"SEASONS OF THE LILAC," PART NINE
BEFORE CONFEDERATION, THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, AND THE OPENING OF THE MUSKOKA DISTRICT, THE DEBATE ABOUT OUTER SPACE
IT IS ONLY HEARSAY, BECAUSE I WASN'T IN ATTENDANCE, BUT URBAN PRIORITIES AGAIN, WERE THE ONES GETTING MULTIPLE CANDIDATE APPROVAL, DURING THE ALL-CANDIDATES FRIENDSHIP MEETING, HELD AT THE OPERA HOUSE, THE OTHER NIGHT, IN PREPARATION FOR THE OCTOBER MUNICIPAL ELECTION. OR, ONE OF THE MOST BORING MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN MODERN TIMES. MY SONS WERE IN ATTENDANCE LONG ENOUGH TO REALIZE THE VENUE WAS FLOODED WITH FAMILY MEMBERS OF THE CANDIDATES, SUPPORTERS, AND A FEW OTHERWISE BORED CONSTITUENTS, WHO THOUGHT A GOOD DEBATE WOULD BREAK OUT. NOW THAT'S DREAMING IN TECHNICOLOR. THE MEETING SHOULD HAVE BEEN HELD AT GRAVENHURST PUBLIC SCHOOL, WHERE THERE IS ACOMMODATION FOR A LARGER AUDIENCE. I GATHER FROM THE NEWS COVERAGE, AS MINOR AS IT WAS THIS MORNING, THAT URBAN ECONOMICS ARE THE ONE AREA COUNCIL HOPEFULS AGREE, NEEDS A LOT OF ATTENTION. IF YOU WERE TO GO BACK ABOUT A HUNDRED YEARS OR SO, URBAN ECONOMICS HAS ALWAYS DOMINATED, AND THAT MUST REALLY PISS-OFF THOSE IN THE RURAL AREAS OF OUR MUNICIPALITY, SELDOM GETTING THE KIND OF TOP BILLING, (OR CLOSE TO THE TOP), IT RIGHTLY DESERVES. IT IS ONE OF THE GIANT FAILINGS OF OUR MUNICIPALITIES THESE DAYS, IGNORING THE NEW INVESTMENTS IN RURAL LIVING, IN MANY AREAS OF THE DISTRICT. IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN, WITH REAL ESTATE PRICES BALLOONING IN URBAN AREAS. THERE IS A STRONG, HEALTHY, NEW DEVELOPMENT INTEREST, IN WHAT THE RURAL CLIME, HAS TO OFFER, BEYOND THE URBAN BOUNDARIES, AND THE BURDENSOME TITHE OF INCREASING SERVICE TAXATION. I'VE SEEN IT BEFORE, AND IT'S LOOKING LIKE IT HAS LEGS! IF OUR COUNCILLORS WERE TRULY WISE, AND AMBITIOUSLY PROACTIVE, AND WHO PRESENTLY DON'T HAVE MUCH KNOWLEDGE OF THE "RURAL-LIVING AND WORKING THING," THEY SHOULD BE EAGER TO GET TO KNOW, WHAT MAKES UP A BULK OF THE TERRITORY IN OUR MUNICIPALITY. THEY MAY BE SURPRISED, (OR MAYBE NOT), THAT THE ACTUAL URBAN AREA ISN'T AS BIG AS THE COUNTRYSIDE IS BROAD, WHERE RURAL-DWELLERS HAVE INVESTED THEIR TIME AND MONEY; SOME FROM FAMILIES THAT GO BACK TO THE ERA OF THE HOMESTEAD GRANTS OF THE LATE 1860'S. A FEW EVEN EARLIER THAN THIS. IN TERMS OF IMPORTANCE, IT'S HARD TO SELL THE URBANITES, ON THE MANY HISTORIC AND LOGICAL REASONS, WHY THEY, FROM THE OUT-BACK, SHOULD BE GIVEN MORE RESPECT, EVEN IN PRE-ELECTION DISCUSSION, THAN THEY GENERALLY RECEIVE....ALL YEAR, ALL TERM! SOONER OR LATER, THERE'S GOING TO BE A RURAL-RIGHTS GROUP ESTABLISH THEMSELVES, IN MUSKOKA, TO DEMAND THE ATTENTION OF LOCAL COUNCILS; KEEPING IN MIND, THAT COTTAGERS ARE PART OF THE RURAL POPULATION. THEY MAY BE GETTING A LITTLE TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT THE ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION OF THE MAIN BUSINESS AREA, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AS IT IS KICKED LIKE A SOCCER BALL, WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE'S PROVIDING A LITTLE SCRUTINY, TO WHAT COUNCIL IS ACTUALLY UP TO.
