The New York herald., 1845-02-02
se,v Xorss, sunday, Februn,y 2, asA5.
Opinions OF the Press on the 0nderdonh N
Case-- Hammers OF the CierEy-socta, Con-
dillon Of the Churches.


the guilt or innocence of Bishop Onderdonk, butwe
have been rather surprised fad that the religious
papers known as the ''organs" Of the Presbyterian
and Dulch Reformed churches do not touch the
case al ALL THIS certainly. rather singular, Tor the
avidlty with which the rival sects are accustomed
TO seize upsn any thing 10 the disadvantage OF each
other Is toleraby well known, or at all events has
been pretty we'll illustrated on various occasions
The paper in this city which is generally regarded
as the organ Of Bishop Hughes, however, takes up
tha matter and handles il without much ceremony
II has a long article on the subject-in which we
think we can discern the traces OF an ecclesiascal
hand-abusing the book, the Court, the Bishop the
witnesses and every body. The book il characfe
rizes as ''mos disgusting and most disreputabc to
all the parties involved" The writer then proceeds
TO speak OF the case ITSELF
That the conduct of Bishop Onderdonl the witnesses
tell he truth indensihy cuipsbe not TO be de
MED But whether those witnesses told the truh not,
they are, b Ia e and lem e equally deserving OF con-
demnaon II the charges by what dastsriiy
ny pocracy have they long from sking hem
pnoic ana bringing the criminal to accoupti b, what
dspcabe pocracy have they put aside the substance
OF me ssnct m nious char ter which they ow pu,
and reated tnst criminal with all the outward marks f
courtesy and good feeling AZ il he had dane any
they bean able 70 Keep this OF viieness and Insult
oou cons ousness lock "a within heir breasts hist
they allow he h'ghrst dgnitary Of that church. which
they pretend TO love, TO continue to most
sacred minstratons whilst il they state the truth
they must have known him to be, during all thSse three,
and Ave, and seven years past wolf IN shceps cloth.
ing3 Ga the other hand, 1t would be high trea-
sou 10 doubt the truth OF their statements. They
are ladies' forsooth, and the mawkish sentiment III
ty Of the land s sytravagant than thing that
can be found 10 DON Quixoe in its chisslry towards
whatever is called lady II the nature OF the cas- had
allowed similar testimony OF guilt have presented
by witnesses of the other would have been secuted
press-it would have been with execration by all
men exeep' perhaps ,he personal and theolcgca enc
word II uspcion The testimony, beg leave
mark that ladies' are women and th1t all history, Of
whc this Is but le testify tn Al they deeply
nvol ved The consequences of original sin
That they have right to blind creduty in IN
vor heir testimony than men have and that so lar as
regards the their at this time
verts their silence for long period into mpnta
ton which will have its proper influence the silent
judgment st least of the public at large In looking at
the proceedings the court called there nothing
ceculatedto diminish the disgut excited by the charges
Such is the manner in which the Freeman's Jour
nal speaks of the case and certainly the remarks
relative to the long silence of the Bishops accu-
not altogether encalled for We had al
ludsd to that point more than And nothing,
in our oplnlon, gives more painful evidence of the
strange laxity Of morals and manners amongst the
so-caed strictly religious circles, than this fact, that
Bishop OF the church accustomed, in his inter
course with The females of his flock, 10 take such
questionable liberties with their persons, and yet
not murmur OF disapprobation in any quarter, un-
Ill the circumstances were seized upon by the
agents Of a Clique eff.ct the destruction
Of the B shop. This view Of the matter
cannot be TOO frequently 100 forcibly presented
10 the public Bishop Onderdonk is not the only
clergyman who has offended against the laws OF
moral and vrtuous society, by indulglng IN lam
harites with the females whom ne met There
must be something wrong in the social condition
of the religious community, or such conduct could
not be tolerated in a single instance. And this is,
indeed, the sad reality. We have seen at camp
mectines' and~s revival Meetings. all over the
country, how Iamentably pure and undefed Ieli
gion has been disgraced by the indecent ard i'm
moral conduct not only of the "discpies" but oi
those who call themselves Christian ministers. j
was supposed in most quarters that all this laxy OF
morals and manners confined to those itineranl
hypocrites and lmpostors, and to the indlscrmnate
gatherings which they were accustomed to address;
but the development IN the before us, show
that the judgment of charity was in this instance
entirely at fault. Mrs Beare stated that the Bishop
kissed her in the presence of her mother, in such
as to leave the impression that it .
customary mode of salutation Such literal and
practical adherence to the precept OF Paul to limo
thy, is by no means, we have every reason to be-
heve, rare virtue amongst the clergy of all de-
nominations. The social condition of the churches
may thus be easily guessed at, and it is this view
Of the case that wish to keep before the public,
for trust yet to salutary influence exerted IL
that direction, by the developments of this extra
ordinary trial Il Is as if the light of day had been
let in upon the community of "the saints,'' and
that the first step TO thorough cleansing
Not the least singular and instructive of the de
velopments made by the "Book of the Trial." l.
that given to the public in the "opinions" Of the
Bishops We do not know which most to con-
demn-ihe cantlng slang, or the party feeling
Some Of these holy men of God utter in the same
breath the most singing expressions of personal
hatred TO the accused, and the most pious prayers
10 Heaven for the good of the Church The
Bishops ia favor of the accused have certainly
less Of the slang than the others, but they are al
evidently partial judges. But we are most struck
aud most panied by the elaborate efforts OF the IA
theirs who condemned the Bishop, not merely
TO justify their sentence, but TO cover HIM
with ufamy and shame, and 10 close the
door against any public sympathy for him. Oh
how unlike the meek and lowly Jesus! How un.
like The fishermen Of Galilee How unlike the
early fathers of the church, who loved not theil
lives unto the death, and whose conduct towards
each other was such fhal even the enemies of tht
faith were constrained TO call out-''Bt hold how
these CHRISTIANS love one another ~ Alss alss
when the Bishops and fathers Of the church act IL
such manner, is IT any wonder that the lovely
fruits Of peace and charity have well nigh utterly
perished in the churchesl
Captain RYNpERs We insert in this days pa
per, very curious and Interesting sketch Of ihe
life of the reno owned Captain Rynders-ihe cee
brated Don Giovanni Of the modern democracy =
IN our next Week'y Herald probtby, we shall BE-
able 10 give likeness Of this famous Captain with
view of his club grouped around the stove oi
their club room, and dellberatiog the annexa-
lion OF Texas. The Captain, himself, departed
very suddenly yesterday morning for Albany On
evanfpO he div called hia HI