THE NEW YORK PRESS.
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An Imbecile Pulpit.
'Vow the Xntlex"9
In germon before the New School Presby
terian General Assembly, at Rochester, the
Ker. Dr. Samuel II. Hopkins declared that the
Episcopal denomination of the United States
had "an imbecile pulpit." The remark was
made by the retiring moderator of the Assem
bly, In his official capacity, and In a city whioh
had recently welcomed the Episcopal bishops
with the same hospitality whioh the citizens
were at that moment showing to the Tresby
terian Commissioners. On the Assembly's
"sea of upturned faces," this squally remark
blew up a general ripple of dissent. The daily
papers of hochester urged an official retraction
by the Assembly, M due to the dignity of that
body. This, however, was awkward and not
to be done. Hut the pastor of the church in
which the Assembly held its sessions con
trived to make a Deat public reference to the
offensive remark, and in a semi-official way
disavowed it. But it still stands in the offioial
repoits, and will not fade from mens memo
ries an illustration of the Chinese proverb
that "An ill word, once out of the month,
cannot be brought back by a coach and six.
We refer to the incident, not for its Import
ance, but for its suggestiveness.
Has the Episcopal Church "an. imbecile
iinit f' Is Dr. Tvntr. amid the ruins of St.
George's, reduced to "an imbecile pulpit?"
Does Bishop Mcllvaine pursue his bishoprio
in "an imbecile pulpit?" Has Dr. Schenok
come all the way from Baltimore to Brooklyn
to fill "an imbecile pulpit ?" Does the Rev.
Phillips Brooks shake Philadelphia from "an
imbeoile pulpit?" Did Bishop White wear
out his long and saintly life in "an imbecile
pulpit ?" Did Dr. Milner bequeath his unfor
gotten name to be linked with the memory of
"an imbeoile pulpit?"
ffo. The remark of Dr. Hopkins was a dis
tilled drop of the quintessential tincture of sec
tarianism. The fact that such a remark fell
from the lips of so eminent, able, and noble a
clergyman, shows how nncon3oiously, yet how
insidiously and irresistibly, a seotarian spirit
bewilders the judgment and good taste of men
whom the Church would make broad, but
whom the seot keeps narrow.
It is against such sectarianism that this
journal lately uttered its protest in "An Edi
torial Soliloquy." It is against such secta
rianism that these columns are, if possible, to
be made the message-bearers of a better-tempered,
more manly, and more catholic Christi
anity. It is against such sectarianism that
the sects themselves, if they consult their own
usefulness, will be glad to see a perpetual pro
test male in their behalf by an unsectarian
sheet.
Christian union between different denomina
tions is just now a lively theme with the reli
gious press. "The tendencies of the age,"
Bays Dr. Hopkins (in this same sermon), "are
all in the direction of Church unity." But
what is theex-moderator's immoderate method
of promoting Church unity? He presents us
the spectacle of a Presbyterian professor say
ing to an Episcopal bishop, "Sir, you are an
imbecile ; let us, therefore, twain, be one I"
Now, a reason why this journal lately
severed its supposed official connection with
the noblest of Christian denominations the
heritage of the Pilgrims, on which may the
God of our Fathers bestow His blessing ! was,
that we were constantly goaded to fight a bat
tle against Presbyteriauism, by people who
foolishly supposed that such a warfare would
advance the interests of Congregationalism.
But after our act of affectionate excision, the
very first spectacle offered to the eyes of the
Christian world is the Moderator of the Pres
byterian Assembly drawing a glittering sword
and striking at Episcopalianism. But is it
pleasing, either to angels or to men, to see the
Rev. Dr. Hopkins rubbing burrs into the hair
of the Episcopal clergy ? Such conduct by one
Christian denomination towards another will
make it necessary, as Whittier mentions in
his lines on Major Stearns,
"To put to the Lord's work the sinner.
Whoa snlnts lail to do It."
But the question arises, What is "an im
becile pulpit V
It is a pulpit that lacks genius, courage, and
firo; a pulpit submissive to follow, instead
of bold to lead, public opinion; a pulpit in
efficient towards the stirring questions of the
time, and hesitant to incur the reproach of
holding advanced ideas; a pulpit that is
moulded by the very men whom It is sent to
mould. There are thousands of such Ameri
can pulpits. They belong to all denomina
tion. They rustle their silks in every diocesan
convention, and utter their platitudes to
every synod. They are the sel f-appointed cen
sors of nobler raeu who, whether in pulpits
or out, are seeking to serve God in their day
and generation. Ihey bring the Church at
first into weakness and at last into reproach.
