THE TWO WORLDS
April 2, 1909
PROFESSOR MAX MÜLLER AND EVOLUTION.
SIR,—Profound respect (based upon a careful study
of his great works on religion, language, etc.) for years past leads me to
a gentle protest against the writer, W. H. Simpson, whom I think somewhat
unjust to the Professor. If non-evolutionists are running round a
beaten track or endless circle, very well, let it be so. The track
or circle is infinite, so there is room for all, but without the work of
Professor Max Müller there would be no modern or ancient Spiritualist
science and philosophy, because that erudite scholar proved the source,
origin, derivation, and significance of words or name-symbols, and traced
them to their source back of nature. Spiritualists should study his
works, for we owe him gratitude and thanks for pointing out to us the
source of religious names, types, and symbols, and also giving us
philological light and reason where before all was dark and superstitious
confusion; in fact, Gerald Massey's works are continuations or reflections
of Professor Max Müller's studies and researches into the origin and
derivation of language.
|
Friedrich Max Müller
1823 - 1900 |
Max Müller was "guilty of falsehood," says Mr. Simpson, "a
pseudo-scientific, semi-orthodox authority, unwise leader of the foolish."
All this because the Professor argued that "the ancestors of the human
race had a primitive intuition of God." Well, how is this disproved?
Does evolution deny it? Not at all, it confirms it, and so does W.
H. Simpson, for he goes on to say what the Professor does not deny, that
"enormous periods of time must have elapsed before our first ancestors
were evolved." Exactly! And when they were evolved, how does
W. H. Simpson disprove that he or they had a primitive intuition of God.
Let us stick to the point, and not fly off at a tangent, or abuse learned
professors of language and science, even if they do reside at Oxford.
Let us not make a fetish of a word. What is evolution? Why is
the word opposed to the idea of a primitive intuition by man of God?
If evolution is still going on, where does the theory for spirit
continuance, identity, and permanence come in? Mr. Simpson's
argument causes him to do worse than run in a circle. He runs away
with himself and falls over himself. Vaulting ambition, as
Shakespeare says, lands him over the horse and flat on the other side.
If evolution for man means no beginning, no ending, but eternal
progression, then personal consciousness and persistency and identity of
individuality beyond the grave are a fiction and untrue. On the
other hand, I believe the Professor was right; that, go back ages, or
cycles of millions of years for your first man or men, and intuitively we
must believe that primitive man had some germ consciousness or spark of an
idea of some Power or Being greater than himself. If not, produce
evidence to the contrary.
Eastwood-road, Rayleigh, Essex.
T. MAY.
____________________________
THE TWO WORLDS
May 7, 1909
PROFESSOR MAX MÜLLER AND EVOLUTION.
__________
W. H. SIMPSON __________
I NOTICE in a back number of THE
TWO WORLDS a letter signed T.
May. This correspondent takes exception to some observations of mine
which occur in an article that appeared in a previous issue of this
journal. Not many years since, Max Müller spoke of " . . . a
primitive intuition of God, who had in the beginning revealed himself as
the same to the ancestors of the whole human race." These remarks I
characterised thus: "This announcement affords a good illustration of
falsehood confidently put forward to pass current as truth." This is
a perfectly fair criticism of the published opinions of any public man,
more especially as I endeavoured to justify my statement in the succeeding
part of my essay. And this was no more than saying a theory provably
false had been put forward as true. One might say the same, without
offence, of the Bishop of London proclaiming from his pulpit an historical
fall of Adam and Eve and an historical redemption by Jesus. It would
be quite another thing, though, to charge the Bishop with intentional and
wilful falsehood. Yet that is just what I am accused of doing in the
case of Professor Müller by my assailant, who does not scruple to thus
misrepresent what I say: "Max Müller was guilty of falsehood, says Mr.
Simpson."
