The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1850-03-01
EVERY MAN HIS OWN REFORM
Err.

EVERY MAN HIS OWN REFORM
Err.
The fatal tendency Of TIE age, says the
New York Mirror, is TO sink the Individual
in the masses. Nothing can he done 10 the
way OF business without tie incorporation
OF numbers; and nothing can be effected in
morals without the orgaDi.:ailon,o ,of"un:oas
and "bro'herhoods." 4 man must join a
club 10 be respectable. corporation 10 be
successful, an association TO ic chariIat'e'
and church to be religious. There af- all
sorts OF "Soceties," 90, up for all sorts o'
purposes, the members Of which hardly
dare give penny to a famishlng hegaar.
except in accoTdance with the ",nle, anA
regulations" of some association TO which
they belong.
Now we do not believe in these moral
monopolies, by which the se!f-sryled phi
lanlhropists propose 10 reform all creation.
except themselves. On the contrary, we
maintain the doctrine tha, every man mus,
be his o,vn reformer; and tina, the only
really valuable influence which one indi-
vidual can exert over another is. simply.
the force of e;camp'c. My industrious and
thrifty neiehbnr siimuIalea me 10 follow in
his footsteps, no, BY preaching about the
duty OF earning ones bread hv tae swea, OF
the brow, but by the prosperity and happi.
ness which COVE his labors. And thus
temperance and piety are also incucaied;
not by pledges and precepts, bu, BY the
purity of health, and the beauty of life,
which accompany the daily practice of
these eminent virtues.
The great Author of Christianity, and
the humble Redaemer Of sinners di! not
deem it essential to the salra.oa of a hu-
man soul from ;snoIaucc aud er1cr, that
"Socle,ies" should formally organize for
that specific purpose. He taught his fol-
lowers TO he kind, humane, and iur!ving,
without The formula of a creed; wi,hou,
even the "inslilution" of church. In
stead OF erecting pompous palaces Of devo-
'ion, aud assembling His disciples one day
in seven TO listen to eloquent prayers, and
enchanting music, He made Religion an
element OF every day life; devotion to God,
a secret aspiration of the soul; nnd phlan.
thropy, love to man. the perpetual ex-
preston Of social fellowship and universal
brotherhood.
How unlike were the simple njuucions,
the gracious efforts Of the Saviour, to The
noisy and ostentatious schemes !Ur convert
ing the world by steam, which we now
witness on every hand. Instead of praying
sin secret" over his own lalings and fol-
lies, the modern Christian prefers to kneel
on velvet cushions, in gorgeous churches,
where he may be "seen OF mem" and. in
stead .! keeping the gifts of his lei; hand
from The knowledge Of his right. his "alms
, are done before men, and woG.en too; and
afterwards published in the newspapers.
The charity Of the present age does no!
begin at home; it does no, commence where
it should, IN the professional "Reiormer's"
own breast. The Abolionis,s 5 Of the North
are signing and groaning, and praying, and
ravng over The mseries o! negro Slavery:
while the "vcrims" Of their sympathy are
at this very moment singing away the sun
nv hours among the pleasant fields of
"susar cane green"-and The poor white
begoars of the cold Northern cities, are
shivering and dying unheeled beneath the
very windows of these "Wodel Reiormers
Ah! il is a most lamenlable fact, that the
fashionable philanthropy Of the day is a
very "ong sighted" virtue; ii can see no
wrclchedness until "dislance lends en-
chaalmenl' to the suffering; ii has no ear
for The wall. no "bowels" for the wants.
which rise up beneath lis very feet in ai!
The hideousness Of unroman'lc reality.
We always suspect the sincerity o! a
mans benevulence. the moment he begins
to prale about the lawful condition of the
heaihen," while, in the .hri'iag rcbuke O.
Randolph, "he ne2Iects the healhen al his
own door," and we have yet 10 learn that.
the men who make The creates, out-cry
about the horrors of Slavery are better
men, better husbands. better lH,Eefs. better
citizens, or better Christians. lhan TIE ".en |
whom they denounce as tyr""rs, devils.
and the most damnable OF all siUuers. Ii
every man would but "resoi'" himself into |
u Committee Of the Whole" aud pass
resolution TO be his o,cn ryorE.er. from this
time. henceforlh. and for evernore, the
Millennium would be nearer by some CEN
turies than present appearances seem to
indicate.
Duel Between LADIEs.-A duel lately |
occurred al Madrid between Two Young |