.A. T ft' f 1 i. Ay Ay i jeo. B GOODLAKDEi. Editor and Proprietor. PRINCIPLES, not 1IEIT. TEEMS: $2 00 Per Annum, if paid in advance h OLXXXIIL-WIIOLE NO. 1923. CLEARFIELD, PAM WEDNESDAY, AU.GUST 22, 18GG. NEW SERIESVOL. VII. NO. 6. POLITICAL rilEACIilXG. i-e Eiack in Reply to Rev. Alfred nevin, v. u. a. me time ?o Hev- Alfred Kevin, of Fhiladel- i convcrfation with Judge Black boldly i l:, i.oiiof flint firai.hra ahould diaensa g, JDCru ui. I .-! aJair? iu the pulpit, lo ton tne judge in J. The conversation wm continued for a, lime in an earnest but friendly aimuer. Dr. f.a hating expressed a wUh to continue the ,:;iim through the newspaper preaa, Judge jti t.k up hi' challenge without hesitation. $ first letter of lr. Nevin appeared iu the Thil- ,i; hiaI'Mi'7 few day ago. The jawing is the aMe and crushing reply of Judge , lancatttr Ittlltgencer. Tt, the Ecv. Alfred Xevin, D. D. t.Mr Pear Sir : Your letter address i to me through the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin disappoints me ; be I did not expect it to come in i way, aud because it does not cov i the subject in issue between ns. lit if I am silent your friends will with some show of reason, that they would have flatly contradicted the empire was preserved in peace, I taken, a Ch rintiati minister has no au that Christ s Kingdom was not of this und tho great Theodosian code, the thority to preach upon any subjects, wonu, anu wiirisuanuy useu wouia product ol thai outer repentance, is have died out in half a century. But still read and quoted for its admirable they accepted the relations which 'umon of humanity and policy. Am wero created by human law, and ex-jbroso produced these consequences by horted their disciples to discharge acting in tho true capacity of a Chris- li have vindicated "Political Preach- 'so triumphantly that all opposi k -.t is confounded. I must therefore si. :ik freciv in reply. In doing so, I ri an to say nothing inconsistent with great respect lor your mgu cuar vr in the Church and in the world a.c admirable stylo and temper of ;rown communication deserves to J imitated. I fully concede the right you claim sbr clergymen to select their own iemes and handle them as they fl. use. You say truly, that neither 'a-vyers, nor physicians, nor any oth if order of men have the least autbor- :vr to control you in these particulars l:.t you will not deny that this is a ;f vfloge wbicli may be abused ; you ':;relv admit that some clergymen A'r abused it, "and by doing so did re than anu other class of men to 1 Mi.ei'V and continue the late rebel- I i." While, therefore, we cn as : t no power to.dictate your conduct, Leh kv-s to for'eo you, we are surely I i wroiiT when we tnreat vou to jt iiose upon yoursAvs those restric- which reason aDd revelation .ve shown to be necessary for the od of the Church and the safety of vil society. I auk low led go that your commis n is a vcrv broad one. You must Heclare the wbolo counsel of God," li the end that sinners may bo con tinted and converts built up in their inost holy faith. Truth, justice, tcm- jb ranee, hurnilitv, mercy, peace, broth erlv kin lness, charity the whole fir fcle of the Chritian virtues must be i-siduoufily tautrht to your hearers iiiJ if any of them be inclined to the f; iOf.ite vices, you are to denoui.ee tliin without fear, bv private admoni tii.n, by open rebuke, or by a general 4.-livery of the law which condemns ti m. You are not bound to pause ii the performance of this duty be cause it may olfend a powerful ruler i!a stronfr political party. Nor should you shrink from it when bad men, for i'aeir own purposes, approve what yon f! X Elevate the moral c haracter, en i ghtcn the darkness, and purify the I- arts of those w ho are under your f j u itual charge, at all hazards; for r is is the work which your great 1 sskmaker has given you to do, and II:; will admit no excuso for neglect-i- it. But this is precisely what the po litical preacher is nut in tho habit of loing lie directs the attention of his hearers away from their own sins to the sins, real or imputed, of other people. By teaching his congregation that they are better than other men he fills their hearts with self conceit, bigotry, spiritual pride, envy, hatred, malice, and all unehariiablencss. In stead of the e xhortation, which they need, to take the beam out of their own eye, he incites them to pluck tho mote from their brother's. He does Dot tell them what they shall do to be saved, but instructs them very care fully bow tbev shall nr-t for tho de struction of others. Ho rouses and oncuraes to the utmost