There are people who cannot enter into a discussion without
at once becoming personal. I had no intention of descending to
personalities in this instance; it is not my mode of conducting a
discussion, strange as it may appear to one who seems to favour that
method himself, and who is so ready to put the most offensive construction
upon my words. As this gentleman has evidently failed to understand
the matters dealt with in my article, it would be quite useless to enter
into any further discussion with him.
We cannot take him seriously when he makes such an assertion
as the following: "Gerald Massey's works are continuations or reflections
of Professor Max Müller's studies and researches into the origin and
derivation of languages." This is very much the same as saying
Charles Darwin's works are but "contributions and reflections" of the
British and Foreign Bible Society. Mr. May must be jesting, for it
is quite impossible for any reasonable person to make such a statement
seriously. The whole of Gerald Massey's work for the last forty
years has been in direct opposition to all that was held to be true by Max
Müller. Massey has absolutely proved to demonstration—by thousands
of examples and illustrations—that all the Aryan school of
non-evolutionists, with Max Müller at the head, have followed the wrong
track, and are consequently completely and entirely in error. There
is no point of contact anywhere between Massey and Max Müller.
Massey starts at a different point, and arrives at a different conclusion.
The theories of the two men are as diametrically opposed to one another as
the Biblical creation and evolution are.
In a criticism of the first great work published by Massey,
"A Book of the Beginnings," this is what Nature had to say about
the book: "It must he admitted that the author has a full right to oppose
that system of comparative philology which has been built up from
Sanskrit, the supposed oldest representative of the Aryan languages, to
the utter neglect of the older, Egyptian, Sumerian, Babylonian, and
Chinese. The stately edifice built upon the sand of Sanskritism
already shows signs of subsidence, and will ultimately vanish like the
baseless fabric of a vision." This prophecy is now fulfilling
itself. The edifice referred to here was upbuilt by Max Müller and
his followers—a structure that Gerald Massey's works have completely
demolished.
What did Sir Richard Burton, the marvellous linguist,
scholar, traveller, and explorer, say of Massey's work, writing in The
Athenæum:
"Gerald Massey has lately applied the key (Egyptian) to certain
hieroglyphics found in Pitcairn's Island, and it seems to me he has struck
the right line in his system (e.g., of the Kamite origins). In the
oldest times within the memory of man we know of only one advanced
culture, of only one mode of writing, and one literary development, viz.,
those of Egypt . . . In working out the subject his general view
appears to be perfectly sound. He has met with rough treatment from
that part of the critical world which is lynx-eyed to defects of detail,
and stone-blind to the general scheme. He has charged, lance at
rest, the Sanskrit windmill, instead of allowing the windy edifice to fall
by its own weight. Still, his leading thought is true: we must begin
the history of civilisation with Egypt."
Thus it can be seen from these extracts that those who understood the
subject dealt with by Massey recognised at once that he altogether
disagreed with Max Müller, the chief exponent of man's Aryan origin, and
the Sanskrit school of philology. No one possessing the slightest
"knowledge of the nature and scope of Massey's investigations, and the
theory he deduces therefrom, could gravely assert that his works "are
continuations and reflections" of any previous investigators, "studies and
researches into the origin and derivation of language"; least of all those
of the very man with whom he was in direct conflict and to whom he was
opposed in every respect—Max Müller.
In the Dutch Litteraturzeitung, Herr Pitschmann,
speaking of "A Book of The Beginnings," remarks:
"This book belongs to the most advanced reconstruction
researches, by which it is intended to reduce all language, religion, and
thought to one definite historic origin. . . . The author, however,
differs from all similar writers in that he is an Evolutionist,
holding that he who is not, has not begun to think for lack of a starting
point. This view, of which modern philology has not yet dreamed,
has not hitherto had any Egyptian researches brought to bear to its
support. This the author saw, and saw also that not only must
one be an Egyptologist, but also an Evolutionist."
