New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1847-05-18

and social laws Of thseommuniiy men confederate for
purposes OF any kind Whatever, new conpacis are
formed. They always build these upon some consru.
ton rules or regulations having their expressed i'm
piled penalties. You cannot ind tina; company Of
independent OF all these obligations which society
der and which every individual 10 society Is under TO all
around him
We sre not yet dore unrsveing this web. which
is wove around until We see this principle s car.
ried ia society Men are accountable for their e,rgs
and their opinions as well as their conduct
li may seem strange 10 say that men are held &C.
counsbe for their opinions but they are, and Will Do
forerer-and that too 10 the freest land and under the
most liberal glvernucnts For instance let any proni
nent in either Of the great political parties Of tins
country stand up and affirm his repuguance 10 sny one
Of tie great principles Of bis party Let, be under
stood that he $ advocating and disseminating principles
aud opir IONS which abhOrrent 10 that party, ana
what will be the result They cannot imprison him
they cannot lay hold him and load him with chains
and thrust him into the dark dungeon OF the criminal
but they Ostrscise him snd now let him. regsrd'
less % bic private interests. aud anxious only 70
selye ts country, by representing his fellow citizens
in he legislative halls, attempt 10 run tor any ofhce,
and there VIII b. those letters called votes, which will
silently but surely spell out his condemnation ard he
viii be allowed the privilege OF remaining st home,
freed from the cares and tolls Of Office.
Men are not only held accountable 0- their opinions
and feelings by Ne Church, but by the Popular ssnh-
ment also. To be sure there are many feelings and sen
tmenis condemned by the Church that the general COM
muniiy does not reprobate but the general community
requires from iis members respect for all the unds
mental principles of honesty ana Justice and he who
guilty OF any traDsgresson OF them Is instantly eirdled
by the scorn Of the community in which be resides
Let man dwell in your hOusehOd-let IL be known
10 you that be revoves base and dshonorsbe purposes
10 his mind that viii never take the form Of outward de-
veiopment and actions and you will Immediately take
measures to remove bin from your family, that they
may not be exposed 20 the possibility OF contamination
by coming in contact with his baletu mind. And so in
the general community. Suppose the case OF syouns
man In ndgen circumstance, who comes to your city
build hs fDTfuue-tO profession. lstather
snd his mother make every sacrifice 10 assist him they
toll in poverty that they may secure his successthat
they may give him educatiOn-and IL IL said that he
has literally consumed them TO profit himself And at
last with Joy in their hearts aud tears 10 their eyes they
hear OF hs triumph in this metropolis with fond aniic
paiOns OF the grateful reception which they will receive
AZ his hands they come to visit him In his splendid man
sion But when he hears OF their coming instead OF
rushing TO meet them with open and heart over
lowing with nis love sud gratitude, and cscorting
them TO his own home and introducing them to bis
family and friends the authors OF bis being. and
those to whom, under God, he Is indebted for the
position and prosperity he now enjoys. he goes out
alone TO them and conducts them to some secret
place where his fashionable friends will not see them
and where he visits them furvey for he ashamed OF
his tather.aud moher-nOt account OF their minds
but account OF their rude dress and manners Now
let this fact be known IN the circles IN which he moves
Jet him visit At your house with what lace Will you
receive him You will manifest an irrepressibe tndig
nation At such base and inhuman conduct And why -
He has not broken any law No but you say that you
he very soon perceyes that mis- Of feeling repro
bated and in future he is careful 10 guard sgsns any
public exhibition OF his unnatural disposition although
at heart he s the inhuman monster "a before The
consequence OF all this g. that men veil their corrupt
incnatons under the gsb Of seeming virtue and thus
all bad compelled, BY the force OF popular opin
ion, 20 become hypOcrtes Men are very fond OF talk
ing about the hypocrisy OF the Chureh 600 Knows
there is enough OF it there but when compared with
the hypocrisy out Of the Church, 1t sinks into moth.
lngness.
