Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1809-11-01

the muSSClINCH Cdtt Us lEiIueio VIC Plty ttiSit
weakness and call them iuhdels in our turn.
was born in place where catholic chris
tians are not known but by report, and the
discipline of our sect taught us to consider
them. not indeed as iaide!s, but as species
of idolaters. It was believed BY us, though
enormously that they worshipped images
We now find that they employed them only
as instruments ofworship, not as the object.
But there is no wonder that to the vulgar
apprehensions Of our people it should APP
pear as We were taught to believe and that
those nations who bow the knee before these
emblems of deity, and address their PRAYERS
|. TO them, should be considered as really wor-
shipping them. This idea was perhaps cor
roborated by their prayers being uttered IN
an unknown tongue.
The decalogue of Moses had inspired US
with an adherence for images, and for those
who bow down to them and worship them
and hence arose our unhappy a, ersion to the
catholics We were told that their church
es were full of pictures, STATUES and other VI
sible representations, no, only of the blessed
virgin, of all the apostles and many OF the
saints, but of every person in the holy trini-
ty. Our fathers had protested against that
great section of the christian family which
calls itself the mother church, not merely on
account of the sale Of indulgcnces, against
which Luther had led the revolt, bur like
wise on account OF It's making these pretend
ed images OF the manageable God.
The sect OF puritans, in which was born
and educated, and to which | still adhere
ior the same reason that you adhere to the
catholics, a conviction that they are right,
were the class of retormers, who placed
themselves at the greatest remove from the
mother church, and retained the least respect
for her enblems and the other ceremonials
of her worship. They could suffer no bi
shops, no mIres, croslers. cruclilXes or CEN
sers. They made no professions, carried
| no lighted candles through the streets at
noon day, neither did they leave them burn
ing in their churches through the Nigh, when
| no human eye was there 10 See them; hay
ing entirely lost sight OF this par, ci the in
st;tutions OF Zoroaster, Isis and Ceres. They
would not allow their prayers to be written
| in any language, not even In Latin tho they
did not understand it. But they chose 20 Ut
ter their supplications extempore, ike their
other discourses, to communicate their own
| ideas, to express their wants and offer their
| confessions directly to the invisible God -
tbroupha mediator !Edeee, bus wlthouthold-
| inc him in their hand, Or having BIN fixed
| in eflisy on cross before their eyes. They
/! had no organs in their churches, no instru-
mental music Ia their worship, which they
held to be always protaae.
These people made use of no cross but tho
mystical one OF mortifying their sins aud
if they had been called upon TO JON in cru.
SADIE to the holy land they must have march
ed without standard. They would have
fought indeed with as much bravery as St.
Louis or the lion Richard but when they
had re conquelcd the tomb OF CHRIST they
would have trampled on the cross with az
feryent zeal as they would upon the errs.
cent. They were not convefsaM with what
we call the fine arts they spoke TO the ear,
but no: to the eye ana having no rever-
ence Tor images or enblems, they desplsec
those that had, though they were doubtless
wrong in so doing.
| mention these things my worthy friend;
not with the least idea of levity or evasion
but to prove 10 you how totally you hav
mistaken my meaning and my motive to
ashew by what chain Of circumstances. most
slv foreign to oui ownmerils or dement's, our
habits OF opinion, our cast Of character ar
formed to shew how natural it is thar :. !
man of my origin and education, my cours'
OF study and the views | must have taken Of
the morals Of nations, their causes and ten
denotes, should attribute much OF the active |
errors that aftlict the human race to the use |
of emblems, and 10 the fatal facility with |