Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1855-03-31
.cLERG YMEN. AND POLITICS.

with the sentiments expressed by our washington
I correspondent, in his letter published yesterday,
concerning clcrgymen accepting civil Office. We
are most clearly of the opinion that no minister OF
any denomination should be eligible to official sta
,stion nndcr the Federal Or State government. W.
regard it as one of the wsest provisions of the Con-
/ sttution of Virginia which excludes Clergyman
from her legislative halls. And, what is more. we
believe that every spiritually minded clergymen OF
of every religious denomination in this country will
most ferventiy and empliatcaly concur with us in
our opinion.
IF there was one point which, more than any 9th
er, the Divine Founder of Christianity endeavored
to impress upon the minis of his apostles and disci-
ples-upon which his warnings were more abundant,
more solemn and more emphatic than any other, 1t
was on the great point that His kingdom is not OF
this world Expecting in the Messiah a temporal
Prince, and ambitious of official station for them
selves in His kingdom, it was the great aim of the
teachings of the Saviour and 1t was the most dill
cult of all the lessons which he taught to disabusc
their minds of their nveterate preJudccs upon this
subject, and make them understand that they could
noi serve masters, that they must choose be-
tween God and the world, and that the kingdom Of
Christ was pure and unmiXed spiritual kingdom
When he had succeeded i'll this object, and whilst
His church established upon this pure and evan
gelcal basis, having no connection, either through
its ministers in any way, with temporal affairs,
the progress Of Christianity was more rapid, giorl-
and overwhelming than at any subsequent perl
cd of history.
The union of church and state is the great
drawback upon the complete aud universal triumph
of Christianity in the old world. 1t is this which III
Italy, Scotland, Eng land, France, Prussia, AUSTRIA
and other continental countries has impaired the
pith and of religion, para yZed its energies,
and put weapons in the hands of its adversaics. 1t
is an attempt 10 DO what Christ has forbidaen-to
unite spiritual and temporal authority-and the at
tempt has only corrupted and degraded both the
church and state In our own country, church and
state have been kept apart and the result Is seen IN
the rapid and general evangeizing OF the country.
But let ministers be made eligible to Office let it be-
come the custom to send Them, not only to Con-
gross, but to the State legislatures, and practically
we shall have all the evils of church and state as
they are felt in Europe. The State will lose, for the
education o c!Grgymrn does hot prepare them Tor
public affairs the church will suffer by being
deprived OF the services of those whom she needs at
her affairs and IN her missionary duties, and by the
spirit of wo:ldncss, ambition and love of power
which will inevitably get possession Of her u!pits
There is scarcely a religious denomination III The
country which does Tot complain OF a lack OF nlil-
istc ial labor The field, are told is white fer
the harvest, and the laborers few. Not only
great numbers Of domestic missionaries wanted,
but vast myrIais ot heather arc wanting to DC en-
lghtened. Here is a sufficient call for ministerial
energies without inlruding into politics. Moreover,
clersymcn have work enough already If they
faithfully perform their duties thry are among the
most aboriouS in the world Two or three dill
gcntly studied and thoroughly Gigcsted sermons
every Sunday, two instructive lectures in the
week, burying baPtizing, making pastoral calls on
every member of the congregation, and watching
anXiouSy and earnestly for the souls OF each all,
as they that must give an account will give Glel-
gyman plenty Of occupation should think, with
out entering the field Of politics How any con-
scientous clergyman give up these duties for poiit-
icai life? 1t is quite clear they cannot be united
What, too must be the effect upon the minds Of
the people at large, when tn y see cersymen dab
bling in the miry political Hood with much APP
parent ZcSt and energy rs the mereSt wor!dingS
They behold them only in spiritual things.
But when they come in daily contact with them i'll
the dusty and polluted toroug hfareS of earthly
nd fbpyyy i'm CIpa
that respect for the clerical character which they
now entertain, and the pulpit Instructions of sunday
will be deprived Of their efficacy by the secular
equations of the week. When the clergy give
day in the week to God and six to politics, the in
terests Of religion cannot but suffer"
FREE BANSIxG.-We pub ish an extract giving
sufficiently characteristic description of the new
Banking Law that has been adopted in Indiana,
against the Veto of the q vernOr. 1t is great Gu
riosity in legislation, and may be fairly Quoted as
proof that we are n progressive people. Inc New
York Free Banking Law had in it much to take the
fancy and on abstract principles much to convince
the Judgement 1t would be difficult to frame a
conclusive argument against it, and easy to make 4
speciouS showing in its favor. Time has, however,
proved lOiciaa stronger than human intellect anu,
tried by this test, the New York Free Banking Law
has proved a failurc-amost bubble 1t has |
encouraged speculation to extraordinary degree
and proved extremely feeble in resisting the consc-
qucnCcs. Where gold and silver are the basis OF
banking it happens that under a revulsion, this I;
basis inevitably increases i'll value; but where State
Stocks form the basis it is oand that these, quite as
much the credit of the banks themselves, were !
subject to all the fluctuations of the money market,
and that in moments Of revolution they were abso-
lutely worthless for the redemption of circulation.
But the Western States have gone Ear beyond the |
New York limit They have allowed all sorts OF !
State Stocks to be accepted security for the cir
culatnn, and some ofthem we believe, have adopted !
Railroad Bonds and other such securities. The re-
suit has been general crash in the Banking system !
Of the North West during the recent monetary !
crisis. And this catastrophe has been especnrty |
disastrous in Indiana, where nearly every bak Sts-
pended and the public made to suffer a loss Oh
not less than TWENTY-FIVE per cent, the ent're cr-
cuiating medium Of the State.
1t is in the face Of this bitter experience that the
Legislature have adopted general law, releasing
banks in effect from all restraint, and apparently IN
tended create the greatest possible amount of pa
per circulation with the least possible security tor |
its redemption. The banks are allowed to issue |
notes to three times the amount of the capital pao
in and to three times the amount of their deposits
And this is only the beginning. The banks not |
restricted to deposites of money, but may receive
any valuable articles of small bulk and issue notes
thereon and there is no legal definition of the |
kind of articles the proportion of value to bulk,
and tribunal, other than the parties, appointed to
settle the terms of these deposts-the result must |
be that the banks will be converted into pawn
brokers' shops There can be but one Improvement,
downward, to this scheme, and that, we have no
doubt will be adopted in practice-whch is to pay
up the capital of the banks with the promssory
notes of the Stockholders With this