davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14

dealt by geology, which showed that the
earth had been gradually formed. not sud-
denly created. that its antiquity immeasur-
ably transcended the orthodox chronology.
and that death had come into the world
long before man. Biologists, scared by the
echoes of their own teaching, were fain to
shelter themselves under allegorical inter-
pretatfoEso Of Genesis totally foreign to the
Intentions OF the writer; making out the
days" Of Creation to be aeons. Il version
which, even II accepted. would not have
accounted for the entrance OF death into
! the world before the creation Of man.
Tho grand catastrophe. however. was the
discovery Of Darwin. This put an end to
the belief that man was a distinct creation.
apart from all other animals. with an i'm
mortal soul specially breathed into him
by the author of his being. 1t showed
that he had been developed by a natural
process out of lower forms Of life. It
proved that instead Of a fall Of man there
had been n gradual rise, thus cutting away
the ground of the Redemption and the In
carnation. the fundamental doctrines of
the orthodox creed. For the hypothesis
of creation generally was substituted that
of evolution by some unknown but natural
force or principle. Not only to revealed.
but to natural religion a heavy blow was
dealt by the disclosure Of wasted aeons
and abortive species which seem to pre-
clude the idea of an intelligent and onnipo-
tent designer. In Paley's watch there Is
no waste or abortion. everything Is con-
ducive to the manifest object of the ma
chine. The design also is evident, whereas,
after the revelations of Darwin. 1t is far
from being evident that the mechanism of
the universe Is designed for the good of
man.
Tho chief interpreters of science in its
bearing on religion were. in England. Tyn-
dali and Huxley. Tyndall always declared
himself q materialist, though no one could
less deserve the name If 1t implied anything
like grossness or disregard Of the higher
sentiments. He startled the world by his
declaration that matter contained the
potentially of all life: an assertion which,
though 1t has been found difficult to prove
experimentally, there can be little difficulty
in accepting. since we see life in rudimen-
tary forms and in different stages of de-
~velopment. Huxley welded a trenchant
pen and was an uncompromising servant Of
truth. a bitter controversy between him
n Owen rose out Of Owens tendency to
compromise.
Materialists or physicists. such as Tyn-
dali and Huxley or their counterparts on
the Continent would console us for the loss
Of religion by substituting the majesty of
law. But the idea Of law implies a law
giver or an Intelligent and authoritative
imponent OF some kind. There is no majes-
ty in q mere sequence, even the most In
variable. and on the largest scale, the ex- |
istence OF which alone physical science can
prove.
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14
Influence of Froude
and Carlyle.

James Anthony Froude had been a fol-
lower and fellow-worker of Newman But
on Newman'S secession he not only hung
back. but violently recoiled and produced
q highly skeptical work. 1.-THE Nemesis OF
Faith,'' which entailed his resignation of a
clerical fellowship In an oxford college.
Then he exemplihed the strange variations
of the age by coming out as an historian
in the colors of Carlyle.
Carlyle himself is not to be left out OF
eight in an account of the progress of re-
ligious thought: for his Scotch Calvinism,
transmitted into hero worship. has taken q
strong hold. II not on the distinct convic-
tons, on the sentiment and temper of the
nation. If he has administered wholesome
rebuke to the self-complacency Of democ-
racy with Its ballot box, he has also set
up a worship of force and kindled q spirit
Of violence totally subversive Of the Sermon
on the Mount.
But in 1S74-7 appeared Supernatural
Religion" a searching and uncompromising
inquiry into the historical evidences Of SUI
pernatural Christianity. The book. though
superior learning by Bishop Lightfoot,
Bishop Westcott and others. cannot be
said to have met with any general answer.
Supplemented in some respects by Doctor
Martineau's Seat of Authority in Religion"
and other works on the same side. it sets
AOTIu tuo WHOl6 ClS6 against lQ0 super.
natural. t's7
TIL desire to minimize the supernatural
and throw 1t into the background. bringing
the personal character of Christ and his
ethical teaching into the foreground, is
Eow manifest in English, as it has long
been In German, divines. It Is conspicuous
In the very popular and colorably orthodox
works Of Doctor Farrar.
Scotland generally remained fast bound
nv her VVaCfp1irctor (sanfaccIor Tbnra
had been q period of liberalism marked by
the appearance Of Jupiter Carlyle, Rob-
ertson the historian, Dugald Stewart and
other philosophers and men of mind. But
the Church of Scotland being democratic,
its faith was in the keeping of the people,
who were impervious to criticism and
naturally opposed to innovation. AT last,
however, the thaw came, FASTENED perhaps
by the collision between the state Church
of Scotland and the Free Church. The
Westminster Confession. it seems. has now
been tacitly laid aside. and Scotch theology
has had its Robertson Smith, whose critical
views on the Old Testament earned him
removal from his professional chair.
Another book which in its day startled the
world and awakened all the echoes Of ortho-
dox alarm was Buckles History Of Civili-
%zatlon,' in which the characters Of nations
and the progress of humanity were traced
to physical influences, excluding the moral
and by Implication the theistio element.
Its thesis was supported by an overwhelm-
ing display Of learning. Though not ex-
pressly it was in It's tenor hostile to reli-
gious belief. OF Buckles work less Is now
but 1t had an influence in It's day,
more in America than in its native
land. Americans, it seems. were captured
by the bo.dness of the theory and by
the imposing display Of erudition.
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14
Progress of Catholicism
In America.

