The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-04-29
Orthodoxy Gaming "A Few salient
Points Of Interest to All Religious
Denomination.

anti suppOsing that OF curse all other
minds are befogged, Il tho same old habit.
Any one who has crossed o vast desert or
traversed a wilderness, with guides who
went quietly and confidently along, has
often caught himself believing that the
guides felt and knew they were lost, and
had no faith in the read they were travel
ling. 1t Is very common i'll such cases to
hear travellers saying TO one another,
"These fellows don't know any more
about the road than we do" On long
voyages, when the ships officers are doing
the daily routine duty. AID making no fuss
about II, passengers who have never been
ut sea are at times apt to mistake the silent
habit OF the captain for distress and anx-
iety at loss Of reckoning and uncertainty
about the future OF the voyage.
This is precisely the state Of mind IN
which q few persons seem to be just now
about religious belief. Their doubts and
apprchensions have been communicated TO
one another. and they are beginning to call
out that .the old foundations OF the faith
are shaking" that things look squally for
the Church, that people are abandoning
the orthodox doctrines and taking 10 all
sorts Of life or soul-preservcrs. Ii the first
scared man is a clergyman, however illitc-
rate or weak in logical power, his cry OF
doubt leads Others 10 shout that the ship Is
going ashore. is sinking, Is on fire, or some
thing terrible Is the matter.
All this is very stupid. \ calm and I'M
partial examination OF the present condi-
ton OF religious faith in America for in.
stance. or in the city OF New York, can be
made by any sensible man. and such eX-
animation indicates TO us that what used to
be called orthodoxy never had ~ strong a
hold on the people, as many adherents,
and rs steady and continuous a gain in adj
berents as Just now.
The preachers and teachers of the ortho-
doX faith do not seem TO trouble themselves
about the noise made by the promoters OF
doubt. The silence OF the Church Is mis-
taken for apprehension, whereas it Is only
a silence as TO controversy with the doubt
erS. Orthodoxy was never in any age
more loudly preached by more learned,
powerful, eloquent preachers than now.
The churches were never more full, the
hearers never more deyout. the number Of
w%orshippcrs never more steadily and rl-
pidly Increasing. 1t is also 4 fact That at
no former period were Christian churches
so actively at work among the poor, the
sick. and the miserable. doing as much to
improve the physical condition OF men,
and extend the power and effects OF reli-
giouS charity.
Viewed by these external and visible in
dications, the careful observer will find it
difficult to understand why some persons
think orthodoxy is losing ground and
skepticiSm increasing.
The explanation of this curiously-mi,-
taken notion we are persuaded is this.
Not very long ago almost any population
might be divided into two clasSes- those
who believed the faith OF the Church, and
those who had no belief in the sense that
they never talked, thought, read, or cared
about the subject of religious faith. In
the literature OF what we may style irreli-
gion only a few names were known. But
if any OF the second class above named
were asked if they were followers OF Hume
or Tom Paine, or any OF a half dozen
faithless writers. they would deny it. Prac-
tically, they believed nothing. And this
class of no-bellef men, vastly the largest
class, was excessively unapproachable by
the Church. In recent times a fashion OF
discussing the philosophical subject OF
causes, and looking for a first cause, by the
light OF nature, has given birth to n litera-
ture nominally skeptical, which has reached
the classes whom the Church did not often
reach. The Spencers, Darwins, HuXleys.
ct i'll Omne genus of searchers for a first
cause have ~captiyated, aroused. and set TO
thinking n vast number OF minds. Before.
they had neither beliefs nor doubts. Now
they are thinking, talking, publishing, de-
batting. and the noise OF their eXpreSse',
doubts, rs they wander about in the dark.
is something wonderful. They are in the
precise condition OF lost travellers in the
woods, who don't believe in the protes-
sional guides, and are shouting to one an
other ''this must be the way out None
OF them profess to have found or even TO
approximate by theory to the first cause,
which is the one object OF their philosophl-
cal research.
This stirring into a condition OF inquiry
and doubt thousands OF minds which be-
fore had never even thought seriously o!
the question. "Is there a first causeI" or
SIS there a God!" has brought large ac-
cessions to the old faith OF the church. 1T
could not lie otherwise. Men once reused
to asking from philosophical teachers an
answer to the question, What Is the nrst
cause Of the phenomena in nature!" ana
receiving for answer, eve don't know
vet: we have got theoretically to a proto-
plasm, but we can't guess how that
came to eXist"-such men and women
get tired of that sort Of answer. Lille IS
not long enough to wait for Mr. Iyndaii
TO tell them what originates force, OF en-
powers ymolition TO disturb and direct
forces. Men want TO know before they die
where they came from and whittier they
are going. As long as they had nottnought
about il all they were content 10 dle anu
make no sign. Blu once interested IN the
questions their Interest becomes pain1uiiy
intense il they are intense thinkers. Ana
when the scientist tells them, as every
honest scientist does, ave don't KNOW
much about it," they are very apt TO accept
the voice of a church which tells them
awe know all about it, and can give you
the assurance Of a comfortable faith"
We have no doubt that the discussions
of modern scientists have led thousands
into orthodox churches for every one
already there whose weak faith they nave
shaken. Nor is it possible, in our View' 10
look at the external and visible signs OF
the religious state OF England and Anne
rican, fifty years ago and now, anu uoup'
that what is called orthodox faitl, the De
lief in God, Christ, Heaven, bell. the prin-
ciples generally summed up in the Apps,
ties Creed, have made Il t~housandloiu
more converts from the class OF douDteTs
than doubt has drawn away from the laith.
TO an outsider, il such a one can exist, the
signs OF the times are that old-fashioned
orthodoxy is controlling the strongest IN
tellectual men, and will rapidly win the
adherence Of pretty much all who think
about the question whether there Is a Goa
TO whom men duty.
Personal.
Jaw Gould reads the Latin and Greek
noets. but never writes any verses himself