Against all such pulpits, if the pulpiteer of
the General Assembly will uplift his voice, we
will join him in the protest. But let him uot
attack the Episoopal and shield the Presbyte
rian denomination. Let him administer his
judgment equally upon all the guilty.
What is the present tone aud character of
the American pulpit ? There was a tiiuo when
the great body of the American churches, of
all denominations, and both pulpits and pews
lay under the ban of complicity with the
hideous crime ef slavery. An eloquent voice
in one of the ablest of Presbyterian pulpits
Startled the country with the declaration that
"the American Church was the chief bulwark
of American slavery." It is sorrowfully and
nnpardonably true that during the autl-slavery
agitation, when the struggling cause first cried
aloud for tue ueip 01 an gooa men, the ma
jority of ministers and church members, even
in the North, were the abettors of human
bondage. But in process of tiuw, as the North
ern churches were split asunder by the in
driving wedge of the all-penetrating ques
tiou.'every Church thus cleft in twain let in
upon itself a great light. During the war
the Northern churches girded the impelriled
Government with a stalwart league of de
fense. The Northern pulpits "spake as
with tongues of fire." Never in the re
ligious history of this country did the Ameri
can clergy bo nobly fulfil their mission as
during the war. Mouths that had for years
been dumb towards liberty, then had a voioe.
Hearts that never before had beaten for
the Blave, then yearned for him in prayer.
The ears of this generation never before heard
go many good and bo few poor sermons as dur
ing the war not merely on public topics, but
on the whole range of pulpit topics. Ministers
never before stood bo near to God, for the
reason that they never before stood bo near to
man. The holy oil of consecration with which
that struggle anointed the Northern clergy
' still remains on a thousand brows. If "there
were giants in those days," there are giants
in these next succeeding days. It is our
deliberate conviction that the religious
THE DAILY
bodies of the country its conference, coun
cils, and Bemblips--have for 'the last three
or four years exerted more influence on
lending national questions than has been
exert pel by all the politic al caucuses and con
ventions of the fame period. For uistanoe
(ppeaking of. the. New School General Assem
bly), we recall with delight the scene whioh
we witnessed in that body when it met in
Brooklyn two or three years ago, and gave a
unanimous vote for impartial suffrage, before
any political convention of equal magnitude
had uttered a word on the subject. Withont
the help, sympathy, zeal, and cooperation of
the Northern churches, the war for the Union
would have been a failure. But if the nation
had need of her churches then, she has equal
need of them now. f What this Government
lacks is moral quickening; religious ideas
must be made to penetrate political statutes;
Christian principle must take the place of
party expediency; in short, the Republic, If
it is to promote the welfare of its citizens,
must be remoulded upon the basis of Chris
tianity. A Church that has no influence on the timos
in which it stands, might as well have be
longed to a former age. It is a happy omen
that the American churches, which for twenty
years were dead, have arison to newness of
life I Nevertheless, God forbid that we should
settle down into the easy aud smooth-tongued
business of praising these churches or their
pulpits. Our religious, like our civil insti
tutions our religions, like our civil, leaders
are equally full of faults and flaws. Both
alike need God's grace and man's forbearanoe.
The Church, like the State, ought to be pruned
with a busy knife of criticism to keep its
branches fruitful and its leaves green. ' "Shall
not judgment begin at the house of God ?"
Yea, verily. But when one Christian denomina
tion congratulates itself and defames its rival,
it is generally a sign that both deserve,
equally, the same condemnation. ,
Let every minister, therefore whether In
the Episcopal Church or the Presbyterian,
whether in the Baptist or the Methodist ask
himself the question whether or not he stands
in an "imbeoile pulpit." If a man ordained
for the ministry is without a sacred passion
for his work, certain it is that he makes "an
imbecile pulpit." If his heart burns not with
love towards all his fellow-creatures, high and
low, then no matter what culture may sit upon
his lips, he is the weak master ef "an imbe
cile pulpit." If he is ashamed or afraid to de
clare "the whole counsel of God," he is a poor
prisoner in "an Imbecile pulpit." If he is an
idolator of his own creed, holding that every
man who believes something different is a
heretic and infidel, he is the unannointed pro
phet of "an imbecile pulpit." If he goes to
the General Association only to make an exhi
bition of pitiful narrowness, ineannoss, and
bigotry, he publicly puts himself iu the pillory
of "an imbecile pulpit." If he sheds tears
over heresies of others, but publishes volumes
of heresies of his own, he shows an amiable
foretoken of "an imbecile pulpit."
