Part 5
"And what then?" What then! No intelligent man will ask the question; and he who may be called an intellectual man will know that the demonstration of the fact that the Earth is not a globe is the grandest snapping of the chains of slavery that ever took place in the world of literature or science. The floodgates of human knowledge are opened afresh and an impetus is given to investigation and discovery where all was stagnation, bewilderment and dreams! Is it nothing to know that infidelity cannot stand against the mighty rush of the living water of Truth that must flow on and on until the world shall look "up" once more "to Him that stretched out the earth above the waters"--"to Him that made great lights:--the Sun to rule by day--the Moon and Stars to rule by night?" Is it nothing to know and to feel that the heavenly bodies were made for man, and that the monstrous dogma of an infinity of worlds is overthrown for ever? The old-time English "Family Herald," for July 25, 1885, says, in its editorial, that "The earth's revolution on its own axis was denied, against Galileo and Copernicus, by the whole weight of the Church of Rome." And, in an article on "The Pride of Ignorance," too!--the editor not knowing that if the Earth had an axis to call its "own"--which the Church well knew it had not, and, therefore, could not admit--it would not "revolve" on it; and that the theoretical motion on an axis is that of rotation, and not revolution! Is it nothing to know that "the whole weight of the Church of Rome" was thrown in the right direction, although it has swayed back again like a gigantic pendulum that will regain its old position before long? Is it nothing to know that the "pride of ignorance" is on the other side? Is it nothing to know that, with all the Bradlaughs and Ingersolls of the world telling us to the contrary--Biblical science is true? Is it nothing to know that we are living on a body at rest, and not upon a heavenly body whirling and dashing through space in every conceivable way and with a velocity utterly inconceivable? Is it nothing to know that we can look stedfastly up to Heaven instead of having no heaven to look up to at all? Is it nothing, indeed, to be in the broad daylight of Truth and to be able to go on towards a possible perfection, instead of being wrapped in the darkness of error on the rough ocean of Life, and finding ourselves stranded at last--God alone knows where?
Baltimore, Maryland, U. S. A., August, 1885.
APPENDIX TO THE SECOND EDITION.
The following letters remain unanswered, at the time of going to press, December 7, 1885:--
"71 Chew Street, Baltimore, Nov. 21, 1885. R. A. Proctor, Esq., St. Joe, Mo. Sir: I have sent you two copies of my 'One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is Not a Globe,' and, as several weeks have since elapsed and I have not heard from you, I write to inform you that if you have any remarks to make concerning that publication, and will let me have them in the course of a week or ten days, I will print them--if you say what you may wish to say in about five or six hundred words--in the second edition of the pamphlet, which will very soon be called for. Allow me to say that, as this work is not only 'dedicated' to you but attacks your teachings, the public will be looking for something from your pen very shortly. I hope they may not be disappointed. Yours in the cause of truth, W. Carpenter."
"71 Chew Street, Baltimore, Nov. 24, 1885. Spencer F. Baird, Esq., Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Sir:--I had the pleasure, several weeks ago, of sending you my 'One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is Not a Globe.' I hope you received them. A second edition is now called for, and I should esteem it a favor if you would write me a few words concerning them that I may print with this forthcoming edition as an appendix to them. If you think any of the 'Hundred Proofs' are unsound, I will print all you may have to say about them, if not over 400 words, as above stated. I have made Richard A. Proctor, Esq., a similar offer, giving him, of course, a little more space. I feel sure that the very great importance of this matter will prompt you to give it your immediate attention. I have the honor to be, sir, yours sincerely, Wm. Carpenter."
Copies of the first edition of this pamphlet have been sent to the leading newspapers of this country and of England, and to very many of the most renowned scientific men of the two countries--from the Astronomer Royal, of England, to Dr. Gilman, of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Several copies have been sent to graduates of different Universities, on application, in consequence of the subjoined advertisement, which has appeared in several newspapers:--
"WANTED.--A Scholar of ripe attainments to review Carpenter's 'One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is Not a Globe.' Liberal remuneration offered. Apply to Wm. Carpenter, 71 Chew Street, Baltimore. N. B.--No one need apply who has not courage enough to append his name to the Review for publication."
