New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-04-29

the WOrtQf Ana now - u that tuoJ Wv
admit that revelation is in place when i has ID Vim s1
the great and necessary work OF conflict agans'
are so FREQ In recommending eniargemen.s y.
Revelation for purposes, a. TO which no suen neoe'
have known person whO after studying the 20 sla a
century, at length began TO hope that he had sone
psrti. comprehension Of IT. some nkliug OF VIA
either with tho faculties Or with tho methods OF tne
Reply, which apparently dispose in half an nout
which accordingly takcs occasion to assure us tnse
Buddha in many respects the greatest renso Luz
teacher this world has known. the broadest .nc
most intellectual Of them aS On this shal , onm
say that attempt to brig Buddha ana builossn.
every Christian. knowing in some degree what Christ
Is and what He has done sor the world. cau only os
the more thankful II Bndana or IN sng MEASURE
come 20 the outskirts OF HIS nehaole greatness
It Is moro special misfortune to find a
writer arguing on the same side with
his critic, and yet for rs critic not 10
be able to agree with him. But Is with reference
to the great subject Of immortality. treated in the
Reply.
aThe idea Of immortality that, like a has ebbed
and flowed in the human heart, with its countless
waves of hope and fear boating against the shores and
rocks Of tine and fate not born Of any book nor
OF any croed nor of any religion. It was born OF
human affection and It will continue to cbb and now
beneath the mist and clouds of doubt and darkness as
long as love kisses the lips of DEATH
Here we have very interesting chapter of the his
tory of human opinion disposed OF In the usual sum-
mary way, by statement which, 1t appears to me-
Is developed out of the writer's consciousness
II the belief in Immortality is not connected with any
revelation or religion but Is simply the expression OF
subjective want, then plainly may expect the ex-
preston of 1t DO strong and clear in proportion TO the
various degrees in which faculty IS developed among
the various races Of mankind But how does tho
matter stand historcallyl The Egyptians were not
people of high intellectual development and yet their
religious system strictly associated WITH might
rather say founded on, the belief in immortality. Inc
ancient Creeks, on the other hand, were a race OF
astonishing perhaps unrivaled intellectual Capacity
But not only did they, in prehistoric ages derive thc
scheme Of future world from Egypt; We find also
that with the lapse Of time and tho advance OF tho
Hellenic civilization, the constructive ideas OF tho sSs
tenn lost all live and definite outline, and the most
powerful mind OF the Greek philosophy that OF
Aristotle had no clear conception whatever Of per
sonal existence in future state.
The favorte doctrine Of the Reply IS the immunity
OF all In belief from moral responsibility In tho
first page this is stated with reserve as the innocence
Of honest error" But why such a Imitation INC
Reply with its subject II shows us that no oroI
DO otherwise than honest iDasmuch as nothhs
which involves honesty, its reverse, can from me
constitution of nature, eDcr Into the formaon VI
opinion. Hero Is tho full-bown exposition:
" The brain thinks without asking our consent We
helIrve
Belief is result 1t is the effect Of evidence upon the
mind The scales turn in spite Of him who watches'
There is opportunity Of being honest or dishonest
in the formation OF an opinion Inc conciuSon u q"
tircly iDde pendent OF deslre.' $1,000,
The reasoning faculty IS, therefore, wholly extrnso
to moral nature and no influence IS or can De re-
cevcd or impaired between them. know not whether
the meaning is that all the faculties OF our nature arc
like many Separate departments In one OF ne modern
Shops that supply all human wants that WILL memory
imagination, affection, passion, each has It's own
separate domain, and that they meet only fOr COM
parson Of results Just to tell ono another what thoy
have severaly been doing. IL IS difficult 70 cOHceI9'
IL this be So wherein consists the personality, or In
cyiduallty or organic unity of 1t IS not difficult
TO see that while the Reply aims az upilhlng human
nature, It in reality plunges US into tho abyss OF
responsibility and unity For we are Justly told that
be merely instructive and habtual, il may be con
scously founded formulated thought; but, In the
cases where it is Instructive and habual, It passes
over 60 soon AZ n Is challenged into the other
category, and finds basis for Itself in some form OF
opinion. But, says the Reply, we have no responsl,
billy for our opinions we cannot help forming them
according TO the evidence as t presents Itself 10 u.s.
Observe the doctrine embraces every kind Of opinion
merely affirm or deny in some medium absolutely
coloress For, II distinction be taaen between the
coloress and the colored medium, between conclusions
to which passion, or propensity; or I'm,
which these have nothing to say. then the whole
ground viii be cut away from under the feet OF the
Reply, and It Will have to build again alb lnltio Let
Us try this by test case. Il father who has believed
hts have been through life upright, suddenly
against his integrity. Or friend greatly dependent
for tho work Of his life on the cooperation of
working and betraylng him. I make assumption
to the evidence the result: but
without feeling desire 10 be able 10 acQutl And
what shall We say OF the desire to condemn Would
Elizabeth have had no leaning toward finding Mary
stuart implicated in conspiracy Did English
judges and iures approach with unbiased mind tho
by the ,O English ON the Treaty
formed without the Intervention Of the wflll DID
acquitted himself in the matter of the Due d'Enghien
Does the intellect sit IN solitary chamber, like Calico
servatOn all untouched, while the turmoil Of earthly
business is raging everywhere around? According to
the Reply It must be mistake to suppose that there
Is anywhere In the world such thing has, or
prejudice, or prepossession they are words without
meaning In regard to our judgments for even II they
within in an atmosphere Of serenity and like Justice
Is deaf and blind as well a. calm .,. u,
osophy, phantasm Of philosophy is eminently retro
gressiyc Human nature, in IT'S compound Of nesh
Of civilization with the steady multiplication OF wants
and Of for their supply With complication; in
observation extends its field far from soating
the intelligence and making autocratic It tends
and more to enhance and multiply the infinitely subtle
we'll the broader and more palpabe modes, IN
which tho nteracton Of the human faculties is carried
on. Who among us has not had occasion 20 observe
in the Of his experience how largely the In
tellectual power OF man IS affected by the demands
grew or dry up and dwndle according to the manner
In which those demands arc met.
Genius ITSELF however purely conception Of the
intellect, is not exempt from the strong influences OF
Joy and suffering, love hatred hope and fear. in
the development Of its powers It may be that Homer
Shakespeare Goethe, basking upon the whole in the
sunshine of life drew little supplementary force from
its trials and agitations But the history of not
less wonderful than any Of these the Of Dante
tells different tale; and Of tho latest and most
searching investigators Of his history tells and shows
us, how the experience Of his life co-operatcd with
his extraordinary natural gifts and capabilities TO make
him what he was. Under the three great heads Of
love- belief and patriotism, HIS lfo a continued
course Of ecstatc agonzing trials. The strain Of
these trials was discipline; discipline experience
and experience was elevation. No reader of his great
est work will, believe hold with the Reply that HIS
thoughts, conclusions, judgments were simple results
OF an automatic process, in which the will and aec