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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1878)
NO. 9. SYMPOSIUM. 402 peiulpuce of cluiractcr. Hero wore tlto sentiments and opinions of nil mingled mid discussed. And the time came when this understanding, impelled by the nec essity fif a revolution, caused 'men once more to recognize the necessity of law and order. After liberty and intellectual freedom linil been snatched from the frail captive by Human tyrants, men were again com pelled to live a second childhood; and tin's was consummated in the feudal ages. With minds new and knowledge limited, men were controlled by the slightest in lluciicc or enticed by the least attraction. If that freedom ol thought and action was for a time smothered, it had its reac tion in turn, and has fixed a star in the firmament of illustrious events that will guide us for many centuries. Chivalry has hud its day and in its time, exercised its power. Though rude in its exterior, far within its center were safely protected and nourished, the germs of liberty. The emancipation of the body and its uil was the greatness of its work while the incentive that it has added to modern industry points out to us, the les sons that were taught under its rude tu tnKe Agbtho. sr.)rosnT.v. Witatis the InjUtoncc of Skeptical Litem, dire? I There is a great difference in the na Hire of men ; some are very skeptical, and others are equally credulous. 1'erhiips, on the whole, men aro much more inclined to disbelieve the truth of any new statement or doctrine, whether it pertain to religion or philosophy, than the) niv to receive it. In past ages the fco-culled skeptic has been the recipient of many u harsh word and bitter denuncia tion. A man like Hume or Gibbon was looked upon by the great majority of men, ns on.- of the greatest foes of human soei- oly. And while, porhaps, many of their views were not tho host, yet it is true that they set other men to thinking, and thus were the instruments by which great good was accomplished. The credulous and the skeptical have each a duty to perforin lo society. The credulous accept every newly advanced opinion on every subject, and thus give it a following; the skeptic doubts, exam ines, questions, and, without the strong, est proof, denies. Thus these two classes hold caeli other in check, and keep soci ety in a well balanced condition. In past ages, and also lo a certain degree at the present, those who were the most bitter persecutors of religious skeptics were themselves impregnated with skepticism to fully as great a degree. For witness, the persecutions of Harvey, Galileo and others, hy the same class that at a later date, cried down Voltaire and kindred spirits. Thus we find that we have the relig ious and the philosophical skeptic; each placed, as it wore, at the entrance of their respective fields of inquiry, to pre vent the entrance of (also or erroneous beliefs. W. II The inlluonco of skeptical literature, since at the present bay it is being scat torod ovor our land, is worthy of notice. Ever since the Star of Bethlehem shone upon the plains of Judea, and the purify ins: influences of a Saviour began to man manifested v the deeds of men, there have been those who would destroy this inilu ciice, or attribute it to another source. Man is by nature a religious being. He looks around and above hiinsolf for something to which ho can cling as a support. He is a being, which external circumstances have the power, to a groat extern, to mould. And that which espec ially loaves its stamp upon his character is his reading. Since this is the case, it is very desirable thai his reading should be of such a nature as to leave the lm-
