In
vain did Strauss say, in the preface to his work, that it was not
designed for the laity, and that if they read it, it must be at their
own hazard. It was published--and therefore the public had a right to
demand an examination. Let him who writes an evil thought never be
deceived by the opinion that only those will read it who cannot be
injured by it. "What is writ, is writ;" and then it is too late to wish
it "worthier."
But the most remarkable feature of the work of Strauss yet remains to be
traced. It was a compilation, and nothing more. Having ransacked every
skeptical writer on the gospel history, he published their views at
length in his _Life of Jesus_. He did not make many quotations. But the
references at the foot of almost every page declare plainly enough the
pains he took to put in force the incantation he had pronounced to all
skeptical sprites,
"Black spirits and white, red spirits and gray,
Mingle, mingle, mingle; ye that mingle may."
No Rationalist escaped his notice. The English Naturalists reappeared
with all their original pretensions.
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