of his ability, those brutal passions which result in riot, bloodshed, spoliation, civil war and general corruption of morals. You commit a grievous error in supposing that politics and religion are so mingled together that yout an i,ot preach one without introducing the other. Christ and His apostles kept them perfectly separate. They announced the great facts of the Gos pel to each individual whom they ad dressed. When these wero accepted the believer was told to repent and be bapti.ed for tho remission of his fuithfully the duties which arose out of them. Though the laws which do fined tho authority of husbands, pa rents, masters and magistrates were as bad as human perversity could make them, yet the early, Christians contented themselves with teaching moderation in the exercise of legal power, and uniformly inculcated the virtues of obedience and fidelity upon wives, children, slaves and subjects. hey joined in no clamors for or against any administration, but simply testi fied against ein before tho oury tribu nal which Christeverorccted on earth ; this is to say, the conscience of the sinner himself. The vice" of political preaching was wholly unknown to the primitive Church. It is true that 1'aul counselled obe dience to tho government of Nero; and I am aware that modern clergy men interpret his words as a justifica tion of the doctrine that support of an existing administration is "part of their allegiance to God. beveral lynods and other ecclesiastical bodies have solemnly resolved something to that effect. But thej' forget that what aul advised was simple submission, not active assistance, to Nero. Ihe Christians of that day did not endorse his attrocities merely because ho was "tho administration duly placed in power." They did not go with him to the theatre, applaud his acting, or praise him in the churches when he iidnapped their brethren, set fire to i city, or desolated a province. Nor did they assist at his apotheosis after iy his death, or pronounce funeral ser- tl tian minister; for ho reformed the criminal by a direct appeal to his own heart. A political preacher in the same circumstances would have in flamed tho sanguinary pussions of the monarch, bv exaggerating the treason of the Thessalonians, and counseling tho military execution of all who pre sumed to sympathize in their suffer ings. . louwill see, I think, tho distinc tion I would make. A Gospel preach er addresses the conscience of his hear ers for tho honest purpose of convert ing them Irom the error of their ways ; a political preacher speaks to one community, ono party or one sect, and his theme is the wickedness of anoth er. Tho latter effects no reliirious purpose whatever; but tho chances are ninety-nine in a hundred that he excites the bad passions of those who arc present, while he slanders tho ab sent and undefended. Both classes of preachers frequently speak upon the same or similar subjects, but they do so with different objects and aims. I will mako my meaning more clear by taking yourown illustrations. You believe in the first day of tho week as a Sabbath, and so believing your duty undoubtedly is to exhort all persons under your chargo to observe it strict ly ; but you have no right to preach a crusade ngninst tho Jews and Seventh-day Baptists, to get intolerant laws enacted against them for keeping Saturday as a da' of rctt. If drunk enness bo a sin which easily besets our congregation, you may warn icm against it, and inasmuch as ab- except those in which divino revcla tion has given him an infUHiblo rule of faith aud practioo ; and, even upon them, he must fpuak always for the edification of his own bearers, "rightl' dividing the word of truth," so as to lead their, in the wnT of righteousness. lien lie does more than tins bo goes beytind his commission, he becomes a scurvy politician ana his lnllucnee is altoiicther pernicious. Ihe use of the clerical office for the purpose of propagating political doc trines under any circumstances, or with any exeiise, is in my judgment not on!' without authority, but it is the highest crime that can can be com mitted uguinst the government of God or man. Perhaps I ought not to make this broad assertion without giving some additional reasons for it. In the first place it is dihoncsf. I employ you as a minister, pay your salary aud build you a church because 1 have confidence in your theological doctrines. But you may be at the same time wholly unfit for my politi You represent the church ns an un finished structure and the state as its scaffolding. I think tho church came is often supposed