It may be that a Presbyterian moderator, in
taking the trouble to slander a single denomi
nation, has spoken a measure of truth of all.
If so, better then were it for those who felt
the scourge of small cords in the Master's
hand driving them from the temple, than for
those whom His divine indignation at this
moment frowns upon, blasts, consumes, and
shrivels in "an imbecile pulpit."
Arise, John Knox, and preach before the
General Assembly t Awake, Martin Luther,
aud burn the Pope's bull before the General
Association !
Oh, for a stalwart pulpit ! a pulpit musou
lar with the strength of strong men I a pulpit
to shake the land and be itself unshaken I
a pulpit to fight the general enemy, and not to
stab its faithful friend ! a pulpit to deliver
the bolt of God's wrath, and yet utter the
"still, small voice 1" a pulpit to fling down
or pick up the gauntlet of defiance to all
evil ! a pulpit to keep unrolled the perpetual
banner of the Holy war 1 a pulpit clothed
with the shadow of the Cross of Christ ! a
pulpit covered by the wings of an unseen
dove i
Negro Suffrage and the Democratle
Party.
From the Time.
The most active of the Southern opponents
of reconstruction assail negro suffrage as the
obnoxious feature of the Congressional plan.
The exclusion of a limited class from the
franchise and from office furnishes a certain
ground of objection. But the enfranchise
ment of the negro is the change which over
rides all others, and furnishes the text on
which orators and writers appeal to the pas
sions and prejudices of the Southern people.
Ex-Govornor Perry makes it the chief point
of assault in all his letters. "Better military
government and even confiscation," he says
in substance, "than government resting upon
negro votes."
The absurdity of this outcry becomes appa
rent when it is remembered that in February
last certain prominent Southern politicians
recommended to their respective States the
adoption of impartial suffrage as a measure of
compromise. Certainly, ex-Governor Sharkey,
who is even more conspicuous than Mr. Perry
in the ranks of opponents to the Reconstruc
tion law, was a prominent participator in the
movement which but four months ago con
templated a distinct affirmation of the princi
ple of negro suffrage. Parsons, of Alabama,
Marvin, of Florida, and Worth, of North Caro
lina, were also concerned m the movement,
and were thus committed as plainly as
Sharkey to the principle objected to as part of
the pending scheme. They had as their
prompter President Johnson himself, who in
1865, writing to Sharkey, then Military Gov
ernor ot Mississippi, recommended the incor
poration of the principle of negro enfranchise
ment iuio me ottsiuution oi mat state as a
preliminary to restoration to the Union.
These circumstances show the inconsistency
of the noisiest enemies of reconstruction, and
the follyperhaps the dishonesty of those
who avow their sympathy with the Demo
cratic party of the North because of its hos
tility to negro suffrage.
How little sympathy theso receive at the
Sou h may be inferred from the platform of
---- --;--" uuiuu rarty," wnicu was
recently christened at Atlanta. The Conser
va ive Unionists, so called, reiterated aud
indorsed Governor lWy's 1)referenoe for
military despotism over government organized
under the law. But they avoided his blunier
in reference to negro suffrage. Instead of
denouncing it, they approved it. And they
supplemented an approval of the extension of
the homestead principle to freedrnen, with a
declaration in favor of exempting them from
taxation for ten years. Evidently, the managers
of this new party recognize the future voting
power of the freedrnen, and the expediency of
conciliating them with special immunities as a
substitute for the immediate political power
conferred by the plan in progress. The
attempt will be futile, and the suggested sub
stitute cannot weigh against the bait of confis
cation; but the fact h noteworthy that the
extreme anti-negro position assumed by
Messrs. Perry aud Sharkey is, ia effect, repu
EVENING TELEGRAPH
diated by the organized opponents of the law
in Of'orcla, "" - ' " '
The Northern Democrats, meanwhile, have
lost no opportunity of proving their title to
the confidence of the negronltobists of the
South. Atfain and again within the last few
months they Lav reaffirmed adherence to the
maxim that " this is a white man's Govern
ment," and that the black man shall have no
lot or part Jn it. The bold and sagacious bid
of the t'blcngo Tim, and the prudent prompt
ings of the World, have beon systematically
disregarded by their party, the great majority
of whom are to day as bitterly hostile to tho
recognition of tho negro's political equality as
though the events of the last six years had
not been heard of. The latest evidence has
i leen afforded by the Pennsylvania Democratic
Convention, which met at Harrisburg on
.Tuesday. Not content with a general and
most malignant attack upon the policy of Con
gress, it adopted a resolution pledging the
party to oppose any amendment of tho Consti
tution of the State giving to negroes the right
of suffrage. In Pennsylvania, therefore, as in
Ohio and generally throughout the North, the
party at this moment stands committed
against the principle of political equality re
gardless of color or race, whioh forms the
foundation of Southern reconstruction. On
this ground, coupled with a denial of the
Hght of Congress to meddle with the suffrage
at all, the party has hoped to commend Itself
to the South, with a view to partisan effect
after the States shall have been readmitted to
the Union.
