Can Atheists do more? or can Pantheists do so much without themselves
being Atheists?

But the Rev. Mr. Smith is no Atheist; at least he makes no profession of
Atheism. _Au contraire_, he makes fine sport with those who do. Himself
a Pantheist of the all-God school, he took to calling Atheists 'ugly
names,' as if quite innocent that no 'thinking mind' can fail to
perceive the downright lunacy, or something worse, of supposing a pin to
choose on the score of piety, between universal Deity and no Deity at
all. The 'Shepherd' of a new philosophic flock should have known better
than to attempt the reform of 'vulgar theology' by setting forth the
mystical nonsense of 'vulgar' Pantheism. All falsehood is 'vulgar'; but
the most 'vulgar' of falsehood is that which assumes the convenient garb
of transcendentalism, with a view to throw dust in the eyes of 'vulgar'
lookers-on. If Pantheists of this reverend gentleman's school are
neither sophists nor simpletons, Materialism is neither true nor false.
They do not plainly write down philosophy of so strangely negative a
kind; that would be too ridiculous; but every reader of the 'Shepherd'
knows that, in their way, they cleverly demonstrate all doctrine--their
own of course excepted--true _and_ false, which, no one need mount a
pair of 'universal' spectacles to see, comes to neither true _nor_
false. Spiritualism receives at their hands no better treatment than
Materialism, nor Southcottianism than either. Southcottianism (they say)
is true and false; Materialism is true and false; Spiritualism is true
and false: in brief, all doctrine, positive or negative, faithful or
unfaithful, is true and false, except the doctrine of Pantheism alias
Universalism, which is, bye and bye, to supersede every other. According
to this mystically wise, but rather inconsistent school, Atheists are
stupid as Christians, Christians stupid as Mohammedans, and Mohammedans
stupid as nearly everybody else. These men are peculiarly fitted to make