The last step which we viii take IS in respect to that
class of men 10 our nation which have gone steadily
down from one step to another TIL they be no longer
tolerated Ia the community They have gone down regu
larry from point to point their specific gravity has sunk
them down and down into the abyss OF crime until they
appropriately called OUTLAWS. Now AZ last We have
got At a class of men who will have nothing 10 do with
this accountability II was because they hated restraint
that they went down They loved progression, and they
went down and down and down till they could get at a
wider circle where they might set out the innate de-
prsvy of their without any restraint from their
fellow men and indeed il would seem 'hat-now they
GOT beyond the laet bond Of socieythey will be
freed from this principle OF accountability. But, ah
how mistaken. There are laws among thieves and In
the vest Bandits den that ever darkened the noun
tain side and the bloodest deck OF the Pirates ship
there are masters and rule more iron than the peace
fol denizeus of a Christian community can conceive Of
so that when by reason OF their hatred OF restraint
have thrown Themselves wholly out Of society they have
found they could get rid OF their own nature go easy
as they could of human laws. They must be governed
by these or ~ themselves.
have attempted simply prove by reference to facts
such as would be allowed in any scientific argument
that the law of accountability 20 God Is carried out in
all the relations of life We have seen that IL carried
into every sphere of human action aud hence IL I'M
necessary that we should declare. a we do declare,
that the law OF accountability God is the universal
law of the Universe and that Il Is just as universal "a
breath is.
We now come back to the Bible and ask ourselves,
what does that teach II processes 10 be the exposition
of mass character and the revelaor OF Gods principles
of government they relate to man. And nOw Il Is not
necessary take text after text and chip and emp them
10 make them n, 10 each other il Ia not necessary to
nut one text after another the torture order 10 prove
that man Is accountable ~ God We ind that II there
never had been word spoken in the Bible 10 relation 10
this subject could draw up this doctrine just as
plainly from the facts as We now can. The Bible sim
Div debates of that which existed before II was not the
FORMULATION OF an arbitrary law il simply the de-
caraton OF the existence OF that which God made when
he made all things And indeed Il may be said that II
the Bibe uroposng 70 be revelation Of the laws OF God
N man hai omitted this doctrine IL would have cast
Doubt shade upon the Sacred Word Itself. what
would you think Of Bible that forgot 70 say that there
isa God and what would be said OF Bible that should
attempt teach the relations OF Coo and Of man 70 900
ami should leave out the doctrine Of mans accountable
am now prepared In the light Of this subject to dis
cuss one or two points that relevant The hrsts the
objection that IL made by certain class OF reasoners-
II IA said there DC established such law throughout
Society il goes against your posiuon-inen vi" oe pun.
ished here and not hereafter We say, Thank you'll
men
MOI be punished in the life to come. This s question
~ fact admit that there are punishments In every
Senar,nen, OF the world God has fixed natural and
corsri,utonal punishmcnts guards against the inrsc
NON of natural and constitutional laws They are not
aveneing punishment5 however but precautionary. II
there Is precpice over which men will be likely to
ran the authorities place bridge over H. not 70 punish
bu, IN ureyent accident II draws near 70 pois
onou, substance an odor will meet him offensive to his
sense hut il IS that he may avoid the threatened dan
yer All these evils are precautionary And so through
an, Nature but il Is not necessary indeed will not be
nossbe here 70 specify all these precautions and warn
ngs which God has planted so theky throughout al MS
creation. ., -,
Now If men are punished in this world for their SINS
1, can be shown that their punishment is graduated in
prooorton 70 the magnitude OF their crimes Inc sct
however IS not So but eoniraryvse; u 10 established
tina, men never suffer much as when they are me
Youngest and the newest in sin. When man nrst De-
gns IN steal he has more fear and more shame tnan
,shen he hss become an iuveterate orencer. femem
her The time when swore the fret oath y seemed as
,bongb every leaf on the and every blade Of gras
,,ere vocal In their condemnation Of my sin. Inc very
Ev seemed 10 lower upon me and all Nature raised the
30 ~ reDroof But in after days under the demora-
izing influence Of bad company, became aolc 70 use
n-oFne language without blCsh-wiihoui the least re-
morse az conscience and hnaily wiinolt oeing con
.eious OF the language employed
How Is H. when a msn in sttray arst draws the
blood of his fellow creature mis- hand draws back as II
{. ere scaldng bot and dreams terriy him aud be Il,
b.un,ed for months by the bleeding victim Of MS rage