! Nothing, however, could more surely seoure
the permanent defeat of the Democratic party.
It cannot hope to carry the North on an issue
adverse to the whole action of Congress. And
it cannot by any possibility obtain the future
Control of the South by hostility to the race
Whose votes will hereafter be an important ele
ment in Southern politioal affairs. , With
negro suffrage irrevocably established among
themselves, the Southern people will naturally
affiliate with that party at the North which
favors the voluntary adoption by all the
States of the principle which is being forced
upon the South. General Loncstreet has well
stated this aspect of the case, iu these terms:
"If I appreciate the principles of tbe Demo
cratic party, us prominent, features oppose the
enfrunrhlbf ment of tbe colored man, and deny
tbe rlht to legislate upon the subject of uf-
iruge, except by itie bin tea Individually. These
two itniurex nave a tendency to exclude South
ern men from that purlt; for the colored niau
Is already cuirancbtsed there, and we cannot
seek alllar ee with a party that would remriot
His right. The exclusive right of the States to
legislate upon suffrage will make the eulian
elitBementof tbe blacks, whether for better or
for woise. a fixture anions us. It aonears.
therefore, that those who cry loudest against
mis new oruer ot inintts as a public calamity
are those whose principles would flx It upon us
whim, ui a rnmeuy. ji-iico u oeooines u to in
slst tliat sulTruse should he extended to all of
the Slate, and fully tested. Too peopled the
Kollh should adopt what they have forced
upon us; and if 11 be proved to be a mistake,
they should remove H by the remedy under
republican principles of uniform laws upon
sufliane."
The Northern Democracy, then, by arraying
themselves as a paity against negro suffrage,
overshoot the mark. They are fighting
against facts and fate. For negro suffrage, as
a pow erful political element at the South, is
already an established fact. And the neces
sity of adapting themselves to the situation,
and making the best of events which are not
likely to be reversed, is forcing itself upon the
minds of the leading men of the South with a
rapidity which we are apt to underestimate.
Governor Orr is not the only Southern leader
who has an account to settle with the party
which tempted and then deserted his section.
And General Longstreet expresses the convic
tion of an influential class, when he refuses to
serve under the banner of the Democratic
party because its leading ideas and principles
are of the past. A party which clings to the
prejudices of caste begotten of slavery after
slavery has been abolished, cannot hope to
regain the direction of national a flairs.
The President's Duty to tbe Country,
From the Tribune.
We have ventured in a quiet but emphatic
way to warn the President and his advisers
from a policy which can only bring discomfort
to the country and additional disaster to his
administration. We have entreated him to let
well enough alone, and to be content to exe
cute the law entrusted to him frankly and
without reservation. We tried to 6how that
he was, as it were, upon probation, and that
the country was watching him with jealous,
sensitive eyes. We have been especially anx
ious that he would not be led by the Copper
heads into another war upon Congress. This
warning is misinterpreted by the World,
which insists that, because we tell the Presi
dent the truth, we are demanding a summer
session of Congress, and opening a new line
of assault upon his administration.
We dismiss from consideration the temper
of our contemporary. What is the situation ?
