The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-02-10

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vast mystery Of life hung above them
but was Iii with religions chat were sprin
kled as STARS in its depths. From hos
of ccnsers was their air made rich with fra
grance. and warmed from field Of altars
No loss WAS irreparable. But with US !
is different. We have reached the end
Destroy our belief and we are left hope
less, helpless, blind. Our mir will bt
orderlcs, chill. colorless. Huxley, til,
leader Of the positivists, himself confess.
es-I quote from nemory-"Neyer, il
the history Of man, has calamity 80 ter
rifict beiallen the race as this advancing
deiuge, black with destruction, upr0otinG
our most cherished hopes, .ngulElg oul
most precious creed, and burying ou,
highest life in minlness deaoIation." )"
Aud yet Mr.. Huxley urges on this de.
luge with furious energy. The uggres
siveness of the atheist IS inexplicable tc
me. Why they should insist on destroy.
ing system that is pure and ennobiing
when they have nothing to replace il
w'th--wLy they should shatter g faith
that c.hOrs life, only to leave it colnrless
why they should rob life Of all that i,
makes life worth Iiving-wby they should
take away the consolation that lifts men
and women from the despair of bereave.
ment and dcS0lati0n, or the light that
guides the feet OF struggling humanity, OF
the hope that robs the grave uf its terror
| why they should do all this, and then
stand empty. handed and unresponsive be-
tore the EARNING and supplicating people
| they have stripped of all that is pro.
cinus, is more than / can understand.
The best atheist, to my mind, that ever
Knew, was one who sent his children 10 Il
convent fol tieir education. "l cannot
lifl the blight Of unbelief from my own
mind," he said, "Lut it shalt never fall
| upon the minds Of my children if l Cal,
help it. As for me, would give all have
nn earth for the old faith that ! wore 30
lightly aud threw off eo carlessly.
The practical effects of the growth ot
atheism are too terrible to contemplate.
a vessel on an unknown sca that has
lost lis rudder and is tossed in storm
that's the picture. 1t will not do for Mr..
Ingersoll to say that purely human
code OF right und wrong can be establish
Ell 10 which the passions of men can be
anchored and frum which they can swing
with safety. 1t will not do for him 10
cite his own correct life or the cor
rect lives of the skeplical scientists
or of Leading -skepiics, ns proof
ii,at un6elief dues nut bring license.
These men are held TO decency by pride
| OF position and by Il SENSE of special re.
spnnsibility. 1t ID the masses That athe.
ism will dcmoraize and debauch. II il
the thousands Of si nple men und women
who, loOsed Of the restraint that in a5s0-
suie and inperious will, that will drift
upon the currents of their passions, col
liding everywhere, and bringing confu
sion and ruin. The vastly greatest in
huence that religion has exercised, az far
as the world goes, lias been The conscrya.
tive pressure that it has put upon the
bulk of people, ShO are outside of
the church. With the pressure barely
felt and still less acknowledg. d, it has
preserved the integrity of society, kepl
the dangerous Instincts within bounds, re-
pressed snvngery and held the balance.
Conscience has dominated men who new
er confessed even to themselves, its power,
aud the dim, religious memories of child
hood. breathing imperceptibly over long
wastes Of sin and brutality, have dissolved
clouds of passion i'm thu suuls of veterans.
Atheism will not work its full effect ON
this class of men. Even after they hive
murdered conscience by withholding the
breath upon which il lives. IT'S ghost will
grope through The chambers of their brain
menacing and terrible, and to the last
Creeping Oh broken wing
Through cells OF madness haunt OF horror and
fear p
1t is on the young men and women
the generation bred in the chill atmos.
phere of unbelief-that atheism will do
its worst. With no traditions in which,
To guide their faith, no altar before which
they cnn do reverence, no ideal 10 which
their eyes can turn, no standard lofty
enough To satisfy, or s,esdfast enough To
assure--with no uplifting that is not linn.
tied, no aspiration that has wings, and
nU enthusiasm that is not absurd-with
aud dies in the grave. Truly atheism
meets youth with u dread pruspect-sul-
len, Storm swept. hopeless.
In the conflict that is coming, the
church is impregnnble- the
church is right-because it is founded on
IL rock. The scientists boast that .hev
have evolved everything logically from
the first purticles ofmatttr-that, of from the
crystal rock To spn,ient man Is steady
way, marked hy natural grndations.
They even shy that, il a new bulk were
thrown Of from the sun to. morrow, il
would spin in the space of the earth
and the same development that has
crowned the earth with life would take
place in the new world. And yet Tyu.
| dali says, eve have exhausted physics,
| and reached its very rim, aud yei mighty
mystery looms up before us.'' And this
mystery is the kindling of the atoms of
the brain with the vital spark. There
science is bnftled, for there is the su.
preme force that yelled eternity from the
vision of man.
The church is not bound to the techni-
caliiies of argument in this contest. II
has the perfect right to sny and
say, logically, that someihing must
rest un faith--that there must be
runething in the heart or soul
hef,re convictions can he made perfect.
j just 40 No cnnIlut Impress with ccstacies
und transports oT enrthiy love n man whu
has never loved, or pRiut rainbny To the
inan who has never seen. And yet the
time has passed when religion can dismiss
the skeptics with shrek or n sneer. /
read one little bmuk year ago, gentle.
| tirID, decisive book that demonstrated the
necessity and existence ofthe Supreme Be-
ing, as clearly and as closely as a malhe.
matiral proposition wns worked out. But
the strength OF the church in, after all, The
high minded consistency of its members
the warmth and earnestness of its evan.
gelism purity and gentleness of its
| apnstea. II the creeds are put at peace
and eycrV man who wen "a the Christ;,, o,