Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1858-10-01
From the philadelphia Evening Argus.
THE RELIGION OF MR. JEFFER.
SON

THE RELIGION OF MIR. JEFFER-
SON.
We hope the evil custom of prosecuting
and prescribing men ON account Of their
religions faith, or their want Of it, will
speedily go out Of fashion. Our belief
does not depend upon our will it is not
voluntary mater it is founded upon
evidence and is addressed to our reason
and Judgment, and is not therefore mat
ter OF choice. depending upon our fee
agency and who'll under our CONTROL
EO persecute n man for his opinions i
therefore unreasonable, cruel. aud absurd.
1t he believes wrong enlighten him-du
not hang or burn him for what he cam
not help If his opinions are erroneous.
he is to be piticd not pcrsecuted
The great error in all discussions in
regard to the personal reli5 ion of indivil~
uals. says the Cincinnati Times. is the
tendency to Judge of mans faith by the
adherence he may profess to certain dog
mas and sectarnn GurnulAri;es of doc
trine. This is always a fruitful sourse Of
error and misapprehen>irn Experience
cOnVlnces us that a mans inner, deep.
and vital religious sentiments and spirit
ual emotions have very little to do with
external nbServanCPS and technical pro-
LESSONS. and adherence to prescribed
form OF words. OF q thouand men that
experience on occasion, the same occasion
we Will suppose, IL sense OF alteration to-
ward tie Supreme Geing sorrow for per
son"l imrcrfrc:ionS, aspirations after ho-
illness ard trae lie, no Eve will exactly
a%rce on strict points OF doctrine. or be
n Il, 81, u,
views and pecUiilririps Of faith are acCu-
ralely and reasonably founded l, is the
Saddrst mistake 'lat has ever been made
IN ttso rn~~v .,IMw~v ~ul oppre.Sivt. at
,empts to which the mimi Of man has
been subjected. in the hai clss and pre-
poSterOus endenvor 10 establish 81 uni iur-
NIFTY OF thought, "nd universal concur
renee of religious ductrincS-it has been
the sad!cst mistake. we say. to imagine
that personal Convictions and private
julgnlents could be constrained and
moulded anil made after an artificial and
uniform pattern.
No man can be religious on compulSion;
and no compulsory or prospective Scn'i~
mcnts of religious nature are worth n
straw to any individual. If they are gen
uine and experimental. spontaneous and
original. they are ofno value. This false
and narrow Judgment of which the world
has so long been guilty is the mother o
bgotry and persecution. and leads to all
manner of Misrepresentation and injustice
in estimating the religious opinions and
Christian standing of others. 1t is very
Presumptuous to say, it is very shallow to
think, that mans pietv and Christian
principles may be measured by rules and
systems that his attainments in rcligi
Gus lite may be graded with reference tc
the creed he protesses or the sect to which
he attaches himself. 1t is very superb
cial and trivial evidence Of the reality and
cleHrness Of ones religious faith and de,
vo,ional practices that he belongs to the
Catholic Church. or that he is Metho
dist or Unitarian. Names and special
attachments. ana advcntilious inclinations
ofthis sort. are of very little consequence
The loudest professor may be the mercst
hypocrite the most Jealous couformist
is apt to be that most unchIiStian and alb
surd of all creatures. u doctrinal big"t
and he whose piety is most accepted oi
his God may be the humblest and the
most unpretending and non protesting o.
them all,
We have been led in.o this train OF
thought by perusing the revelations af,
turded, in Mr.. Rlndal's Life oi Jefferson.
OF the tone of this eminent statesman :
religious sentiments and the reality and
warmth ot his personal piety. Mr. Jeffrr
son has been much misunderstood and
perseVeringly miSrcprcsented in this
point, as appears by his own writings
and the record we now have of his inner
life and daily walk and conversation.-
The Bible was his companion, and to it
he resorted Systematically and conf lentlv
for consolation in aff1iction. and instruc-
tion in hours Of doubt and inquiry "
Among oher testimony OF this fact, Mr..
Randall mentions that
+.ENrly in 1914. in answer to a letter
from Mr.. Samuel Greenhow. who applied
toshim for aid to Bible Society. and who
stated to him that there were families in
Virginia destitute of the Bible. Mr.. Jrffer.
son expressed his surprise at the latter
assertion. but presuming that the Society
mad evidence of the fact he enclosed a
draft OF hfty dollars to his cores spondent,
sincerely agreeing with him that there
never was more sublime system of IN
rality delivered to man than is to be found
iu the four Evangelists
A clergyman who had conversation
with him one day on miscellaneous sub
lects, said afterwards; to friend. that he
regarded Mr.. Jefferson as neither an
atheist nor an irreligieus man, adding
that man of juster sentiments he had
never met with. He said of himself in a