Congress adjourned after having assigned to
the President a certain duty. It was under
stood that he would perform it. Impeach
ment was only prevented by President John
son's good sense, his conservatism, his gene
rous obedience to Congress. He wa3 called
upon to execute a very distasteful law. It
was gall and wormwood to his Excellency,
but still it was law. It meant that all that he
had done in the South should be undono
that the contrivances ho called "States," and
the mobs he called "Congressional delega
tions," should be disregarded; because in
their creation he had ignored the principle
of impartial suffrage. The President wanted
the South to come back as it went out
with an aristocracy ruling, and the negro
neither free nor Blave, but the nondescript
"freedman." Congress wanted the South to
come back with the people ruling the inte
rests of labor recognized, aud no distinction
of color. Congress won. The people sus
tained Congress in every loyal State; and
the President's policy, to use a Hebrew
metaphor, was broken as with a rod of iron,
and dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel.
The law passed was extraordinary, but it was
meant to meat an extraordinary case. It was
practically a war measure. We sustain it.and
insist upon its execution, although we trust
that it may never have a parallel in our his
tory. It is the only means by whioh the
South can be pacified. It is a generous, libe
ral measure, certainly more so than auy future
measure will probably be if the subject is
again before Congress. Its provisions are
plain. It means that the Southern States
shall be reconstructed on certain principles;
that the Generals shall superintend the work;
and that the Generals thus in command shall
be absolute. To us there is nothing plainer.
Take the case of Governor Wells I Does any
one suppose that Congress intended that Gov
ernor Veils should have an independent, ex
clusive control of Louisiana that he should
be its chief officer that all the resources of the
State should be at his disposal and that with
these resources he might or might not
aid in the work of reconstruction?
Are we to believe that General Sheridan
was to have a mere nominal command, like
that of Meade in Philadelphia, or lUUeok In
San Francisco, and to be at the mercy of auy
PHILADELPHIA, FRIDAY,
civilian that a majority of Rebels might, call,
-Tjovcmor. , it is uie merest nousenne to
suppose such a thing. , We presume a Gover
nor, is a convenience In the. States, and In
the performance of certain civil functions the
office is necessary. But the power to rule
the power of compelling obedience was lodged
In the hands nf a rone rat nf tha armw It 1
the imperial power of the people, intrusted
lur a time w uervaiii BoiumrH, charged 80 to
Drift that power that tliA Unix. Rnntli uhu v
- M - - " - v v Dinnnji KTJ
brought properly reconstructed to the Union.
The President had failed to do it. The States
tneraseives naa laiiod by disdaining to accept
the Constitutional amendment. i The people
were apathetio, the -politicians insolent; and
Iwtwetm the l'rnai.lptit. lVi Ymnnlu n,l .-
, ' W - . VA U7
politicians, the Southern States threatened to
.!: J . . ....
uecoiua uiseaseu inemuers oi tne ooay politio,
to be even worse than Poland, or Irelaud. or
Hungary. 10 prevent this tue Military bill
was passed. , ,
i Since the passage of that bill the South has
been at peace. The Generals have done well,
and the President has done well. Registration
progresses tapldly. The farmers are busy.
The freedrnen are becoming free men. The
Generals have found it necessary to make a
few removals, but only a few. While under
Johnson's plan we had massacres in Memphis
and Alexandria aud New Orleans massacres
as bloody as memorable battles under the
Military bill we have had only one small riot
In Mobile. A New Orleans Convention was
murdered in July, 18U6. In Jane, 18G7, a
Convention will meet as calmly as it would in
Boston. We have in the North and South au
era of good feeling. Our statesmen are in the
South instructing the poople. Rebel Gonerals
like Longstreet are perfectly willing to trust
the fortunes of the South with the Republican
party. The people are wisely submitting to
necessity. We think it not extravagant to
say that, if reconstruction is permitted to pro
gress calmly, we shall have the Southern
States in the next Electoral College. We
trust that they will send Republican electors,
but that is a secondary matter. That is our
concern as Republicans, and we trust to con
vince the people. But if the President does
not interfere, the South will h In tha I
the nation will be reconstructed, the people
wiu oe secure in tneir rights, tne South will
be a land of liberty, the Military bill will die
never tO live Strain in Otir lllinnv ennntro- ar,A
o r r s " J t
our brigadiers will surrender their power to
uie peupie, uiu go uacK to tne army to the
performance of mere military duties.
