New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-10-31
NETWORK DAILY TRIBUNE,

cal life although inclination Tor such liie EXPOSES
them 10 the danger o. many quicksand ana uelnanuS
that their principles should be firmly setle OhNou tue
risk Of a real deviation To embOdy my to9gn. upon
this subject in palpable example, IelatvS 70 SrSae
occureIce bane the philosopher ConfOrcet Ior having
suffered himself be returned as member 10 our
Convention i'm which men of action were leauefs, ahd
nropry So whereas Condorcet could never be so placed
regard things from the same POM edo OF SS baG so
cIuelv TO suffer. But on the contrary Shoulu nav
regarded It as very natural Ior MN COO 20 Weed hyond
fbe sp6ere of the government, properly so Called that
club constituted at that time sort OF spiritual power III
that remarkable ana so niue coLpIeneiiuetu NV E,n
OF things which characterized the revolutionary regime
have learned with much satisfaction" he added
resistance has succeeded in triumphng over the bind
persistence Of your friends who urge You toward p"a
mentaTy shall propose III my last NoluMe aS
I'm direct terms, the institution by INDIVIDUAL efforts oI
a European committee, charged permanently WIN lhe
direction OF a common movement OF pDosopcal az,
Grafton when once POSitlyism shall have planted us
standard that is, its lighthouse shond term tin me
midst of the disorder ana CONFUSION thi Eelss nm
hope that this will he the result OF the publication OF NY
work in its complete state , - =, .o
plates these reduced 10 the form OF system Sn3I
ing every sentiment Of reality ana eXPonnIeG WIN a i
confidence Of fanaticsln III the name OF science cGt
Positive Here il is that we find the fixed ana domlhHi,t
idea that peryaded and compromised me Whoe i1 o M
Auguste Comte whoever dd hOl accepl ms ,E ~ i"
his system for him either aretrogads fu OF pr.Ju
dice. or an ignoranns without sclgnihe eduS ION OF
interested and jealous enemy whoever on the JIM
hand lent himself To his views ON any pot or or "nS
tme however snort became IN 'e g vi r a. n
conquest ana MS property ms plusulilC,i 10 the
WERE bound his master by the tenure OF duty ana te
franchise himself, without the rSk OF nelng teae' %
the instant as dcscrer rebel ana OF seeing AT onoe
broken the closest ana most approved bonds OF mthr3
and friendship He hdd so ehre IN /, con-
intellectual superiority, and IN the rights Wn ~
ferred, that ne expressed it sometimes Win Hd.ttt
amounting almost 10 idolatry one DAY p s, thn
he had Won to his ideas NJ Armand MaIis' .e.
the editor Of the National he wrote thus to ms VIC
MaraSt no longerieelS any iepsI III W., h l. a.,
indispensable fact of my intellectual supetloA1 Mn
,yhnn ie holds and with reason. in high account TO
speak plainly and in general terms, DcueNe ll az VIC
10 more Than 70 continue 10 exist the Kind Of preponder
ance which cOvet cannot heneeiorth lah 10 de'oi'o
upon me-
The concluding remarks of NJ. Guizot with regard
to Comte have the merit of impartialy, and are
worthy of attention.
Among these "ercat lost ones OF humanity, borrow
phrase Of their OWN NJ Comte was one OF the mos,
Snterested and the most sincere. The sincerity ana
he coro eyured by him in expressing his convictions
led him from incOnsequence 10 hcOhsequehcc; III hs
bcnirhtcd course he caught gimpses occasionally OF
ard ideos and of thcsc he apprehcnded neither the
scope the connection: first u was an idea OF science
excluding all idea of religion and then certain idea OF
TeIon reconciled with and intimately united with the
idea Of science; turn by turn ne gave himself up no
one ana 10 the other with blind and daring devoted
ness Had hcappcared I'm Greece at the great era OF ps
ophv or France In the seventeenth century m he st
Of the great Christian controversy he wond have Deen
taxed with insanity at the epoch not only by Plato
but by Aristotle a the otheI Dot on! ny poss,'' ul'
bv Spnoza In our days he has been more fortnate nc
attached himself paSsiouacy TO the method OF OBSERVE
ton Of facts, which u the very caIactio SCIENCE du
although his observations superficial incXact ana
although he fell into the strangost lncoss-
tencies-the Fundamental principle OF his system ana the
coincidence of his primary ideas with the mshoa ana
the tendency OF the physical science" the darling STUDY
Of age, have given him more Importance ana loie III
hueuce than were really his due
The most alarming evils which threaten the inter-
ests of society in the view of NJ Guizot do not after
all arise so much from erroneous speculative theories
rs from the spirit of rccklcsSness in religious matters
which more OF less prevails, especially among the
Younger members of the educated class although
often combined with a different tendency. This IS
sometimes exhibited in gross and cynical 1orms'
sometimes with pretenson TO thought and learning;
now in gross RIGHTEOUSNESS of behavior, and now IN
arrogant expression of opinion. Last year. says
NJ Guizot Il received an invitation TO attend the
great congress of students assembled at Liege an
invitation which, although expressed for the pur-
pose Of this assemblage a real and sincere interest
declined When learned what the ideas were that
had been there loudly expressed-when read that
the question had there been put as one between Cod
ard man. and that the id0atry Of man bad been pro-
claimed in the place of the alteration Of Cod eX-
perienced two sentiments the most contradictory, a
lively satisfaction that had held myself aloof from
such a scene, and profound regret at thesa time
that had not been present TO protest against such
an invasion of Pantheism and Of Atheism into young
souls up on whom my thoughts only rest with senti-
ments of ahectIonate hopeiuncss' 1t is in this di-
rection. maintains VI. Guizot that the friends of
religious life and of the Christian faith have the
greatest obstacles 10 encounter Against this evil,
their most active energies should be enlisted although
it not the only peril that challenges their efforts
The subtle malaria of unbeief has caused wide
spread religious perpeXity among the most refined
portions of society. 1t affects not merely the minds
of courageous thinkers but Of multitudes of modest
and silent men, who hardly dare 10 express their
doubts even to themselves. The cure for this moral
condition. the author believes, is to be found alone in
a return to the simple teachings of the Christian
faith and to the eucidation of this point he purposes
to devote himself in a subsequent volume.