Most powerful of all was the indirect influence of science. Geology
disclosed law in an unsuspected region, and astronomy caused men to
apprehend that 'as the earth is not the centre of the Universe, so it is
not the special scene or stage on which the drama of divine justice is
played before the assembled angels of heaven.'
[Footnote 5: _New England Reformers: Essays_, ii. 511-519.]
[Footnote 6: The Swedenborgians--'a sect which, I think, must contribute
more than all other sects to the new faith, which must come out of
all.'--_To Carlyle_, 1834.]
A temper of scrutiny and dissent broke out in every direction. In
almost every relation men and women asked themselves by what right
Conformity levied its tax, and whether they were not false to their own
consciences in paying it. 'What a fertility of projects for the
salvation of the world! One apostle thought that all men should go to
farming; and another thought that no man should buy or sell--that use of
money was the cardinal evil; another thought the mischief was in our
diet--that we eat and drink damnation. These made unleavened bread, and
were foes to the death to fermentation. Others attacked the system of
agriculture, the use of animal manures in farming, and the tyranny of
man over brute instinct. These abuses polluted his food. The ox must be
taken from the plough, and the horse from the cart; the hundred acres of
the farm must be spaded, and the man must walk wherever boats and
locomotives will not carry him.
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