New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-02-08
VIVID BsEoHsR ON THE OBSERVER
sHARp's RIFLES AS A MORAL AGENT.
P,c. ras TaSsp<<SsnL

fa1fytsosH+
III. A.. york OJ,errer il in distress Of mind on &C.
.orn, AZ some remarks which we made upon the eff-
cscv Of sharps riaes II quotes the abstract oil me
Eeesing Post, and gives US It's OPINION 'ne'eup'l.
Nc give the readers Of The Isdepesdent the whole
article AZ il stands in The ObseTver'
RIFLES BEFORE BIBLES. ,-.,..
,uhlic meeting held in his church 20 promote
70 E,nsss the Rev Henry Ward Beeeher Tsde ,ae
r.ma-k. a, we End them in the report oil Inc ~
He believed tia, the sharp rife was ruy s,al s
-. ,ors moral power Of those instruments
- he Of eoneerned than IN
Bible: iSo nsn, en-. rbS follow Aiehon and sriHsfsllow
but they supreme respect for NE logo but
- xop aSdre. /, 10 them has efeestheIe Is no .on
science there. Though he was peace man e % tbos
EswFpSlspd men 20 them Ia such issues uhae .H
reunsances he decidedly in favor q sue S w.
ss General Scott had said It was dirlculs 70 &C. .ae
Fnsspd men into quarrel but when they are 49, a.
have the their sides they are the usie'' ~
~orS the time when in the church, the Sans
nns o. he Argument TO which bs,t to resort
That Inconsistent as then apPee1 80 -, ~ ~
.srrilisiou, Language Of the extract inside shove
% ssd mach is to be excused ground Of dosy1esey
~ % r.e new word iAosn-crezness OF otne DAY We
cannot fnd in the pecuaiie. Of genius or the inhte o. h
any adequate apology such rampant spPei 70
che boodiest passions CT hshtns men oy
he excitement Of occasion over ard the calm OF
rejection and com nunion with the spiritual comes on vac
et WHO nus @ Of tbess instruients OF death has
moral power the cause he = pleading ga.
snd earesy God to give him grace TO become les
sau culinary whom he ~osid convert " 'uA
S b world !. already TOO fend Of ae. and
AZ. Of no. sme, re.orns 10 them But when h.t time
comes II " not yet be the duty OF Goas people 70
owsrs, 5eprsyed or abandoned The Bible God. wort
adapted Of all times and chimes 'aa or 81, reSorer
nil. the Bible quick and powerful and sharper nan sly W
go he sprt and Of the joints and and d-efns'
OF tie thoughts and intents Of the heart
"such sword Is better than me
rpop the whole. we think The O6errer has improved
in it's tone toward us since we last had the necessity a
upon us of reading its personal remarks But we 90
not exactly understand the ground OF us present
criticism.
1. the doctrine of personal physical selfdefense
wrong Is il wrong for community to defend Itself
h., force AGAINST force Is it this what The O6sercer
means
Or If physical resistance to physical violence ia
robt does il mean that the people of Kansas had no
inst occasion of alarm, and reason fer arms Or,
.upposiug they had is The OJserrer of opinion that
sha,ps rifles were not a proper weapon Or, Is the
ofeuse only this, that clergyman should encourage
and praise those wise men for doing their duty cour-
ac,ously when wickedly attacked Or, IL il only the
comparison made between the efficiency OF SharpS
iaes and the Bible when employed to beat OF drunken
vagabonds! c., ,,u, ,,a,
for many DAYS threatened with assault and destruction
by lawless band of marauders who, In morals, cnar'
acter and purpose plainly nothing different rom
so many pirates on the sea- bandits upon the lanu
To attempt to restrain such only by appeal to
their Justice 10 their respect for human rghs 70 the
conrcience-men rsked together from the perileus OF
a frontier Slave State, drugged with whisky, ana
bounded on by brokendOwn and desperate politicians
to neglect proper means of defense, to refuse arms
and iutrenchments and TO trust goods, dwellings and
life to such frenzied Of unmitiga ed scoundres,
would have been little short OF absolute madness
But these very do understand the force OF
courage; of frmness; of the spectacle OF armed
citizens who will calmly defend their rights With such
force as may be necessary for their preservation.
We praised them for their wisdom and their courage.
We praise them again. Their stand was noble, and
sanitary to the country. II was worthy OF New
England and OF that New England ancestry which,
amid wars and revolutions built those foundations on
which The O5serrer stands to revie their descendants
for worthy imitation of their fathers traits And we
said that in the circumstances in which the men OF
Lawrence were placed, the knowledge that they had
of Sharps rhes, and were determined TO use them'
would produce more sautary impression upon vaga'
bond politicians and work more efficiently for peace,
than all the moral suason in the world Since the
world began moral suasion Las always been the better
for a little something to stand on Honesty IL very
good thing but laws courts and officers help very
much the exercise of that moral grace. Humanity
is very excellent. But among men given to assault
give potency to abstract humanity. switch over
the door enables tie rarept to address himself t? the
reason of his child with greater success than II no
switches grew or were used And we are not sure
whether the day of switches not made too short IL
careless or constituencies Editors who more eager
to make sharp hit than TO inquire after the truth,
knew that they would be taken by some venerable
and competent man into retired room and soundly
whipped, we have strong suspicion that it would
produce more sautary moral impressions upon them
than reading the Bible seems now to do,
The Bible is book Of moral truths. In that sphere
where moral truths proper il stands before all
other instruments But moral influences ore not de-
signed nor adapted to every work which needs to be
done. In engineering, in husbandry, in navigation,
there are powers which mightier in these sphere.
than Bible. Where timber is to be felled and hewn,
an ak is better than Bible Nor is it deracting
from the merit Of the Books TO say 80. Ii child u
learning its figures, an Arithmetic is better than
Bible. At sea, for purposes OF navigation book OF
logarithms is better than Bible. Or would the
erentia editor OF The Observer tell the sailor, bewild-
cred by storms and now about to take observation
in the FIRST bright day, by looking at the and using
a sextart or quadrant that the Bible aud the sun OF
righteousness would be far better for finding his lati
tude and longitude This would not be a whit
more absurd than the pous sentence in The Obserrer
about the sword Of the Spirit being better for the de-
Tense of Lawrence against armed Missouans than -
any rihel
fthe walls of The O6,errer Office were tumbLnz
down. would the editor be shocked to hear his
chanc say that brick and mortar were better than
Bibles for repairing them7 In times Of not in
city, will not the knowledge that a company of sol
diers s marching down upon them, with Mayor Wood
at their head, have salutary moral effect upon
them than to know that the editor of TIE ~ I. Ob.
seTrer coming to read them some chapters out OF
the Bible If thieves and burglars are to be morally
reformed the Bible is the fountain Of right influence.
But while thief picking your pocket or burglar
is pryiDg open your door, would you trea, him to
Bible or a police officer