The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-10-06 00:00:00

THE SPIttIT OF THE AGE.

We annex, from the Britannia, an imaginary dialogue,
maintained between the present King of Prussia and
Luther, who is supposed to appear to his majesty after he
had lain at rest for centuries. We have seldom seen the
enormities of the payacy, and the tendency of the present
age, both in England and on the Continent, towards
infidelity, depicted in more vigorous and striking lan-
guage :
King: But what is the calamity that now threatens
Christendom ?
Luther: Apathy and indifference are the parents of
infidelity. A church may resist the violence of its ene-
mies, but it always sinks before the vices of its friends.
Germany, at this hour, exhibits the same aspect which it
exhibited in the year when I began the Reformation.
King: Yet Germany now exhibits her most intelligent
portion Protestant. She was then overwhelmed with
Popery.
Luthcr : When human opinions take tte lead of divine;
when every candidate for celebrity begins his cause by
mystifying scripture; when professors claim a character
for learning by throwing off their reverence for inspiration ;
when the life of the Redeemer is made the subject of libel,
and the Bible is represented to the people as a collection
of legends ; then deep and dangerous hazards are at hand.
King : But persecution has passed away. No man
now dreads the revival of the Inquisition. No man ever
expects to see a tribunal of priests commanding the rack,
or the College of Cardinals standing round the stake
wheri either Jew or Christian was to perish for his creed.
L.: True; that form of evil has passed away. It be-
longed to another age. It could not exist in an age when
power was fled from hierarchies to fix itself among the
populace. The hazards of our time will not arise from
superstition, but from unbelief. The Scriptures will not
be prohibited, but they will be equally cast out of the
national hand, by the scoffer. Society will be no longer
chained to the altar, and forced to put the foot of the
priest upon its neck, but it will be the victim of the
infidel, the slave of public rassion, the prey of public
violence. The Scriptures will be like their Lore,_ the
objects of railing, insolence, and scorn ; until, like Him,
they perish. on the roar of the million, and then will come
the earthquake.
King : Still, we have asserted the German liberty against
Rome. No legate can sweep away our revenues now. No
rescript from the Vatican can control the Rill of the So-
vereign,, or violate the rights of the people. We worship
accoring to our own convictions, and acknowledge no
I \ superior to the conscience which dwells in the bosoms of
• all.

L.: The true evil of popery consisted in its wrapping
the heart in indifference to religion. Its extravagant
ceremonials, its peageantry of worship, its boast of in-
fallibility, its busy priesthood, its confessional, imperious
and inquisitive, were hut instruments administering to
individual indifference. Where all vas for the eye, there
was no room for the heart. Where the glitter of a theatre
was displayed under the roof of a church, the-mind could
think only of the theatre. Where pictureg, and incense,
and the sound of choral.voices and the trains of kneeling
and bowing priests, with their studied gt sti ;ulations and
mystical solemnities, engrossed every sense, how could
the spirit withdraw itself from the things of the world ?
With the pomp of thrones on every side, where was the
broken and contrite heart, with every temptation to human
haughtiness and the pride of passion, how could man re-
member that he is a fallen being ; with the priest ready
to relievesty,n—ah
twi
umirt r h
them
nhmed
Sol ehonevceerr ee
undergosigpnonspiobni l
tit tihffi ee s
oepoffefenchitnugomfapnahruadmduiatsyne
fmwoir°llrhaliiim at the price of an indulgence, why should any
man control passion, resist temptation, or undergo the
toil of unprofitable virtue ?

King : 'But that period is past. And what worse can
follow ?

L. : Worse will follow, as infidelity is worse than in-
difference, as furious hostility is worse than callous neg-
lect. Religion has hitherto languished in the
heart of
mankind. You will next see it wrenched out of the heart.
for the deceiver you will next have the tyrant—for the
sullen dexterity of the hierarch you Will iltiVC the fierce
period of rage gad rapine, of
vanish—but you will see the
assault of the populace—the period of hypocrisy will
ferocious contumely and
remorseless Irreligion, in its
room.

Fore DUBLIN. BELFAST, BANGOR,
BEAUNIARIS, and CARNARVON.
tin -• THE CITY OF DUBCOMPANY LIN STEAM-PACKET
,
INCORPORATED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT.
The above Company sail their Vessels, (with or without
Pilots,) taking Goods and Passengers.
For DUBLIN,

THE PRINCE, PRINCESS, IRON DUKE, or other First
Class Steamers, sail EVERY EVENING, at Seven o'clock, from
George's eierhead, LIVERPOOL, for KINGSTOWN HAR-
BOUR, carrying Her Majesty's Mail and Cabin Passengers
only.
They also sail their Cargo Vessels (as below) from the Clarence
Dock to DUBLIN QUAY :
THIS DAY, October 6. at 10 o'clock
WEDNESDAY, ~ 7, 10 „ P.M.
THURSDAY, ~ 8, 12 ~ NOON.
FRIDAY, ~ 9, 12 „ NOON.
SATURDAY, ~ 10, 1 ~
MONDAY, 12, 3 ~ P.M.

For BELFAST, the WINDSOR.
WEDNESDAY, October 7, at 111 O'CIOCk P.M.
SATURDAY. , 10, 111 „ P.M.
Returning from BELFAST LIVERPOOL every MONDAY

and THURSDAY.

For BANGOR, BEAUAIARIS. and CARNARVON,
The PRINCE OF WALES,
W. H. WARREN, Commander,
Sails from UEOROE's PI EMI EA D, LIVERPOOL, on TUESDAYS,
THURSDAYS, and SATURDAYS, at Eleven o'clock, Morning ;
from MENAI BRIDGE, MONDAYS. WEDNESDAYS, and FRI-
DAYS, at Ten o'clock, Morning. -

The ERIN-GO-BRACII
WILL SAIL FROM CLARF.NCR DOCK,
For CARNARVON,
THURSDAY, October 9, at 12 o'clock NOON. •
MONDAY, „ 12. at 2 „ A.M.
Returning front Carnaruon every Tuesday and Friday morning.

Further information ven at the Company's Office, 24, Water.
street. JOHN K. ROUNTHWAITA Agent.