The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-01-31

had imbibed the fatal poison Of fashion
able skeptirism. They had first been
attracted hy, ami then charmed by, the
fatal decisions of such brilliant deistS as
InGersoi. They INDUCED their intellec-
tual vanity by the too common rejection of
the cardinal doctrines of Christianity and
wurshiped reason and science as the ulti-
mate eXpounderS of their religious faith.
They We're the best opponents of modern
scholastic skeptics, who, III proportion to
their intellectual requirement, drift away
from the safe anchorage of the faith in
which their fathers lived. Their proto-
types can be found on every hand.
We state the case To draw a useful con-
clusion or two from their acts. to coun-
teract the effect upon other mems minds.
Of Just such too oft-repeated follies. lfthe
highest education. the ties of family and
of refined society. instead of restraining
men from such acts. tend rather to invite
the commission of such crimes upon the
slightest preteXt of disappointed love or
ambition, what is our boosted system of
education worth. when men of wealth
turn suicides from mere safety of life ?
This world is not a place where ease and
success arc the rule, and any education
which fails to give a man a spirit to meet
its evils, to console and support him under
its aggravating losses. is not a safe one.
The culture and refinement which do not
teach man to find in the happiness of
mere living. in the beauty which lies about
ordinary pathways in life, and in the kind
nesseS of humanity. something to Sweeten
the bittereSt cup. are not worthy their
name. Nor indeed is any merely intel
lectual system of education. The cult
walton of the heart must accompany that
of the head. These two educations must
be concurrent. The cultivation of the in
tellect alone makes skeptcS. that of the
heart only fanatics. The two young men
in question belonged to the former class.
There is. however. manly, sclf-sacri-
ticing, christian courage not sought for
nor found among the merely intellect
lally refined. There arc. to-day, men
telling in obScurity. at the work bench
and in the field, at furnace and forge.
who have the right :; thousand times
over to take their own lives, if suffering
and disappointment give that right
With unconscious manhood they are
building up fallen fortunes, paying debts
which mortgage the balance of their
lives. and protecting those to whom they
owe the duty Of protection, while ut
times the life is almost out of their hearts.
Thousands of women. chastc and virtu-
Gus. in the lowiest walks of life, are
contending bravcly against even heavier
odds. The world over. these less fortu-
nate sons and daughters of fortune, or
rather OF misfortune. are taking their
share of dull disappointment. and strug
Cling undaunted under loads Of penury
and want, because in a true religious
education they have found the wonderful
truth. that the soul is immortal. Rob
tilenl OF IlidI trUtl. anu tiiP HIS blIdtlpll vi
hopeful life is gone. With that, it is {.
poor spirit that droops at the severest
touch of adversely. This is world
where it becomes Il man to put on the
armor of good conscience, of firm prin-
ciple. He will give harder blows than
he will receive. The conscience of men
generally need cultivation more than
their intellects, else had two otherwise
exemplary young men been saved a dis
graceful death. for a life of credit and
usefulness. They will not he the last to
fall. IngcrSoll and his class are sowing
the wind and reaping the whirlwind.-
Their perniclous literature has shaken
the faith OF many an unsuspecting man.
The specious arguments and the plausl-
bic sophistries of the scientific school of
skeptics have unsettled even stronger
minds than their own. The path of
safety lies only where revelation points,
not where reason pretends to lead.