HUME'S INFIDELITY

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 26, 1868

HUME'S INFIDELITY.

The Quarterly Review gives the following version of the sad story of Hume undermining his mother's faith, and bringing her to despair in a dying hour. It carries with it a moral for unbelievers in our generation:

It seems that Hume received religious education from his mother, and early in life was the subject of strong and hopeful religious impressions, but as he approached manhood they were effaced, and confirmed infidelity succeeded. Maternal partiality, however, alarmed at first, came to look with less pain upon his declension, and filial love and reverence seemed to have been absorbed in the pride of philosophical skepticism; for Hume now applied himself with unwearied, and, unhappily, with successful effort to sap the foundation of his mother's faith. Having succeeded in his dreadful work, he went abroad into foreign countries; and as he was returning, an express met him with a letter from his mother, informing him that she was in deep decline, and could not long survive. She said she found herself without any support in her distress; that he had taken away that source of comfort upon which in all affliction she used to rely, and that now she found her mind sinking into despair; she did not doubt that her son would afford her some substitute for her religion, and she conjured him to hasten home, or at least to send her a letter containing such consolations as philosophy can afford to a dying mortal.

Hume was overwhelmed with anguish on receiving this letter, and hastened to Scotland, traveling day and night, but before he arrived, his mother expired.

COURTEOUS REPLY TO AN INFIDEL.

An American traveler being unexpectedly detained at the mole of quarantine in Odessa, was very civilly offered “half of his apartments and a sofa to lie on,” by a young Englishman, who acted as translator to the mole. After they had formed an intimate acquaintance, and had one evening retired to rest, the traveler asked his friend how he could endure the blasphemy which was so constantly heard. The young Englishman replied, that “as a gentleman, these things were disagreeable to him, but as to their being intrinsically wrong, it was a matter of no concern to him, as he denied the truth of all revelation, and believed Jesus Christ to be an impostor.”

The traveler, without supposing that the remark would be heeded except by courtesy, replied, “Either Christ was an impostor or he was not. If he was an impostor, we have the inconceivable phenomenon of a base man practicing virtue, self-denial, charity, forgiveness of injuries through his whole life, in spite of scourging, contumely, and even crucifixion. Is it philosophical to suppose that a bad man would take so much pains to make men good? But if he was not an impostor, then he has told the truth, and we must believe him.”

“Is it possible that I never saw that before?” was the only reply of the young Englishman, but the argument sunk deep into his heart, and when the traveler had arrived at Alexandria, he received a letter from the former skeptic, acknowledging him as the “best friend he ever had,” encouraging him to be equally faithful to others, and praying him not to forget “his Odessa convert.”—American Messenger.