, 1881-04-03

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FATE or EELsGNrS nnoKs-sEcTAHIANy VA
H!Er1Es-A CHINESE ENpEEUll's OPINION
THE ALExA2,Hi4AN school. AND IT'S
1SFLCEScE-TR -ADA,lITEs AND OTHER
c: r conoao'sn !Se1c Tors Tribune.
Among the cur14ities OF literature there
are notle more curihts than religious books.
Perhaps it is not + the credit of human
nature that of all comparatively rare volumes
such are the most easy ol,tainable. 1nves-
ttgate any heap Of miscellaneous rubbish eN-
hibiteh IN frunt OF an ol-book dealers shop
and half Of the dMy, brohen-backed,
stained, and dog's-eaaa specimens will be
Of the pious variety. Ttse, offered at five
pence apiece, or pe1l,agg at tenpence, seem
to be begging for buycrshyain. Frequent
ly they are in particularly hood order, as If
they had been bought from 4 sense of duty,
-anu-feft unread from a a1se Of disgust.
Voyages and travels, tpaances, histo-
ries have, it is evident been assidu-
ously perused, but the Aemoirs and
journals Of good men andA<;yomen, the
confessions Of queer and unusnl faiths, the
peppery polemics. the long-windtl ser1uous,
have about them u disreputabla freshness
and the newness which comes of living been
handled altogether too respectfully. Some
nf the scarcest OF these volumes al written
in defense or exposition Of those uaspeuka-
bly, absurd notions whicl, from the bexinning
las kept up the multitudinous breil of
schismatlcst and seerarles. Nubods,1until
.he has loeked little into the matte. can
Tell how Numerous this has been; nor how
ms%nkind has, IL the most important of Ii,,-
man affairs, been befooled, bewiltt~-~,s, coz
enea, sand lnisled, 11"w, eys"a among lhoso
who l1at;e dune the misenlfef, and have beck
oncd thei- feIlow-crestures into bitches, con-
science :a.beit nni1clligent, has been the
guide, whio luna.ic sincerity stretched out
its trembling arms and eagerly prayed for
,nartyrlols The knave who plays upon the
credulitvsf his victims while lie despoi1s
them in t,e Ealne Of Heaven OF their tell
loy.4.,,jes.we can c|leerully send to prison; ];
it's not u pleasant to look up the religious
AM not sure that 1t would be worth while
to write ahlstory Of the. sects which have
ChYistiauttnturies, but about the labor i'll
waived ;nSucis al undertaking there can be
no AisD.dt. Sc!1;sm began curly and has
never cessetl. encountered the other day
in Dr. Ever's treatise on THE Operation Of
the HoiySpirt.' the following partial list Of
. ParticuI.E ;l;aptists. Anti-1lisson Baptists,
Frce-N'ilI 1saptists, Seycnth-Day Baptists.
Six PrtcipIe Baptlsts, Scottish Baptists,
River Kethrcn, Canpbe'Iites.. Winnehren-
lIicksit7 Quakcrs, tiurneylte 9uakers. VII
heritc Q;akers, oIorayians. -Alienites, Lift
ers. AuitLifters,' with thirty-four others.
These, htlwever, are modern sccts or diyis-
ions Afomplete list from the beginning
would ~ Ky x911me In Mhen ts;E n;9yle' the
for preikhers. "who should preach ex-
prcssly against Libertines, Atheists,
Jews, and Socintans," these being, I
suppose, lthe relieionists Or anti-religionists
for wm tne sGod xae deyiSGr .; o;ao had the
the wir.d without distinguishing the whole
sonlaefrdn the corrupted air. The most as
tozdishink and comprehensive dissenter Of
~ Ihnys snns4 read Is T. pfhoned Sn Ry FaEher @
peror Tao-Kow-Ang," he says, sometime
before his accession 10 the throne, addressed
to the people n proclamation in which he
passed In review all the religions known in
came at last to the conclusion that they were
spise them altogether" pe.A. th:- was
not worse than the descripuo~ the ..ris~
tian world Ut one time, { ,eE 1ueth by Am
1hx; chrs;sn TeG is a"r saS Sy GSSS Mc sef 1s
pure and simple, Col1stan1ius confounded BY
the dolage of superstitution. Instead Of
reconciling the parties BY the weight
OF his authority, he :. cherished and
propagated by verbal disputes the DIFF
ferences which his vain curiosity had
excited. The highways were covered with
troops of Bishops, galioping from every side
to the assemblies, which they call Synods;
and while they labored to reduce the whole
sect to their particular opinions, the public
by their hasty and repeated journeys, Who
ever will read the history Of this period will
be surprised at the minuteness and insieniti-
ca1se Of tue which set
qaote here as well is anywhere Archbishop
Whateiy's squib upon religious persecution:
Old FAther Lop9legs
Wouldn't say his prayers;
Take him Ey tie right leg.
Take him BY the left leg,
Take him fast by both leEs.
And throw hlu down stairs.
"There," said the Archbishop: So in that
nursery verse yon may see the epitome Of the
lonEiegS refusing to SAY the prayers that