This passage clearly shows that Gerald Massey did not follow
in the footsteps of any predecessor, but that he struck out for himself a
new line of exploration. He even speaks with some contempt of the
Aryaniste and their Sanskrit philology. After reading the first two
volumes of Massey's work, Professor Alfred Russel Wallace spoke of that
book as a wonderful work, but expressed the fear lest there might not be a
score of people in England who were prepared by their previous education
to understand the book. Certainly my critic is not amongst the
number. But Mr. May, writing as he does in so free and easy, so
irresponsible and jocular a manner, cannot be taken seriously.
Perhaps he only intended to make a little cheap and easy fun at my
expense. If so, so be it. If he really means in sober
seriousness all he has written in his letter, then, indeed, the engineer
is hoist with his own petard. The joker has outjoked himself, and we
may all then join in the laugh that he has raised against himself.
____________________________
THE TWO WORLDS
May 28, 1909
MASSEY, MÜLLER, AND EVOLUTION.
SIR,—A very few words are sufficient as reply to Mr.
W. H. Simpson's remarks on my previous note. First, I am not joking,
nor in the habit of even trying to joke on such subjects as those in
question. I stated that which Massey admits in his "Natural Genesis"
and last work on "Egyptology," that his researches and Müller's were on
parallel lines, or, as I put it, supplementary of each other; they both
aimed at a common goal, viz., truth. Massey in several places states
that he was indebted to Müller for indicating the best path to take in
sifting and sorting out the intricate, involved, and apparently
contradictory myths and legends of Egypt and India upon religious origins.
I have taken the trouble to study both Massey and Müller, and
Spiritualists, if they want to know the truth, must go and do likewise.
Perhaps an offer of mine may be acceptable to Mr. Simpson, who repeats a
platitude, which is over and over again stated, regardless of truth, from
Secularist and Spiritualist platforms and papers, that "the Biblical
creation and evolution are opposed to each other." I shall be glad
to give the sum of £200 to Mr. Simpson, or any Spiritualist or Society he
likes to name, if he can produce any evidence from the Bible itself which
is opposed to, contradicts, or controverts the theory of evolution.
The task is a formidable one, considering that since the theory of
evolution was launched, say 20 years ago, there have been scores of books
issued from the press by reputable authors, showing that the Bible theory
of creation and evolution are not irreconcilable, antagonistic, or
mutually destructible. Mr. Simpson, I notice, quotes some anonymous
reviewer in an old number of Nature as an authority for Massey
versus Müller. I cannot congratulate him on his choice. Still,
we live and learn, and perhaps Mr. Simpson has some first-hand, up-to-date
evidence regarding Genesis and evolution. Why not ring up Massey
from Olympus and ask him to settle the point. When in doubt, try the
spirits, this is spiritual advice. But Dr. Johnson tells us that it
takes a hammer and nail to get a joke into a Scotsman's head, so I had
better say to Mr. Simpson, in the words of Mark Twain, "This is not a goak."
T. MAY.
Eastwood-road, Rayleigh, Essex.
____________________________
THE TWO WORLDS
June 18, 1909
Professor Max Müller and Gerald Massey.
_________
W. H. SIMPSON. _________
IN THE TWO
WORLDS of April 2nd a letter was published signed
"T. May." In the course of this communication the writer declared
that "Gerald Massey's works are continuations or reflections of Professor
Max Müller's studies and researches into the origin and derivation of
language." In my reply on May 7th I contradicted this statement,
which is erroneous, and supported my denial by quotations from various
reviews of "The Book of Beginnings," which clearly indicated that those
who understood the nature and scope of Massey's investigations recognised
that he was entirely opposed to the system of comparative philology which
Max Müller had upbuilt from Sanskrit.