The Catholic Church had come out b
America in evil companionshin with Span
ish conquest. the %iniquities Of which she
had sanctiled and shared. With the Span.
ish colonies she decayed, and her history
during the past century in South America
appears to have been that Of a miserable
decline which could add nothing to reli.
gious thought or history. Mexican liberalism,
under the presidency Of Juarez, cast off
allegiance to her, and q priest dared not
show himself in the dress Of his order on
tho street. In French Canada the Catholic
Church has reigned over a simple peasant
~, her own from the beginning, thoroughly
submissive to the priesthood, willing to
give freely of its little store for the build
ing Of churches which tower over the ham
let, and sufficiently firm in its faith to
throng to the fame Of st. Anne -Beaupre
for miracles Of healing. She has kept the
habitant ignorant and unprogressive. but
made him, after her rule. moral, insisting
on early marriage, on remarriage, con-
trolling his habits and amusements with
an almost Puritan strictness. Probably
French Canada has been as good and al
happy as anything the Catholic church had
to show. The priesthood was Of Gallican
school. It lived on good terms with the
state, though In French Canada the state
was a conQueror.
Church when ene undertook 10 extend nor
to the American Republic. She had
there to encounter a genius radically OPP
posed to her own. The remnant Of Catholic
Maryland could do little to help her on her
landing. Blu she came in force with the
flood Of Irish, and afterward Of South Ger
emigration. How far she has been
successful in holding these her negeS would
be a question difficult to decide, as 1t would
involve a rather i~mpalpable distinction be-
tween formal membership n Jealous at
tachment. That she loses the jealous at
Of q great part Of them in W. or
three generations, and that Of the South
Germans more quickly than that Of the
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14
The Oxford Movement
and Its Diverse Results.

