Saint Augustine, accused of cretinism.

Under the title of Cretinism, the Vedette du Limbourg, a newspaper of Tongres, in Belgium, of September 1, 1866, contains the following article, reproduced according to the Gazette de Huy:

“A book given as a prize in a boarding school of nuns fell into our hands. We opened it and chance made us read, among other curious passages, the following, which seems to us very worthy of being placed before the eyes of the reader. It concerns the role performed by the angels. Whoever peruses it will certainly not fail to ask how it is possible that a work containing such absurdities can find an editor! In our opinion, whoever prints such nonsense is as guilty as he who writes it. Yes, we do not fear to affirm it, author and printer must be considered masters in cretinisms for daring to hurl such challenges to reason, to Science, what do we say? to the most vulgar common sense. Here is the passage in question:

“According to Saint Augustine, the visible world is governed by invisible creatures, by pure Spirits, and there are even angels who preside over each visible thing, over all the species of creatures that are in the world, whether they be animate or inanimate.

“The heavens and the stars have their motor angels; the waters have a particular angel, as is referred to in the Apocalypse; the air has its angels, who govern the winds, as is seen in the same book, which further teaches us that the element of fire also has its own. The kingdoms have their angels; the provinces also have those who guard them, as is seen in Genesis, because the angels who appeared to Jacob were the guards of the provinces through which he passed, etc.”

“One may judge by this sample of the kind of reading done by the youth educated in convents. Is it possible to conceive — forgive us the expression — anything more profoundly stupid?

“To exceed all bounds, the editor prefaces the work with a notice, where one may read these lines: ‘In his book, which is no less suitable for ecclesiastics than for laymen, the author demonstrates a force of reason and of style that enlightens and subjugates the mind; from his pen flows an unction that penetrates and wins the heart. It is the work of a man profoundly versed in spirituality.’ “We say: it is the work of a man rendered mad by asceticism, much more to be pitied than to be censured.”

Until now Saint Augustine had been respected even by those who do not share his beliefs. Despite the manifest errors, which were bound to the state of the scientific knowledge of his time, he is universally considered as one of the geniuses, one of the glories of Humanity, and here with a stroke of the pen an obscure writer, one of those young men who believe themselves the light of the world, casts mud upon this man famous through the ages, pronounces against him, from the height of his reason, the accusation of cretinism, and this because Saint Augustine believed in invisible creatures, in pure Spirits presiding over all visible things. If that be so, how many cretins there are among the most esteemed contemporary men of letters! We would not be surprised if one day they should accuse of cretinism Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Victor Hugo, George Sand, and so many others. Here is the school that aspires to regenerate society by materialism; thus, it claims that Humanity should return to dementia. But one may be tranquil: its reign, if it ever came, would be of short duration. It well feels its weakness against the general opinion, which repels it, which is why it agitates itself with a kind of frenzy.