Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1843-12-07

r,ao, doctrines Of original SIM and the responsibility
and immortality of the SOUL first taught under the
SEPARATIONS al religion, were we'll calculated 10 al
feet profoundly the whole organization OF society," ana
10 make man, it were, a new and regenerated De-
ing. To reflect upon The rise and progress OF these
doctrines and their effects upon the human race IS one
of The most extraordinary and vast subjects That was
ever presented to the contemplation OF man. " IN the
exception OF their founder, hey fret proclaimed
and ezpounded by the poor and the feeble, only 10 rt
ceiye the SCOTS and contempt of the powerful ana OIL
those who wise in their own concert ano ye';;
| they have up in power tn shake Kingdoms ann
DIV nasties and make the mghtiest OF this earth fu
and treinble as unweancd infants under the trumpet
blast In this, they bear analogy 10 The great W"fhs
of Nature, exhibited in creation around us. h"on
at the NJ and the Mississippi as they roll through
the inheritance Of reemen, almost from The irzen re-
pons of the poles down even to the burning sahos o M
tropics Go and out their origin and You WIZ nno
at the foot Of perhaps some namefss MI,
sprinp, from whence little ri' over whch the
w lid snvaue steps, in his careless walks and from the
ripple of whose waters the tmid lawn Turns not
ASIDE but follow 10 the valley below, and deepens
and it wdens, and it swes, until the wealth oil ma
ton rides its surface, and at the voice OF whose an
ory wave the daring mariner trembles 30 u IS WIN
the origin the progress, the power and OF those
urent truths 10 which have alluded The banner up
| on which they were inscribed first unu!ed by a
handful of outcast fishermen, but 10 be spurned and
spit upon and yet, in the progress OF society," mat
same banner now waves every enlightened region
of this EARTH and destined, 1T very distant
day. to sweep the whole human race under It's broao
md benignant folds This surely must be the progress
and the triumph Of truth sustained by the living w''-
nesses that rise up in The feelings and the heart OF man
The anciens had no grea, doctrine like original Elm,
constituting q VITAL point in their religion On the
contrary, they believed in the perfection OF man, and
his natural attributes The strong mantle conquer
! ing man, what they cherished and admired. IL
was the strength of Hercules the wrath OF Achilles
the relnemenIs of Apollo and the beauty Of Venus,
TINT they dozed and loved. And the consequence
was they pursued their animal instincts passions, and
propensiiie and the rewards of their religion, and their
Gods consisted IN mins,erng to their animal powers
Instead of soenng the asperities and passions OF life,
by teaching the inherent evils to whch fra nature
heir they taught TO believe, his highest destiny
consisted in enlargng ard expanding those passions,
and in sa'iatng the lust for mere ambition and power
Instead o! humility and eyoence, and justice, their
public religion taught them arrogance, revenge, and
hatred; and the only true rond to Immortality and
favor with the Gods, was the road of conquest plum
der, and power. Their Gods, themselves, came down
TO earth TO fight the battles, and partakc of the pas
sions Of men.
Is il then astonishing tina! they have all been swept
from the face of the earth, with their temples and their
religion, when they educated and trained up
mad!y follow every passion and instinct OF nature,
which, if unfesrained and unsubdued must inevitably
lead to degradation and ruin The sublime concep-
ton of original sin, connected with the immortal ty oil
the SOUL essential elements in every true ond en-
lightcned religion and the wild mailman d1es not more
unerrngs rush 10 destructcn than does and every
nation, whose religion is without these conceptions
Mankind cannot permanently live in society, unless
they taught 10 forgive and forbear Every people
who not taught this must end in confusion, con-
test and strife. Compromise and Observation-Disclosures
lence and Justice essential elements IN any crgan
cation of society calculated 10 be permanent. "Do
unto others you would be done by, is the profound
maxim of philosophical wisdom, ha: was ever an
Eounced 10 the wcrd. Ii reaches every conceivable
and condition that can possibly occur and is as
simple, IS il 10 profound and compr extensive.
know it has been said, tia, Courteous, the great
Chinese philosopher, announced his maxim some five
hundred years before Christ. But there sufficient
evidence o: his having done 50. 1t is inference
from his lie and doctrines, ard arises from his COM
menlators, rather than from himself. He taught benz
vosnce, charity, usiIcc-and his whole life breathed
the slmF i'cty OF good man.