With this prospect dawning upon the ooun-
try, what is the duty of the President ? It is
an easy thing for him to make trouble. He
r.an Trnl)A.lilv reneivA tin Advina mm. nrotnntnn
f than that given by the World. He has a sub
a X J . - . - .uw '"UIU ww c Uri
servient Cabinet. A Secretary of State who
can maintain confidences with MuCraelrnn In
reference to the table talk of Ministers like
Motley, will not hesitate to advise the Presi
dent to decided measures. Stanbery will
write twenty opinions, showing just how the
i rebiuent can arive a ooacn ana six turougl
any law of Congress. Mr. Stanton will coun
tersicn the orders as readilv na liu nnnnb..
signed the orders which sent Terry to the
mountains. We entreat the President to be
governed by higher influences. If he thinks
that an Oliinlnil liv Kluriliprir nr nrhnto
X , w m nuvig
volume of opinions, will be permitted to stand
IUO ' ' 1J VI IUID ViLl, Uq nill UUU bULiV b UtJ llUCl
made the most dreadful blunder of his Ad-
minirttration. Tim Tin firm lma mnAa nn ifa
mind that the provisions of that bill must be
executed, and no trick, no subterfuge, no
strained construction of a law which is as
plain as the high sun at noon, no elaborate
i i 1 i .. 1 m . i
jiau-r ju.i.iu auu icgui luiu, win peruiivteu
iu iiiivj tviu ni.ii 11,0 cADbiibiuu j. uo a 1 031-
dent's duty is to end this whole business of
reconstruction, by permitting it to end itself.
He is walking over the true path now, and he
can only step beyond it to bring peril upon
himself and the country.
Kxtrcme Journalism In tbe South.
From the Herald.
For many years preceding the war, and
during its continuance, the extreme character
of opinions expressed by the Southern papers
fomented the bitterest feelings of that soction
against the North. Tho newspaper medium
was, perhaps, the most fertile in propagating
sentiments which, by skilfully misrepresenting
both sections, led to hostilities between them.
Unhappily, there is very little disposition to
abandon this mischievous influence noticeable
in the present tone of these journals; nor are
the fruits of such preachings difficult to dis
cover. The extremes of party discussion are
now to be found in two classes of papers, each
of which is battling for mastery in the South 1
the secession and the radical journals. To the
irritating effects of their articles upon the
public mind can be traced, in a great measure,
the present condition of Tennessee, as illus
trated by the petition of a portion of its citi
zens to the President, praying for the inter
position of regular troops to protect them from
the outrages of "Brownlow's militia."
To the same cause we may attribute in a
great degree the conflicts between our military
commanders in Louisiana and Alabama and
the civil authorities of the leading cities of
those States. We had reason to suppose that
the controversy which was ended by the can
non and the bayonet was finally concluded as
between the North and the South; and bo it
was, in bo far as the common sense of the
lighting elements on both 6ides was concerned.
But the party journals seem disposed to keep
the wounds open to gratify their own very
small deBires; and hence we find new barriers
to the reconstruction of the South raised from
day to day, by appeals to the passions of the
people, in the columns of the newspapers
which are not wholly contemptible only be
cause they are conspicuous for mischief. We
observe, however, that this evil is correcting
itself. Tbe press of the South is evidently
last losing hold upon popular opinion. The
violence of its partisanship is becoming
offensive to the sober second thoughts of
the Southern mind, which is now moulding
itself to the new condition of things ; and
it argues well for the intellignt Southern
people that they are ceasing to be guided
by the puerilities of the secession organs,
which keep barking when they cannot bite,
and hissing when they can no longer sting.
Some of these journals are already learning a
lesson and are changing their tone, while
others, like the Richmond Times, are giving up
the ghost. ,. . 11 i
The spasmodic effort to establish a ralical
press in the South does not appear to be
crowned with much success. In almost all
the leading towns and cities of the Southern
States, radical newspapers have been started;
but they have met with so little support that
they can hardly eke out au existence. The
reason of this is apparent. There are not
enough radicals in the Southern cities to sup
port a party journal decently. This class of
newspapers is therefore dependent for its exist
ence upon alms from the radical party in the
North and that ia no parsimoniously distributed
that the radical newspapers fare very badly.
Demands of an exorbitant character have been
made by suudrv Southern editors and Re
publican politicians upon the Congressional
JUNE 14, 1867.
SpldMiJe WliisMos.
