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What Franklin Brought Down from the Clouds
P :cmumm—w
O ( § graphed from Rome, under au.
'S oMI thority of the Church, that the
= R | Pope had given his blessing to
221 Bf| the wireless telegraph, | Mar.
| coni's invention.
This was an official religious indorsement of
the invention, recognizing it as a blessing to hu
manity, worthy she solemn approval of the high
est official of the biggest of the Christian churches.
This announcement, sign of progress and of the
growing power of science, should have attracted
more attention than it did attract.
n 85 .8
Contrast with the present attitude of all re.
ligious denominations toward science the attitude
of a few years ago.
Take, for instance, the story of Ben Franklin
and his kite sent to the clouds—the story that
will always live in the history of intellectual
progress.
It was in 1752, more than one hundred and
fifty years ago, that Franklin decided to find out
something about ‘‘the prince of the power of the
air’’—about the devils and the witches that were
mdtofldointhoclondnwhnthoughmu
flashed and the thunder rolled.
He had seen electric machines on earth, gener
ating an electric spark a few inches long. He had
#%s intelligence to realize that the universe, in
cluding this little grain of sand that we call the
earth, is ruled by intelligence, not by devils riding
on the lightning, or witches riding on broomsticks.
He determined to find out whether there was
any real difference between the electric spark a
few inches long produced artificially on the earth,
and the electric spark six or eight miles long that
you see leaping across the sky in a thunderstorm.
g 9 8
He made his famous experiment with the kite
and the key in a thunder storm. On the banks of
the Schuylkill he brought the spark down from
the clouds, and taught the world—as much of it
as was ready to listen to truth—that there is only
ONE kind of electricity, a NATURAL FORCE,
generated by rubbing a woolen cloth on some
other suitable material, generated by shuffling the
feet along the carpet, or generated in the clouds
with power sufficient to destroy great castles and
cathedrals.
2 AR
To realize how the world has developed and
progressed in the direction of science, contrast the
reception given to Franklin's announcement that
he had brought the lightning from the clouds
with the reception given to Marconi, who tells us
that he can make the lightning his slave to flash
& mesage without wires around the world.
. Marconi is hailed by all, and his discovery is
officially blessed by religion.
Benjamin Franklin was denounced as ‘‘the
arch infidel.”’
The Reverend Thomas Prince, and many of his
Protestant brethren in Massachusetts, attacked
Franklin with peculiar savagery. Preacher
Prince announced that the earthquake of 1755
was due to Franklinls impiety, ‘‘to iron points in
vented by the sagacious Mr. Franklin.'’ He
pointed out that there were more lightning rods
in Boston than elsewhere in New England, and
therefore the earthquake was heavier in Boston,
and he exclaimed piously:
““Oh! There is no getting out of the mighty
hand of God’’—meaning to say that if you put up
a lightning rod and prevented God from striking
you with lightning, he would get even by shaking
the earth and knocking your building down with
an earthquake.
» 5 8 &
Very slowly ‘‘the power of the air’’ and the
devils, witches and demons retired before Frank
lin and his lightning rod, which followed the ex
periment with the kite.
Deeply rooted in the superstitious, religious
minds of all countries was the idea that the
lightning was the act of the devil sometimes, pun
ishing human beings just for amusement; at other
times, the act of God, punishing disobedience.
The Protestant. King, James the First, wrote
his book on demonclogy, and when a sensible
book on the question of witches was written he
ordered that book burned by the public hangman.
And—that you may have some conception as
to the hold of vicious ignorance on the public—
try to realize fully the horror of this story:
King James was to marry a Princess from
Denmark. '
A great storm, with thunder, lightning and
heavy wind, came up and the Princess was
obliged to turn back. The King said that of
course demons were to blame, and that witches
must have been in league with the demons.
He said ‘‘the cause’’ must be brought to light,
and it was VERY SOON ‘‘BROUGHT TO
LIGHT.” The next scene shows a miserable
human being, Dr. Fian, sitting in the torture
room.
~ ‘“While his legs were crushed in the ‘boots’
and wedges were driven under his finger nails,
he confessed that several hundred witches had
gome to sea in a sieve from the port of Leith and
had raised storms and tempests to drive back the
2rincess.”’
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RSS2 AT AR RN "
, It Was Not Merely an Electric Spark That Came Down the Great Man’s Kite String. He Brought
the Lightning Down From the Clouds, and He Brought Also Tumbling to Earth the Stupid Theories of Demons
Ruling the Air, Witches Riding in the Clouds, the Whole Mass of Miserable Superstitions and Brutalities
Built Upon Misconception of Religious Teaching.
There is Just ONE Power That Can Raise Humanity, Drive the Imaginary Devils From Their Throne,
Wipe Out Superstition, Bigotry and Their Cruelties—and That Power Is Science—THE POWER OF
EDUCATION.
fare of Science with Theology in Christendom,”’
by Doctor Andrew D. White, president and pro
fessor of history at Cornell University.
You should get that book at the library and
read it to have an idea of the desperate efforts
thai superstition has made throughout the ages
to defeat science and keep the people ignorant.
Thousands of miserable women were burned
alive, first being compelled by torture to confess
that they had ridden through the clouds, accom
panied by devils and lightning; that devils were
fathers of their children, and other horrors.
The horrible teaching of eternal torture after
death waz msad as an excuse for the earthly tor
€ditorial and @ity Life Section of Fearst's Sunday American, Atlanta, January 1006
turing of poor, ignorant and often half-crazy
women.
Doctor White says: ‘‘The natural argument
developed in hundreds of pulpits was this: If
the All-wise God punishes his creatures with tor
tures infinite in cruelty and duration, why should
not His ministers, as far as they can, imitate
Him?"”’