By this time . strong current in an op-
posite direction had begun to flow. The
religious movement was closely connected
with the political movement, especially
where there was a state church. Alarmed
by the progress of liberalism, which had
carried the parliamentary reform bill and
threatened to withdraw from the Church OF
England the support Of the state, some Of
the clergy began to look about for q new
foundation of their authority. and thought
that they found 1t in apostolical success
sion and the sacerdotal theory Of the sac
raments. The leaders of the movement were
Pusey, professor Of Hebrew at Oxford
Henry Newman. a fellow or Oriel college;
and, in its opening, Hurrell Froude, in whose
Life of Beckett" its spirit and aims are
plainly revealed. It took practically the
shape of an attempt to return to the priest
~ Middle Ages Oxford. with its medieval
colleges, the fellows of which were then
clerical and celibate. formed the natural
scene Of such an attempt Pussy, who. by
his academical rank, gave his name to the
movement, was a man Of monastic charac-
ter and mind. with a piety Intense but aus
tere and gloomy enough almost to rejoice
in such a doctrine as tho irremissibility of
post-baptismal sin.
Henry Newman was a man of genius. a
writer with a most charming and persuasive
style. great personal fascination and ex-
a AAho OSSSASNy IllIlQ VIII lie
lacked was the love OF truth; system. not
truth, was his aspiration. and as a reasoner
no was extremely sophistical, however hon
est he might be as a man. II this respect
he presented a angular contrast to his
brother. Francis Newman. in whom the love
Of truth was the ruling passion, intense and
Incorporating, while he was totally de-
void Of the gifts of Imagination with which
Henry was endowed. Henry Newman's at.
tempt to revive medieval doctrines pres
emily landed him, with his immediate fol-
lowing, in the medieval church. Pussy
was illogical enough to refuse the leap. He
was also believed to be rather strongly at
tached to the leadership and spiritual d.
recrorship which as a magnate of the
Church of England he enjoyed. He went
SO near to the brink as, in his 'Irenicon,"
to avow that nothing separated him from
Rome but the unmeasured autocracy of
the Pope and the excessive worship Of the
Virgin, both of them mere questions of de-
gree. Manning In time followed; an ambi-
tious hierarch who would probably have
stayed in the Church Of England II they had
made him a Bishop. Passing into the
Church of Rome, he became a Cardinal. an
active intriguer OF the Vatican and an ex-
treme ultramontane. outlying Newman.
who, when the converts first ecstasy wal
over, might be said to be converted rather
than changed.
The mediaevalizing movement owed much
to the destinations Of medieval art. The
Gothic churches and cathedrals ana the
Gothic ruins of abbeys have been very pow
erful conservators and p~ropagators of the
faith of their builders. It is curious that
this talisman should have been renounced
by the Church Of Rome In favor Of the
heather style. Of which St Peters u the
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14
Reaction Brought by
French Revolution.

The French Revolution brought on n
strong reaction against the free thought
wnlcn mad been hideously travestied in the
plasphemous fOllieS and sullied by the
crimes OF the Jacobins.
Wrecked, body and SOUL, by the Thirty
1ears war, and afterwards stified under a
group or petty despotisms. Germany was
LOT a time lost to Intellectual progress Her
churches and their clergy, the Lutheran
clergy at least, were in a very low condi-
oon. When her intellect began to work
again 1t was in a recluse and highly snac,,-
iaeiVe way. the natural consequence Of fra
exclusion from politics and other fields of
action. together with the complete serer.
ance Of the academical element from tb.
people. 'N'
IN oer1sion OF such specuIations II WIS
said that to the French belonged the Iand
to the English the sea. to the Germans the
ar. Essentially incapable Of yeriflcat,on
these theories went on shifting in nebulous
succession, and. with the exception of that
OF Kant, may now be said to have vanished
leaving scarce a rack behind. Even of the
great Hegel little remains. Leibnitz. with
his best Of all possible worlds" hardly
survived "Candide."
Presently. however. came direct criticism
CT the Bible, the way to which, long before.
mad been lighted by Spinoza. It ssuned a
strange form in the work of Paulus. who
applied to the gospel miracles a solvent
something like that which had
applied to the Pagan Pantheon, reducing
them to natural occurrences turned into
miracles by a devout Imagination. The mi
raculous fish with the coin in its mouth
was a fish which would sell for the coin.
The miraculous feeding Of the 5000 was
brought within the compass of belief by
supposfng that they were not fasting, but
had only gone without a regular meal,
Christ's walking on the water was his
holding out a hand from the shore to Peter.
who had leaped into the water to ascertain
whether it was really Christ that was walk
ing or the shore.
Far more serious, and a startling blow
to orthodoxy, was the Life OF Jesus" by
Strauss. who undertook to explain the COS
pels on the mythical theory, showing that
the reputed incidents of the life of Jesus
and his miracles were mythical fulfllments
OF Old Testament prophecies and aspira-
tons. From this, his first theory, Strauss
extreme hypothesis, Strauss afterwards
partly receded. and In his second Life OF
Jesus" after a critical examination of the
authorities, he comes to the conclusion that
few great men have existed Of whose his
tory we have SO unsatisfactory a knowledge
as that we nave of Jesus" The figure of
Socrates. he thinks, though 400 years older.
is beyond all comparison more distinct. The
momentous step. however. had been taken.
Jesus had become the subject OF . biography
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14
Universalism the Offspring
OF Democratic Humanity.

