The Iowa transcript. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1858-1866, 1865-11-08
WHY the Putknmmer Gu
vv0s Destroyed.

IThc following ntcresting sketch from the
A,,qas.e Monthly for November, is unders,ood
to be from the pen Of the well.known RopEnr
DALE OWEN j
THERE is = test Of truth in popular creeds
and IN human opinions generally which is
prominently pat forward by Herbert Spcn-
ser. and has boon moro or less distinctly
stated by oAlsor writers. long before our time
"a very searching and Trustworthy test.
|, Is, in substance, this Whatever doc
trine or opinion has received, throughout a
long succession Of centuries, the common as
sent Of mankind. may be properly set. down a.
being. IL no, absolutely true in its usually
having, NJ loas', greet, undeniabls worthy
that nnderlies ii.
II, however, thoYs DO conflicting details as
to any doctrine, varying in form according
to tho sec; or tho nation that ontertains it,
then the test is TO be received rs affirming
the grand underlying truth, but not as prov
ing any Of tho conflicting varieties Of in
vestmcnt in which particular scots or nations
may choose 10 clothe IL.
Thus tho worlds belief in the reality Of
another life, and in tho doctrine Of future
reward aud punishment.
existed in every ago and among almost every
people. Charon and his boat might be the
means Of conveyance Or the believer. dy.
ing in battle for the creed Of tho Faithful,
might expect TO wake up in a celestial hsrem
psopled with Hours. Or the belief might
smbody the Inatohless horrors painted by
Dante; his dolorous city with the terrible
Inscription ovcr tho cntrance-gatc: Lsso6L
at 00ns eOCS0n21 gOe en- 0ufrHf6 -
Again, tho conception might be Of . long
unconscious interval after death, succeeded
Of last by resuscitation or II might be Of
another world, tho supplement and immedi-
ate continuation Of this, into which Death,
herald, not destroyer, ushers us even while
human friends arc yet closing our eyes and
composing our limbs It might DO Of the
Paradise in which, on the very day Of the
crucifxion, the penitcnt thief was to meet
the Saviour Of mankind or 1t might be that
Heaven, yet increate or unpeopled, seen BY
some in long, distant persr cctiyc, shadowsd
forth in such lines % these -
80 That man, when laid IN lonesome evavs,
Shall sleep in Deaths dark gloom,
Until tho eternal morning wake
Tho snmbsrs Of the tomb"
Yet again, the idca may DO Of Future Of
which tho denixens shall be, on some Great
Day, tried ~ before An earthly court, DOOM
"a % by an earthly tribunal, and sentence
pronounced against them by presiding God,
Who, Of his own omnipotent will, decides to
inaiot upon sinners eondign punishmsnt, in
measure far beyond all earthly severity
torment in quenchless Aames, with no drop
Of water to cool the parchod tongue, for ever
and ever.
In other words, We may conceive, % to
human destiny In another world, either Of
punishmsnts optional and arbitrary, growing
out Of the indignation Of an offended Judge
who hates and requites sin, or Of punish
msnts natural and inherent, growing out Of
the very nature OF the sin itself, as dSsiriYm
Asmsss requites long career Of intemper-
sncs. We may conceive Of punishments
which are tho awards Of judicial vengeance !;
OF W may believe in those only which are
the inevitable results Of eternal and immut-
able law, . necessary sequence in the next
life to The bad passions and evil deeds Of
this.
Those who incline to this latter aspect ei
the Great Future, % the scene Of reward or
Punishmsnt supsrvsning In the natural order
81 tAings, may chance IL And interest, be-