The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-12-17
ILLIBERAL LIBERALISM.


Providence week ago last night, deliver
ing the same lecture which he gave in
Boston on "The Bible" There, as well as
here, IL seems he was taken
seriously, especially by the
clergy, and Protestants, Catholics
and Jews alike are now banded together
to fight this common enemy" They
apparently have overlooked the fact that
Z" bob is out for the shining halves and
dollars, solely, and that he no more be-
lieves AL he says than does the people.
Many of the sermons preacher as offsets
TO his TRADES against the foun dation Of
ell civil and religious government and all
that we hold beautiful and dear are
worthy OF more than q passing notice,
according to Rev. DIR. II. M. King
of the First Baptist Church,
who has kindly furnished The NEWS, at
It's request, with q copy of an admira Bile
discourse OF the Rabbi DIR. Fleischer, Of
the Temple Adath Israel, Boston. While
DIR. King does not endorse all that the
Rabbi said, still he and his people are in
hearty sympat by with the essential points
emphasized.
Beginning, DIR. Fleischer says: "This
city, like all the other large cities OF this
country, Is blessed with periodic visita-
tions from a gentleman who has furnished
me with the title and theme OF my address
today. ! need not introduce him,
as he is probably known to
most of you. He Is most magnetic man,
| O wonderful orator, q speaker OF deep feel
| ing, marvellous word painter, a master
| OF humor and pungent satire-and a mis-
erab.e logician.
"Among his large audiences you can
| always find many Jews. II used to pug
zle me to discover why they seem so much
| to enjoy this man. After hearing him
several times, learned the reason. The
| Jew can enjoy this mans lectures because
| it is always the other fellow who is being
hit. You know what q comfortable feel
ing that Is.
"Many another liberal can hear these lec-
lures without feeling personally touched,
because the speaker fights more
with dead than with living issues.
II Is easy to fight with the, past
though some men still seem to
fear ghosts. For instance, this magic
word weaver bravely asserts that 'all
| founders of religion have said "He that
hath ears to hear, let him him hear" none
have said, "He that hath brains TO think
let him think."'
"Such an assertion could readily be
| forgiven and forgotten~is perfectly harm
| less. Suppose ali founders of religion did
say that? So much the more credit there
| is due TO those religions OF today, which,
| in the spirit of our Bible text, say, Thou
hast been shown that thou mightest
know But our clever lawyer, uncon-
sciously, OF course, slips in q mischiev-
GUS and untruthful sentence when he
adds, all churches teach that 1t
| is dangerous to think And again he
says: The first thing the churches teach
| is that We must not think Whatever
may have been true of the founders
| OF religions or OF churches
in the past, there is only
one church that i know OF
which teaches today that it Is dangerous
| to think And sometimes, when hear or
read the rawlings ard vaporings of some Of
| our so-called liberals | believe that
| church is right. 1t certainly does
seem TO be dangerous for some people
to think. Give some people liberty and
they construe il to mean license. Give
them mental freedom and they soon make
1t mean anarchy OF thought.
ave are beginning to lose sight OF the
distinction between true liberalism and
what would like to term 'illiberal lib
eralism.'
"True liberalism, think, is that broad,
catholic condition of the human mind,
which, unbound by and yet respectful
toward established tenets, makes for
truth, while 1t sympathizes with
and freely tolerates the opinions
of others. There is by the side OF this, q
counterfeit liberalism which also claims
to make for truth, which Is also unbo und
which does not sympathize with nor does
1t ever tolerate the opinions OF others.
"This latter liberalism is as dogmatic as
the most hide bound orthodoxy. 1t re-
spects no opinion bat its own. Its srgu-
ments are irreverence and abuse; its weap-
obs mockery and sneer. he is not going
to be bound by orthodox, pious frauds,
calculated to deceive those moro gullible
| than he. You cannot tell him that Jonah
was swallowed by a whale.
''Thus he continues discarding the
worthy and the worthless, until he Las
done away with all that was once consid-
cred sacred.
"The influence Of this illiberal liberal is
most pcrnicious. Would that the best
and the worst that could be said about
him were 'that the world is
neither better nor worse for his
haveing lived But that would be underat-
ing his baleful power. He affects not only
religion, but he enters another sphere.
lie encourages the growing tendency to
throw of all restraint Of the past and its
| Institutions.
"Let US see what class of men he rallies
| to the standard. Is it tie cultured, the
educated, the truly liberal? No, mainly
the hundreds, OF the mental middle
clnssos, who have taken that little sip
from the cup OF knowledge which ia
a dangerous thing; who are not wise
enough TO know that by " wholesale deny
ing and mocking end scoffing they DO not
gain truth, but may lose IT,"
Rev. DR.. King says that Mr.. Ipgersoll's
lectures are not new, only clothed with
new titles, and contain no arguments but
| perversions.