The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-12-13
WEDNESDAY, DEC. le, 1876.
A Dos1os' cIEa6yxAx.-In our couh.

A BosroS CLERdYNAS.-In our couh.
Try at The present time one ofthe notable
religious phenomena is the lecture series
of,he Rev. Joseph Cook IN Boston. These
lectures arc delivered at noon on Mon.
days. Their subjects are those in which
the Scriptures and Science confront each
other. So great Is the interest which has
been awakened that the audiences have
been compelled from time to time to seek
new places Of meeting in order to &c.
eommodass the increasing numbers who
come to hear. The lectures are now de-
Hvered in fremont Temple. The Boston
papers report as many as two thousand
persons present. The floor is crowded.
Many sit 10 the siAlss. Nearly every
sea. in the gsllr,ie, is occupied. And in
point Of culture, the audience is Of the
very highest order.
We have been curious to note what Is
the characte. Of these lectures. The
place and the style OF the audience are OF
themselves a sufficient evidence that they
must have merit above the sermons OF
any mere sensational preacher, and be-
You'd the ordinary attempts on the part
Of the pulpit to reply TO the attacks
which certain class OF scientists are
making on the Bible. They have contin.
ued now ior months with ever increasing
popularity among part OF the more
highly cultivated people Of a city which
il famous for It's literary attachments. It
mus. be more than claptrap which draws
together thou sands, at noon on Monday,
in Boston, to hear an address on such
themes, and tha. too IN the midst Of the
political complications Of the lines.
We have before US one OF Mr.Cook's
rsccn. addresses. The subject Of it is,
"D5es death end ALP" It meant to be
areiutauon Of those naterialistic theo-
riss which would lead to the conclusion
tia. the soul ends It's existence as sep
s.a.e personality when the body dies.
The argument can not be here repro
dueed. While i! Ia free from the tech.
rica!ilies Q. science, Jet it is scientific in
it. subatapce, being based largely upon
The relations Of viSisectiOn and upon the
physiology of the human brain and its
peculiar phenomena. We are quite sure
that there is food for thought in the ar.
gumeut, even for the ablest Of the heaf.
en. At the came time the lecture has
mingled with i. many things which are
adapted to popularize wha: otherwise
must be rather dry and difficult theme
to all except few.
Fer instance, it seems to be Mr.. Cooks
custom to make some remarks on the
current news, before the more formal
commencement OF his lecture. On the
occasion Of the address to which We have
referred above, he spoke OF the unwilling
Of the statue Of Daniel Webster In Cen
tral Park on tho previous Saturday. And
this led very naturally to rather full
and somewhat new presentation OF the
great statesman's views Of religion, and
especially those to which he gave utter
suce when be Vas contemplating his own
death. They conciu'ively show that he
lived and died in the full belief Of the
Christian religion. His convictions evil
IDENTIFY were we'll expressed by the inscrip'
ton which he ordered to put upon his
tombstone and which reads rs tOllows:
philosophical argument especially
that draEh from the vastRess Of the uni
verse as compared with the apparent in.
Significance Of this globe, has often shak.
en- nv reason for the faith that is in mel
but nv heart has assured and treasured
NO that the Gospel Of Jesus Christ must
be q divine reality. The Sermon on the
Mount can not be a merely human pro-
duciion. The belief enters into the very
depth oimv conscience. The whole his.
tory Of man proves it." go
Mr.. Cooks LECTURES arc full Of classical
and other Literary auusions which give
tLen.a rich favor to men and women Of
culture. Sume.of his sentences have all
the tsrseness o. provcrb. He says, for
example, "a death-bed repentance is
uevar 10 DO encouraged until the time,
aud ncTcrtebe discouraged at the time"
Sohe Of these are highly rhetorical. "Ip
tho Thanksgiving scientific certainty that
all force originates in will, 1 found that
better tkra -Delphic spring, one deep
diaughsof whic!. gives new vision TO
the eyes and makes the whole universe q
burning bush, OF which Orion and the
Seven statsare only q lowermost leaf, but
every fistc ol'which near and far burns
with . ire Dat cannot Be touched, and
every dustiest path before which is
ground so holy that on II we must take
Otf0as she's, however proud Of Intellect
We may be. The blackboard aud dis-
grams ara, employed to make certain
points clear. And the audience fire.
qdeatiy encourage the speaker with
hearty agPl1use., g. gavas.a
Scientists sometimes cry out against
the clergy because they uso the pulpit
asa vantage ground from which unfairly
TO attack their positions. Here, however,
hRcIcTgymau who has taken of his coat
and geae into the work in away to (which
no man can fairly object. And 10 far as
We can judge he is able 70 give blows
which must be felt, We say, let him
have fair play. We are glad that Mr..
CooE has declined a call totake pas.
torate IN New York. He is a man to
vhonit i, worth listening in the place
which he IL now filling. %
We are indebted to Mr.. William
Leighton, IT,, oithis city, fora cory Of a
tVnyk al which he ia tha onthor called