The
religion of mankind is divided into three stages; fetichism, polytheism,
and monotheism. Its representatives are Judaism, Mohammedanism, and
Christianity. Catholicism is better suited than any other form of
religion to the perfect development of human society. The Christian
world is now in the transitory stage of metaphysics, which, by and by,
will lead to the golden age of Positivism. This is the absolute
religion, or the worship of humanity, which needs no God or revelation.
While Comte has so deeply impressed the thinking circles of France that
his opinions are still perceptible in the doctrines of the Liberal
Party, another great agent has been operating upon the young,
uneducated, and laboring classes. We refer to the light French novel, or
_feuilleton_ literature. Such writers as Sue, George Sand, and Dumas,
father and son, have published many volumes which were issued in cheap
style, and afterward scattered profusely over the land. These works have
been extensively read, not only in France, but in all parts of the
Continent, Great Britain, and the United States.
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