ks; he knows that
the building is out of plumb; he feels that the foundation is
insecure. Lies can take the place of stones only so long as they
are thoroughly believed. Mr. Beecher is trying to do something to
harmonize superstition and science. He is reading between the
lines. He has discovered that Darwin is only a later Saint Paul,
or that Saint Paul was the original Darwin. He is endeavoring to
make the New Testament a scientific text-book. Of course he will
fail. But his intentions are good. Thousands of people will read
the New Testament with more freedom than heretofore. They will
look for new meanings; and he who looks for new meanings will not
be satisfied with the old ones. Mr. Beecher, instead of strengthening
the walls, will make them weaker.

There is no harmony between religion and science. When science
was a child, religion sought to strangle it in the cradle. Now
that science has attained its youth, and superstition is in its
dotage, the trembling, palsied wreck says to the athlete: "Let us
be friends." It reminds me of the bargain the cock wished to make
with the horse: "Let us agree not to step on each other's feet."
Mr. Beecher, having done away with hell, substitutes annihilation.
His doctrine at present is that only a fortunate few are immortal,
and that the great mass return to dreamless dust. This, of course,
is far better than hell, and is a great improvement on the orthodox
view. Mr. Beecher cannot believe that God would make such a mistake
as to make men doomed to suffer eternal pain. Why, I ask, should
God give life to men whom he knows are unworthy of life? Why should
he annihilate his mistakes? Why should he make mistakes that need
annihilation?

It can hardly be said that Mr. Beecher's idea is a new one. It
was taught, with an addition, thousands of years ago, in India,
and the addition almost answers my objection. The old doctrine
was that only the soul that bears fruit, only the soul that bursts
into blossom, will at the death of the body rejoin the Infinite,
and that all other souls--souls not having blossomed--will go back
into low forms and make the journey up to man once more, and should
they then blossom and bear fruit, will be held worthy to join the
Infinite, but should they again fail, they again go back; and this
process is repeated until they do blossom, and in this way all
souls at last become perfect. I suggest that Mr. Beecher make at
least this ad