The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1854-10-14

a virtue (says the Gospel Banncr) is always
complmcntcd by vicious men, as rumscllers
and tipplcrs are the truest friends Of temper
ancc, and Shareholders are the friends of free
DOM as Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light, so niidels in our times are the
real admirers ofChrist and the excellent friends
of all the moral preccpts he cnjo:ned. The
London Review, a literary. not scctaran peri
odical OF the first responsibility, has exposed
the subject in ftthfulncss to the great and COM
mon cause Of Christian truth. 1t talks as fol-
lows:
Modern Iniidclity resembles vice which has
thrown away its coarsencss and assumed the
garb of polish and refinement. 1t revolts at the
vulgarty Of Tom Paine. and the indccency of
GibbOn. and it admits much that Hume and
Noltaire denied. II affects to admire the beau
ty and grandeur of Christianity. it even adopts
the Technology of its eXpostions and allows to
the Bible the loitest place in the scale of uni
vcrsa inspiration. Like Rousseau it can dwell
with rapture on the contemplation of the char
acer of Jesus. and it would not disturb the
faith of those who have neither the scholarship
nor the leisure to take in the most comprchen-
siyc views which the pew lights of the age pro-
pound \ recent writer has expressed the con-
trast to which we ailudc III the following terms:
The cnmity of the older Intl.lclity has sunk
into deep exhaustion. The D.sm of the last
century wore a cold and wilhcrcd aspect. Its
touch was rough and frosty: it had no sympa-
thics. Its sorccry WAS coarse-unrciieycd by
the glitter of sophism or the witchcry IF song
and its dark and malignant scOwl chilled the
very orgies into which its disciples had been
initiated. 1t tore hope and love from man with
a rude and Implying SNATCH, and grinncd hor-
ribly CHASTITY smile if its victim at any time
Hal I
robbery and cruelty which had been practisco3
upon them 1t covered the heaven with a pail
OF darkness. whose irOwn was reflected in Omin-
Gus gloom on the earth So it could not pre-
vail. 1t gave nothing in exchange for what it
took away. 1t left man an Outcast withous
shelter, and an orphan without n home 1t
gave no aim to life but a sensual pleasure and
sought no rclieffrom death but "A drcary ami
hlation. We are not afraid of the grosser
forms OF nnbeGef bringing havoc and ruin into
the midst of the people. Their bidconsncss il
rcpulsivc. The fantastic disbelief of Christian
ty, urged by such men as Fourier ST. Simon.
Owen and even the Able Lamcnnais. is reject
ed and loathed by the moral instincts of our ma
turc. Their Communism owes its spread to
maddcncd passions and political desperation,
and had its birth in Il visionary and uuiXotic
attempt to remedy the disorder of society by
the summary act of overturning it. and erect
ing new fabric-a second Babcl--whOsc
wrctchcd existence when tried in miniature. has
Away been so brief, scarce to warrant the
name OF an experiment. and whose promise Of
good is only as the momcntary verdure of the
sonrd, which came up in nj ght and persisted
in night Seduction from Christianity. to be
successful, must present n farcr and more at
tractlve appearance /: and in such Turing guisc
1t has at length come among us. Its insinua-
tons are pregnant with menace and danger
its prctcnsons are coincidcnt with the claims
OF the loftiest ideal philosophy and it somc-
times arrogates the charms Of a poctical Panthc-
ism. There is nothing rude or vulgar about it.
1t does not seek to brand the Bible as forgery.
but only to modify and explain away its claims
1t allows the Inspired books much in literary
glory. and aesthetic brightness, but denies them
a monopoly of such qualities. 1t brings scrip
lures down to the level of a common treatise:
for 1t speaks of Minor and Moses as equally in
spired to make laws David and Pindar to
write poetry and afirms that Newton and
Isaiah. Lcibntz and Paul. &C. have in them
various forms of the one spirit from God Most
High Such inspiration is limited to no sect,
age, or nation, for it is wide as the world, and
common as God
1t is important that we should be aware of
the danger to which we are exposed. although
we do not look upon the crisis either with panic
or alarm.