The Columbia Democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1837-1850, 1837-07-29
Number IA.

Ig' anu secure tnelr commence by avowing
themselves the friends of liberty and of vir.
tue. This gained, they assemble them in
their 'halls of SCIENCE and to try to under
mine their faith in God and revelation, and
their respect for all laws, whether human
or divine. In addition to this oral instruc.
ton, they have the mighty aid of the press,
and pour out their publications daily, week.
ly and monthly. These false teachers,
these pretended friends Of the people, have
been increasingly active in their unholy
work. But what has been done by patriots
or philanthropists to counteract their effortsl
Has there been any thing like strenuous,
concerted action among these, to enlighten
the public mind as to its true interests, and
to bring it to healthful state of feeling and
action. Have they endeavored to prove to
the people the sophistry and falsehood of
those who are leading them into the bot
tomIess pit of atheism, there to leave them
groping in its chaotic darkness? Ifnothing
has yet been done, then it is time for the
true friends of the people to be up and be
doing, for there is great work before them.
There has much been effected toward the
moral reformation of the world, by exer-
tons in the cause of christianity and of ed
| ucation. But the work of which we speak
is preparatory to both. One reason, per-
haps, why missionaries among the heather
are more successful than those who labor
among our own miserable and vicious poor,
is, that the savage has never heard revealed
religion derided as fable, and its profess
ors ridiculed as dotards, or censured hypo-
critics. His ignorance and his natural sim
lulness are the only obstacles to be over
come; but in our civilized community,
there is host of bitter prejudices, and
gross errors, to be driven from the way, be-
fore the truths of christianity can even gain
a hearing. If it was thought needful, be.
fore the appearance of the Saviour, that
Elias should first come 'to turn the hearts
If the fathers to the children, and the diso-
hedient to the wisdom of the just; to make
ready people prepared for the Lord
then may there not still be something that
is requisite to open the way for the recep-
ion and diffusion of the truths of revela-
ton! This preparatory work is the en-
tightening Of the public mind on the various
o'i.s-''''ns flowing from moral, social, and
political relations. Tsi- .o exhibit in strorr n
relief the misery and wretchednes. a.
will necessarily flow from the misconduct
of the people, as husbands, fathers and citi-
zens, and to show them that prosperity and
happiness can only be expected in the
faithful discharge of their duties in these
several stations. 1t is to remove the ex-
sting prejudices against the religious por-
ton of the community; to convince them
that the hypocrisy ofsome professors, &
the sinful acts of others, are no arguments a.
gainst christianity, and to bring before them
simple yet striking evidences of the truth
of the holy Scriptures, in familiar and apt
illustrations. The proper education ofpub-
lie opinion is yet to be accomplished.
The charge left by our venerable WASH
ington, in his Farewell Address, needs still
to be repeated, although forty years have
passed since it was given. After having
shown that religion and morality are in
dispensable supports to political prosperity
and that it is to religion alone that we can
look for true morality, he then recommends
the general diffusion of knowledge among
aH classes of the people, and afterward
says: In proportion as the structure of
government gives force to opubliC opinion, it
is essential that public opinion should be
enlightened
BY the enlightening of the public opinion,
the Father of his Country surely did not
mean the education of children in the rudi-
ments Of learning. 1t was to the education
ofmeJ,, in their duties as members of the
body polite. 1t was to teach them to think
and Judge, and act, for themselves, that
they might rightly use their privileges as