I LIVE IN THE URBAN AREA OF GRAVENHURST. BUT OUR FAMILY, HAVING PIONEER BRAGGING RIGHTS IN THIS REGION, ARE RURAL ADVOCATES BASED ON OUR LEGACY. SO WE DO TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY, TO PITCH FOR THE UNDERDOGS, IN THE RURAL ENVIRONS, WHO BELIEVE IT OR NOT, ARE A MODERN DAY EXTENSION, OF THE HOMESTEAD CHRONICLE. IT WAS THE HOMESTEAD COMMUNITY, SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRYSIDE, THAT PROVIDED THE ECONOMIC FOUNDATION FOR THE INITIAL COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS, FOR THE HAMLETS, VILLAGES, AND TOWNS TO BUILD UPON. THE VILLAGES COULDN'T HAVE SUCCEEDED, IF NOT FOR THE MARKETPLACE, BOLSTERED BY THE RURAL DWELLERS. WE SHOULD REALLY ANALYZE, ONE DAY SOON, JUST HOW MUCH ECONOMIC INPUT COMES FROM THE RURAL PROPERTY OWNERS, IN TAXATION, AND REVENUE, FROM URBAN AREA SHOPPING AND PURCHASING, THE RESULT OF RURAL CUSTOMERS DOING BUSINESS IN OUR TOWN(S). URBAN FOLK, TEND TO FORGET THAT THE MUNICIPALITY ISN'T ALL ONE HAPPY FAMILY OF CONSTITUENTS. THE BREAK DOWN, AS IT HAS BEEN SINCE THE FIRST HAMLETS DEVELOPED, IS THAT WE ARE A MIX OF RURAL AND URBAN RESIDENTS; AND PERMANENT AND SEASONAL RESIDENTS. THERE ARE MANY AREAS WE DON'T AGREE. AS HISTORY REVEALS, THE URBAN POPULATION IS THE FAVORED CHILD. TELL ME I'M WRONG!
WERE HOMESTEADERS SMART, SORT OF SMART, COUNTRY SMART, OR TRANSPLANTED URBAN DULLARDS, WITH NO CHANCE OF BEING SUCCESSFUL?
WHAT IF, WHEN WE STUDIED THE HOMESTEADING / PIONEERING YEARS OF OUR NATION'S HISTORY, AS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, WE HAD BEEN TAUGHT DIFFERENTLY THAN WHAT HAS BECOME THE NORMAL FARE, ABOUT THESE HARDY, ADVENTUROUS, BUT HIGHLY GULLIBLE EMIGRANTS? EMIGRANTS WHO WOULD BE DUMB ENOUGH, TO BELIEVE THAT SWAMPLAND, AND ROCK HILLSIDE WOULD MAKE A GOOD FARM SITE. HOW WOULD OUR VIEWPOINT HAVE CHANGED, AND OUR ESTIMATION OF THE HINTERLAND, IN BROAD TERMS, BEEN INFLUENCED, IF IT HAD BEEN REVEALED, BY OUR TEACHERS, THAT A MAJORITY OF THE NEW FARMERS TO OUR LAND, WERE ACTUALLY RELUCTANT SCHOLARS; BUT SCHOLARS NONE THE LESS. INSTEAD OF WHAT WE BELIEVE AS THE LOWEST OF LOW, POVERTY STRICKEN, DESPERATE, URBAN REFUGEES, THEY WERE ACTUALLY QUITE THE OPPOSITE; BEING OF HIGH INTELLECT, AND SELECTED HOMESTEADING INSTEAD OF THE INSANELY BORING PROFESSION, OF BEING EDUCATORS, DOCTORS, ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS, POETS AND BUSINESS LEADERS? WOULD WE TODAY, BELIEVE THEN, THAT THE SMARTEST OF OUR ANCESTORS, KNEW THE INHERENT REWARDS OF BEING RURALLY RESIDENTIAL? WHO KNOWS? IT WAS QUITE THE OPPOSITE, IN ACTUALITY, AND FROM THE BEGINNING, THE HOMESTEADERS WEREN'T CONSIDERED THE CREAM OF THE CROP. I AM NOT WELL VERSED ENOUGH, TO SAY THAT THIS IS WHY THERE IS STILL A LINGERING MISCONCEPTION, ABOUT THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO RESIDE IN THE COUNTRY, VERSUS THE INHABITING THE SUBDIVISIONS OF OUR URBAN AREAS.