We should be pleased to hear from some of the gentlemen in time for the insertion of their courageous attacks in the Third edition!
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
"This can only be described as an extraordinary book.... His arguments are certainly plausible and ingenious, and even the reader who does not agree with him will find a singular interest and fascination in analyzing the 'one hundred proofs.'... The proofs are set forth in brief, forcible, compact, very clear paragraphs, the meaning of which can be comprehended at a glance."--Daily News, Sept. 24.
"Throughout the entire work there are discernible traces of a strong and reliant mind, and such reliance as can only have been acquired by unbiassed observation, laborious investigation, and final conviction; and the masterly handling of so profound a theme displays evidence of grave and active researches. There is no groping wildly about in the vagueness of theoretical speculations, no empty hypotheses inflated with baseless assertions and false illustrations, but the practical and perspicuous conclusions of a mind emancipated from the prevailing influences of fashionable credence and popular prejudice, and subordinate only to those principles emanating from reason and common sense."--H. D. T., Woodberry News, Sept. 26, 1885.
"We do not profess to be able to overthrow any of his 'Proofs.' And we must admit, and our readers will be inclined to do the same, that it is certainly a strange thing that Mr. Wm. Carpenter, or anyone else, should be able to bring together 'One Hundred Proofs' of anything in the world if that thing is not right, while we keep on asking for one proof, that is really a satisfactory one, on the other side. If these 'Hundred Proofs' are nonsense, we cannot prove them to be so, and some of our scientific men had better try their hands, and we think they will try their heads pretty badly into the bargain."--The Woodberry News, Baltimore, Sept. 19, 1885.
"This is a remarkable pamphlet. The author has the courage of his convictions, and presents them with no little ingenuity, however musty they may appear to nineteenth century readers. He takes for his text a statement of Prof. Proctor's that 'The Earth on which we live and move seems to be flat,' and proceeds with great alacrity to marshal his hundred arguments in proof that it not only seems but is flat, 'an extended plane, stretched out in all directions away from the central North.' He enumerates all the reasons offered by scientists for a belief in the rotundity of the earth and evidently to his own complete satisfaction refutes them. He argues that the heavenly bodies were made solely to light this world, that the belief in an infinity of worlds is a monstrous dogma, contrary to Bible teaching, and the great stronghold of the infidel; and that the Church of Rome was right when it threw the whole weight of its influence against Galileo and Copernicus when they taught the revolution of the earth on its axis."--Michigan Christian Herald, Oct. 15, 1885.
"So many proofs."--Every Saturday, Sept. 26, 1885.
"A highly instructive and very entertaining work.... The book is well worth reading."--Protector, Baltimore, Oct. 3, 1885.
"The book will be sought after and read with peculiar interest."--Baltimore Labor Free Press, Oct. 17, 1885.
"Some of them [the proofs] are of sufficient force to demand an answer from the advocates of the popular theory."--Baltimore Episcopal Methodist, October 28, 1885.
"Showing considerable smartness both in conception and argument."--Western Christian Advocate, Cincinnati, O., Oct. 21, 1885.
"Forcible and striking in the extreme."--Brooklyn Market Journal.
Baltimore, Maryland, U. S. A., December 7, 1885.
[APPENDIX TO THIRD EDITION.]
COPY OF LETTER FROM RICHARD A. PROCTOR, ESQ.
5 Montague Street, Russell Square, London, W.C., 12 Dec., 1885.
W. Carpenter, Esq., Baltimore.
Dear Sir,--I am obliged to you for the copy of your "One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is not a Globe," and for the evident kindness of your intention in dedicating the work to me. The only further remark it occurs to me to offer is that I call myself rather a student of astronomy than an astronomer.
Yours faithfully, RICHARD A. PROCTOR.