to have been a fair stand up fight between the two lead ing forms of Christianity. It was not so. Tho religious differenco was a perfect from tho hand of its divino false pretcnco'of the political preach-1 Architect built upon a rock, estab ers for the promotion of their own lished, finished, complete and every schemes.' Thero was not a sane man one who comes jihu n vy me rig hi, mons to show that he was greater stinenco is alwnys easier than moder mail oeiino, muiu nuuuun iuuu viu and more eloquent than Cicero. Ii litical preachers would have done this, i your position gives you no authority but Faul and Peter did no such thing, to provoke violent hostilities against There is nothing in tho Scriptures V) justify tho Church in applying its discipline to any member for offences purely political, much less for his mere opinions or feelings on public affairs. lho clergy aro without authority, as they aro often without fitness, to de cide for their congregations what is right or what is wrong in tho legisla tion cf the country. They arc not called or sent to propagate any kind of political doctrine. The Church and the State aro entirely separate anu distinct in their origin, their object, and tho sphere of their action ; inso much that the organism of ono can never bo used for any purpose of the other without injury to both. Do I therefore say that tho Chris tian religion is to have no influence on tho political deitiny of man ? Far from it. Notwithstanding the unfaith- tulncssof man- professors, it has al ready changed tbe face of human so ciety ; and it will j-ct accomplish its mission by spreading peace, independence-, truth, justice and liberty regu lated by law, "lrom the sea to tho ut termost ends of tho earth." But this will bo accomplished only by reform ing and elevating tho individuals of whom society is composed ; not by ex asperating communities against each otlier; not by any alliance with the governments of tho world ; not by any vulgar partnership with politicians to kill and plunder their enemies. hvery timn vou rctorm a bail man and bring his t hnractcr up to the stand ard of Christian morality, 3011 make addition, greater or less, to that right eousness which cxalteth a nation, and subtract an equal sum from the sin which is a reproach to any people. Sometimes a single conversation is ex tremely important in its immediate effect upon tho public interest of a whole nation. No doubt tho accept ance of lho truth bv Dionysius the Areopadte, bad much to do in mould ing the subsequent laws and customs of Athens. Tho conversion of Con stantino was followed by tho instant abrogation of all law which fettered tho conscience. In tha reign of Theo dosius tho people of Tbewsalonica rose against the Roman garrison and killed its commander. For this act of rebel lion tho Emperor den-reed against them tho curse of an indiscriminate war, in which tho guilty and tho innocent were conlouuded together in ono gen eral slaughter. His spiritual "guide, philosopher, and friend" at tho time was Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, who boldly denounced his crucltj-, re fused to give him tho Sacrament, or even to administer it in his presenco, compelled him to tako his seat among sins, and afterwards to regulate his; the penitents on tho portico of tho own life by the rules of a pure and church and induced him to humble perfect morality. They expressed no' his diadem ia thedust for eight months preference for one form of government' in eucccssion. The conscience of tho over another, they provoked no polit-1 Emperor was thoroughly awakened al leader. Now you are guilty of a base fraud upon me, if, instead of on all that continent, who would have felt himself impelled by motives mere ly religious to murder his neighbor for believing or disbelieving in transub stantiate If proof of this wero want ing, it might be found in the fact, that long before the war ended, tho secre tarinn cries were abandoned, and Catholics as well Protestants, wero fighting 011 both sides. Jt is utterly impossible to believe that the clergy of England and Scot land, if they had not been politicians, would have thought of waging bloody wars to scttlo questions of election and reprobation fate, foreknowledge, free will, and other points ot meta physical theology. Nor would they, apart from their politics, have encour aged and committed the other horrid (rimes of which they wero guilty in in the manner of religion. Can you think that tho Irish were invaded,and conquercd.and oppressed, preaching religion.you take advantage! and murdered, and robbed for centur of the position 1 have given you to ventilate your crude and ignorant notions on S'.ale affairs. I have asked for bread and 3 011 have given me a stone ; instead of the li.