IF YOU THINK THIS IS A WILD STRETCH, CONSIDER THE DISCUSSION MY WIFE SUZANNE, AND I, WERE HAVING THE OTHER NIGHT, RECALLING OUR DAYS AT BRACEBRIDGE AND MUSKOKA LAKES SECONDARY SCHOOL, BACK IN THE LATE 1960'S, TO MID 1970'S. SUZANNE WAS FROM THE VILLAGE OF WINDERMERE, IN THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES, (AT LEAST AN HOUR BY BUS BOTH WAYS) AND I WAS FROM ALICE STREET, IN BRACEBRIDGE, EXACTLY TEN MINUTES BRISK WALK FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL, SITUATED ON THE TOP OF ROSEMOUNT HILL, OVERLOOKING THE HOLLOW. I WAS AMONGST HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS, FROM THE URBAN AREA, WHO THOUGHT THE RURAL STUDENTS WERE A TAD BACKWARDS. HAYSEEDS. HICKS. LIKE THE CLAMPETTS. WE ROUTINELY MADE FUN OF THEM FOR BEING BUS-KIDS, AND LIVING IN "THE BUSH." (OR STICKS) SUZANNE AGREES, THAT THERE WAS ALWAYS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE URBAN STUDENTS AND THE RURAL, EVEN IN THE CLASSROOM SITUATIONS; EVEN DOWN TO THE DIFFERENCE, THAT URBAN KIDS COULD GO HOME, WHEN CLASSES LET OUT, AT THREE IN THE AFTERNOON, AND THE BUS KIDS HAD TO WAIT AROUND UNTIL FOUR, TO CATCH THEIR BUS HOME. THE ONLY TIMES WE KIND OF LIKED THEM, WAS WHEN THE BOARD OF EDUCATION WOULD CANCEL THE BUSES, MEANING THE TOWN KIDS DIDN'T HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL. WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT A BUS, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS GOING TO BE LATE, THE TOWN KIDS CHEERED. I DON'T KNOW WHY. WE JUST DID! "WE DID FEEL LESSER BECAUSE WE WERE FROM OUT OF TOWN, FOR A LOT OF DIFFERENT REASONS. THERE WERE A LOT OF THINGS WE COULDN'T DO, THAT THE TOWN KIDS TOOK FOR GRANTED; LIKE COMING BACK TO GO TO A SCHOOL DANCE. BY TIME I GOT HOME ON A WINTER NIGHT, IT WOULD BE FIVE O'CLOCK. WITH A DANCE THAT STARTED AT SEVEN, THE ONLY WAY I COULD HAVE GONE, IS IF I HAD STAYED ALL THAT TIME AT SCHOOL; OR WENT TO A FRIEND'S HOUSE. MY PARENTS COULDN'T DRIVE ME BACK AND FORTH TO BRACEBRIDGE, JUST FOR A SCHOOL DANCE. THEN THERE WAS THE PROBLEM OF GETTING HOME AFTER THE DANCE. IT WAS THE SAME FOR A LOT OF SCHOOL EVENTS, AND IT DID MAKE US FEEL APART FROM THE REST OF THE STUDENT BODY," SAID SUZANNE. BUT THEN I KNEW IT ALL FROM EXPERIENCE. I DATED OTHER GIRLS FROM THE RURAL AREA, AND I EVEN MARRIED ONE. BUT I KNOW WHAT SHE MEANT, WHEN SHE REFERENCED FEELING LIKE AN OUTSIDER, JUST BECAUSE SHE LIVED IN RURAL MUSKOKA.
