The Test of Genuineness

THE

TEST OF GENUINENESS. BY S. A. KENNER. Between the hours of midnight and four o'clock on the morning of May 15, 1910, in the eastern sky, will be visible a faintly bright wisp of light which will become brighter and larger with each succeeding night until it attains proportions majestic to all and awe-inspiring to some. It is what is known to the world of astronomical science as Halley's comet, and its visit is from such a distance in the unfath- omable depths of space, that the human mind cannot comprehend the mighty span. And yet night after night the diligent astron- omer has kept track of its steadily shortening flight toward its perihelion with the sun; long before the comet reached the orbit of the hermit planet, Neptune, the most remote outpost of the solar system, and itself at such a distance from us as is inconceiv- able—before it could be seen even with the telescopes, its position was placed, and its onward progress faithfully and faultlessly re- corded. Even now, although hundreds of millions of miles within the domain of our god of day, and approachirg at a pace which is also inconceivable, the visitor is not visible to the untrained eye, even with ordinary means of exploring distant places, and to the unaided means of vision will not be seen until the time stated, or about that, for of course some eyes are more penetrating and accurate than others. To the minds of a great many people, in every land and all ages, it is a profound mystery how the astronomers do such good "guessing," for such do they regard it, being unable to under- stand that means exist and are applied by which celestial measure- ments are as accurate as any other, and the phenomena relating to

440 IMPROVEMENT ERA. our solar system are as easily and correctly foretold as recorded after their occurrence. That this should be "caviare to the gen- eral" is quite natural, because all minds are not adapted to such studies, and even those that are adapted require no end of train- ing and application, so much so that to make an occupation of the science, and be successful at it, excludes the possibility of engag- ing in any other; hence, astronomers must be reasonably well to do or have assistance from other sources, their occupation as such yielding no income of a financial character. Of course everybody outside the ''charmed circle" of astral surveyors is not in ignorance of the principles and methods by which their labors are prosecuted and results achieved. If it were so, there would be so little appreciation of such work that it would be practically a dead letter in the scientific alphabet. Some — many, it might be said—are so well versed that they might be classed as amateurs, falling behind the professors only in the matters of regular and practical application of their knowledge; while the number of those who comprehend the general plan with- out being able to exactly explain or practice it, if not the major- ity of the adult population, are not far from it in civilized and enlightened countries, and their number steadily increases. Astronomy has made its way because it is true, and its truths become impressed upon the minds prepared by cultivation other- wise to receive it. It is to those who are thoroughly educated, the one exclusively exact science, because making no mistakes and incapable of making them. Extensions and elaborations of twice two may be carried on indefinitely, until the array of figures becomes unpronounceable and unfathomable in its immensity: yet the last demonstration is precisely as correct as the first, and by. reversing the process which produced it, the simple and easily understood primary proposition is again before us. This is the groundwork of astronomy—mathematics extended beyond the limits of familiarity, but still based upon and following that science throughout,' and aided in exploration by mechanical devices. Those who cannot follow a mathematical demonstration beyond the fundamental four rules, to whom algebra, geometry and trigonom. etry are sealed books, are still not of necessity ignorant nor dull, for, as previously suggested, all intellects are not susceptible to

THE TEST OF GENUINENESS. 441 such impressions in their fulness or even their ampleness; but ignorance and dulness, if nothing worse, are plentifully manifest when proofs of correctness so plain as to appeal to any under- standing are made light of or rejected. In the latter part of the sixteenth or the early part of the seventeenth century, there arose a profound thinker and deep in- vestigator, a native of Pisa, Italy, named Galileo. At that time and in that place more, perhaps, than in any other where enlighten- ment had a footing, priestcraft was rife and the social fabric was saturated with superstition. Not only could the priests do no wrong and say no wrong, but all whose actions and views did not correspond with those of the ecclesiastics were themselves, ipso facto, wrong. Among the erroneous theories upheld and dissemi- nated by the clergy was one that the earth was at repose and the sun and moon moved around it. It is difficult, in this advanced era, to understand how any class of people given to inquiry and analysis, could be so dense as to reach conclusions so at variance with plainly observable and comprehensible conditions, though there be such, and some of them constitute a society. Galileo was not of that class. Like all other searchers for truth, whose en- deavors to that end are not hampered by traditionary prejudice nor contracted by sectional bigotry, he found it; not only that, but he published the result of his findings to the end that others than himself might be weaned from error and advance in the scale of human intelligence. He was not the discoverer of the system, that honor, so far as known to modern times, belonging to Coper- nicus; but the more recent investigator did discover the correct- ness of his predecessor's conclusions, which had been rejected by the reigning power,and the Italian's promulgation of such doctrine, with his own attestation, was treated by the monks as heresy, and he was twice prosecuted by the Inquisition for that "heinous" offense. It is scarcely necessary to add that he was promptly con- victed on each occasion, the jury-to-order system being then and there as prevalent and certain in its results as many of those which the founders of Utah and Idaho have had to confront in times past. To secure some measure of liberty and property, among which latter might be classed his head, Galileo was com- pelled to recant. Ignorance and intolerance triumphed, but to

442 IMPROVEMENT ERA. what extent and for how long? How often has it happened since as it happened then, that "truth crushed to earth" rose up again stronger and more beautiful by reason of the ordeal? The con- fession extorted by brute force did but add strength to the con- viction possessing the mind of Galileo, for it is recorded that after his recantation and before leaving the "sacred" presence, he exclaimed in an undertone, "the world does move!" Nine out of ten know it now, as he sought to have them know it then; and how narrowly he escaped martyrdom because of it! History is ever repeating itself. Bigotry, prejudice, envy, strife and the demon hate, are not the exclusive characteristics of anv age 01 any clime. Tolerance, fair-dealing, justice, broad- mindedness—these also have existed in all ages and places, more in some thfn in others, undoubtedly, but seldom, if ever, strong enough to stem the popular tide which always sets in against one or more whose avowed purpose it is to destroy false idols. The Nazarene himself, with the crown of Calvary upon his brow and the light of inspiration in his eye, was the grand and great exem- plar of what men who seek to lead their fellows out of the darkness of error and sin, into the sunlight of knowledge and rectitude, are most sure to receive in one form or another if they persist in their good work and refuse to bow to those who, armed with a little brief authority, make the angals weep. The system which em- braces the social as well as the spiritual well-being of mankind, and is known to the world as "Mormonism, " was unfolded to man- kind by one who previously was obscure and not overly educated; while it did not antagonize other systems only in so far as they were manifestly wrong, and coincided with them to the full extent to which they upheld the gospel plan as put forth by holy writ, it created at once a storm of opposition near and far. But this did not discourage either the man or the work he set afoot. Opposi- tion became oppression, this being followed by persecution and outrage, and finally it was thought the whole system was extin- guished in the blood of him who introduced it. And to make the parallel more striking, it should be remembered that the sys- tem related to scientific as well as strictly religious affairs, the two properly belonging in the same class; and the man who unfolded it was admittedly abreast of the scientists of the time in most propo-