P.S. Perhaps the pamphlet might more precisely be called "One hundred difficulties for young students of astronomy."
[APPENDIX TO FOURTH EDITION.]
COPY OF LETTER FROM SPENCER F. BAIRD, ESQ.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., Jan. 6, 1886.
Dear Sir,--A copy of your "One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is not a globe" was duly received, and was deposited in Library of Congress October 8, 1884. [1885] A pressure of much more important work has prevented any attempt at reviewing these hundred proofs:--which however have doubtless been thoroughly investigated by the inquisitive astronomers and geodesists of the last four centuries.
Yours very respectfully, SPENCER F. BAIRD, Secretary S. I.
Mr. William Carpenter, 71, Chew Street, Baltimore, Md.
Copy of a letter from one of the several applicants for the "One Hundred Proofs" for the purpose of reviewing them. The writer is Professor of Mathematics at the High School, Auburn, N. Y., and, in his application for the pamphlet, says: "Am a Yale graduate and a Yale Law School man: took the John A. Porter Prize (literary) ($250) at Yale College."
Auburn, Dec. 10th, 1885. My Dear Sir: Your treatise was received. I have looked it over and noted it somewhat. A review of it to do it justice would be a somewhat long and laborious task. Before I undertook so much thought I would write and ask What and how much you expect: how elaborately you wished it discussed: and what remuneration might be expected. It sets forth many new and strange doctrines which would have to be thoroughly discussed and mastered before reviewed. I am hard at work at present but would like to tackle this if it would be for my interest as well as yours. Hope you will let me know very soon. Very respectfully,
To Mr. W. Carpenter, Baltimore, Md. FRANK STRONG.
NOTE.--Unless a man be willing to sell his soul for his supposed worldly "interest," he will not dare to "tackle" the "One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is Not a Globe." No man with well-balanced faculties will thus condemn himself. We charge the mathematicians of the world that, if they cannot say what they think of this pamphlet in a dozen words, they are entitled to no other name than--cowards!
Baltimore, Maryland, May 22, 1886.
APPENDIX TO THE FIFTH EDITION.
Editorial from the "New York World," of August 2, 1886:--
THE EARTH IS FLAT.
The iconoclastic tendencies of the age have received new impetus from Mr. William Carpenter, who comes forward with one hundred proofs that the earth is not a globe. It will be a sad shock to many conservatives who have since their childhood fondly held to the conviction that "the earth is round like an orange, a little flattened at the poles." To find that, after all, we have been living all these years on a prosaic and unromantic plane is far from satisfactory. We have rather gloried in the belief that the semi-barbarous nations on the other side of the earth did not carry their heads in the same direction in which ours point. It is hard to accept the assertion that the cannibals on savage islands are walking about on the same level with the civilized nations of our little world.
But Mr. Carpenter has one hundred proofs that such is the unsatisfactory truth. Not only that, but the iconoclast claims that we are not whirling through space at a terrible rate, but are absolutely stationary. Some probability is given to this proposition by the present hot weather. The earth seems to be becalmed. If it were moving at the rate of nineteen miles a second wouldn't there be a breeze? This question is thrown out as perhaps offering the one hundred and first proof that the earth is not a globe. Mr. Carpenter may obtain the proof in detail at the office at our usual rates. A revolution will, of course, take place in the school geographies as soon as Mr. Carpenter's theories have been closely studied. No longer will the little boy answer the question as to the shape of the earth by the answer which has come ringing down the ages, "It's round like a ball, sir." No. He'll have to use the unpoetic formula, "It's flat like a pancake, sir."
But, perhaps, after we have become used to the new idea it will not be unpleasant. The ancients flourished in the belief that the earth was a great plane. Why shouldn't we be equally fortunate? It may be romantic but it is not especially comforting to think that the earth is rushing through space twisting and curving like a gigantic ball delivered from the hand of an enormous pitcher. Something in the universe might make a base hit if we kept on and we would be knocked over an aerial fence and never found. Perhaps, after all, it is safer to live on Mr. Carpenter's stationary plane.