WHERE DID THE MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS COME FROM?
THERE HAS BEEN, FOR LONG AND LONG UNFORTUNATELY, THE NAGGING, PRECARIOUS DANGER, ASSOCIATED WITH UNDER-RESEARCHING THE HOMESTEAD PERIOD, IN OUR REGION, AND THUS, THE PIONEER EMIGRANTS THEMSELVES. A SLOPPY FOLLOW-THROUGH, FOR THE HAPPENSTANCE RESEARCHER, AND LESS THAN THOROUGH TEACHER, TUTOR, IN THE MOST GENERAL SENSE, JUDGING, AND REPRESENTING MUSKOKA REGIONAL HOMESTEADERS, FROM THE LATE 1850'S, AS HAVING BEEN OF LESS INTELLIGENCE; THAN FOR EXAMPLE, THE ASTUTE, EXPERIENCED CAPITALISTS, WHO OPENED BUSINESS OPERATIONS, AND OF COURSE, THE LAND SPECULATORS. THOSE OPPORTUNISTS, SEEKING WEAKNESSES, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE FAILURES OF THE INITIAL FREE GRANT HOMESTEADERS. I'VE RUN INTO THIS MANY TIMES, WHEN GIVING MUSEUM LECTURES, OR TALKING WITH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, WORKING ON THESIS PROJECTS, REGARDING THIS PERIOD OF CANADIAN HISTORY. JUST BECAUSE MANY OF THESE EMIGRANTS WERE KNOWN AS BEING POOR, AND DESTITUTE OF OPPORTUNITY, IN THEIR RESPECTIVE HOME COUNTRIES, DIDN'T MEAN, BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION, THEY WERE FINANCIALLY DISADVANTAGED, BECAUSE OF THEIR LIMITED LEVEL OF INTELLECT. I HAVE TALKED TO MANY HISTORY-LOVING FOLKS, WHO JUST ASSUMED, THAT IF YOU WERE POOR IN THE HOMELAND, IT WAS BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T PARTICULARLY INTELLIGENT. DULLARDS! IDIOTS! HOMESTEADERS MUST HAVE BEEN DULLARDS AND IDIOTS! THAT'S WHY LIFE WAS SO TOUGH FOR THEM! THIS IS A FORM OF SOCIAL / ECONOMIC PROFILING, AND IT'S WRONG TO MAKE SUCH ILL-FOUNDED, POORLY CALCULATED OVERVIEWS, WITHOUT KNOWING FOR SURE, WHO REALLY MADE UP THIS BAND OF EMIGRANTS; AND THE TRUTHFUL REASONS, THEY WERE SEEKING OPPORTUNITIES ELSEWHERE. FOR MANY, THE INTELLIGENT DECISION, WAS TO CROSS THE ATLANTIC, AND TAKE A CHANCE ON SUCCESS; WHEN AT HOME, THERE WASN'T EVEN THE SLIGHTEST GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR A NEW BEGINNING, LET ALONE FUTURE PROSPERITY.