Brutal superstition, torturing helpless creatures,
forcing preposterous confessions, justified itself
by saying: ‘‘lf God himself inflicts infinitely worse
tortures throughout all eternity, we are only
imitating Him humbly when we inflict the worse
tortures that our feeble minds can invent here
on earth.’”’
Slowly and reluctantly the world of supersti
tion and ignorance accepted the new truths as
they appeared.
Very slowly the religious powers began to ask
“Why should the Almighty strike lis own con
secrated temples, or suffer Satan to strike them?’’
" Fortunately, the thunder and the lightning and
the forces of Nature worked on the side of science,
The history of the famous tower of Bt. Mark’s
in Venice is interesting. There was an angel on
the top, to keep away evil spirits. The bells were
marked with inseriptions to the effect that they
had the power to drive away devils and lightning.
Yet, thus protected, the tower was badly shat
tered by lightning in 1388, 1417. and again in
xwmmmumupuflj
lighning. s NS
It was struck in 1548, in 1565, and in 1683,
st last in 1745, just w««m%
great experiment, this tower, protected h
sorts of religious devices, was struck so ferrific
s blow by the lightning that the entire sower
that had been rebuilt of stone and brick “‘was
shattered in thirty seven places." a 8
And twice after Franklin's lightning rod, was
well known, St M'nm“h%
Then at last, in 1766, fourteen years after
lin's invention, a lightning rod was w '
St. Mark's tower has not been struck
since.
The Republic of Venice received the most im.
pressive demonstration of scientific truth—a
demonstration that finally converted the theolo
glans of Italy. g
In the church of San Nazaro, at Brescia, the
Venetian republic had stored in the vaults two
hundred thousand pounds of powder. The light.
ning rod had been in existence for seventeen years,
but the authorities said that it was an C!m
to {nvent the Lord from striking anything
lightning if He wanted to, so no lightning rod 'was
put up. ;
The lightning did strike the church, the
in the vault exploded. One-sixth of the was
destroyed, and three thousand people
Then they put up & lightning rod.
. . 9@ .
Here and there, in out of the way, ignorant dis.
tricts of Poland or Italy, says Dr. White, you
may still hear the bells ringing to keep off hafl
storms, and the peasant pays his fees for the
ringing of the bells. i
Occasionally also you mdy find ignorant sail
ors trusting to charms—but you find more saflors
trusting to the information of the Weather
Bureau,
You may occasionally see religious processions
and days of prayer appointed to end the drought.
But enlightened human bembhmo the dry
weather not upon a God pu g his children
but upon stupid human beings cutting off the
forests,
And we have Arbor Day for the planting of
trees, as a great improvement on days of prayer
and fasting and ng;nunu when it doesn't rain.
The Protestant Church of England was espe
cially. determined that the discovery of the Yan.
kee Franklin should not interfere with the Lord's
plan to prevent His using His lightning as He
pleased. :
Twice in succession St. Bride's Protestant
Church in London was wrecked z lightning, and
yet for years afterward the authorities refused
to permit the lightning rod to be attached.
No lightning rod was allowed on the Protestant
Cathedral of St. Paul's in London for sixteen
years after Franklin's discovery.
And it was the same with the Protestant
churches in Germany.
Professor White declares, on excellent author
ity, ‘‘that during thirty-three years after Frank
lin's discovery, four hundred Protestant church
towers had been damaged by lightning, and one
hundred and twenty bell ringers killed''—the sad
art was that they were killed while ringing the
gell that was to keep the lightning away.
¢ . ¢
It is difficult to overestimate the benefit of
Franklin's discovery. It stopped first of all the
horrid practice of witch-hunting. Few of
living to-day realize the horrible cruelty MM:
upon the human race, cruelty based on those few
terrific words ‘‘You shall not suffer a witch to
live.”’ i
Think of the great Puritan *‘witch finder,”” Mat
thew Hopkins: ‘‘Having gone through the coun.
ty of Suffolk and tested multitm of poor old
women by piercing them with and needles,
declared that county to be infested with witches.
Thereupon, Parliament issued a commission, and
sent two eminent Presbyterian divines to accom
pany it, with the result that in that oomdg
sixty persons were hanged for witche ‘in a
single year.’’ g
Witches, devils, lightning and thunder were all |
bound up together in the brutal, savage, torturing
mind of superstition, bigotry and ignorance. .
Franklin took away the lightnir d b
thunder from the field of mystery and deviltry.
He proved that lightning fluhin%in the clouds
is one of Nature's forces, ruled by Nature, not by
devils or witches. vy e
And surely, although slowly, the devils and the
witches vanished. o "
The witch hunters gave up their sport. The
great French Revolution came and put an end
to the torturing of witnesses in law courts, ==
The old and powerful fortress of demonology,
witcheraft, superstition, struck by the I va‘{“"
of scientific truth, fell to the ground. =~ *
Only in the most miserably ignorant peasast
population have the ancient teachings any pow
sA§ o 1
““You shall know the truth, and the truth's
make you free.”’ Scientific truth is #he g
liberator of the human race. é &
Education is the only power that can rais
people permanently. e G
The public school, which gives education, pue
uncontaminated by any teachm save that
science, is the greatest force in this Republie
the greatest force in the world. Py
Respect every man’s religion, as lom,
keeps it to himself and does not try to.
upon others OR UPON THE PUBLIC BSC
WHERE IT WILL NEVER BE TOLERA!
Respect and honor the scientist, the ¥
and predecessors of the great Franklin, th
ers of humanity, who make the human"
ize that this earth is theirs, that the
governing power, and that no devil lives
lived, except in the vile imagination ofigm
and cruelty. ‘: N