Mr. May has the assurance to assert in his latest
pronouncement, published in this journal on May 28th: "I stated that which
Massey admits in his 'Natural Genesis,' and last work on Egyptology, that
his researches and Müller's were on parallel lines, or, as I put it,
supplementary of each other . . . Massey in several places states that he
was indebted to Müller for indicating the best path to take in sifting and
sorting out the intricate, involved, and apparently contradictory myths
and legends of Egypt and India upon religious origins." Yet Massey
point blank denies Max Müller's fundamental postulate of man's Asiatic
origins, and proves by thousands of instances that man's primordial home
was Africa, and not Asia. Massey says in the preface of "The Natural
Genesis": "The main thesis of my work includes the Kamite (African) origin
of the pre-Aryan matter extant in language and mythology found in the
British Isles—the origin of Hebrew and Christian theology in the mythology
of Egypt—the unity of origin of all mythology, as demonstrated by a
world-wide comparison of the great primary types, and the Kamite origin of
that unity. . . the origin of all mythology in Kamite typology—the origin
of typology in gesture signs—and the origin of language in African
onomatopœa . . . Evolution teaches us that nothing short of the primary
natural sources can be of final value, and that these have to be sought in
the Totemic and pre-paternal stage of Sicology, the pro-religious phase of
mythology, and the ante-alphabetical domain of signs in language."
All this was undreamt of in Max Müller's philosophy.
In the beginning of "The Natural Genesis" we read: "An
unfathomable fall awaits the non-evolutionist misinterpreters of mythology
in their descent from the view of a primeval and divine revelation made to
man in the beginning, to the actual facts of the origins of religion.
A 'primitive intuition of God,' and a God who 'had in the beginning
revealed Himself as the same as to the ancestors of the whole human race'
(Max Müller, 'Chips,' vol. I., pp. 366-368) can have no existence for the
evolutionist. The 'primitive revelation,' so called, had but
little in it answering to the notion of the supernatural. It was
solely what early man could make out in the domain of the simplest
matters of fact." We are also told by Massey: "... it has been
affirmed by Max Müller, and maintained by his followers, that the radical
meaning and primitive power of certain words (and sayings) must be
obscured or lost for them to become mythological; and that the
essential character of a true myth consists in its being no longer
intelligible by a reference to the spoken language (Comparative
Mythology, 'Chips,' vol. IL, pp. 73-77). Such teaching of
'comparative mythology' is the result of its being limited to the Aryan
area, and if the myth be no longer intelligible in the later
languages, we must look for it in the earlier" (see "The Natural
Genesis," section iii., p. 135).
Here it will be seen Massey absolutely denies and disproves
the conclusions previously arrived at by Max Müller. Again Massey
points out: "But words did not have their beginning in any known form of
the Aryan languages" (as asserted by Max Müller and others) "and
the proto-Aryan is unknown to them . . it is only by the aid of what is
here designated as Comparative Typology that we could ever reach the
stages of language in which the unity of origin can be recoverable.
Gesture signs and ideographic symbols alone preserve the early language in
visible figures. We are unable to get to the roots of all that has
been pictured, printed, or written, except by deciphering the signs made
primally by early man. The latest forms of these have to be traced
back to the first before we can know anything of the origins. These
are the true radicals of language, without which the philologist has no
final or adequate determinatives, and hitherto these have born, left
outside the range of discussion by Grimm, Bop, Pictet, Müller,
Fick, Schleicher, Whitney, and the rest of the Aryan school" (see "The
Natural Genesis," section v., pp. 241, 242).
At the commencement of this section, too, Massey remarks: "
The Aryanists have laboured to set the great pyramid of language on its
apex in Asia, instead of its base in Africa, where we have now to seek for
the veriest beginnings. My appeal is made to anthropologists,
ethnologists, and evolutionists, not to mere philologists limited to
the Aryan area, who, as non-evolutionists, have laid fast hold
of the wrong end of things." Massey also, in vol. I., p. 243,
speaks of the Aryan school of philologists as ". . .the builders up of
language backwards." These passages speak for themselves, and show
that there is no justification for Mr. May's assertions that "Gerald
Massey's works are continuations or reflections of Professor Max Müller's
studies and researches into the origin and derivation of language," or
that "Massey. . .was indebted to Müller for indicating the best path to
take in sifting and sorting out the intricate, involved, and apparently
contradictory myths and legends of Egypt and India upon religious
origins." Max Müller, not being an Egyptologist, could certainly
have given Gerald Massey no information of any value regarding Egypt.