-dt i bargained for, 3'ou put into my hands a serpent that stings and poisons me. It destroys the unit of tho church. There is no room for national dispute about the great truths of Christianity; but men will never agree upon politi cal subject, for human government is at best but a compromise of selfish interests and conflicting passions. ies, merely becauso the English loved and believed in tho Protestant re ligion ? I suppose you know, that those brutal atrocities were carried on for the purpose of givingto politi cal preachers in England possession ol tho churches, cathedrals, glebe lands andtythes which belonged to the Irish Catholics. The soldier was also re warded by confiscations and plunder. The church and the state hunted in couples, and Ireland was the prey which they ran down together. Coming down on our own country tavern-keepers, liquor dealers, or dis tillers. If any of your hearers lie ig norant or coarse enough to desire more wives than one apiece, you should certainly teach them that polygamy is the worst feature of Asiatic man ners, inconsistent with Christianity, and dangerous to domestic happiness ; but you cannot lawfully urge them to carry firo and sword into tho territory of tho Mormons, merely because some of the Mormons are in this respect less holy than you. If the holding of slaves or bond servants be a practical question among the members of our church, I know of nothing which for bids -ou to teach whatever you con scientiously believe to bo true on that subject. But in a community where slavery is not only unknown, but im possible, why should any preacher make it tho subject of bis weekly vi tuperation F You do not improve the religion of tho slave-holder by tradu cing his character, nor mend tlie spir itual condition of your own people bv making them thirst for tho blood of their fellow-men. If any person, to whom the service of another is duo by tho laws of the State in which ho lives, shall need your instructions to regulate his per sonal conduct towards tho slave, you aro bound iu the first place to tell him, that as long as that relation cxists.he should behave with the utmost hu manity and kindnes; for this you havo tho clear warrant of tho Apos tolic example and precept. In deal ing with such n person you may go as much further as your own conscien tious interpretation of tho Bible will It you When vou mix the two together you you find Massachusetts and Connecti break the church into fragments, amcut in colonial times under the sole instead of "one Lord, one faith and : domination ot political preachers one baptism," you create a thousand j Their treacherous wars upon the Indi- warring sects, and substitute tho pro-,ans for purposes wholly mercenary verbial bitterness ot ihcodium theohigi- theirenslavingof white persons ns well cum for the "chanty which tbmketh as rod ones, and selling them abroad no evil." I or "swapping them for blackamoors ," No ono wnl deny that a union of : their whipping, imprisoning and kill Church and State is ulways the cause I ing Quakers and Baptists, for their of bad irovernment. perverted religion I conscientious opinions : and their base and corrupt morals. I do not mean ticatment of such men as Eoger Wil merely that legal union which exists' iatns and his friends, will mark their in European countries That is bad j government through all times as one enough; but you have loss common (of the crudest and meanest that ever sense than I give you credit for, if you existed. do not see tlmt this adulterous con-j Political preachers have not ehavcd nection nssumcsits most pointing form any better since the revolution than door' will find a mansion prepared for him. It needs no scaffold. Its rounder refused all connection with human governments for scaffolding or any other purpose. You say (in substance) that, with out sometimes takingpolitical subjects, a minister is in danger of falling into a "vague, indefinite and non-committal style" which will do no good and bring him no respect. Ihe gospel is not vague, indefinite or non-committal upon the subjects of which it takes jurisdiction, and upon them tou may preach as loudly as you please. But I admit that in times of great public excitement an important election or a civil war men listen impatiently to the teachings of faith and repentence. (V sermon which tells them to do jus tice, love mercy and walk humbly bo fore God, is not