The "Record," of Philadelphia, June 5, 1886, has the following, in the Literary Notes:--"Under the title One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is Not a Globe, Mr. William Carpenter, of Baltimore, publishes a pamphlet which is interesting on account of the originality of the views advanced, and, from his standpoint, the very logical manner in which he seeks to establish their truth. Mr. Carpenter is a disciple of what is called the Zetetic school of philosophy, and was referee for Mr. John Hampden when that gentleman, in 1870, made a wager with Mr. Alfred R. Wallace, of England, that the surface of standing water is always level, and therefore that the earth is flat. Since then he has combated his views with much earnestness, both in writing and on the platform, and, whatever opinions we may have on the subject, a perusal of his little book will prove interesting and afford room for careful study."
"The motto which he puts on the cover--'Upright, Downright, Straightforward'--is well chosen, for it is an upright lie, a downright invention, and a straightforward butt of a bull at a locomotive."--The Florida Times Union, Dec. 13, 1885. Editor, Charles H. Jones. [Pray, Mr. Jones, tell us what you mean by "an upright lie."!!]
"We have received a pamphlet from a gentleman who thinks to prove that the earth is flat, but who succeeds only in showing that he is himself one."--New York Herald, Dec. 19, 1885. [The reviewer, in this case, is, no doubt, a very "sharp" man, but his honesty--if he have any at all--is jagged and worn out. The "quotations" which he gives are fraudulent, there being nothing like them in the pamphlet.]
"The author of the pamphlet is no 'flat,' though he may perhaps be called a 'crank.'"--St. Catharines (Can.) Evening Jour., Dec. 23.
"To say that the contents of the book are erudite and entertaining does not do Mr. Carpenter's astronomical ability half credit."--The Sunday Truth, Buffalo, Dec. 27, 1885.
"The entire work is very ingeniously gotten up.... The matter of perspective is treated in a very clever manner, and the coming up of 'hull-down' vessels on the horizon is illustrated by several well-worded examples."--Buffalo Times, Dec. 28, 1885.
"The erudite author, who travels armed with plans and specifications to fire at the skeptical at a moment's notice, feels that he is doing a good work, and that his hundred anti-globular conclusions must certainly knock the general belief in territorial rotundity out of time."...
"We trust that the distinguished author who has failed to coax Richard Proctor into a public discussion may find as many citizens willing to invest two shillings in his peculiar literature as he deserves."--Buffalo Courier, Dec. 27, 1885, and Jan. 1, 1886.
"It is a pleasure now to see a man of Mr. Carpenter's attainments fall into line and take up the cudgels against the theories of the scientists who have taught this pernicious doctrine [the sphericity of the earth]."--Rochester Morning Herald, Jan. 13, 1886.
"As the game stands now, there is 'one horse' for Prof. Carpenter."--Buffalo World, Jan. 16, 1886.
"It is interesting to show how much can be said in favor of the flat world theory.... It is fairly well written, although, we believe filled with misstatements of facts."--Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Jan. 17, 1886. [We "believe" the editor cannot point one out.]
"It is certainly worth twice the price, and will be read by all with peculiar interest."--Scranton Truth, March 8, 1886.
"Mr. William Carpenter has come to Washington with a "hundred proofs that the earth is not a globe." He has a pamphlet on the subject which is ingenious, to say the least, and he is ominously eager to discuss the matter with any one who still clings to the absurd prejudices of the astronomers."--The Hatchet, May 9, 1886.
"It contains some curious problems for solution, and the author boldly asserts that until they are solved the globular theory of the earth remains unproven, and is fallacious, &c."--The Presbyterian, Philadelphia, June 19, 1886.
"His reasoning is, to say the least, plausible, and the book interesting."--The Item, Philadelphia, June 10, 1886.
"Mr. Carpenter seems to have made a thorough investigation of the subject, and his arguments are practical and to the point."--Sunday Mercury, Philadelphia, June 13, 1886.
