The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1879-08-07
NOR FAR FROM THE KINGDOM.

NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM
A friend in Louisville, KY, to whom
we recently sent al original poem for
criticism, says:
/ have read your poem and like it
very well, as a whole. I do not feel
competent to give it a legitimate criti'
cism, and therefore have simply picked,
pulled, and mutilated, like child will,
its: mothers knitting.
From my point of reasoning your
treatment of ''Love" is amusing and OF
"Religion" ridiculous. God interferes
no more directly with the runnimg-gear
of mans affairs than he does with the
growth of hogs or the formation Of new
worlds. That is, If there is such be-
ing. All these things whether the ris'
ing of the sun or the whimsical notions
Of man, are governed by eternal laws.
compare the variable acts OF man to a
stream of water. If, in its course, 1t
can't cut through rock or mount over,
it creeps round through the crevices;
but, in doing so, does rot violate the
eternal laws of It's nature. There is
such thing as contingent law, which
governs inert as we'll as active matter.
There is 4 law that man should eat, but
my dinner to-day depends upon 4 con-
tingency.
read very little or the subject of re.
ligion. nor will 1 tolerate the assump,
ton of any one to teach me, or preach
to me on the subject, any more than
would for any one to claim superior
knowledge in telling me that little
sleep is a good thing when one is sleepy,
or that water is the best thing when
one is dry. To worship Supreme Pow
er is innate in ulan, and it is therefore
unnecessary for priests to teach as 4
duty that which Nature implants as q
lao. | am somewhat materialistic in
my notions, perhaps, and, in sporting
phrase, would rather ''bet on" mathe
NAUTICAL truth than speculative philoso
ply. 1t is never difficult to convince a
MAJ: that two and two are four. Facts
my boy, something tangible, is what
people want.
am glad to see that you have modi
fed considerably in the past 20 years
judging from the complimentary opin
ion you expressed Of Bob 1ngersoll.
Please excuse plain talk, for my feel
ing toward you is as warm as it was q
years ago, and nearly all your early YER
SEES still float III my mind.
This friend is not far from the king
dom of heaven, and We can trust him
to maintain his mental independence
to the last. But we venture the ttedic
ton that if he lives out his allotted
time, he will see that Religion is not
altogether matter Of Science. Oh
course, we use the word Science in the
ordinary sense of what men k1lO,c OF
think they kno,c. Two years ago We
predicted that Col. Ingersoll would
change his views considerably about
the Bible and the Gospel of the man
Jesus. That change has already come
if recent newspaper statements, are
true. So our Louisville friend viii
change his views if he will just keep NJ
the search after facts instead of depend
ing altogether on pure Reason.
AS the San Francisco Chinese Priest
said, no two men and no two nations
ever Quarreled or fought about God,
The quarreling and fighting is about
the prophets who tech different relig,
ions, each claiming to lie the mouth.
piece of God. Faith is important, but
faith with every religion means faith
in the particular prophet or church
which teaches that particular religion
The Mahometan has more filth thar
| the Christian. All this Shows that
what the world needs is not any form
of religion, but abundance of Tolera
ton and the Facts. We need the fact.
of two realms, the Material and til,
Spiritual. And we hope our frient
will work both ''veins'' and, above all
stick to his manly independence.