INDEED, THERE WERE MANY UNEDUCATED SETTLERS, JUST AS THERE WERE EDUCATED HOMESTEADERS. IN TERMS OF EFFICIENCY IN THE BUSINESS OF OWNING PROPERTY, AND RUNNING SUCCESSFUL HOMESTEADS, THIS WAS A BIG ISSUE, AND A BIG LOOPHOLE FOR THE LESS SAVOURY LAND SHARKS. SOME HOMESTEADERS WERE SO DEFICIENT, IN INVESTMENT PROWESS, THAT THEY WERE EASY PREY FOR THE GOVERNMENT LAND AGENTS; EMIGRANTS WHO COULDN'T REASON WHY THEY SHOULDN'T MAKE SUCH A GAMBLE, AS ABANDONING THEIR HOMES, TO BECOME WILDERNESS FARMERS. MANY EMIGRANTS WERE OF MUCH HIGHER INTELLECT, AND WERE ABLE TO READ THE HOMESTEAD ADVISORIES, PUBLISHED BY PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SOURCES, INCLUDING MUSKOKA'S OWN, THOMAS MCMURRAY; WHO EMBELLISHED WHEREVER AND WHATEVER HE COULD, TO SELL A TOPOGRAPHY OF THIN SOIL ON ROCK, TREES BY THE MILLIONS, AND WATERCOURSES; JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE, FOR, AS IT TURNED OUT, MINIMAL AGRICULTURAL EXPLOITATION. AND OF COURSE, THERE WERE THOSE WHO COULDN'T READ THE SELF-HELP PIONEER GUIDEBOOKS ANYWAY, AND THIS DID BECOME A PROBLEM FOR THESE FOLKS DOWN THE LINE. MANY PIONEERS WERE SERIOUSLY RIPPED OFF, AND THEIR LAND TAKEN FROM THEM, BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T MATCH THE PROWESS, UNLEASHED BY THE BAND OF SPECULATORS, WITH THEIR OWN VESTED INTEREST. MAKING MONEY. FIRST IN PROPERTY, AND THEN IN CAPITAL. THE BETTER TUTORED AMONGST THE SETTLERS, HELD TIGHT TO THEIR PROPERTIES, AND ACQUIRED MORE WHEN IT BECAME AVAILABLE. INTELLECT WASN'T STRICTLY RELATED TO KNOWING ALL THE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE, OR BEING ABLE TO WRITE A CRITIQUE OF MILTON'S WORK, OR TO DEBATE GOOD LITERATURE WITH THE LIKES OF CHARLES DICKENS AND WASHINGTON IRVING. IF THEY KNEW HOW TO SURVIVE IN A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE SITUATION, SUCH AS SEEKING OUT THE BEST POSSIBLE HOMESTEAD LAND, AND THEN RUNNING THEIR FARMS BY SENSIBLE PROPORTION, THEN IT WAS ALL THAT REALLY MATTERED. THERE ARE PLENTY OF EXAMPLES, OF HOMESTEADERS, WHO MAY HAVE BEEN SMART IN TERMS OF INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY, BUT GENUINELY POORLY PREPARED, TO UNDERSTAND AND THEN MASTER, THE ART OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY.
THE POINT IS, I HAVE LEARNED OVER THE PAST THREE DECADES, THAT OUR HOMESTEAD COMMUNITY WAS GENERALLY PRETTY CLEVER, AND ASPIRING FOR A LIFE BETTER THAN THEY HAD IN BRITAIN AND EUROPE. THEY APPLIED THEIR INTELLIGENCE TO RUNNING ECONOMICALLY SUCCESSFUL FARMSTEADS, AND WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME COMMUNITY LEADERS, TEACHERS, BUSINESS PROPONENTS, AND POLITICIANS. THEY WEREN'T TO BE DEFINED BY A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR A UNIVERSITY DEGREE. THEY INVESTED THEIR INTELLIGENCE IN A MORE PRACTICAL WAY, THAN BEATING THE DRUM IN PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE. BUT THEY KNEW HOW TO READ, AND WHAT MADE A GOOD BOOK. SO HAVING A BOOK ON THE HOMESTEAD SHELF, THAT LOOKED AT OUTER SPACE, AND LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS, WASN'T AS STRANGE AS IT MAY INITIALLY SEEM; AND THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE WE HAVE A HARD TIME, ASSUMING THE FIRST FLOOD OF PIONEERS, WERE ACTUALLY QUITE SCHOLARLY, IN THEIR OWN PARTICULAR WAY. HOW COULD YOU BE POOR AND SCHOLARLY? I HEAR THIS A LOT. I'VE BEEN POOR MOST OF MY LIFE, AND I THINK I'M REASONABLY SCHOLARLY. WE HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT A SIZEABLE PORTION OF THE EMIGRANTS WERE OF HIGH INTELLECT, BUT BECAUSE OF ECONOMIC WOE, AND HARDSHIP, FINDING EMPLOYMENT IN THEIR HOME COUNTRIES, HAD IN RESPONSE, LITTLE CHOICE, WANTING TO IMPROVE THEIR FAMILY'S LOT, BUT TO TAKE CANADA'S KIND OFFER. AND THEY BROUGHT BOOKS ALONG WITH THEM, SUCH AS THE 1854 SCHOLARLY TEXT, "MORE WORLDS THAN ONE - THE CREED OF THE PHILOSOPHER - AND THE HOPE OF THE CHRISTIAN," WRITTEN BY SIR DAVID BREWSTER, PUBLISHED IN LONDON, ENGLAND, FIVE YEARS BEFORE THE FIRST SETTLERS ARRIVED IN THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. ALONGSIDE THE FAMILY BIBLE, HYMN BOOKS, AND BOOKS ABOUT FARM ECONOMY, AS THIS STRANGE INCLUSION, INVESTIGATING LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS.
IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE PREVIOUS TWO BLOGS ABOUT THIS BOOK, YOU CAN ARCHIVE BACK TO PART SIX OF THIS SERIES, "SEASONS OF THE LILAC."
THE COLLISION BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION, CIRCA 1854.
RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTIES
"It is injurious to the interests of religion, as it is degrading to those of science, when the votaries of either, place them in a state of mutual antagonism," wrote David Brewster, in his well received 1854 overview of astronomy, and the life that may live on the planets known in the universe. "A mere inference or a hypothesis in science, however probable, must ever give way to a truth revealed; but a scientific truth must be maintained, however, contradictory it may appear, to the most cherished doctrines of religion. In freely discussing the subject of plurality of worlds, there can be no collision between reason and revelation. Christians, timid, and ill-informed, have, at different periods, refused to accept of certain results of science, which, instead, of being adverse to their faith, have been its best auxiliaries; and infidel writers, taking advantage of this weakness, have vainly arrayed the discoveries and inferences of astronomy, against the fundamental doctrines of Scripture. This unseemly controversy, which once raged respecting the motion of the earth, and the stability of the sun, and more recently, in reference to the doctrines and theories of geology, terminated, as it always must do, in favour of science. Truths physical have an origin as divine as truths religious.
"In the time of Galileo, they triumphed over the casuistry and secular power of the church; and in our own day the incontrovertible truths of primeval life, have won as noble a victory over the errors of speculative theology, and a false interpretation of the word of God. Science ever has been, and ever must be, the handmaid of religion. The grandeur of her truths may transcend our failing reason, but those who cherish and lean upon truths equally grand, but certainly more incomprehensible, ought to see in the marvels of the material world, the best defence and illustration of the mysteries of their faith."
He notes that, for example, "In referring to the planets of our own system, and to those which surround the fixed stars as suns, Dr. Bentley just remarks, 'that if any person will indulge himself in this speculation, he need not quarrel with revealed religion upon such an account. The Holy Scriptures do not forbid him to suppose as great a multitude of systems, and as much inhabited as he pleases. Tis true there is no mention in Moses's narrative of the creation of any people in other planets. But it plainly appears that the sacred historian doth only treat of the origin of terrestrial animals; he hath given us no account of God's creating the angels; and yet the same author in the ensuing parts of the Penateuch, makes not unfrequent mention of the angels of God. Neither need we be solicitous about the conditions of those planetary people, nor raise frivolous disputes how far they may participate in Adam's fall, or in the benefits of Christ's incarnation. As if because they are supposed to be rational, they must, needs be concluded, to be men.' He then goes on to show that there may be 'minds of superior or meaner capacities than human united to a human body,' and 'minds of human capacities, united to a different body,' 'so that we ought not upon any account to conclude that if there be rational inhabitants in the Moon or Mars, or any unknown planets of other systems, they must therefore have human natures, or be involved in the circumstances of our world'." Extra terestrials? Me thinks, this is what is being considered here, but having a human form, in mind and body. Imagine the pioneer, who could look out of the log cabin doorway, in the pitch black of night, and see those twinkling star lights, and moon illumination, and wonder, about God's good will, for the coming harvest; and by the way, if by chance, there's alien life forms moving-about way up there. What a huge transition, between the traditions of religious upbringing, to then read, about the possibility, earth-bound mortals, might not be the big show afterall.
