New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-01-02
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT.

MoDES. evo., pp. ali, 3l4 q. T. Putnam's SOUS.
This work attracted much attention upon its
irst publication, and its importance iustiiies Its
translation 1t is an honest and diSpassionate en-
deavOr to explain the tendencies OF religious
Thought among the AnClo-Saxons and Aryans, from
the point of view of Spencerian Philosophy.
The authors exposition is ingenious. and II his
fundamental assumptions are granted his conclu-
sions cannot be disputed. Reviewing the modern
developments of eligious thought in England ana
the United States as manifested in the lea2ings
toward Agnosticism, Transcendentalism and Uni
taIianIsm, and dwelling with emphasis upon the
evidences of intellectual fermentation given
in this country by the faclie evolution
of new religious theories and experiments, Count
dAlviea concludes that a pure ihcism Of the
Unitarian type is the most probable outcome OF the
present agitation. The weakness of the whole dis
cussion lies in the fallacy of the bottom facts. The
assumption that the restlossness and looscnlng OF
old beliefs is very widespread in England and the
United States is net we'll supported. 1t may be
conceded that the evolutionary philosophy and
modern destructive biblical criticism have done
much TO weaken religious belief among men OF scl-
cnce and OF high education. But it is not
sufficiently realized by the author that this
class il after all numerically small, and that while
the influence of its example is powerful the effect
produced by the detection OF icOnOclastic thinkers
from religion, upon the less intelligent classes, is
never such as logical induction would predict.
Suchmovements when passed through the dlstortlng
media of lower mental capacity, too often
issue in monstfosities. The philosophy Of the En-
cyclopedia thus issued in SanscuOttism and the
Terror. The rational scepticism of Diaerot and
Voltaro was translated into the massacre of the
Abbaye and the ROyddej of Carriere If indeed
England and America were In the condition Of re-
lirious thought described by NJ. GAlyiella, the
prospect would be alarming; for when the strongest
intellects of people discard all but
the most abstract conceptions in religion,
the masses certain to step further, and re-
ject religion altogether The common mind cannot
rest content with belief in power not ourselves
that makes for righteousness" 1t cannot sOlace
itself when torn and maddened by the ceaseless
struggle fer existence, with contemplation of The
Absolute. No theory of the abstract Sublimlty of
the Universe Will bring hope and consolation to
simple hearts bleeding under bereavement, or made
desperate by unmerited misfortune. Neither
Cosnism nor Comtism have any Ineligible mes
sage fer the millions who constitute at once the
problem and the peril of modem civilization. Their
daily experience has rendered them only too ready to
accept the declaration that there Is no personal
God that there is no Providence that blind neces-
sity or careless chance fetter and paralyze human
effort The energies OF life exhausted IN keeping
soul and body together existence one long battle
with never a NlClOIy ,-Nhdt, w tuoSo 81
can the tendency of religious thought mean, when
it is away from all the beliefs that shed light, how
ever dim and distant upon the dismal scenef There
are millions Of men and women living to-day for
whom this earth would be hell if the hope of
Heaven was eliminated Win such be content to
toll on In perpetual misery shut ont from any
brighter future here OF hereafterf The history OF
the past answers that question. If experimentation
isl be destroyed, there remains no bulwark against
bot hall 70 varfh
living to the masses Of any country if existence on
tins panetis the beall and the end-all of humanity.
And therefore when Count d'Alviella. having con-
WINGED himself that the intellectual ct.tsses in Eng
land and America are tending toward a modified
agnosticIsm cnnclE,ies that the two nations will
gently and quietly work ont their evolution to the
same hazy tenets, he is not justified in this infer
His examination of the state of religious davol-
opplent IN India is even more seriously affected by
gratuitous sui4stlons To obtain the sembance
of Il parallel between the movements of Western
and Eastern speculation he is obliged to attach
to the Brahmo Ssmaj an Importance and
a Significance which it does not deserve. The
strongest tendency of modern Indian thought has
been AgnOstlc Young India has derived this from
the AnglO-IndIan colleges. Modern science has
destroyed multitude of venerable superstitions,
and with them some ancient beliefs deserving pres
ervation. The position of these young men is a
familiar one. They affect to believe nothing.
They have repudiated the Vedas and tho Gospel.
Ii they have outgrown the Hindu Pantheon, they
conceive themselves fully emancpated from the
temples of Christianity. AS for the BrshmO- SOmaj,
its relation to the mass of Indian regIo As thought
is not more close important than is the relation
of Professor Adlers School Of Ethical Culture
to the mass of religious thought in the
United States. The Brahmo-Somaj is sort
Of fancy religion for Indians of very deli
cate aud transcendental mentalities: a Hindu
Unitarianism with the Que God considerably rele-
gatc o far into the background to offend no
seien,.ic agaosticlsm. The two hundred millions
~ IIinius cannot be represented by the four thou
sand or so members OF the BrahmO Somaj. 1t
would be as unreasonable as to gauge the sense of
Christendom by the yIews of the Muggletonians or
the followers of Johanna soathcote
Count dAlvella has men toned, but without
apprehending the Importance of it. the 1heosophic
movement III India. AS matter of fact this has
hupdreds of followers for every Sc
cured by tho Brahmo-Somaj. Aud in
the steady and rapid spread of Theosophy
in India there is abundant food for reflection, for
in this movement is to be u distinct reaction
from the na; erialism of the West, and the revival
Of doctrines which, instead of dlScouraging appeal
TO the strongest synpathies of the people, TheOso
DIV teaches universal brOtherhood-a bold aud tell |
ing blow at caste. 1t urges the Importance of We
dante literature. taking the ground that the
sncient Aryan religious learning e:nbsdies truths
from which all peoples have borrowed, and which
none can afford to ignore despse. Ii insists also
ON the cultivation OF occult science, holding that
herein Is to be found great system of
pyschoogic culture explaining all and
more than all tho mysteries which have |
perplexed the Western world SO long. 1t teaches |
belief in future whose possibilities practically
iIinitable but all of whose pregressons af- |
fccted and controlled through conduct here The |
effects of the Theo5ophc doctrines have already |
81 hy tha of Wv