an entertainment to which they willingly invito them selves. At6iicha t'mio a clergyman can vastly increase his personal con sequence, and win golden opinions from his audience, by pampering their passions with a highly seasoned dis- courseon politics. The temptation to gratify them otlen become too strong tor the virtue of the preacher. I fear that you yourself aro yielding to it. As a mere layman 1 havo no right to advise a Doctorof Divinity ,butlhopo I am not over presumptuous when I warn you against this specious allure ment of Satan. All-thoughts of put ting the Gospel asido because it does not suit tho depraved tastes of tho day, and making political harranguea to win popularity in a bad world, should bo sternly trampled down as the suggestions of that evil one, "who was a liar and murderer from the be ginning." Faithfully yours, ic, J. S. Black. York, July 25, 18GG. when the church is voluntarily pros tituted by her own ministers to a political party in a popular govern ment. The evil influenco of such connec tions upon Church and Stateis easily accounted for. Both of them in com bination will do what either would re coil from if standing alone. A poli tician, backed by tho promise of the clergy to sustain him, can safely defy honesty, and trample upon law, fordo what he may, he is assured of clerical support hero and of heaven hereafter. The clergy on tho other hand, and those who are under their influence, easily acquire the habit ot praising indiscriminately whatever is done by their public men. Acting und reacting on ono another they go down to gether in the direction of tho pit that is bottomless; and both uro found to havo ' a strange alacrity at sinking." No man can serve two masters faith fully ; for he must bato one if he loves the other. A minister, who admires and follows such men as thoso who have'lately ruled and ruined thisroun try, mu-t necessarily depiso the char acter of Christ. If ho glorifies the cruelty, rapacity and falsehood of his party lcadcrs,ho is comptlle 1 byyin law ot human naluro to carry you. It you aro sure that the divine law does, under all circumslar.- inflexible ccs, make the mere existence of such 1 deny the Lord who bought him." a relation sinful on tho part of the. The experience of fifteen cenlt master, you should induce him to dis solve it by the immediate emancipa tion of his slaves; for that is truth to you which you believe to bo true. But where is tbe authority for preaching hatred of those who understand the scripture uillerentlyr hut privi lege can you show tor exciting servile insurrection f Who gavo you the right to say that John Brown was better than any other thief or mur derer becaiue his crimes wero com mitted agiinst pro-slavery men ? I think tho minister, in his pulpit discourses, itf forbidden to touch at all upon that class of subjects which are 1 i-ai. l i - . luriiiypoi cm; sueiiior inutnccas tne tanking law, tariff, railroad charters, State rights, tho naturalization laws and negro suffrage. These are ques tions of mere political expediency ; nlurics proves thut political preachers are tho great curse ol the world. Moro than halt tho bloody wars which at diner cut periods have desolated Christen dom, wero produced by their direct instigation ; and wherever they have thruht themselves into a contest com menced by others, they always en venomed the strife and made it more cruel, savago and uncompromising. Tho religious wars, so-called, had nothing religious about them except that they were hissed up by the clergy. Look back and sec if this is not truo. Tho Arian controversy (tho first ! great schism) was followed by wars in which millions of lives were lost Do you supposo tho real quarrel was for tho insertion or omission of filiotjue in that part of tho creed which do- sri os the pro.-cssion of the IM religion takes no cognizance of them ; Ghost? Did a homoousinn slaughter they como within the sole jurisdiction his brother because ho was a homoious of lho statesman ; and tho church has tan? No, it whs not the differenco no more right to take sides upon them, of a diplhong, but tho plunder of an than the ciil gorertsrncr.th'U to uso empire that they fought lor. It was its legislative, judicial or executive the politics of tho church, not her power lor the purpose ot entorcing religion, thai lniuriatea uio parties Uicr ailUWIer, iuey prOVUIieU IIO OUV- Xillll'OI ui " h vuviuuuij ansiciiru , yj v w.v jui yvrv n i-uiuivuig tiniuii, ...... ..uti..vvv ,..w j- ical revolutions, and they proposed no I his subsequent reign was aistinguisnou j principles wnony religious. ianu conveneu men mio uciuuua. 