The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1843-01-26

esteem themselves the very pink of orthodox mo-
rality They affect holy horror Of the loose prin-
cples which ahost in this latter age, and seven
times day do they turn up the whites OF their eyes,
as they think of the shocking condition of a world
lying in wckedness. Ii looks very cruel TO disturb
the quiet of such amable philanthropy, but never
iheless, we will endeavor, as gently as may be, TO
improve the vision of these gentlemen with respect
to the tendency and influence Of the lectures which
have been delivered in the course of the past few
seasons. and particularly during the present. under
their auspices 1t is here proper for US to observe
that we regard the system OF popular lecturing, as
one well adapted, under proper management, to
enlarge and purify the current Of public thought-tO
extend the boundaries of useful knowledge, and to
lncucate sound and healthful truth Christ and the
fishermen of Galee adopted this very mode of in
sructng the people. In any thing that we say,
then, condemnatory Of the modern philosophers and
moralists, who 60 about teaching us at fifty dollars
night, we not to be understood as entertaining
any unfavorable opinion of the machinery which
they put to such Improbable and perncious uses
The great evil which attends the progress of that
spirit of free inquiry characteristic of our times
is the increased tendency scepticism and all va
rety of unsettled opinion. 1t is not by any means
uncommon for men to jump all at once from the
contentedness Of implicit faith to the restless nquie.
tude of unbelief and uncertainty We adverted
the other dayto the revolutionary spirit of the age,
and limited that it demanded for its safe government
anddirecton, restraining and soberzing influence
of the truth. Let test the value and efficacy of
the lectures at the Tabernacle, by their manifest
bearing on the growing scepticism and morbid de-
sire of novelty, which are at present struggling for
fhs. dom, pion OT tho puh1ic ind Tofu v,be
ther they have been calculated to unsettle or to es
tablish the minds Of the people, the perception
and belief of the truth-whether they have shed
new light on the previously discovered realms of
thought, or developed them in the mlss of sophistry
and error
We confess that the known character and opn-
ions of the majority of the lecturers themselves,
not all calculated to inspire confidence in the
worth and orthodoxy of their discourses. Such
men as Brownson, John Neal, Horace Greedy, Ralph
Waldo Emerson and the Reverend Professor Maj
fit, are not exactly of the class and calbre, which
would afford reasonable ground for anticipating
great benefit to the world from their teachings And
what in fact has been the scope aid character of
their lectures? Observation-Disclosures rsm-
ridiculous theories about the dignity of human ma
ture and mans erfectability-German mysticism
and carefully disguised infdelity, have formed the
staple commodities, which these peripatetc philoso-
piers have been retailing, night after night, to thou
sands of the old and young of both sexes twenty
five cents head. Hundreds and hundreds of our
youth who taught to regard the theatre "the
way to the pit, "and Shakespeare the grand vzier
of the kingdom of darkness and on the other hand
TO consider the popular lecturer as the anonted
mouth-pece of celestial wisdom, thus indoctrl-
mated with the most ruinous principles, and their
youthful minds polluted with the very scum and froth
of infdel philosophy.
Instead of teaching their hearers that human ma
ture is depraved and corrupt and that the only
fountain of publication is to be found in
those pure waters of christianity which had
their neglected origin in Nazareth, these lee
turers elevate man into god inform us that
we have within ourselves the means of sancti-
flying our nature; that of superior genius and in
tellect, many Jesus Chris,s; and that the uni
ted intelligence and wisdom of humanity, consi-
tute the Divinity itself! Such is the basphemous
and demoralizng character OF the doctrines promul-
gated by some OF these popular prophets, received
with applaudng favor by thousands OF our pous,
moral, and religious population, and satisfactorily
developed in the alarming progress OF laxty of mo-
rails and contempt Of the humliating, but regenera-
ting and ennobng truths Of genuine Christianity.
Whatever be the subject OF the lecture, we find the,
stterance OF the same scep,icism. Are the origin
and nature Of civil government discussed? Are the
evils Of the social condition described Are the
rights Of man, or the rights of woman explained
On all We treated with new and liberal
views, which manifest most convenient disregard
Of the principles Of Chrstianity-the only true foun-
dalton OF moral and social order. One lecturer
ma fnta, hot. -. b~a l..
parallelograms, and men and women to live in fam-
lies of thousand individuals, and then the earth
will be again the garden of Eden. Another traces
all our social and physical evils the use of animal
food, and discovers an infalible panacea in bran
bread third ascerains to a certainty, that animal
magnetism is the mysterious agent which is desti.
ned 10 regenerate the world And another is
confident that all that is necessary is to allow the
women to vote for members of Congress. And long
lectures delivered, and gravely listened to, on
such subjects as these. Such is the way in which
many think the world is enlightened, improved and
reformed.
The Mercantile Library Lectures have been Pc
culiarly Objectionable and Improbable With French
novels, German philosophy, and all sorts of infidel
literature on their shelves, aud such teachers in the
lecture room, the members of this association are
certainly in promising condition Some people
are, however, sensible enough to begin to experience
alarm at the progress Of nfdelity, it asquerades
under the garb Of political economy geology, moral
philosophy, and natural religion. We know of one
intelligent gentleman who attended Mr.. Meals lee.
ture with his three nieces aud who was 80 shocked
and offended at the opinions there presented that he
left the Tabernacle before the lecture was over.
No wonder he was offended The doctrines of MIR.
Neal with respect to the condition. rights and duties
of woman, crude and incohereniy presented as they
were, had quite enough of evident folly and error to
arouse the plying contempt Of all who had thought
correctly on these important topics. II Mr.. Meals
views were carried out, would have new order
OF society indeed, and unfortunate woman would
be in melancholy predcament But Mr. Neal Is