1 1 HE LARGEST AND ! BEKT STOCK OF
FIFA! E jO LD " R YE I U HIS K I ES
IN THE LAND IS NOW POSSESSED BY ' ' - ;
H EEMBY S.;H'AWWIS..:i:: CO.,
Nos. 218 and 220 SOUTH FRONT STREET,
WHO CmBTIIKMMTO TUB TRADC. IN LOTS, OX VERY ADTAWTACtEOtrS
Thflr fttock of By WMikhi, IS , BOND, comprliM ll tb ftvtrlU krmj.
extant, and tune tfaiongh tha variona months nf 1N6O760, and f tlaU ir il
iMiinl data. p
Liberal contracts made for lota to arrive at Pennsylvania Railroad niw
Errlcaaom Line Mfarf,or at Bonded Warehouses, ns parties may elect. p
Carpetings, Canton Mattings, Oil Cloths.
Great Variety, Lowest Cash Prices.
BKEVE lu KNIGHT & SOIT,
XO. 807 cheshut street,
(Below tbe Qlrard Hodm).
Republican Committee at Washington for
means to maintain or start newspapers in the
South. But the financial condition of the
Committee, it appears, does not warrant the
lavish expenditure, and we understand that
they have been compelled to refuse the appli
cations. All their funds are employed in
circulating documents throughout the South,
and paying the expenses of propagandists of
varied complexions to preach the dootrine of
radical republicanism in the cities and on the
plantations of the South. Hence we Imagine
that newspaper enterprise in that section, as
elsewhere, will have to stand upon its own
bottom. If radical journalism is popular there
it will be sustained; if not, it cannot be bol
stered up by contributions from any quarter.
A press which is not in harmony with the honest
and intelligent sentiment of the community
among which it circulates, and is not based
upon a sounder foundation than foreign aid, is
no better than an excrescence. It has no
vitality, and can exercise no substantial in
fluence. From these facts we argue that the
effort to sustain a class of newspapers in the
South upon charitable principles is unhealthy,
and will not amount to anything. At the
same time it is desirable that the stupid, fire
eating secession press, which is struggling for
life in Richmond, Mobile, Montgomery, and
other cities, should be supplanted by a new
class of newspaper literature, as it inevitably
will be before long, by the force of circum
stances; for there is a wholesome publio
opinion in favor of reconstruction growing up
in the South, that will not be likely to tolerate
the hostile spirit assumed by non-combatant
journalists. ,
Self-Government Individual, City,
State, National.
From the World.
The Union League Club, whioh a few weeks
ago denounced the wholesale corruptions of
the Albany Legislature, in which their own
friends hold a large majority, has just pub
lished a report on "Municipal Reform, espe
pecially in the city of New York," to per
suade the citizens of this metropolis that they
have no rights of local self-government worth
mentioning, and that they should content
edly resign all their municipal affairs to the
supreme direction of the Legislature.
The report of the Club's Committee is a
considerable pamphlet of a hundred and forty
four pages, and is an elaborate assault upon
that democratic theory of local self-government
which has been cherished by nearly
every American statesman of eminence from
the foundation of the Government, and to
which less free Governments than our own are
universally tending throughout the civilized
world. Whatever De Tocqueville saw to
admire in the institutions of the United States,
the philosophers of Union Square select for
their especial disapprobation.
They deem it, for example, no "part of the
theory of the Government of the mother coun
try that cities were a source of political power,
nor was such a theory adopted at the period
of our Revolution, nor has it any sanction in
our subsequent legislation."
That "cities are a source of political power"
no American citizen has ever contended, if the
phiase be taken to signify insubordination to
the sovereignty of the State in all matters per
taining to the State, or to the sovereignty of
the nation in every matter of national concern.
But that cities are a source of political power,
each one for itself, in all matters ot purely
civic concern, is the doctrine which the argu
ments of the Union League Club soaroely
touch, which is imbedded in the foundation of
our history, lives in the very essence of our
national democratic principles, aud whioh can
only be successfully overthrown by the same
logic which can overthrow the right of every
State of this Union, within its sphere, to
govern itself, and the right of the people of the
Union themselves to govern themselves by
the logio, namely, of force.