"A gentleman has just called at the editorial rooms with a pamphlet which is designed to demonstrate that the earth is not a globe, but a flat disk; he also laid before us a chart from which it plainly appeared that the earth is a circular expanse of land, with the north pole in the exact center, and the Antarctic Sea flowing all around the land.... We went on to state that we lodged the care of all astronomical questions in the hands of Rev. R. M. Luther, to whom these perplexing matters are but as child's play.... Our readers may, therefore, expect at an early date a judicial view of the astronomical and cosmological situation."--National Baptist, Philadelphia, July 8, 1886. Editor, Dr. Wayland. [We hope that the Rev. R. M. Luther will give us the means of publishing his decision before many more editions of the "Hundred Proofs" be issued. We are afraid that he finds the business much more than "child's play."]
"'One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is Not a Globe,' by William Carpenter, is published by the author, whose novel and rather startling position is certainly fortified by a number of argumentative points, which, if they do not shake the reader's preconceived notions on the subject, will, at least, be found entertaining for the style in which they are put."--Evening Star, Philadelphia, July 22, 1886.
"His 'Proofs' go a long way towards convincing many that his ideas on the subject are practical and sensible."--Fashion Journal, Philadelphia, July, 1886. Editor, Mrs. F. E. Benedict.
"'One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is Not a Globe' is a curious little pamphlet that we can commend to all interested in astronomy and related sciences. It may not upset received notions on the subject, but will give cause for much serious reflection. Published by the author, Wm. Carpenter, Baltimore, Md. Price 25 cents."--The Saturday Evening Post, Philadelphia, July 31, 1886.
"Here now is an able thinker of Baltimore, Professor William Carpenter, who presents the claims of the Zetetic philosophy to be considered the leading issue of our times.... One of the great proofs of the truth of the philosophy is that the regular astronomers do not dare to gainsay it.... They are well aware there is no South pole.... Prof. Carpenter, in a treatise that has reached us, furnishes 100 proofs that the earth is flat, and while we cannot say that we understand all of them we appreciate the earnestness of his appeals to the moral people of the community to rise up and overthrow the miserable system of error that is being forced upon our children in the public schools, vitiating the very foundations of knowledge. What issue can be more noble or inspiring than Truth vs. Error? Here is an issue on which there can be no trifling or compromise. In the great contest between those who hold the earth is flat and they who contend that it is round, let the flats assert themselves."--Milwaukee Sentinel, Aug., 1886. [From a long article, "The Great Zetetic Issue."]
LETTERS TO PROFESSOR GILMAN, OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY.
71 Chew Street, Baltimore, September 10, 1886.
Prof. Gilman, Johns Hopkins University--Sir: On the 21st ultimo I wrote to ask you if you received the pamphlet, which I left for you at the University twelve months ago, entitled "One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is Not a Globe," and, if so, that you would kindly give me your opinion concerning it. I write, now, to ask you if you received my letter. I am quite sure that you will consider that the importance of the subject fully warrants the endeavor on my part to gain the views which may be entertained by you respecting it. The fifth edition will soon be called for, and anything you may urge--for or against--I shall be happy to insert in the "appendix." I send, herewith, a copy of the fourth edition of the pamphlet.
Yours sincerely, William Carpenter.
71 Chew Street, Baltimore, October 7, 1886.
Professor Gilman--Dear Sir: I am now preparing the appendix for the fifth edition of my "One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is Not a Globe," and I should be glad to receive your opinion of this work to insert in the said appendix. I can offer you from a few lines to a page, or two if necessary. Of course, if this work as a whole be a fraud, it must be fraudulent in all its parts; and each one of the "hundred proofs" must contain a fallacy of some kind or other, and the thing would justify your disapprobation--expressed in few words or many. If, on the other hand, the work is what it professes to be, it will certainly claim your approval. Yours sincerely, W. Carpenter.
71 Chew Street, Baltimore, October 14, 1886.