Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1859-04-02
A PREA CHLNG TO 4 PREA CHEZ.

IL "a lie ueH stuck 10 as good az The TRUTH
There is gentleman down the river, who is
serving his generation by giving good advice
in prose and verse, by pen and speech, --name-
ly, the author Of Timothy Titcombs Letters
His "Proachings upon Popular Proverbs" may
be read each week in the Springfield Rqu6li-
can. They are in the main, so excellent that
we were amazed to find in that Of last week,
the following passages
"Suppose it could be proved that this Bible is all n
fable; in what would the demonstration benefit us
1t is all we have. If 1t do not nfably teach the
truth concerning the future life and instruct us in the
way Of making that future life happy one then there
to be demonstrate that no greater calamity could be-
al the human race, than either the general looscnng
up, the entire destruction of faith in the Bible even
were the whole of il cunning invention Of the brain
of man. Better an Ass that carries us than Horse
that throws us Better faith in fable which inspires
to good deeds &c, &c, than the skcpticisis Of n
kingly reason which only needs to be carried to its
legitimate issues to bestiaize the human race, and
drapc the earth in the blackncss Of rarta1s. whoth-
err true or false the Bible is our all"
1t is not to our preachers" reverence for
the Bible that we would take cxccption,--far
from it but to the idea that fdlSity can ever
by any possibility be more desirable than Truth.
Truth, Actually. Reality is the only safe, eter-
nal, mmutable thing. 1t is the very thought
of God. Fable is the decorating framework,
the vesture, the expressive language of Truth,
made use of by oriental and ancient writers, as
by poets now. But the truth iiScifis the prcc-
ious thing Fable is useful as the vehicle of
truth. FdlSity is never useful, always harmful
Mr. Timothy Titcomb repeats his Proverb,-
"Bctter an Ass that carries us, than a Horse
that throws u.s." True, but are we bound to
believe all the time that the Ass is a Horse, and
will the world all 20 to smash if we admit
doubt on that point? Preach as we NAV, la
ment as we may, human reason is q fact in our
constitution. 1t is considered by society gener-
ally, to be of so much Importance that when it
is obscured in any individual he is placed in an
Asylum for cure or restraint. 1t is not wise to
decry human reason. The thing wanted is a
basis for religion that is absolutely and utterly
imprcgnahle- Not one believer will ever be
made by celebrations the most eloquent to faith
in the "Bi6le phether true or false" Such ex-
hortations will never abate one jot of the much
lamented skeptcism of the age. The reference
made by our Preacher to Cray Kate" "who
stands on the shore looking out for her lover
who persisted at sea fifty years before" and the
question, "who would tear the hope from her?'
does not elucidate the matter, for all mankind
are not crazy Hates, and it is impossible for
those who have their reason 20 he consolcd in
any such way. Truth is the sacred thing, in
the Bible, or out Of the Bible, truth always and
everywhere. "What is incredible to thee, thou
shalt not on thy souls peril, attempt to be-
lieve." Y.