection he frankly and smilingly replied: “I should be a natural fool.” And thus he admitted, as all must admit, that he would possess no knowledge were it not for the proper condition of the organism. Thus it is with all animals, man included.
To show the crudity, or, more properly, the absence, of ideas of things of which the senses cannot take cognizance, we relate the following incident: A certain young man could hear distinctly, but he was totally blind. Having heard the different colors spoken of, he was asked what was his idea of red. He replied that, from what he had heard of it, he thought that red color resembled the sound of a trumpet. Although he called this his idea of red, it was, in fact, no idea or conception of color at all. Had he never heard sounds, he would have been still further at a loss. And had he never possessed any of the natural senses, he never would have had any ideas at all.
Philosophy teaches us that inertia is a property of matter. So it is of inert or dead matter. But some matter is not inert; it is living matter. Growth is a property of a tree; and in growth it changes. Can anything, strictly speaking, be said to be inert which changes its form and size? Or if this be considered too nice a point of philosophy, we will state a fact which cannot be disputed: Inertia is not a property of a living tadpole, or a mosquito, or a flea. Are they, therefore, spirit, and not matter? Will some philosopher who believes in natural immortality arise and correctly draw the line for us? All past attempts to draw such a line have been notable failures.
Philosophy has furnished us with some of the properties of inert or lifeless matter. We accept the facts which they have given. But from these some unwarrantable inferences have been drawn to serve the cause of a popular fallacy. Why it became popular we may notice hereafter.