The Sunday tatler and Jersey City express. (Jersey City, N.J.) 1883-1886, 1885-08-30

The faith cure humbug has just received
another setback in Newark where an idiot
--or worse-left his little child, suffering
from diptheria, to the care of the Lord, and
the little one being only possessed of faith
by reflection, died. At least, that is prob
ably what the faith fanatics will say, though
possibly they may charge it to the fact that
the father consulted physician. He did
not use the medicine prescribed, it is true,
but the fact of the consultation was proba-
bly, enough. That is how the faithites get
out of all their little difficulties of that sort.
If the patient is fortunate enough to escape
from their hands alive it is a manifestation
of the Lords power-through them. If he
dies well, then he Event back on the
Lord" and his death is manifestation of
the Lords Edispleasure- through himself.
It is useless to argue that he may have re-
manned steadfast. "But he is dead" they
say, sand that proves that he departed
from the faith" It is their only loophole
and you can't drive them away from it with
q park of artillery. That is how they
shifted the responsibility for Kent's death,
though his wife has certified over her own
signature that he did not abjure the faith,
but remained steadfast to the end. She it
was who sent for the doctor, not he. The
Newark case got into the courts, the doctor
having refused certificate, but the author
ties held that the man had right to SUBJ
init his child to what treatment he pleased.
PROFESSIONALLY he had, but the trouble in
this case was that he subjected the child to
no treatment at all-simply deprived him
of all treatment, which was manslaughter,
because the cardinal principle of the faith
business is that the patient must have
faith. Faith by proxy won't answer. It is
not enough that his uncles and his aunts
and his cousins and his relations by mar
rage shall have faith-he must have faith
for himself, and it was out of the question
for little child to have faith enough to
wrestle successfully with full-fedged case
of diptheria. Faith may deal with mental
or even nervous ailments but for able
bodied diseases more substantial remedies
are needed. A robust patient may go
through severe ordeal but it is his consti-
tuition and bodily strength that triumph.
not his faith. But the funniest of it all is
the close intimacy that exists,between these
faith curers and the Lord-let them tell it.
They seem to have the Lord under their
thumb; He does just as they tell him to do;
He lives in them and they condescend to
live in Him once in while just to encour-
age Him to go on living. Their talk in their
everyday discourse is simply privileged
blasphemy. Any one who doubts this has
only to go to their sacred medicine shop,
the ssChurch of the First-Born," at Erie
and Sixth street, and be convinced. They
promise anything and everything in the
Lords name, just as a certain Somebody,
who shall be nameless here, took the
Saviour up into the top of the mount and
promised him all the land that could be
seen, when the fact was that that certain
Somebody didn't own single foot of the
ground he proposed to give away so pro-
fusely. Thus far these lunatics have not
wrought much harm but if the delusion
goes on it won't be long before they furnish
job for the coroner. The verdict ia any
such case can be readily framed. 1t should
be: Died Of misplaced confidence.