The only Protestant church Of much i'm.
portance, to which the New World has Civ
en- birth. Is the Universalist. a natural off,
spring of the democratic humanity revolt
! Ing against the belief in eternal fire. IN
thusiasm unilluminated still holds its camp
meetings and sings "Rock Of Ages in the
grove under the stars.
But the main support of orthodox Profess
tantism in the United States Is now an off
shoot from the old country. It Is Method
ism. which. by the perfection of its organi-
cation. combining strong ministerial au-
thority with a democratic participation of
all members in the active service of the
church. has SO far not only held its own but
enlarged Its borders and Increased its power:
its power, perhaps. rather than its spir-
itual influence, for the time comes when
the fire of enthusiasm grows cold and class
meetings lose their fervor. The member
ship is mostly drawn from a class little ex-
POSED to the disturbing influences Of criti-
cism or science; nor has the education Of
the ministers hitherto been generally such
as to let in heterodox lights upon their
minds.
The character and intensity of the move
ment In Europe have been greatly infu-
erced by the existence of state churches
and the degrees of obnoxious privilege
possessed.
Who can undertake to say how far re-
'Hgion now influences the inner life Of the
American people? Outwardly life in the
United State. In the Eastern States at
least. Is still religious. Churches are well
maintained. congregations are full; Offer
tories are liberal 1t is still respectable to
be a church-goer. Anglicanism. from its
connection with the English hierarchy. is
fashionable among the wealthy society Of
cities. We note. however, that In all pull
pits there IS a tendency to glide from the
spiritual into the social. If not into the
material; to edge away from the pessi- |
mistic view Of the present world with |
which the Gospels are instinct; to attend |
less exclusively to our future and more |
to our present state. Social reunions
picnics and sideshows are growing In i'm
portance as parts Of the church system. |
Jonathan Edwards. If he could now come !
among his people. would hardly ind him |
self at home.
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14

magnificent but, In a religious sense, unim-
pressive paragon.
By the progress of Tractarianism British
Professionalism was alarmed and incensed.
The oxford Convocation was the scene of a
pitched battle, brought on by 4 bold de-
uverance of Ward, a disciple of Newman.
more logical and daring than his master.
who exultingly proclaimed that English
olergymen Were embracing "the whole cycle
of Roman doctrine" Ward, after a strug-
gle which was a sort Of Armageddon OF
High and Low Church. was condemned and
deprived of his degree Newman's CONVEX
sion speedily followed. The rationalists,
such as Stanley and Jowett, voted against
the condemnation OF Ward on liberal
grounds.
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14
The Coming Of
Noltaire and Rousseau.

In Spain. and for the most part in Italy,
Rome, by the aid Of the Jesuits and tho
anQuisition, completely succeeded In killing
free thought. In France. where there was
no Inquisition, her triumph was not so COM
plete. She succeeded only in driving free
thought into DISCUSSES and subterfuges. The
Commonwealth Of Holland did France and
the world In general the immense service Of
afording a printing-house for free thought
which was on the confines OF France. but
beyond the reach Of the French Govern
ment. Descartes, without directly assailing
the faith Of the church. planted in her face
se standard OF thorough-going reason and
sstitled himself to a place in the Index.
Growing sensuality and low Of pleasure
brought with them laxity Of belief and i'm
patience Of priestly control. The authority
Of the clergy was impaired by their scam
0Alous wealth and vice. which at the Same
time enhanced the odium Of their perse-
outing tyranny. At last came voltaire, Di-
6erot. the Encyclopedia" and Rousseau.
With literary cleverness unmatched and an
Incompatible genius for subtle attack. COM
bined with a winning philanthropy, voltaire
converted and drew into the work of de-
molition. to them suicidal, the thrones of
Louis XIV, or rather Of the Pompadour. of
Catherine, a Frederick. The influence ex-
tended even to Spain. where Amanda, and
TO Portugal. where Pombal reigned. Tho
6Vp0 ~oo JULIE dlueQ 10 ulSSOlV6 LQe OTOef
OF Jesus. Al VoltRire demolished in the
name OF Reason. Rousseau demolished in
the name OF Nature, taking an artificial So
ciety by storm. Helvetius went to the length
Of extreme materialism: but voltaire, the
master spirit OF the movement remained a
theist, q Rousseau was even for compul-
sorry theism as the foundation of the state.
Pho Revolution. also. when it came, though
Violently and profanely anti-Christian, was
in the main theist, and in the midst Of the
Terror held its Feast OF the Supreme Being,
with Robespierre for high priest. Atheism.
In the persons OF Chaumette and Anachar-
sis Clootx. vent to the guillotine.
One hardly knows what to say about the
last will and testament OF Jean Meslier, the
priest who after thirty years service as a
country cure. bequeathed to his Pensioners
n profession Of atheism. The work appears
to have passed through the hands of Vol
taire. It urges the arguments against nat
ursl theology In q very forcible az well as
1~horough-going way. But 1t seems. when 1t
o-peeso6I = have made little impression
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14
How Science Deals
A Blow to Religion.

