The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1860-05-12
Literary Notice.

the primitive view Of Christianity: by the
author Of remarks on Alchemy and Sweden:
borg, Hermetic Philosopher; l2mo., PIP.
S75; L. BUSHNELL St. Louis, Mo.
Secrecy is the key of prudence and the sane.
tuary Of wisdom says l. Hacker, one Of the
remarkably truthful and upright men Of the pre-.
sent day-that such was the case in past times,
here are three elaborate volumes to prove.
In the first, Alchemy and Tie A leseasts, we have
the result Of years Of patient search, through
the records of the past; more than three hun.
dred written or printed volumes Of the works Of
the gold hunters of the middle and later ccntu.
ries, having been gathered into a private libra
ry, west of the Mississippi, and there patiently
sifted and studied, and made to give forth the
truth that is in them. The conclusion is that
only few, and those by no means the brightes,
Of the Alchemists, were besotted slaves of Nam.
mon, dupes of the visionary within that lead and
iron or other Of the baser metals could, by the
chemists skill, or the necromancer's manipula-
tions be Transmitted to gold; but that the end
and aim Of the hermetic philosophy was the new
birth in man, the spiritual regeneration of the
human subject. To make the enlightened con.
science law unto itself-thus to restore to man
the image Of the divine, obscured or lost through
error and sin, to reproduce the fine gold of NOR
al rectitude, become dim through evil; this
was the end and aim of the hermetic philosophy.
Why veil in allegory and symbol and myth a
design SO wise and good? Because, says our au-
thor, of the ever-present and ever-hostile power
Of Error. Persecution, by dominant sectarisn-
ism, then, as now, in all the past, stood ready
to drive the true saints to the dens and caves of
the wilderness. The world always clothes its
true prophets with camel's hair and feeds them
with loeusts and wild honey, while its purple and
fine linen are for the Herods and Jezebels Of
the time.
Early Christianity, whether among the Esse-
mes, as this author supposes it mostly was or
elsewhere, freely denounced both ''Scribes and
Pharsees, hypocrites;" it withheld its holy things
from dogs and cast not its pearls before saine.--
Hence, mystery and hieroglyphics. Brethren of
the mystic tie spake to each other in plain lam
guage, but to those without" where, as he who
saw the apocalypse tells US, "were dogs and sor-
cerers and whore-mongers and idolaters and muir
derers and whosoevcr belieyeth and maketh
lie," all was not only said but done in para
bles. This fact, as stated by Mark, may aid
US in understanding some miracles of the New
Testament
While yet Pharisec, Paul penetrated the
secret Of Essene philosophy, and in due time be-
came prominent Christian, though in all his
epistles more or less of old scctarian bias NAV
be traced. OF the thirty or fifty gospels, four
'r FIVE Zone in the Tischendorf MS.,) Of which |
AVE reached our time, none is known to presen: |
Internal evidence of coming from either of the |
eading Jewish sects. They are thought to have
'een of the school of the Essences and essentially |
notwithstanding, l. e., important moral truth |
y al!egories, types and myths, rather than lite
al statements Of facts, though not always with
tut basis Of historic truth.
Few among US are prepared to resign the per-
onal Christ Of history, emancipate ourselves
rom bondage to the letter which killeth, and
tep forth into the perfect liberty of the children
f God, whercwith the truth maketh free.
To the few who are able to receive it, this vol
lme, entitled CiIRIsr THE SPIRIT, meaning
Christ TIC dispos;tioa--t.e moral clsaacfer-wil
,r0ve highly acceptable Such may find in it
much to aid them in perceiving how q living
Christ may be with them always, even to the end
II the world, comforter, friend, . father,
, God Let all such read this book, Of which
Mr.. Corse has, or will soon have, a few copies.
N se
BURGLAEs-INcExDrARiEs o'clock
Wednesday morning the building occupied by
Henry Rogers and c. A. Wheeler as q watch |
makers shop and shocmaker's establishment.
VAS discovered to be on FIRE. 1t had evidently
been kindled from the outside Several barrels
Of water being near at hand, by the vigorous ex-
,rtions Of half dozen half-dressed men it was
loon extinguished. All unite in saving that had
not been seen until t.co minates later, il would
nave attained such Roadway that to prevent |
general conAagration would have been imposs- |
DE. As it was, gaping hole, from the ground |
o the roof was burned into the building.
Not until the FIRE was qucnched was it diseov-
red that Mr.. Rogers complete stock Of watches
lad been stolen.
The burglars had entered through back win |
low and without waking two persons who were I
leeping in the room, succeeded in making their |
scape with their booty Mount Vernon News.
B. J. Talbot, Of Iowa Falls, recently sold =
oupls Of fat oxen weighing over FIVE thousand
,oundA
6EvExrY ACa1s PL0uGHED N SrEAn The i
srairie Farmer has an account Of the working
4 the new Steam Plough Of NJ. lWatera, which
re e6itnP hAa neen IN or,ArafsnO AZ M;unrl.