The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-12-22
RAE DAILY DISPATCH
FaI01Y NoRNTN0, DEcEMBER e isA

FaID7Y MORNING, DEcEMSEk e is4
CLxRcAl fkTkRrEREkck n TkNfoRAL
AyyAsRs.--One of the most difhenh Of the
many delasions which the Saviour Of the
world vas compelled to dlasipate nom the
oinds Of his own followers was the idea Una.
ne Was to be 1 great temporal prince anu
had been raised M for the purpose o. les.e
ring the royal glories Of the house g DAs 49,,
At the time Of HIS appearance upon esl'n
1 he whole Jewish nation was looking fef
Msss;ah. and an illustrious personage 70
come ont Of Judah, WAS also anticipated in
o,ber parts Of the world. But the general
idea Of the Jewish people, including that OF
hi. own immediate followers was, that this
Messiah was to restore again the throne OF
David, to establish the independence OF the
Jewish nation, and to make Jerusalem once
more, in wealth. splendor and power. the joy
Of the whole earth. In reading the New
Testament history. we cannot but be struck
with the extent and tenacity of this delusion,
and with the repeated, unceasing and en-
ph,tic efforts of the Saviour to disabuse the
minds Of his disciples Of this radical error.
But the truth-aMy kingdom is not Of this
world"-wss Of AL other truths the most diff
ficult to fx in their understandings and their
hearts. He could more easily convince them
Of any other truth they chung to their error
to the very last; 90 that even when He had
died upon the accused tree, this mournful
reelection tinged with a deeper hue the natu-
raj sorrow at the cruel death Of their Master,
I'VE trusted it had been He which should
have redeemed Israel"
Il was no doubt s'the wish" which was
"father to the thought"-the pride Of coun-
try and the ambition of welding temporal
power, which rendered them SO reluctant to
entertain the idea that Christ came not to
found q temporal kingdom that He desired
His people to render tribute to Caesar that
He would not permit his church to have any
conexion with the state. It required his re-
surrection from the dead and the lessons He
again taught them ere He assembled to Hea-
ven; it required the bitter experience OF per-
secution and affection, to wean. their minds
from the secret fancy that the thrones their
Master had promised to his faithful follow
ers were earthly thrones, on which they were
to sit as kings snd WELD the destinies of Ju-
dea and the world.
But the painful lesson they learned at LAST
and whenthey had learned it, and every Chris
tian man. from the apostles to the humblest
of the flock, hadreally renowned the world
and thoroughly embraced the grand idea that
In Heaven was their inheritance and their
kingdom, then began that marvellous march
Of Christianity to the conquest of the earth,
which the most ingenious Deist has never
been able to account for on the principles of
human reason, and which is without par
allel in the religious annals of the world
Heathenism disappeared from the face of the
earth, and pagan kings and princes fastened
to acknowledge and pay homage to Him
whose Kingdom is not of this world
But in this moment, SO outwardly propi-
tious to the cause of Christianity, the old
heaven of worldliness, which had been kept
under by the cross, the stake and the wild
beasts, began again to work. at is the bright
day that brings out the adder" The priests
of the purest, humblest, most self-denying OF
all religions, began to be enervated and effe-
inmate in the luxurious lap of victory. They
laid aside the armor with which they had
done battle against the pomps and vanities
Of the world; they cast from them the robe
Of poverty and humility; and, by slow de
grees, obtained temporal power, uniting the
Church and the State, and placing upon the
fair brows of the Spouse Of Christ. trum-
perry temporal crown, which is not the crown
Of her rightful Lord, and which, even in the
eyes of mankind, has detracted from her dig
nifty and reverence.
In this country we enjoy, under our Repub
ican Constitution, an exemption from this
unnatural union of ecclesiastical and tempo
raj power. The Constitution of the United
States permits no union of Church and State,
30 that the Church among us, occupies the
same pure and independent position which
she held in the days of the Apostles. But
human nature is the same in every country
and every age. Neither time nor change,
nor any other earthly power or principle can
alter it. Hence we find in the Church in our
Northern States disposition to extend cleri-
cal influence into temporal affairs. The Ne.
braska bill and slavery in the South, are
made the occasion and the pretext for this
interference. But they are not the real cause.
II the Master Of the disciples could command
his followers topay tribute to tyrant Caesar,
they might be content to yield obedience to
the laws of Republican government. If
their Master and his Apostles abstained from
rebuking far more cruel slavery than any
which exists in modern fimes--nay. copld
even enjoin slaves to be obedient to their
masters-the New England clergy might be
well content to remain quiet upon the sinh.
ject Of the slave institutions of the Southern
States. But tie truth is, 1t is not slavery ~
Nebraska which induces them to become No.
itical agitators. 1t is the old leayeu-it il
the desire to sit on the right hand and on the
len Of temporal power, which the Founder
Of the Christian Faith found 1t 80 hard to
eradicate from the minds Of his disciples; IL
Is the sane craving for the world which first
led the Church into the ar,ns .,f A. CO. r.