1 10 1 nuu, i-u. n -r.v... Jegai reforms. If they had done so I by justice and mercy, the integrity of In short, if I am not- entirely mia-J Tho thirty Years' War in Germany! clothing is infinitely worse before. About the commencement ol the present century they were busy in their vile vocation all over New Eng land, and continued it for many years. The wilful and deliberate slanders habitually uttered from the pulpit against Jefferson, Madson, and the friends who supported them, wero a disgrace to human nature. Tho im mediate effect of this was tho the Yankee plot to secede from tho Union, followed by corrupt combinations with a foreign enemy to betray tho liberties of the country. Its remoter conse quences arc seen in the shameless ra pacity and bitter malignity which, even ut this moment, are bowling for the roperty and blood of an unarmed and defenceless people. You and I both rememl cr tho polit ical preachim; which ushered in ni.d supported tho reign of tho Know Nothings, Blood Tubus and Plug Ug- lies ; when Maria Monk was a haint and Joe Barker was Mayor of Pitts burg; when pulpits resounded every Sunday with the most injur ious falsehoods against Catholics ; when the public mind was debauched by the inculcation of hypocrisy and deception ; when minister met their political allies in sworn secresy to plot against lho rights of their fellow-citizens. You cannot forget what came of this riot, murder, church-burning, lawless violence all over the land, and lho subjugi.tion of several groat States to tho political rule of a party destituto alike of principle Ac capauty. 1 could easily prove that thoso cler ical politicians, who havo tied their churches to the tail of tho Aboliton party, aro criminal on A grandr scale than any of their predecessors. But 1 forbear, partly becauso l havo no time, and partly becauso it mny, for aught I know, lie a soro subject with you. 1 would not excite your wrain, but rather "provoke you- to good works." Apart from tho general subject, thero aro two or three special ideas expressed in your letter from which I venture to dissent. You think that, though a minister may speak from tho pulpit on politics, ho ounht not to indicate what party ho belongs to. It strikes mo, that if he has a party, and wants to give it ecclesiastical aid or comfort, ho should boldly avow himself to be what ho is, so that all men may know him. Sin cerity is the first ot virtues. It is bud to bo a wolf, but a wolf in sheep s jHTTIio habit of drinking can bo cured by giving tho drinkers all tho liquor they want all the time. Iliat this experiment will prove a success we know. It was tried on a whiskey ist in Milwaukco not long sinco who after drinking nil tho liquor ho could hold for two weeks, imagined he saw snakes, devils, Ben. Butler and Thad. Stevens, and jumped out of a four story window, running a curb stono into his head. lie has not drank a drop since, nor will he tho rest of this century. BPrcntico says that Col. Forney and all his numerous relatives havo been living upon the public bread and butter until tho smell of bread and butter is exhaled so strongly from ev ery poro of their boJics as to be per ceptible ten yards oil, yet lho tolonel has the impudence to talk tauntingly about tho "bread and butter party." Tho power of iinpudenco is indeed amazing. CsyS"-Mr. Horaco li. Claflin, tho New York merchant, returns tho comforta ble income for tho year 18(i", of ono million two hundred and ninety thou sand dollars, (cents not counted,) or (our thousand dollars per day. tftrA Columbus (Miss.) colored woman recently gavo birth to four, boys, whom she lias named respect ively Abraham Lincoln, William H. Seward, Henry Ward Bccchcr and Horace Greeley. BwrAn ingenious puzzle is present ed in a London paper: 10 sr The answer is : "Tho season is back ward," (C's 011 "is" backward.) ft-jr-A man has been arrested in Washington for scU'mg blackberries by the ouart, with three pasteboard in tho measure. inches of bottom of tho t-arA match game of billiards was recently played at Emporium, Pa., tho proceeds of which wero devolcd to the Schools. l-Jr man in Connecticut has been fined $ 4 for gett ing in his hay on Sun day to prevent it being ruined by a threatening rain. tayThe wife of tho French consul was seriously wounded by a stray shot during the New Orleans riot. trrGovernor Pollock, Superintend-. entof the United States Mint, at Phil adelphia, has been removed from off! 00. tkaTOur prayers and (rod's mercy aro like two buckets in a well while ' the one ascends tho other descends. I