The New York herald., 1872-12-15

HERALD Is the liberal journal Wnicn nRs eXnADlteO
your numerous merits and your wei-earned lau-
rels to al. the nation OF America. have hailed
you as an old acquaintance-that is Just; have
the honor OF acquaintance with you Tor long
time; and have put myself down as an old friend
that too is just you and nave been students
under the same college roof
And now, what have got to says My dear friend.
win tell you. l am at present up to the chin OF
my understanding In the lake 6f dark theological
doubt; and as you have just come forth erect In
body aud soul and covered with certitude in all
your religious ibres, from that unfortunate, and,
might say, Internal pool-for to me- it Is drey in
fernal-I come to you. imp0ring you to throw me
a rope OF relief by which may work my way to
the shore OF absolute safety.
My dear friend, when you threw up Unita-
ranism l was staggered in all my nature; when
you put that faith under your two feet and tram
pied 1t out OF life with all the strength OF your Wig
orous and graceful faculties Ifc to the earth. And
what w0nders had abiding faith in you and
was satisfied tnat Unitarianism would infallbty
lead my imperishable soul to heaven. My spiritual
guide and my God vanished from me at once, and
lost all peace OF heart, OF soul, OF intellect. OF
blood itself. Three months Of this deplorable
diti0n passed over my devoted head. At the end
OF that time began to feel the0l0gically alive once
again. Not in the Unitarian way. No and neverI
That was impossible. Your change. or detection,
inspiration. or courageous adventure, or whatever
is the proper name for It, almost instantly fol-
or OF all the Unitarian epidermis that was on me,
and single scale Of the repudiated cuticle have
never taken up with since. l have. indeed. occa-
always with shudder. 1t Is not IN the custody OF
an angel grinning devil has it all In his charge,
sTa IN ms AZ
you have cut me loose from theism. But there is
more work for you to 40 IN my behalf have
closely watched your career, and l am perpetually
asking myself two questiOns-frst is my dear
friend absolutely right. nows and second, suppos.
virtue, am l. who followed him before into Unitarian
ism and out Of It again, obliged, before God, to
Nv dear friend, these are the two questions
which, as intlmated above, are sleeping me to the
very chin in the disturbing, uicide-prov0king
waters OF religious sceptictsm
My friend, bear with an old friend; the issue at
stake IS nothing less than my eternal salvation,
and, therefore, / want to have these two oppres-
all the faith Have you certain authority from
God to preach, that under God you are bound, at
people, at the peril Of their souls, are bound to
hear your The truth is, have been studying the
%
Are they legitimate questonsp think So Look
at the first OF them. want to save my soul; and,
therefore, 1t is essential for me to know that you,
whom have an inclination to follow, have all the
divine truth necessary for my salvation, and that
You are concerned mixed up Such is the first ques-
tion. No one can say that 1t is not legitimate, ma
tura just; in fact OF the very highest consequence.
it of with a minimizing answer Is TO lmpugn the
perfect sanctity OF faith and faith OF God such
an act must be destructive OF the salvation OF the
human soul.
The first question, then, is an essential one for
me to have solved.
And look at the second question. AS far as
theology teaches me 1t Is quite as essential as
the first l want to save my soul, under your
guidance Has God really and surely given you
authorty to teach : II He has i am bound at
the very peril OF my soul to hear you. II He has
not there is no obligation on me as to the salvation
bnar "a fhafb hahn
is impossible for me to be saved il follow your
leadership. This argument is based on the prirr-
ciple that all obligation as TO the saiyation OF the
can never be exploded, for God Is the creator OF
the SOUL the eternal Judge Of man In all his acts,
and because salvation essentially and entirely con-
sists in being forever with God.
l submit, then, that the second question that
perpeSes me is one that must have soution Thus
my two questions are legitimate. Now, who will
solve these questions for mes Behold them They
carry with them nothing less than my eternal sal
and night and day. My dear friend, 1t is fact
that these two questions have often made me wish
that the soul perished forever the instant 1t leaves
the cherished tenement Of clay. come to you for
their solution. To whom else should go9
And now, my dear friend. here comes the most
painful confession OF all-the divulgement OF the
TACT that makes my two doubling questions have
all their sitting weight upon my soul. And 1t Is
truth necessary for my salvation. and that you
not sale from change any more than you were
when you were the most intrepid OF Unitarians;
really have not commission to preach from God.
And VIII tell you the chief cause OF this twoiOld
sceptcism. my dear friend, bear with me II you
knew what doubt, what very woe OF perplexity
have within, am sure you would. Iground my
self on your next installation in the Brick church.
great many ministers installed you Three
may be said to have represented the whole body.
These are Dr. Tying Jr., DIR. Hall and the Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher. 1t is safe to reason Tor the
Justification OF your new position from these three
distinguished ministers. And therefore, ask you,
have they all the true faith? and is it sale forever
tl,arl had ft rttwx frnw~
put you in religious jurisdiction over s0ulsY Look
at the plain fact. These three ministers have three
therefore, hold each other TO be tainted with error
Therefore, themselves Ior witnesses, they have not
all the faith, and there is no safety from in
the faith they have. As consequence it Is simply
impossible tor you, as far as the integrity and
continued purity OF the faith are concerned, to
have received from these three ministers true or
divine installation.
Let me now look at the commission to teach.
When did these three ministers receive divine au-
Gospe2 They repudiate what is called apostolical
succession. Very well. They have, then. no such
succcssion and, therefore, they have no authority
from the Apostles to give you authority to preach
Has an angel been sent down from heaven to con-
fer authority on them No claim to that effect is
even imagined. Has Christ Himself come back to
the earth and impaired to them authority to teach
and to commission others to do the SEINE? 1t is
not pretended that He has. Christ there
ali the needed authority for this thing is IN
authority in the Scriptures for the three distin-
guished clcrgymen named TO give you jurisdiction
over souls than there Is for you or for any other
man to give them jurisdiction over sous-not a
bit more, not bit less; and therefore yOu cannot
prove by the scriptures that your authority to
preach Is valid
And thus, my dear friend, you are totally nude
OF all divine commission in your Office OF pastor Of
souls. This is what cuts me open with intOlerable
pain. want to be saved. 1t is as safe to follow
you as any other minister But, heavens 1t Is
awful; your iaith is not whole and your authority
Is all covered with flaw
NY dear friend, pardon me for having positive
views. Ny soul Is u thing that positively exists;
that my soul is imperishable is a positive truth;
that am responsible being is as positively true
that the sun is in the sky and that religion has
all TO do with the everlasting saving or losing OF
my soul is positively certain For these reasons
have right to have positive demands to make OF
the minister to whose teaching l am inclined to
entrust my souls eternal welfare.
MY dear friend, such Is my whole case. Is 1t an
irrational one? Man is q rational creature. How
1t be irrational for him to desire to be sure that
the minister he follows has ell that s necessary in