But tie great and comprehensive rule, as laid down
in our religion, conceived uttered by
mortal man. Il is an cmanation from Divinity, and is
Itself the of all truth. All the doctrines and
philosophy of Conuclus, finally ended in base super
ston, and his followers in the worship OF To- The
nearest iot they came 10 the grand conception oil
the Immortality Of the soul, the doctrine OF the
Meemsychosis; and that derived originally from,
the Brehmus Of India, and afterwards revived and
::-@ht by Py;hagoras.
1t is not be denied, that the religion OF
antiquity and of modern times, dramatically OPP
posed and he must be shallow thinker, ;"G@%d, who
does at perceive the fundamental and radical
changes such difference must produce upon the face oil
all society. The very first principle OF our religion
teaches restraint ard suhjugation Of The passions, and
al elevation of the reasoning and moral powers Of
man. Neither Visinu nor Brahmah of India nor 10
raste the Magi Of Persia, the learned Priests
Of Egypt, Pluto and Neptune and Jupiter oil the
Creeks, able TO arrest, for moment, man IN
his downward and ea,l-ke career, or 70 give him one
single enlightened conception OF the God that made
him, or the destiny OF the future.
Look back upon the past and contemplate those great
intellectual and powerful people, who have preceded
in the history of the world-and where are they
And what is still more important, where Their pro-
found and philosophical truths that have gone forth TO
| regenera,e mankind? Where is their religion? Where
are The Gods that Homer created, in the magnh-
cence of his sublime genius, and brought down from
Heaven, to govern this earth /: All pe!ished and
cast aside, do the toys and playthngs OF
childhood Why is it, that the sword of the Sci
pins now hangs inpoTiously to rest upon the broken
gates Of Rome Why is it, that the lazy L,2za!oni
now yawn about under those magnificent temples and
portcoes, where great ard heroic people listen
ed to the music of Tally or kndled with fire, under
The noble appev of the Gracch Why is it, that all
that made them people, and all their institutions,
have sunk down forever into The tomb OF Time An
it comes from the fact, that they had no tnh- comes
from the fact, that they taught TO believe IN The
perfection OF man. and his physical attributes. They
taught their le children to believe, that their ances
tors nuIs-d by a she wolf and that it was the
pride Of man, TO exhhi: the prcpenstes ct that raven
aus animal And thus. presumng in the arrogance Of
their hysca! power they forgot that there was true
ard living God.
know IT has been sad, that Socrates and Cicero
believed in the immort1y OF the soul. But, with
them, was only dreamy, visionary, and theoretical
belief such occasionally in philosophical and
rejecting minds, when they felt the heart grow FAINT
and SICK AMID the debasng idolatry of the day They
developed this great doctrine, for the full com.
prec OF man-they never raised the curtain, and
unveiled the future with all its gores, for the soul Of
man lodwell upon, in It's glowing rap,ures Whereas.
the iouader of our religion taught II as great ard
vital Truth, calculated II awaken all the nnhest emo
Ions OF Nature, and TO fill with hope and Joy every
sentiment, and aspiration, and affection, that cluster
around the human heart 1t is the great and the liv-
ing doctrine of modern times, carrying consolation 10
The meek and thclowy ard Joy and peace TO the poor
and The humble. 1t is sublime conception, which,
under the modern organization Of society, is destined
10 elevate, refine, and comfort every rank, and class
and order, in the whole of man. 1t, in fact.
makes the difference between all that is moral and
inelleclua and all that is merely physical.