"The doctrine of a plurality of worlds, - of the occupation of the planets and stars by animal and intellectual life, has been stated as 'a peculiar argument against Christianity not much dwelt upon in books, but, it is believed, a good deal insinuated in conversation, and having no small influence on the amateurs of a superficial philosophy.' Although we have felt that such a difficulty might be made an objection to Christianity, we have never heard it made in conversation; but as it has been so prominently brought into view by Dr. Chalmers, and also by the author of the essay, 'Of a Plurality of Worlds,' it is necessary to ascertain its value, whether it be urged by the infidel, against the truths of Scripture, or by the Christian against the inferences of science."
Fascinated by the possibilities, of confluence, of religion and science, the author reports, "Is it likely,' as Dr. Chalmers puts it, 'says the infidel, that God would send his eternal Son, to die for the puny occupiers of so insignificant a province, in the mighty field of his creation?' Are we the befitting objects of so great and so signal an interposition? Does not the largeness of that field which Astronomy lays open to the view of modern science, throw a suspicion over the truth of gospel history? And how shall we reconcile the greatness of that wonderful movement, which was made in heaven for the redemption of fallen man, with the comparative meanness and obscurity of our own species?
"In meeting this astronomical objection, Dr. Chalmers states that it consists of an assertion, which he denies, that Christianity was established for the exclusive benefit of our minute and solitary world, and of an inference or argument, that God would not lavish 'such a quantity of attention on so insignificant a field.' In denying the assertion, and maintaining that the inhabitants of other worlds may not have required a Saviour, Dr. Chalmers, has obviously cut the knot of the difficulty rather than untied it. The assertion of the infidel, and the assertion of the divine, mutually destroy each other. The assertion of the infidel, not his inferences, has been maintained by some Christians themselves, and is a difficulty which ought not to have perplexed them. The assertion of the divine, on the contrary, is one which very few Christians will admit, and one which is opposed to the very system of analogy, which guides us in proving a plurality of worlds. If we argue that Jupiter, a planet with moons, must be inhabited because of the Earth, which has a moon, is inhabited, is not the infidel or the Christian entitled to say, that since the inhabitants of the Earth, have sinned and required a Saviour, the inhabitants of Jupiter may also have sinned, and required a Saviour? To maintain the contrary opinion is not only against analogy, but it is a hazardous position for a divine take, when he maintains it is to be probable that there are intellectual creatures occupying a world of matter, and subject to material laws, and yet exempt from sin, and consequently from suffering and death. A proposition so extraordinary we cannot venture to affirm."
He writes, in explanation, that "Thus chained to a planet the lowest and most unfortunate in the universe, the philosopher, with all his analogies broken down, may justly renounce his faith in a plurality of world, and rejoice, in the more limited but safer creed of the anti-pluralist author, who makes the earth the only world in the universe, and the special object of God's paternal care." And concludes the chapter, by noting, "The difficulties we have been considering, in so far as they are of a religious character, have been very unwisely introduced into the question of plurality of worlds. They have, indeed, no real connexion with it. Before the advent of our Saviour, such difficulties could not have been started; and had it been previously, an article of faith that Jupiter was inhabited, the appearance on Earth of a Redeemer, would not have interfered with it. We are not entitled to remonstrate with the sceptic, but we venture to doubt the soundness of that philosopher's judgement, who thinks that the truths of natural religion, are affected by a belief in planetary races, and the reality of that Christian's faith, who considers it to be endangered by the conviction that there are other worlds than his own."
Some may be very surprised, to know that the pioneers, were pretty well informed, back then, on both religion, astronomy, science break-throughs, and world affairs. The science of the farmstead, was everyday life. When we wonder what the settlers were reading, by hearthside, on those cold winter nights, it might seem amazing then, to learn that books like "More Planets Than One," by Mr. Brewster, were just as significant as great works of fiction, farmers' guide books, barn building booklets, and the Family Bible. The Shea family, of Ufford, got a newspaper from Montreal sent, care of the fledgling postal outlet, in Muskoka Falls, as far back as 1862-63. So as far as knowing what was going on, in Canada and abroad, sure thing, the homesteaders were just as informed, as those in the urban neighborhoods; maybe more so!
Thanks for joining today's blog, which I wrote entirely, from the front verandah of Birch Hollow; nary a candidate for election anywhere in sight. Just the way I like it!
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