New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-05-22

u, A.sure. and shut me up exclusiveF
W-..,t. To account then for these BE-
=, hes. impressions, which, 90 far from be-
s.,;vsd from the senses, use the senses only
-. ..rsnts. We are bound to assume the
49,. = man Of supcrsenssous life, or a life
and superior to that derived from nature.
h.l;.fs assure US that the all of life is not
a,. n the bod ly eye, nsr audible to the bodily
.h., an inner life subtends this outer one, not
80 and shadowy, nor abstract, but far more
s..,Iv real and richly various than that which IL
...xt;epsd in time and space.
n. Su,isess Of Phil ,sophy then, in eur view,
III n At once to accept the lesson which our
s.,,s i've rs, and concede supernatural exist
-. = man. My belief in God, or being whom
:, ss,ses can never discern, purely ideal being
= : the source Of all things comp'ehendea by
:, .suees and therefore Himselfincomprehensib
:, thsm. argues a realm of life in me completely
;.tryor and superior to my natural one. 1t argues
. ne underved from my father and mother, or
Ann finite source, though doubtless necessitat-
a. enc thus derived as the basis or platform Of it's
evr mssifestation. 1t argues 4 life flowing ex-
eus yely from within the subject, and therefore in
vulnerable to outward accident, in fact infinite.
And Philosophy accordingly which cannot deal
vth our beliefs to some such purpose as this, is
saly beggarly pretender to the name. Much
more true is this of one which unscrupulously
ignores the entire realm of belief in man, and coz
fines its vision to the facts Of his sensible history
70 the mere phenomena of his nature, leaving the
III hra
s.Aouebcd. For the sphere of nature, the sphere
= act is purely serve and Illustrative, and
.a..N never be consulted for original information.
:. e.. he who inquiries Of Nature for the being Of
ca and the origin ofthings, exhibits no less in
...;..ds than he who should visit the palace
t;tebsp, in order to find the King. If nature be
arrived or reflex existence, its source should
.,esrlv ne, or be sought in ITSELF
=. Comte assiduously dsregards this palpabls
..,.n of common sense. He looks to the realm
80 6nite to discern the inAnite, and because
:. loss not succeed he denies the infinite Alto
...hsr Because he easily eliminates God from
~ dam, in Of chemistry and mechanics, he con-
.,n ,es that he has a'so eliminated Him from the
Aoma;n Of E6. Finding no finite or phenomenal
r.;tv. he concludes against an infinite or essen
al ope. Because God is not a sensible fact. he
;,lsrs that He is also rational falsity. The
..oluess and self complacency with which Comte
,uovs imself TO overlook the entire inward and
,u;ritu.l realm in man, the realm of ideas, whence
,lous our distinctive humanity descends, would be
purely ludcrous did they not at the same time
wound our respect for great intellect. He de-
lbsrtely and remorselessly restricts his view to
t,e field Of phenomena or appearances, and fad
ior them nothing but appearance, ne OF course
A. MES being or substance altogether. In short,
Ne Identifies Nature with Life and therefore quite
logically concludes that because we cannot knc~
God. we have no right to beliere in Him.
Yet the convictions as old as Hebrew prophecy
and poetry, certainly as old as the origin of tn,
Christian Church, that 70 one can possibly KNOW
God, or discern Him by tho senses. The vital
truth Of Christianity is, that God is to be ipprs-
hended only 10 an internal and supersensuous way,
only in 90 far a. He becomes united with ones in
most spirit or sefhood. He is the life, not of our
bodies, bat Of our spirits; and is 70 be realized
therefore not by search, but by simple acquies-
eencs, not by any preternatural activity Of the
Will, Uut IatuCf ny It's utttI uDSOIptiOn lilNO tiiC
spontaneity. Hence the Christian life has always
represented itself one of faith, not of knowledge.
The God Of the Christian was not an object o.
sense or knowledge, but only belief. His being
is not physical, but spiritual or rational. His
dwelling place is not without US, IL not anywhere
in time and space, but only within our inmost
spirit or temper, in our profoundest selthood. In
order to our knoriag God or having sensible con-
TACT with Him, he must previously have ceased t,
b. infinite, must ave come under the laws of space
and time, in short must have be come a mere finite
person like ourselves.
Comte therefore was perfectly right in denying
finite deity, or life which was at the same
timeWperior and ansthetic to the human; but ne
was unwise in pushing denial any farther. AZ
cordingly he himself now pcrceives this, and his
latest activity is expended in the reconstruction
Of religion, on the basis Of the divinity of Humanity.
But even here his vision appears hazy and obscure,
for by Humanity he appears to mean nothing but
a mental generalization, equivalent to the sum
total Of organized life, or that grand aggregate
Of experience ordinarily termed Nature. This
makes God a product Of the human mind, and
ttuNSS Woishtp, IA hsSH6'~aS '~"N~ VI >'A~
term, mere voluntary homage, mere dutiful
prompting mere piece Of elegant sentimentality.
In short, under the guiss of reconstructing reli-
gion, Comte csntrves to omit the Infinite alto
gesher and to deny any life which is not sub'ct
to material conditions. Thus he escapes the i'm
puAtion Of Atheism only by debasing Deity from
an absolute to a relative existence and the impu-
tation Of irreligion only by turning worship from
spontaneous into purely voluntary or reflective
process. Nevertheless his last work named at the
head ofthis article, though crowded moreover with
marks ofthe most egregisus personal vanity, is
well worth reading for its incidental Judgments.
The exactness and the immense advantage, In
q practical point Of view, Of the generalization
which Comte has made in regard to the progress
Of the scienees, are doubtless worthy to be cole
la, hava mn