Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1856-07-19
THE ANTI-SLAVERY BUGLE.


bones? Would he employ himself with docb i,gl
points 7 Or would he say to them, "Bv this shall
one another ?"
In another town was acquainted with two
worthy women, who interchnnged many kind Off
ces IN time Of sickness or affection. Both were
sincerely devout, but one had been educated a
catholic, and the other n Calvinist therefore, each
bellevod that the other must be damned. This CON
vlctlon troubled them, however, because their own
hearts we're more compassionate than the Deity in
whom they had been taught to believe. Each spoke
TO me OF the other in words to this effect She is
such a KIND, good woman Whats nth il is that
she cannot be savedl pray often and earnestly
that she may be converted from the error of her
ways ana mus be prepared to enter the king lom
| merely replied: Your fervent ,cisbes for each
others salvation is doubtless an Offering more ac-
c,epta5le to God than faith in any doctrinal points. ,
But, in my own mind, | imagined them both en-.
tering the spiritual world together, each pleading
tOr the other with the angels the Calvinist
saying She was kind and good while she was on
the earth; She helped the poor, comforted the sick,
soothed tho afflicted, and prayed often. She was
educated among Catholics, who taught her to pray
to the Virgin Mary which was u great sin. But
she, .worshipped as well as sho knew how,
and it grieves my heart that she should be
punished for it through all eternity The Cath
one, IN her turn, pleading: This woman wor-
shipped God devoutly, but she had the misfor-
tune to be brought up among heretics. She never
prayed to the blessed Virgin, and she ate meat on
Friday. These were grierOus sins; but she was
always good to the poor and the suffering.-I
Would that my prayers could avail to redeeR her
from purgatoryP l seemed TO see the angels turn
aside to conceal a smile and to hear them an
swer, with gentle seriousness: BE not troubled,
sisters; the prayers of both are he,rd in heaven;
because they are upborne on the wings of SINGER
lty and mutual love. All such prayers are avail
ing. God does not judge according to the ideas
OF men,
Tho older | grow the more do | incline to believe
in the wisdom of Eclecticism, If ever the science
OF medicine rests on q permanent basis, | thi.k it
Will bG brought about by accepting and combining
contributions from allo2athy, homeopathy, and
hydropathy. A Universal Church, which pre-
scribes no creed whatsoever, and reverently ac-
cepts what is good and true from all religious, ap-
pears to me to be extremely desirable, Such a
light, | think, begins to be visible above the hoii-
zon, The Arabian Emir, A~bd-El-Kader, now in
Paris, has written a book to prove that the Jewish,
Chirstlan, and hamm religions are built on
the same foundation, and are separated merely by
points of detail. He complains that European
scholars do not babitually manifest so much rever-
enco towards the Author of all things as they
ought; and says: If Mussulmans and Christians
would believe me, they might agree together, and
treat each other as brethren 1t certainly is q
step in the worlds progress to have q Mohamme-
dan missionary exhorting Christians to greater
tcNVleHCo tONHru bOu, ana cnarlty toward their
1t is pleasant to observe, in various
:, parts of Christendom, at the present time, sim
liar indications Of liberality towards Moham-
medans.
r The ~innumerable scots born of the Protestant
Reformation, all assuming the Bible as a basis,
and all so very sure that their own Interpretation
0 of its pages is the true one, have been working for
S a wider result than they were aware of. Their
S narrowncss and bigotry have forced many to in
quire whether abstruse doctrines can really be of
t much consequence in the formation of human char
n acter, since about the same proportion of go cd men
and bad men may be found among those who be-
lieve them, and those who reje It them. They lave
been driven still further. They have SAID, If doc,
trines are essential to salvation, by what process
shall we arrive at certainty concerning them since
the answers which Written Revelation gives to in
quiring souls are SC various, and often so contra
dictory. Is the Catholic Church right in assertin ,
that there can be no infallible book without an in
3 fallible interpreter" " In this dilemma, some fy off
into ultra scepticism, while others fall back pas
sively into the arms of the Catholic Church but
between these two extremes are a multitude whose
souls are casting off theological rammels, without
ceasing to be religious. The progress of human
freedom has compelled bigotry to be more civilized
than it was in the days of racks and thumb-screws
but its charity is very supercilious, b~etraying a
proud consciousness of superiority by its air OF
cORdeSceRSiOn. 1t took centuries of struggle and
b~loodshed to establish among Christians the idea OF
mutual liberation; but the phrase which represents
the hard'fought idea has become offensive to
n free souls. The first expressed dislike to the word
liberation / found in DymOnd's Essays a book
which is in truth q diamond ,roaecting purest light.
Q He asks indignantly what right a man has to toier
ate his faith any more than he has to tolerate the
color Of his eyes or his hair.
IF The process Of freeing the world from theologi
cal thraldom may, | think, be expressed in one
very brief and simple maxim: Let every individual
d fearlessly cypress his opn convictions, while he re
Spects the convictions of every other man. People
in general fail in one or the other of these duties
u If they are in a minority, they are afraid to give
frank Mterance to their ocR doubts or conclusions
If they are in q majority they despise the convic
lions of others, or assume it as n great merit thai
they condescend to tolerate them.
| have read your EXPOSITION OF SENTIMENTS with
/, heartfelt pleasure. | have seldom, if ever, seen q
document that breathed throughout such a spirit
of rational freedom and Christian love. Its tone
excites hope that the Progressive Friends will be
bold in the exercise of individual freedom, while
they treat with tenderness and respect the sincere
faith or the honest scepticism of others. l trus,
. their platform will not be limited to the accommo
datiOn OF Christian sects merely, but that it will bt
broad enough to admit Brahmins, Buddhists. :. CIV,
and M~ohammedans, as brethren--as scattered mem
bers of the same great family children of the All
Father, who, under various chimes and circumstan
ces, has caused light from the Spiritual Sun to shin,
upon their souls, and refreshed their thirsty heart
with dews of Divine Love.
re May the blessings of God rest upon your effort
to produce this sublime result! 1t will res
upon them for it is one of his immutable law
, that no word of truth, spoken in love, is eve
lost. Above all the clamor of bigotry, and tn
m%onotous drawing routine, it goes sounding or
forever.
Yours, for Truth and Freedom ,wheresoever the,
may lead l.. MARIA CHILD.