That "cities are a source of political power"
no man contends who has the truth of Demo
cratic doctrine in him, if the phrase be taken
to signify any participation in or control over
the local affairs of the citizens of the rural dis
tricts, or if it be taken to signify any share in
the control of affairs of common oonoern to
every citizen of the State, beyond and above
that share which is exactly proportioned to
their numerical weight in the representation
of the entire Commonwealth. But they are
"a source of political power" in their own
all'uirs, for precisely the same reason that the
counties and towns are a source of political
power in their county and town affairs
namely, because we are a free people and
govern ourselves. Indeed, every argument of
the Union League Club is as good for an
assault upon the self-government of the ooun
try as upon the self-government of the crowded
town.
Now of self-government by any people, free
dom itself is the corner-stone, and local self
government its foundation walls. Undermine
these, and the superstructure falls in crum
bling ruin.
The people of cities and of towns and of
the counties, by virtue of being freemen and
not slaves; by virtue of pursuing happiness
at their own volition, suflering by their own
failures and profitiug by their own successes;
by virtue of experience organized into frtoulty
iu each man for himself; by virtue of each
1
REMOVED.
OUR BEDDING STORE
IS BEHOVED
riton TUE OLD STAWD TO
No. 11 South NINTH Street.
8Z7 . Im knight & SOW.
man of them attending to his own private
business, acquire competency for union with,
their fellow-citizens in those matters which
they think fit to confide to the common clvio
aim, and behind which they think it fit and
necessary to enlist their united civio force.
Taught in the town meeting, the supervisors'
board, the city rule, these men become com
petent to the larger union of cities, towns,
and counties in the State, and for successful
parts in the administration of the State's
affairs, that is, the affairs in which all the peo
ple of all the cities, towns, and counties of the
State have a common and co-equal concern, and
to insure the successful management of which,
they think it 4it and necessary to combine
their larger and united force. Instructed thua
in these eeginuings of local self-government,
success in self-government by thirty millions
of people becomes possible. The States or the
people of the States combine in a Federal
union for, and to insure, the successful man
agement of those common and universal con
cerns which they think fit to guarantee the
stability of, and to establish, with their aggre
gated national power.
; Any particular State Government may have
existed before some city grew to its present
size, but to argue thence, as the Union League
Club does, that the city can derive its right to
be governed, and the measure and kind of its
government, solely from the State, is to mis
take succession for filiation, and is to forget
that self-government, be it local or be it
national, is inseparable from freedom, and
has no better warrant for a widely dispersed
nation of thirty-eight millions- than for a
crowded island of eight hundred thousand.
These are merely the broad lines of demo
cratic doctrine. We draw no nice distinctions
here, and stir no controversies that have been
concluded by battle or the Courts. The essen
tial thing is. that each and all these larger or
smaller units shall, as they stand, be free;
and, speaking for every lover of a pure demo
cracy, without reference to the party lines
which here and now divide us, we tell this
Union League Club, and the revisers of our
Constitution assembled at Albany, that it is
insupportably galling to the soul of every
instructed freeman whether in those per
sonal rights and privileges which he has
assigned and surrendered to no Govern
ment, his freedom is assailed by city, State,
national, or foreign foes; or whether
in his freedom and local self-government his
liberties are usurped by State, or national, or
foreign foes; or whether in his right as a citi
zen of any State his freedom is assailed by the
citizens of other States united, or by foreign
aims; or whether as an American he is op
pressed by foreign and dospotio powers.
Foreign, alien, and despotic, all power must
be which surpasses its own lawful limits, and
usurps control from the nation of its national
affairs, from the State of its State affairs, from,
the city and town of their local affairs, or from
the individual freeman of those reserved un
aliened liberties which are the core of his man
hood, as those are of his civio freedom aud
his nafon's sovereignty.
'J'UE BUSINESS NEWSPAPEll I
THE
WILMINGTON DAILY "COMMERCIAL,"
PUBLISHED BV
JESUIKS A ATKIKSOItr,
WILMINGTON, DKLAWAKE.
Is the only Daily Pape Published in the Slate I
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Bla de I u very large circulation within th city
llinliD, It 18 Kent to all the principal totvui aud VU
luKts throughout the Htate.
jib adveriibiug columns are patronised by all the
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As nn AdvertiiiK Medium It la unequalled by auf
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Philadelphia merchant!), manufacturers, anl busl.
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the people of Drluware. '1 he -COM M &UCI A C" may
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Mot if. Tha proprietors have purchased the exclu
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