them in the thraldom
of an enforced marriage.

A HIDDEN GOD.

(October, 1879.)

The _Christian World_ is distinguished among religious journals by a
certain breadth and vigor. On all social and political subjects it is
remarkably advanced and outspoken, and its treatment of theological
questions is far more liberal and intelligent than sceptics would
expect. Of late years it has opened its columns to correspondence on
many topics, some of a watery character, like the reality of Noah's
flood, and others of a burning kind, like the doctrine of eternal
punishment, on all of which great freedom of expression has been
allowed. The editor himself, who is, we suspect, far more sceptical than
most of his readers, has had his say on the question of Hell, and it is
to be inferred from his somewhat guarded utterance that he has little
belief in any such place. This, however, we state with considerable
hesitation, for the majority of Christians still regard the doctrine of
everlasting torture as indubitable and sacred, and we have no desire to
lower him in the estimation of the Christian world in which he labors,
or to cast a doubt on the orthodoxy of his creed. But the editor
will not take it amiss if we insist that his paper is liberal in its
Christianity, and unusually tolerant of unbelief.

Yet, while entitled to praise on his ground, the _Christian World_
deserves something else than praise on another. It has recently
published a series of articles for the purpose of stimulating faith and
allaying doubt. If undertaken by a competent writer, able and willing
to face the mighty difference between Christianity and the scientific
spirit of our age, such a series of articles might be well worth
reading. We might then admire if we could not agree, and derive benefit
from friendly contact with an antagonist mind. But the writer selected
for the task appears to possess neither of these qualifications. Instead
of thinking he gushes; instead of reason he supplies us with unlimited
sentiment. We expect to tread solid ground, or at least to find it not
perilously soft; and lo! the soil is moist, and now and then we find
ourselves up to the knees in unctuous mud. How difficult it is nowadays
to discover a really argumentative Christian! The eminent favorites of
orthodoxy write sentimental romances and call them "Lives of Christ,"
and preach sermons with no conceivable relation to the human intellect;
while the apologists of