EDITOR'S TABLE. 



233 



or between the study of Nature and the 

 tracing out of its order, and the sys- 

 tems of belief that claim a religious 

 character, is as much a reality of hu- 

 man experience as the collisions of na- 

 tions, and just as much a proper sub- 

 ject for the historian. 



Dr. Draper has been much reproached 

 for not detining what he means by re- 

 ligion. There is no complaint that he 

 has not defined science, because no 

 need of it is felt; everybody under- 

 stands what science is. But it is not so 

 with religion. The theological world 

 is full of dispute and contention as to 

 what religion is. It is loudly declared 

 by the theological party that science 

 and religion are in harmony, and then 

 the theological groups fall straightway 

 to battling over the initial question as 

 to w'hat constitutes religion ! Each 

 group assumes it to be what its mem- 

 bers believe, and what those with dif- 

 ferent beliefs do not possess. The rev- 

 erend representative of the Unitarians, 

 Dr. Hill, says of the oldest and most 

 numerous Christian communion : " The 

 hostility of this corrupted Church 

 toward science was no greater than its 

 hostility to religion; religion and sci- 

 ence, twin forms of truth, were alike 

 persecuted by this dragon; and it is 

 both an injury and insult to Religion to 

 ascribe to her the evil deeds of those 

 who hate her, and wore her name simply 

 as a cloak for their political ambition 

 and their intolerant pride. For every 

 martyr of science, history can show a 

 thousand martyrs of religion slaiu by 

 the ecclesiastical powers of Rome." 

 But the representative of the "dragon," 

 at the opposite wing, is ready with his 

 reply to this Unitarian Gentile. Dr. 

 Brownson says : " Christianity teaches 

 that Gentilism is apostacy from God 

 and from his truth, and that so far from 

 being his worship it is the worship of 

 devils. "We protest, therefore, against 

 the logic that concludes that what it 

 finds true of Gentilism is and must be 

 true of Christianity. We protest also 



against concluding that, because Prot- 

 estantism is a congeries of absurdities. 

 Catholicity is unreasonable and talse. 

 Gentilism and Protestantism may stand 

 in the same category or be simply va- 

 rieties of the same si)ecies ; but they are 

 specifically, generically different from 

 Christianity." And between these two 

 extremes there is a ci-owd of sects 

 which agree in little else than in dis- 

 missing the Catholics and Unitarians to 

 perdition as destitute of all religion! 

 Dr. Draper, it is evident, would have 

 complicated his case to little purpose 

 had he gone into definitions, and thus 

 virtually assumed to decide, among 

 these conflicting claimants, which has 

 the true religion. For historical pur- 

 poses Dr. Draper was compelled to 

 take broad views, and to recognize as 

 religious all bodies of people who com- 

 bine and organize for religious ends, 

 profess religious faith, and make claims 

 to religious character, giving promi- 

 nence in his treatment of the subject 

 to those who have been historically 

 most prominent, and are most respon- 

 sible for theological resistance to the 

 reception of scientific ideas. 



WITH REFERENCE TO SPELLING. 



The severity of the spelling-school 

 contagion is manifestly abating. This 

 is well, for we are told that public ex- 

 citements are dangerous to reason, in- 

 tense and prolonged spasms, rehgious or 

 social, generally ending in a new acces- 

 sion of recruits for the lunatic asylum. 

 It is an interesting question what degree 

 of fervor, extent, and duration of spell- 

 ing-matches would be required to re- 

 duce the general mind to a condition of 

 imbecility. Life is full of contradictions, 

 and we can rarely go a mile with our 

 logic : to misspell our language is a sin, 

 while to reach the height of ortho- 

 graphic virtue may involve intellectual 

 suicide. 



We recollect a wave of excitement 



