The North Star (Rochester)/1848/01/14/Gloomy Theologians
For the North Star.
GLOOMY THEOLOGIANS.
There is a class of persons with whom I have no sympathy; as they seem to have none with the world around them. They can see no beauty in this world of ours,—no harmony in the works of nature,—nothing praiseworthy in the works of art; and, apparently afraid that Job's remark, "Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward," should occasionally prove untrue, seem desirous of increasing the curse of sin, by removing every rational means of enjoyment; and of augmenting man's causes of sorrow, till not a smile enlightens the countenance, nor a feeling of pleasure gladdens the heart. May we not ask such persons, whether they are acting a benevolent part, in transforming this world into a desert, barren and desolate, which the sooner we have traversed the better? Is it true that we should not love and admire those things that are excellent and beautiful? Why, then, did our Creator form us as we are? Why did he give us minds capable of enjoyment? Why does not every sound of music grate upon the ear, instead of being pleasant and harmonious? And why, was the world made a scene of such beauty, grandeur, and sublimity? Above us, in the starry firmament, the discoveries of science show, in all their inexpressible harmony, innumerable suns and systems like our own, ever rolling on in their undeviating course, displaying the wisdom and power of their Creator. Is there no pleasure to be derived from the contemplation of these? We think of the inhabitants with which these worlds are peopled. Are they happier than we, or are they, like us, perplexed with cares and disappointments? Have they their Alexanders, their Cæsars, and their Bonapartes? Can they boast of a Plato or a Newton? and can they, as we, unroll a long catalogue of poets, patriots, and philosophers? Or are they not the abodes of the ever-blessed,—the spotless mansions of unfallen happiness? How unenviable are the feelings of the few who can find no pleasure in such contemplations! Around, are spread out on every hand the wonders of creation. The air, the earth, the sea, and the sky, are all teeming with beauty and adorned with loveliness. The setting sun sheds on the one horizon its stream of glowing light, and the pale moon appears in silvery brightness on the other. The rain falls from heaven, watering the earth, and the dew distils its vivifying influences. The hill and dale, the trees and the fields, the streams, the lakes, and the mighty ocean, all spread out before us their unnumbered beauties. He must be more than man who can fully appreciate all their loveliness, and less than man who can find no pleasure in surveying them.
Away, then, with the rigid orthodoxy that would rob this world of all that there is in it worth living for! Away with the theology that inculcates such doctrines! But let the true soul of man, in harmony with God and nature, continue still to find
Books in the running brooks, and good in everything."—J. D.