The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1869-06-17

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iGtt.itfx i,St,.a Il 80
flor The st. cIo.d 1oprall !
THE ECLECTIC. HUXLEY AND NE
GcTIGi - ,LDoi0H. u .T
p Hof:. Huxley has dellt<zsRs iett@s.
II is : hne :Hort, worthy q tie man.
It has been widely read, has 6een criti-
caIly examiued-tavofed b5 :sono and
condemned>by many. ,.~.. ....:: ..'.: ~
The Eclectic has reproduced it. for
American readers. What I object to
is not that Huxley has Iectured, nor Jet
that it has been dished ott 70 us. Tits
perhaps is all right. Tie :Ecle:fie
heads itself magazine Of "Foeeixn
Literature. Science .nd AT" Iii
Keep itself within these bounds, il pur-
sues q lawful occupation. But whom it
steps out of these bounds, it's readers
have the right to protest. By pub
fishing this lecture it has made the
pass-i' has hurled 10 the face of its
resders Of all types Of thought a most
'"sidious attack upon the Christian re-
i,sion: It has deliberately gone out of
''ts way to 10 this, a. the editor coouy
ackDowledgea. I do not ike the treat.
merit for its dishonesty It shows an
utter disregard Of the views Of the
large naes Of its most Intelligent and
4ppreciatire readers: If it desire to
stack tho religion Of Jesus, let it an
''unce its purpose mantuIly; but it
has not the right to enter our homes
in the garb Of friend, then when
seated at our table and enjoying our
hospitality, to plunge the dagger into
our hearts. This is unmanly and
shameful. If an enemy come, let him
come as an enemy, and We will treat
him with becoming respect; but I
protest against bis coming As friend.
As to the lecture, ! repeat that it is
a fine effort, and tho intention of this
article is not so much to criticise the
sentiment Of the; honorable lecturer Is
to intimate some difficulties that have
arisen in: my mind. Th. FIST one is
that it destroys personality, and hence
sweeps away all thought of future eex-
issence: Thus The physical. basis
of life" is this :!'protoplasm" OF semi
fluid substance found alike in the net
tie and in man, In man it is: the. co.,
erless corpuscles found in the. blood.
He admits, or rather it is his theory,
that all mental or even physical action
Cor boto) eliminates certain pestion
Of this protoplasmic life st dies
through force Of action, It follows
then that this eorpuscul.r life is~ the
Same as mental life: Is it true then
that the cutting off Of a mans arm or
leg also cuts away like proportion of
his mental life? If personality or
identity may be thus eliminated. piece
meal, it may at: last All be. destroyed
and Ba|zac's ideal "peau de chqgrin'
become veritable fact. No wonder
tne Professor has reached the eoaelu.
SOD that tie advances of science. viii
md in the "graduaI banishment from
all regions Of human thought Of what
We call spirit aad spontaneity." That
was intended for the Christian. This
does not seem to me to be an advance
at all. Several centuries ago there was
, class of Per6ous Who did not believe
in either spirits or angels. ;....
A second difficulty grows out Of the
lecturers logic. He processes to write
'hout physical life, but ends in . stroke
1t spiritual life. The ''coup de :,saitre''
= this: His FIRST premise is correct,
lie second is Of different class, and
he conclusion embraces both of, course,
Not 50 did l learn logic. The end Of
he matter is, that man has no other
it, than a dumb animal-his life is
he same in kind though differing in.
|rgree. Comforting this for us who
lave believed We were destined for i'm
mortality! If this is the best In6deli-
y can do, fits sophistries. are all 50
We have but little to fear
rom it.
The third difficulty: I had not read ::
ar till I concluded the lecturer: was .
naterlalist- Imagine my surprise when:
saw the following, 'sAnd most mn
1oubtedly the terms Of the propositions
ire distinctly mater1alistic, neverthe-
less x I hold the statements
so..be substantially true,"' get: \ = II
Individually, am. no materialist." I
give it up. He does not tell Us. what
be is. conclude thi, must be tho
great "What is it?" x.
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MINNESOTA -four and wheat ire rap