T H E TORCH OF REASON, SILV ER TO N , OREGON, MARCH 8, 1900.
Solar System in it are much like
those of our modern astronom y,ex-
cept th at the orbits of the planets
are circular; the observations and
facts were new and true, but m any
of the reasons given were fanciful»
One notew orthy exception was a
clear anticipation of the theory and
law of gravity, which w as left to
Newton as a problem to solve. Of
the religious and secular conse
quences of his new light he seems
to have had otdy a fearful appre
hension. T h at light was practic-
ally extinguished by the church for
nearly fifty years, and m ight have
so rem ained, had it not been for the
reckless and heroic spirit of one
who was born to be,as he describes
himself, the Awakener of the Souls
of those Asleep (‘D orm itantium
A nim arum E xcubitor’)—
1580 l**gan at Geneva a new life as
a free man. As teacher and press
worker, he obtained livelihood and
opportunity for study and w riting,
or for preparing to write. But those
were days when “ religion” was the
principal thing to look after in
one’s neighbor’s life. In 1553 Ser-
vetus had paid the most awful
penalty for differing with Calvin
upon the question of the T rinity,
W as Bruno safe when th a t fire
m ight be re lighted at any time?
adm ire or to defend. Hence it io have thought th a t his new phil-
easy for them to care little for a osophy of ‘‘The T ru th of the Co-
Philosophy which avails naught or pernican A stronom y” was going to
little, or which they really know be accepted. T hat, of course, was
not; but he who has found T he then impossible, when we come to
T ruth , which is a hidden treasure, think of it. As a speculation, it
inflam ed bv the In-auty o f its divine was interesting; but its conse
countenance (acceso de la belta, di sequences were a horror— far worse
quel volto di vino), is not less, but then than now. After about two
more, zealous to preserve it from years he had finished sowing the
u n tru th , injury or stain than if it new seed in E ngland, m uch of
m ight be a contest about filthy which has come up in unexpected
gold, rubies or diam onds, or the places. By no m eans did he miss,
as Prof. Thom as Davidson has
It seems th a t the Swiss tried to fair form of wom an.”
love Bruno “ for the enemies he had
acquaintance with
In this way “ this strange m or shown, an
m ade”— the P apists; but there is ta l” consecrated himself to be the Shakespeare, and his “ Globe”
no liberty under Theology,— not K night E rra n t of the N ew T ruth , T heatre, with the earth globe on a
even in Switzerland. Bruno did in the interest of the human , and colum n in front of it, whence its
not attend “sacram ent” nor church; his life was one continuous battle nam e. The echo of th is in te r
be was guilty of hum an and sim ply in th a t holiest of causes until it course appears in more th an one of
“ m oral” sentim ents. And so it was came to its glorious end by fire at ! The P lays and in the Ita lia n col-
intim ated to him th a t it would he the Stake in place of the to rtu re of oring of the Comedies, which is so
This life as the H erald accurate th a t it has m ade m any
GIORDANO BRUNO, THE MORNING STAR healthier for him to move on before the Cross.
the “ au th o rities” should resort to of T ru th was not so “ out of form ” suspect th a t the greatest D ram atist
OF THE NEW ERA.
the Servetus precedent; He made a then as it m ight seem now. Then m ust have at some tim e visited and
He was born about 1548, five
tour in France, and a t Lyons and there were no newspapers or m aga even lived in Italy . B ut the U n i
years after the death of Copernicus,
Toulouse took privileges of reading zines and few hooks or readers. versity in E ngland, th a t “ widow of
at Nola, in the Province of Naples,
and lecturing on philosophy, which The way to get things known was learning,” rejected the heliocen
between th a t beautiful Bay and Ve
prepared him for a wider sphere to proclaim them ,and to hold dispu tric, and he could not wait for his
suvius the volcano, pictures of the
So we next find him at Paris(1579) tations at U niversities,and wherever sown seed to grow. W here next
dawn of his early, and the tragedy
occupying a far more noteworthy hearings could be obtained, upon was the proper field for this
of his later, life. We are told,
position th an ever before.
He Propositions (Theses), which were K night of the Intellect? E vidently
probably from the statem ents made
seems by th a t tim e to have g ra d u given out or often posted, as were G erm any, the home of L u th er, of
by him before the Inquisitors at
ated from his studentship or jo u r L u th e r’s on the church door at the Reform ation and of P ro te sta n t
Venice, th at he was the son of a
soldier, of good family; th a t his neym an years (w ander-jahre, as the W ittenburg. Paris was then the ism. H aving so determ ined, he
m o th er’s nam e was E raulisa Savo Germans call it) and was prepared intellectual center of the world. took farewell of his friends in E n g
lin a; th a t he was of gentle ami for his main lifework. W hat was T h at was the place for this K night land and P aris by a few parting
studious habits, was instructed in that? “ The aw akening of the sleep E rra n t of the new to begin his •‘d isp u tatio n s,” and next appeared
work by a challenge of the old . at the U niversity of M arburg in
the rudim ents of learning at the ing world.”
