The New York herald., 1844-09-02

cause we are at all inclined TO approve endorss
the views therein set forth, but because IT Is evl
IDENTITY written by man, who, from his contlgnity
to the scenes Of the late ragical evens-from hi
personal familiarity with both parties, and his pos
| session OF strong feelings the subject, IS just
| such man as is well calculated to present the
opinions Of one party, and the one who really mos
wants an advocate-under the most favorable as
pect. Although sundry lame, discursye, and
skulklng attempts have been, from time to time
made to paate the atrocious massacre of the
Mormon leaders, it is not within our recollection
that another such bold attempt as that of our cor
respondent has yet been made to outrage common
sense, and common decency, by gratuitous just.
fication OF cold-booded murder
II these, however, were merely the opinion Of an
individual, they might be left to that obscurity
which is their most legitimate sphere. Were they
to be looked upon as the expression Of the feelings
OF an injured man, could afford to look over
the and pity the other; but since there is good
reason TO believe that they these OF faction,
| whose mouth-piece our correspondent is-slnce
| there is good ground for concluding that, how
ever extravagant, faacious, sand absurd are his
| pleas in justification of the acts alluded to, they
| find an echo amongst the Mormon prosecutors In
| Illinois they are not altogether unworthy
of moments confutaon. One would think, in-
deed, that the public press had spoken in terms
too plain in condemnation of persecution under
any pretext, TO permit Of any attempt to give
il favorable, yet false col0ring but 1t
seems that those who are bold and reckless
enough to mock at law, and contemn the
properly constituted authorities, have not yet had
that lucid interval in their madness, which betimes
affords the diseased mind the capacity Ia look dis
passionately on the true state OF the case 1t is
truly amentabe feature in society in that part of
the country, that men, who, though not making
thedecent profession of respect Cor the powers that
be, and the reverence due to justice, are quite
ready and adroit enough to appeal to it so far as
they imagine it can be made subservient to pro-
mote their designs. The twadde of our correspon-
dent is worthy OF the famous Justice Shallow him
self. Were we disposed to argue with such an ex-
pert dsputant, we could well afford to grant all his
premises. Whatever he may think to the con-
trary the facts of Joe Smiths persecution in New
York, IN Ohio, in lllinois-of his being a deuded
fanatic, and, ii he please, man OF centious con-
duct-all these have little to do with the case.
1t would be of much more utility to his
cause, to show that these precedents for
persecution were sound, reasonable, and de-
fensble. II would be much legiti-
mate task, and one to which it is obvious our
learned correspondent has not yet devoted his at
tention-to ascertain whether an appeal 10 violence
is excusable IN any case, even in order to punish
the heterodoxy of false prophet. But Judging
from the length of his letter, he must be more par
tial to writing than to reading for had his intor-
nation been at all better than those who act up to
the spirit of the saying that history is old al
manac,' he would have been able to recall not
few occurrences similar TO that of the sacrifice f
the Smiths-cases in which the principal actors
were no less certain, that, because they made the
love Of God, and the love Of truth their pretext,
they did his service in consignng their fellow crea-
lures to the Moloch Of persecution, to the rack, to
the gbbet, to the dungeon and to the hime, heat
ed times hotter than il waswont to be heated
and all that because they dared TO use their ina
lienable right OF private Judgment; because that
cording to their conscences they departed from the
path trodden by the multitude What was the pretext
for putting Daniel in the lions den, for consgn-
ing John Huss and Jerome of Prague to the flames
Why were piled the faggots for Servetus the re-
former and that by the hands of his associates or
what kindled the fires of Smithfeld, and even in
more modern times burned the witches of Salem
aud consigned Philadelphia Churches to conflagra-
tion! One agency did all this-one thing alone
the demon of religious fanaticism. Well may the
philanthropist greve for the slow and intermittent
progress of the world and the degeneration Of his
race, when he finds crimes that must make the
accusing angel blush as he hands them in as the
progeny Of the nineteeRth century. Well may the
philosopher BIZ puzzled with the co-existence of the
mild, the rational, the sublime, but simple doc
trnes of Christianity, and the atrocious and lnsen-
safe relic Of barbarous ages, which Of old sought
to appease the gods by blood and murder
But our correspondent makes false representa-
tions Joe Smith, he says, refused to submit to
legal decision. What a short memory he must
have Where was the victim to mobocracy when
he fell covered with wounds Who constituted
his body-guard on that occasion? Why, he was
voluntary prisoner in the common Jail he was in
the hands of the officers OF justice. Yes, this man
of violence, this advocate of carnal strife Gas ru-
NOR says), az moment when he was capable of
making desperate and perhaps not an unsuccess-
full resistance, dismissed his followers, disarmed
his egions, and took the alternative of appealing
to the law and to the testimony rather than satur
ate his holy city with blood We are Motive do
not wish to be-the defenders of the follies, the
faults or the crimes-if such there be-of the Nor
mon Prophet but we will no more join in the hue
and cry against the unfortunate dead We know
too well the truth of the saying, that the evil
men do live after them; the good is oft inferred
with their bones'-to view with any degree of ap.
proval,:or Indifference the base attempt of a
awless band to cover their retreat from the scene
Of their sanguinary misdeeds, by a cloud of vili6.
cation and defamation Of the dead. We might
well wonder, truly, at the pertnacity in malice
which prompts men to kill their victim, and follow
it up by writing his epitaph in the dark character
of slander, did we not know that the assassns o
the Smiths have method in their madness, and a
motive for their guilty indecency They are be
ginning to suspect that the law may yet assert it.
majesty; and a diversion in public opinion-fre
| quently too powerful-mghf be made q uerv con