For
Father Lecazre's argument, see Flammarion, Mondes imaginaires et
mondes reels, 6th ed., pp. 315, 316. For Melanchthon's argument,
see his Initia in Opera, vol. iii, Halle, 1846.
These epithets can hardly be classed with civilized weapons.
They are burning arrows; they set fire to masses of popular
prejudice, always obscuring the real question, sometimes
destroying the attacking party. They are poisoned weapons. They
pierce the hearts of loving women; they alienate dear children;
they injure a man after life is ended, for they leave poisoned
wounds in the hearts of those who loved him best--fears for his
eternal salvation, dread of the Divine wrath upon him. Of
course, in these days these weapons, though often effective in
vexing good men and in scaring good women, are somewhat blunted;
indeed, they not infrequently injure the assailants more than the
assailed. So it was not in the days of Galileo; they were then
in all their sharpness and venom.[60]
[60] For curious exemplification of the way in which these
weapons have been hurled, see lists of persons charged with
"infidelity" and "atheism," in the Dictionnaire des Athees.,
Paris, [1800]; also Lecky, History of Rationalism, vol. ii, p.
50. For the case of Descartes, see Saisset, Descartes et ses
Precurseurs, pp. 103, 110. For the facility with which the term
"atheist" has been applied from the early Aryans down to
believers in evolution, see Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol.
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