But Of the disintegrating forces, criticism,
the Higher Criticism as it is the fashion to
call it, has by no means been the only one.
Another. and perhaps in recent times the
more powerful. has been science. from
which voltaire and the earlier sceptics re-
ceived little or no assistance in their at
tacks; for they were unable to meet even
the supposed testimony of fossils to the
Flood. It ia curious that the bearing of the
Newtonian astronomy on the Biblical cos
biography should not have been before per-
ceived; most curious that it should nave es-
capped Newton himself His system plainly
contradicted the idea which made the earth
above and hell below 1t, and by which the
oosmography alike of the Old and the New
Testament is pervaded. Yet the Star Of
Bethlehem remained little disturbed as an
article Of faith. The first destructive blow
from the region Of science was perhaps
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14
MINISTER WU's
CHINESE JOKE

being asked the other day II there were any
Chinese humorists. replied that there were
some very good jokes In Chinese literature
Tell one." said the visitor.
WELL" said Mr.. w., this is a famous
Chinese story: There was once a traveller
who stopped at the house Of a friend for re-
He asked for a cup of tea. The
Tho wife put a pot Of water on the fire to
boil. The son did not return, and several
times 1t became necessary to d cold
the wife said: 'Inasmuch as the tea does
not seem to be forthcoming, perhaps you
had better offer your guest q BATH"
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14

and can be mentioned historically only as
an indication Of the masked ferment of the
time.
England had a series OF deists, Toland,
Tindal, Collins. Chubb and the rest, not
men of much mark. though seekers of truth
after their measure and in their day.
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14
GOODWIN SMITH.

. Goodwin Smith, D. G. L., author Of "Guesss at he Riddle of Existence"
. Canada n the Canadian Question IN THE Political Desuny OF Canada" is
. an Engtshman by bhh, but ne has made the Continent Of North America his
Q home. He is one of the living authorities on history, especially that of the Uni
0 ted Estates md canada
. He vas bon in Reading. Berks. England. the eldest son of Richard Smith.
! NJ. d. Educateda at Etn and a the University College, oxford lie vas diun-
. guEhed as a rig man. Gaining the Hartford scholarship in 1SR. he vol a
Q prize for ATTN poetry in 1SB for Launp prose EN- 1916 and the English essay pke
. in 1S@. He becamea Fellow of the University College, Oxford in 1SE.
. Goodwin Smiths attachments in scholarship especially that of history INC
. philosophy. won for him the Refus professmship of modern history at oxford,
. ted States In the Civil War;. and wrote a history of the great American conflict
. States ana became honorary proessor of English ad constitutional history at
Q Cornell University. He went to Canals to live In 1S1a and since then Toronto
. has ben his home Besides the bove-mendon works, Goodwin smith has
. write Rational Religion ant RatonaHstc Objections" Loyalty ArEdocracy
. and 1insokm," Bay caves Int numerous essays md papers IN history and
q religion.
The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-04-14

founded on critical examination of the ma
terials, and Strauss is right in saying, as
he does in his second Life" that when the
biography was seriously taken up the doom
Of the theological conception was sealed.