, 1889-02-16

breaches belonging to his own denomination
He viii rather go TO hear DR.. McGlyun, tho
accommodated Roman Catholic priest, OF
DIR. Felix Adler, tho eloquent ngnostic; re
ligious us ho is, he win sometimes regret that
Col Ingorsoll docs not appear in public Oh
Sundays any longer, Protestant as he l.,
he has no scruple about going 10 hear q
musical mnss in tho Catholic cathedral. IN
fact, you can SIC him everywhere except In the
churches where dullness prevails and the
mind waits In vain for fresh nourishmcnt
Tho churches advertise n preacher in tho
newspaper as tho theatres advertise u star
In default Of u good preacher other attrac-
tions uro put forward to draw tho publrc.
How resist tho two following appeals, posted
at the doors OF n New York aud n Chicago
church, I copied thcm word for word with
Musical Evangulsts.
Solos;
Short sermons;
The place 70 v happy and saved.
Walk in, ladies' and gentlomcn, walk in.
Tho other, more seductive still, was wordcd
No reason for not comingi
Free seats;
Cheerful services;
Books supplied to the congregation.
Religious scots multiply every day. No
doctrine is too absurd to mako proselytes.
Tho latest religious invention In America
Is Esotcrism, which promises Immortality to
its followers-immortality, that's alll The
doctrine OF the Esoterists teaches that, IL man
were really pure, and followed the precepts
Of tho Gospel 10 tho letter, no would become
immortal, not In Paradise, but here below.
As it Is probable that no Christian ev,r yet
succeeded in following infinitely the preccpts
OF the Gospel, tho Esoterists may be right.
To live forever, say they, you have only to
remain virtuous, even in tho married state
Celibacy must be embraced. Celibacy pure
and simple, however, is not sufficient, for
where there Is no struggle there is no victory.
DevotocS must therefore marry, but in all
honor remain celibates, II you succeed IN
mastering your passions, no malady will at
tack you, and you will become immortal
But" you will probably say, do the
Esotcrists never der
Yes, they die-once; but, according to
them, this does not prove tho fallacy Of their
belief. II they die, it simply proves that
they nave failed TO attain the necessary do
gree OF perfection.
Now tho Esotcrists nro safo to continue
with us, for either they will arrive Mt pcrfec-
ton and become immortal, or they viii fall
away from grace and will have children to
swell their ranks. The head OF this sect,
which Is rs yet only about two years old,
claims that when the Esoterists attain pcrfec-
ton, not only will they be immortal, but
thcy wil have a clear insight into the future,
n gift which will enable them 10 amass great
riches And, indeed, the utility of such an
accomplishment on tho stock exchange, for
instance, must be apparent at a glance.
Another sect pretends to be able to cure
all disease by faith. The faith of these fanat-
les Is not shaken by tho death of their pa
uonts III they had had more faith they
would have recovered"
During my stay in America, a well known
evangelist published a volume of ermon
with the following preface: "God has been
kind enough 10 own the words when / spoke
them Ihopc He will give His blessing to the
book, now that the same words appear in
print
Many books are published In Franco with
the remark "a work approved of by Mgr.
tho Archbishop of Nv volume, advertised
n having been owned and blessed by the Lord
himself, ought 10 have a wide sale.
a truly oltfying sight is that of the noisy,
dirty, disappearing crowd, collected on a
Sunday evening outside Madison Square Gar
den, New York, on the eve Of a six DAYS
go-as-you-please walking match.n From G or
Z in the evening, there is n betting, swearing
match outside tho gates But the walking
only begins at ono minute past midnight.
Not TO take tho name of God In vain. the
English have invented many euphemisms
some men, imagining, l suppose, that the
Deity takes no cognizanco of any language
but English, venture SO far as to say Mon
Dieu or Mein Gott
At this kind Of thing the Americans are Us
clever Us the English. They have invented
Great Scottl
Something admirable in all the main ru-
lgious scots Of America is their national
character.
When l hear 1t said that religion Is the
sworn enemy OF progress, especially OF re-
publican institutions, / turn TO America and
say to myself: This is not true"
There is no minister of religion, from the
archbishops down to tho most unlettered
preachers Of all tho small isms, who would
dare TO tell his congregation that liberty is
not the most precious, tho most sacred of
their possessions, and that tho republic is not
the most admirable-tho only p~ossible-form
OF government for America.
In Franco there is much Indifference on the
subject of religion: but a great deal of in
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