Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-06
Anreense1et Denied.

NEW YORK, Dec. 5.-Manager CLARK, OF
the Union Pacific railroad, and Manager
| Cable, of the Rock Islard road, deny that
their roads have tacitly agreed with
the Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul road to
withdraw from the Iowa pool. They say
their visit to New York at this time is
purely one of general business, and they
had not come to meet Merrill of the St.
Paul road, or to sign any agreement of
ths nature indicated, their being here at
tie same time being only a coincidence.
Martin Luther's CGreer--A Reply to Rec. S.
G.. smith.
To the Editor of the Globe.
Rev. Samuel G. Smith is discreet in con-
fning himself to generalities and not at
tempting a reply to the damaging details
in Bishop Ireland's lecture.
''Individuals," Mr.. Smith says, "must be
judged with reference to their training,
surroundings, and the ideals of their own
age" Individuals in general, yes; but
when man puts himself forward as re-
former, as religious teacher, as one COM
missioned to bring the world back to gos
pei truth and purity, another standard of
judging him will be insisted upon by the
common sense of mankind.
Luther was dead over 100 years before
the time of Alexander VII. I suppose Mr..
Smith refers to Alexander VI. This pom
tiff made no pretensions to
DO religious reformer, but in
none of his numerous official documents
did he ever compromise either faith or
morals. His conduct was reprobated by
all the wise and good of his time, and his
memory the church has always held in dis
honor. His personal character did not af-
feet directly the Office he unworthily filled.
Mr.. Smith maryels that SO little is found
to condemn in Martin Luther when judged
by the standard of our own times. What
may be Mr.. Smiths measure of little and
great in matters of morals and moral
teachings would be curious to learn. If
to habitually indulge in drinking bouts
and in filthy stalks; if to sanction biga-
my; if to teach the impossibility of CONT
hence and the lawfulness of adultery; if to
teach that man has no freedom of will and
that sin is a necessity for him and
for which God will not hold him RESPONSE
ble-if these are small. matters in the
opinion of Mr.. Smith, they are surely not
so either according to the standard of our
times or of any other times.
Mr.. Smith thinks Luther was poor
theologian. Yet Luther was the founder
of the Protestant religion. Will Mr.. Smith
tell Us what is religion without theology
To be consistent with his Methodist prin-
ciples ne must say religion is emotion
In fact he does say this in scrutinizing the
idea of an infexible creed, not perceiving
that if a creed be true it must like truth
itself, necessarily be infexible. But sp1r
itual emotion that has no basis in an in
flexible creed is e delusion and a snare.
The Jew. the Mussulman, the Buddhist, the
Mormon, has spiritual ''emotions," differ
ing, considered in itself, in no way from
the spiritual emotion of the Methodist.
True religion then must be something else
besides emotion. What is it? Certainly
not vague, uncertain opinions, or a creed
that the mind can argue for and against
and never arrive at confident conclusion
as to its truth.
That Martin Luther was poor theolo
gian is true, and his false theology in
which Professionalism began has continued
to infect it to the present day.
]. STANLEY.
st. Paul, Dec. 5, 1883.