New-York daily tribune., 1858-03-16


The ~ \. Obserrer, in its exceeding zeal for the
honor and glory of the Protestant faith, seems dis
posed to forget indeed TO eItingush if could, the
very principles upon which Professionalism rests.
The occasion Of this unseemy display of ultra or
rather anti Protestant Juror s article in the last
number OF The Westminster Review, entitled the
The Religious Weakness of Professionalism" The
grourd taken by the reviewer, according to the
OJstrrors representation of IT, is, first, that Pro-
testantsm bss 10 sufficient basis Of testimony TO
sustain belief and, secondly, that the indisputabe
pIetmDtnce Of Protestant nations is due nct to the
influence of the Protestant religion but to the
greater freedom of thought which they enjoy
With respect 10 the first of these propositions,
Tie Obserrer must be aware that, however un-
founded or ill.sustaned the opinion Of the re-
viewer may appear TO be, it is BY no means dogma
peculiar TO himself The whole Catholic woTd Is
precisely of that opinion. Eossuet maintained 1t
with great elequence and force two hundred years
AGO. Even The Obserru Itself urges the same
idea from time TO time with great energy and fervor
SIS against Socinians Unitarans, Uniyersalsts,
PelseiaHs, and other sects which, however hereti-
cal aud dangerous in the eyes of that Journal must
still be cassed under the general name of Protest
ants. Even in the very article upon which We are
commenting, The ObSerrer refers with sneer to the
.ratiocin stons Of Priestey and TO certain dlstn
1uished Protestant scholars as "rnen whose merits
'.is little more than that of being Tom Paine's
" disciples.
With respect 70 the doctrine that the pre9m-
n.nce of Protestant nations is due not to the in
fuence Of the Protestant religion, but to the
greater freedom of thought which they enjoy, We
-houd have imagined that The Obserrer might have
been content with the obvious answer that the very
essence of Prote stantism consists in the freedom
Of thought in which Protestants indulge. 1t
might have replied that freedom of thought and
Professionalism are precisely the same thing; the
same in substance as well as in name; instead of
which it betakes itself to sheer Remuneration and
abuse In the very title of it's articleit denounces
The Westminster Review as IAN enemy of all
truth" ard in the first paragraph of it as having
sold itself to the devil; while the reply which it
proposes to make the erroneous dOgmas of The
Review is to put stop to its republication in this
country, "to brand it with practical outlawry from
Library and ofRce, from the homes and hearths
:" of the land"
The ministers scholars and professional men "
who, according to The ObSerreT, form the bulk OF
the American readers of the republished Westmin-
ster Review, and more particularly the minister's
seem to us to follow course much wiser than that
suggested BY The ObSsrrfr. Nothing is uOre essen
ta for the advocates and defenders of any given set
of opinions, than to understand the arguments and
views which stand most in the way of their accept
ance. Concede that the Westminster Review is as
ely" malicious" satanic, IS 80 full OF sneers
"and tbrusts at all that is sacred in religious con-
yictOn," as "sagaciOus in it's malice against
" Evangelical truth, as ''eyil and mischieyOus in
Its influence" as ''nauseating and abhorrent to
" the religious conviction, of the land, " as oftn-
"sive to good sense" and as libeous to Chris
tianity as The Obserrer is pleased to rspresent-
still it does out give FORM arrangement and express
sion to ideas very extensively diffusea among the
scholars thinhers and educated men of the present
time.
The very circumstance that these iieas find their
way into and, according 10 The Cbs,rrer, even
constitute the Distinguishing feature ofa popular Re
view is proof of that fact. An intelligent minister,
therefore, who desires to meet the wants of the
educated and thoughtful part of his congregation,
instead of wasting all his strength as often is
done, in replying TO aItquated objections which Nc
longer constitute the points of difficulty, will rather
apply himself TO meet the objections felt ana
urged to-day, and will resd The Westminster Re
view fo7 the very purpose of knowing what they
are.