And why was it necessary for him W ith w hat ability and effect he did 1586. The new Philosophy could
Convent of St. Dominico Maggiore,
which he entered with a view of at th at time to become such Awak it, is well attested by opponents, obtain no hearing there, b u t shortlv
Because he not only saw friends and patrons, which soon after, at the U niversity of W itten
becoming a P riest, and continued ener?
his studies as a member of the Do th a t the Copernican A stronom y was were his. T he first of his works, burg, he was heard, and there he
m inican order. It does not appear true, but th a t it involved enormous which were preserved, seem to have rem ained two years engaged in lec
th a t he ever became active as a changes in the views of m ankind, been w ritten here. H is challenges, turing, especially upon Aristotle,
Priest. H is life was rath er th a t of as then en tertain ed , as to in d i d isp u tatio n s and lectures secured, and preparing his later L atin
a stu d en t and teacher, and as such viduals, societies, governm ents and not only great interest, but interest works. Among these was his great
he developed doubts which pre churches. But the most peculiar of th e great, w hether out of fear or L atin Poem, with com m ents, “ De
Im m enso et Innum erabilibus, seu
vented his present and future suc thing is th a t this m an, w ithout favor is not so certain.
cess as a priest of any Order or home or country of his own, seems
After two years of this work in de U n iv erso et M undis”— Concern
“ F a ith ” then existent. He did not to have gathered from his new Paris, he was ready to open a cam ing Im m ensity and the In n u m e r
know, th at is, had doubts, about Cosmism a form of “ the e n th u si paign in E ngland. He had “ noble” able W orlds, or The U niverse and
the T ransubstantiation, The T rin ity asm of h u m an ity ” th a t is difficult invitations, for Sir P hillip Sydney, W orlds. This was evidently to be
and Im m aculate Conception; and to account for in him, but which the friend of Shakespeare, was his his great “ defence against tim e,’’de
the inquiries on these an d sim ilar we, in these after years, see to be friend, and the literary circle of signed to carry on his great work
dogm as were not satisfactorily a logical and proper consequent of London was o p n n 'to him . H e is when he could no longer continue
solved by “ F a ith .” This last dis the New W orld. CoL Ingersoll said to have had letters from the it by voice. It was an attem p t to
covery— th a t “ F a ith ” was not suf- said, in his last lecture on Thom as King of F rance (H enry III., the state the new heliocentric theory of
ficient to solve doubts, m arks the Paine, th a t the strangest thing Bad) to the French A m bassador the world and its m anifest conse
b irth of a scientific soul, then and about P aine (and which he, Inger- Castelriuovo, who also became his quences in contrast with th at of
there the rarest of products, and j 8O^» could not u n d erstan d ) was friend and pation, and also letters A ristotle and Ptolem y, and in con
certainly neither a t home nor safe th a t he never lost faith in man and to Queen E lizabeth, whose court tinuation and com pletion of the
in any convent of the Dominican hum anity, notw ithstanding all of he certainly attended, and with splendid Latin Poem of Lucretius,
order, which Order had control of the injustice, ingratitude and ill- whom he conversed in Italian . “ De N atu ra R erum ”(concerning the
the Inquisition. He was to be dis treatm en t to which he had been These were the H alcyon Days of N ature of Things), who could only
subjected. Bruno had this same poor B runo— the days of his Italian tell of the world as it was con
ciplined, and escaped.
e • I
•
About 1576 he fled from his undying faith in hum an uature works, d isp u tatio n s and trium phs; ceived when he wrote,— before
N aples birthplace and home, which ( " ’h at he calls “ tran q u illa, gener- all made necessary to reach his C hrist, 95. This work was dedi
he never saw again, and took refuge alique p h ilan tro p ia” ); and th a t is new, noble and larger audience. cated to the Duke of Brunswick,
in Rome. But the E tern a l City the faith that alw ays saves in the These compelled him to work in from whom he received honors and
To th a t, his
could not remain a refuge long. long run. This was the reason dustriously, but besides these he some rem uneration.
The proceedings from which he had th a t the new tru th seemed so good had visitations, conferences, and, great book, we m ust refer later,
escaped followed and threatened and so unspeakably sacred to him, above all, intellectual tournam ents,
Of course hiscom fortable life with
him . W as there a place on earth and why it became the chief object especially at the great U niversity the L utherans, as with th e Calvin-
where a hum an soul m ight study °f his life to make it known. In of Oxford, which he found to be “ a ists, could only contiaue u n til his
and th in k and speak with safety? his “ De la Causa, Principio et
widow of learning,” and sadly views m ight become well known.
If so, it m ight be Sw itzerland. U no,” th a t is, The U nity of the dom inated by A ristotle, as Bacon There was even danger th a t the
T hitherw ard the hunted Bruno by Universe, he says: “ Those other also sadly com plained shortly after- C alvinists would get control of the
circuitous routes worked his way as Philosophers have found nothing w ards. He seemed in these happy U niversity of W ittem burg, and
traveling mouk or student, and in iso great; they h a re not so much to days to fly so high th a t he m ay well consequently from thence he re-