Massey, on the contrary, had studied Egyptology for ten or twelve years,
though he tells us he never puts forward his own readings of the
inscriptions unsupported by the best authority obtainable.
Massey, as an Evolutionist, commenced his inquiries into the
origin of language ages upon ages farther back than any previous
investigators. He started at a different, point, pursued a different
course, arrived at a different conclusion to Max Müller. This is not
merely a matter of opinion that may be held by one person and contradicted
by another. It is a matter of fact that cannot be denied by anyone
acquainted with the subject. "Mr. Simpson, I notice, quotes some
anonymous reviewer in an old number of Nature as an authority for
Massey versus Müller. I cannot congratulate him on his
choice," says my opponent. Since "The Book of Beginnings" was
published in 1881, necessarily the number of Nature is an old
one; a book published more than twenty years ago would scarcely be
reviewed to-day. That, a criticism appeared in such a periodical as
Nature is a sufficient guarantee of its value, even though it be
unsigned; besides, this criticism does not stand alone, as it was
supported by Sir Richard Burton and Herr Pitschmann, whose opinions of the
work I cited. "The Book of Beginnings," at the time of its
publication, was also favourably mentioned by The Modern Review and
The Theosophist (Madras). This is what The Journal of
Science said of "The Natural Genesis:
"Mr. Massey is an independent thinker. After a
prolonged and laborious inquiry, he rejects certain modern theories as to
the origin of civilisation and the formation of language. He is
no believer in the Aryan hypothesis. . . He shows that language
is derived, not from abstract roots"—as Max Müller and the rest of the
Aryanists would have us believe—"but from signs and symbolic actions far
antecedent. . . For the first time perhaps we have inquiries into
primitive philology, mythology, and the early history of our species
untainted by the preconceived notion of an absolute and quantitive
distinction between man and the lower animals . . . The section on
'Typology and Language' must ultimately give Comparative Philology a
new departure and a more rational character. . . We would, indeed,
bespeak for Mr. Massey's work the earnest attention of all Evolutionists."
My antagonist seems anxious to start a fresh subject for debate, as shown
by this reckless proposition: "I shall be glad to give the sum of £200 to
Mr. Simpson, or any Spiritualist or Society he likes to name, if he can
produce any evidence from the Bible itself which is opposed to,
contradicts, or controverts the theory of evolution." I am not
discussing evolution as applied to the Biblical account of creation with
Mr. May, and have not the least intention of doing so. Still, if he
is really so eager to come forward as the champion Biblical apologist and
reconciler of the irreconcilable, he has only to publish his challenge in
the Rationalistic press, say in Watts' Literary Guide, and he will
soon meet with an Evolutionist able to vanquish him and win the £200.
Mr. May commences observations with this solemn assurance.
"First, I am not joking, nor in the habit of even trying to joke on such
subjects as those in question." And yet he winds up his letter with
these words:". . .it takes a hammer and nail to get a joke into a
Scotsman's head, so I had better say to Mr. Simpson, in the words of Mark
Twain, 'This is not a goak."' Mr. May disclaims all intention of
trying to be funny, and yet inveighs against the stupid Scotsman who
cannot see a joke which requires a nail to give it a point, a hammer to
drive it in. Doubtless there are people existing unable to
appreciate that peculiar form of jocularity indulged in by my opponent—the
hammer and nail style of humour.
______________________
[NOTE.—We
cannot devote further space to this discussion.—EDITOR.] |