Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1870-11-03

shipping from an impulse cf -, leGnro
While his moral sentiment vitn1lI 1DanorI
him with society. BY his spirlk1 -
mcnts he is brought towards a1ertnS111E
and the heavenly. The imp611 - &
born. radical, cardinal il Va -
creation Of priests. though pries havo
ken advantage Of It for their pufrnes, =
rulers too have made use cf e iVt6ex =
enslave mankind. It4wss mot t. d1rn1
Of ignorance. for il osslived itsus II
the prophecy and pledge of u hif
the divine. the spiritual in the uor11
eternal life. August Comte taIb =
religion IS feature sf the wUfl Az Vi
hood. If il was. then humsnie 2 with
. child for ages to come, pot ~ dstees.
tbered. For, as mankis ss4y cf sele
telligence. in knowledge, snd d>e pez6ev
did not become less religioas. kui fsllS.r
more. Yet, one-of the most capacious
minds of the world was magnificent be-
lever and worshipper, as all who have
read bis works know. For it was he who
spoke of the material universe as ." the
flowing garment of God" Plato was no
rudimental man but his religious senti-
ment kept full pace with his philosophi-
cal mind. Bacon and Newton were no
babes; they passed into the infinite, and
when they reached it they fell on their
knees. Milton and Dante surely had out
grown their swaddling clothes Of the
worlds infancy; but under what temples
they worshipped before what ideals they
bowed their regal heads Kant, Fishte,
Hegel, Schleiermachcr, and Renan sure
iy had outlived the eruiest forms Of reli-
gions. But in what hopes, what aspira-
tions they found their consolation and their
prayers. Ours is an age of science. and
an age of science is an age of faith. Open
the pages of the great discoverers and the
great explorers, and in proportion to
, their discoveries and scientific develop
ments is their spiritual earnestncss. They
do not erect visions, but view principles.
They call God, perhaps, the unknown and
unknowablc, but they bend their heads in
prayerful trust and veneration in presence
of the Creator. They bring no gifts To
his altar. but devote themselves to unfold
ing his laws. The last thing that August
Contc did was to reconstruct religion at
the bidding of his heart. The church.
man treated the religious sentiment as if
it was tiny, fickering fame in the bo-
| som, which he must tend and feed lest il
become extinct. The radicals say, "Not
so: it is the religious sentiment that pro-
tects you; it is to the religious sentiment
| that You owe Your very existence. There
would have been no Brahminism. Parsee-
ism. Mosaism, Christianism, or Moham-
mechanism we're there not spiritual ma
ture to give them birth. 1t was true that
iamgng rufe people in.rudc times the re-
I llisfous sentiment found yerw nacouth ex-
preston, and appeared in that friehtfiil
thing we call superstition. But from what
rough beginnings philosophy and litera-
ture had grown to the beautiful creations
they are! Cultivated people have a cul-
tivated religion their belief is more ra-
tional, their worship more pure. idea
takes the place Of dogma. and principles
are substituted for ordinances. Ignorant
and degraded people have crude and
ugly religion religion will be noble and
beautiful when that character belongs to
the people. The religious institutions of
mankind are milestones that indicate the
progress Of the race The religious SEN
timent grows out of the thought Of God.
The radical believes in God. Not in the
God of any particular church or confcs-
sion; not in the God of the Roman Cath
olic, Protestant, or the technical Chris
tian: not in any special or individual God:
not in a God. hut simply. and only, in
God. The kind of God who has time and
space, consccrates people, sanctiies ex-
ceptional hours, turks in altars, made the
world in six days, caused il to break down
and had to make it over again, and at last
had to die himself, in order that man
might not perish the God who peeps
into his world through hole i'm a con
cealing curtain, and blows up his own
bridges in order that he may better visit
his own children in the city he built for
their habitation; the God who listens to
private prayers, takes an interest in spe-
cial individuals. and vouchsafes special ia
vors to one nation, and prints one or two
books for his favoritc tribes ef men: the
God Of Abraham, Isaac aud Jacob the
radical knows not. He knows oniy God.
OF this Being ks darcs not attempt de-
finition tries to break through definition,
| that he may be beyond all bound pure
spirit, pure intelligence the fullest ideal
of possibility the loveliest dream of the
soul. Nay, if there must be definition.
the more definitions the better. Welcome
all there are or can be, rather than rest in
any one. Come. Spinoza, Hegcl, Her.
bert Spencer, and the rest; we want Won
all, for altogether you will not sufficiently
declare what the infinite perfection is. Of
the moral attributes of God the radical
hesitates to speak-indeed does not let in
the word attribute. He does not say God
is loving. but God is love- The radical
believes in revelation. Not in any Incl.
dental or particular revelation not in any
peculiar or individual revelation. but in
Ircyelation. 4 is necessity of the divine
being that he should reveal himself: he
is light, and Eight must shine. He spoke
creation into existence. and creation is his
articulate word. The material universe
/, is not \ screen behind which he crouehcs,
but the ether, on whose waves Of light he
becomes visible. Our own closed eve
lids alone conceal God Revelation il The
crening of our eyes. The natural eve tu.
.O-u-l II .-.xls LIZ. I.sz..tf,- -, ~ = n.