, 1877-10-07

1
| ncr Of speaking which Is supposed to be modest,
seemed to him, on the contrary, pretcntous. E8-
the pen may be considered rs expressing the views
of the other editors along with hs own. he never
liked any one to say We in place Of /. and when he
encountered that hackneyed idiom. he wonld say
| lauEhin=ly, II did not know before that the au-
| thor was King OF France and Navarro ~
Thus throughout there are seeming incon-
| sistencics III the rapid transition from what We,
| with our anti-Gallic temper and education,
| would call Sense and nonsense. But the volume
is very interesting reading, and gives one Of the
most refined pictures of French life which have
| appeared for many q day. From beginning to
! end there is tone uf nobility, whatever we may
think Of the endless amours which arc indicat-
| ed; aud history the book reads like a rO-
| NANCE The next notable biography in order is
that Of Charles Sumner, By his legal executor,
| Mr.. Pierce.
The volume of
| THE REV. JOSEPH COOKS MONDAY LECTURES
| which is just out is eagerly welcomed by his ad-
hcrents, aud as sharply criticised by those who
| do not follow him. One of the latter, man OF
| press this opinion the other day,-that Mr.. Cook
is i Conscientious sei,sationalist, and uscsStiic
very arguments OF the scientists, adroitly mal,-
aged to SHIT his own theories OF course those
! who believe iii him believe that he is sound
| and pretty near infallibc; and those who TO
| not believe do not hesitate to say that he is
shallow and bombastic, his power lying in his
| enormous concet~ These non-belieycrs do not
/ UGLY AODh Ills kAhCu ClCfcF
OF the schools, not for the purposes OF truth, but
to support his own theories. " He is well read
to that extent that imposes upon the ordinary
listener; Tor the ordinary has IN immense
| respect for one who eau quote largely from
great names" This is another OF the opinions
| ] heard from one of the nu1l~bellevers Ill Mr.
! Cook. For my own part, 10 not hcsitIte to
| say that thinl: the breadth Of mind and the
| philosophy OF Il nlan who tan wrttc anu denver
the following, which come under the head OF
| .'Emcrson's Views on immortality" are not
t7chatatle questions. The lecture opens with
the question Which city las the greater right
| to an attitude Of intellectual haugltncss, Bos-
ton or Edinburgh After summing up avarie:y
| of the advantages OF Ediuburg there comes THIS
| question and statement:
Can Boston produce the equal Of John Knox or
class have we better than i5iackrooGs Ea9u=inf,
! as edited by Lockhart aud Wilson: What qunr-
ttrly have We here IN Eostn more famous than 1At
| Edubuyu Rrrev, with Francis jeffrey, and Sidney
Smith, and norner and Mocaulay, and Brousham
behind it: This EdinbrrE, true to the deepest in
o dow te on the If M
North Sca, and was willing to have her deyo1ions
LED hy an American evangelist: aud shall Boston,
this Puritan 1nd Pilgrim shore, stand stupluly
still when asked to knee1:
Dickens wrote in his last years, that he regarded
dienee, c's but that thi< was hgh compliment 10
Boston; for he regarded an Edinburs audience as
perfect
What il Dostcu in 1877 should receive. as we'll
emphatieally approved By experience now than
tner were then* What it we should put ourselves
thorough: as Edinburs did heF=e1f into the
attitude of telescope focused the sun OF
1i..ious truth. Fad ready. therefore, 10 causc an
image OF tho suit 70 spring up in the chambers OF
the instrument: Weaze proud OF our lenses: are
NC willing to adjust them: Once adjusted, even
poor human lens4a, 2y fixed natural iaw., may
draw down . star OF sun into the .oul: and. al
though the light is from above, the adjustment is
Are VIC willing to bring the axis Of
adjusted spiritual tclcscopic thought in Boston
into COMPLETE coincidence With tie line OF me
Reencst rays Of conscience, and Of seli-surren9er
TO God and see what the effect will bc in the |
s1ar1ins up within us Of Il light otherwise nnat-
tanable. and hot enough to buru up our tempta- |
tions,-hot enough to purge whatever Of politics.
commerce. social lift, is held i'll the focas Of
the rays hot enough 10 scar the WINS Of the dol.
oroue and accurscd skentiesus which iuttcr not |
through the Boston noon. but throu.a the Boston |
dusk, and endeavor yet to build ho::les fns them
selves in last years birds nests, like panes for
gotten books and rarker:m, and small philoso- |
ply, and free religion and 1nateriaism: |
The lecturer after this goes on 10 show how |
q '1Edinburg, with oil her haugl,iness,'' entered
gives lung list Of the names Of Professors who |
affixed their signatures to call the eyangelisls
issucd to Scotland, and then inquiries:
Will Boston do ANYTHING like this. Will Harvard |
University to what Edinburg University was proud |
to do to carry men on vigorous current Of calm
thought INTO se}f-snrrender to Cody wish to !
speak with due reverence Of this city, but am not
OF the opinion that Goson il entitled to more in
tcllcctual scnown than Ednhurg: and yet, in Ed
iDburg, the students came out hy thousands III hear
religious truth and 10 have personal application
made Of it 10 themselves not altogether By the |
evangelist, but By the spirit OF the time. |
Au inquiry which at once provokes counter t
inquiry,
ana why should Harvard University do what |
Etinburg University did because Of this eIanl- |
ple! And wha. il Edinburo, s*with all her |
haughtiuess," was willing to have her dcvotions /
led by an American erangclists Was all this |
,,t,1
makc fools Of themselves by going back cci-
tury into the superstitions aud dog1nas Of |
another ages One might well ask how Mr. I
Cook thinks all Intelligent public is 60
asking him what he means by making it, for it
proves nothing, aud las not single spiritual |
argument; instead, it simply saws: "Look
here, you know; those Edinburg folks are very
reputation than you have, aud they did this
thing. Therefore, If yon want to lake front
rank, you'd better follow suit"
Another question, to", which the liberal Bos-
tonian might ask is. How lon. Is it since the
latest Development of truth or progress could
bras of its numbers of tollowers:'' No, thank
you, Mr.. Cook; il this is the reason why We /
should go oyer with Euinburg t. Moody aud
ten books. and Parkerism, and small philoso-
phy, and free religion, and materjals1n.;' and /
congratulate ourselves that We are in better
company. 1t is not my design to review the
Dooh. s!lutll "!sH u isk tnese L"o OF
three questions and to present these peculiar
statements Of i man who talks about small |
philosophy So arrogantlY in speaking Of the
ripest thought Of the day. AMI now to Il
mcrricr topic
The other evening l took THE SUNDAY
TRIBUNE to the Scrap Book Club, aud read from
it the article signed Mcthuselal, entitled
''HoW OLD BRIDGET"
It was received with resountling applause and I
reiterated question, ''Who Is Mcthuse1al,?"
Blondina. who has no little dramatic talent IT. |
clares that she has seen nothing SO eXQuisitcly
drol and well done for all age, aud also declares
her intcntion of making this little 1norceau one
oi her rcpertory for dramatic recitation. AMI
still the cry goes on, - Who is MetauscIah!''
Yes, who is this hunorist that outsiincs Mark
Twain, and is equal to Bret Hartc at his best:
viii THE TRIBUNE allow such light to be |
liddcu or will Methusclah be deaf to our en-
treaty Who is Mcthusc}ah! Mp.