The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-10-21

has in matters she does understand. What d.
you think she said to me the very night befor.
| / left home to cone here +? That she woulc
rather should be killed BY than kill any o.
these haranguing Yankee clod hoppers. And
she widow, and / her only son, aud the tear
streaming down her poor old face at the time
at such rate that couldn't bear to see her
What do you think of that, yourself?"
There spoke the Christian Spartan-ths
Spartan matron, for che preferred your honol
to your hfe-the Christian, for che preferred
your loyalty to Christ to either. She would
rather have your body spotted with your owl
blood, Though believe it would kill her, Char
ley, for must tell you that her anxiety abou
you is preying upon her constitution seriously,
than your soul with the blood of your neighbor
The one stain would last little longer than The
other. She is less near,sighted than most PEG
pie, and can see beyond the grave; that is all.
Well, one of you is as bad as The other. Bu
after all, Herman, there's more than one flaw
in your reasoning, that should have picked
before, if could have got a chance. Religion
has nothing TO do with these worldly matters, a,
have often told her."
"What has it to do with US, then, while we are
in the world?"
You know as we'll as 1. 1t teaches us thai
we must pray -
Zone way, and live another ~
"And read our Bibles -
And not obey them?"
Sour Bibles say, Render unto Caesar the
things that are CB sar's -
And unto God the things that are Gods;
but nowhere, render yourself unto Ce, ar, if
recollect right. Our master is Christ. BE bids
us, upon our allegiance, do good and no wrong
to our neighbor. If we think we can, while in
mt init Inc
honored service besides his, we may do 80 I'M.
blamed but we do so at our peril, for the mo.
ment the second service conflicts with the e rst
we must abandon the second or be traitors
Loyalty hrst, lucre afterwards. Merit first, ap-
plause afterwards. Christ first, Caesar after
wards You understand, trust, all this time,
that am not maintaining that Christianity
calls upon rs for an armed resistance to un-
righteousness. For passive resistance, it does
call upon us continually. If there ia a genuine
hero on earth, In my judgment, it is an indie
pendent man, who, when driven to the wall by
some unholy custom or law, breaks it by his
action, and mends it by bis suffering. He is a
Daniel in the palace of Nebuchadnezzsr. He
serves God peaceably in spite of the King, and
takes the consequences. Uhfinchingly he goes
into the lions den, and brings out of it liberty
OF conscience heuceforward, not merely for him.
SELF, but for his more timid brethren. The doc.
trine OF individual responsibility and allegiance
TO God Is the very corner stone of religion. As
long as allegiance and responsibility to man are
allowed to take its place, it will be difficult to
Ind anything too bad for good men to do.
Christianity is the leaven which creeps through
the meal not all at once, but par icle by particle,
until the whole is leavened. Its work upon So
ciety, under God, must be done, if at all like
that OF it's founder, by individual action and
individual suffering. 1t is scarcely possible for
any individual in the midst of fallen race to
stand upright towards God, without doing some
thing BY the very act to raise those above him,
ana taking some weight off those below him
we ore all of US by our own low standard of
loyalty, helping to keep each other down."
These fnespun considerations may be all
very we'll for ministers, martyrs, and profess ed
followers of Christ; but flaw the second is
that you continually talk of snsSay atty and ellie:
glance to him, when / have never promised
him any, and never will, till m prepared,
consistently, honorably, and in all respects, to
fulfil my engagements, whatever they may bind
me to. am not a member of the church, my
dear Arden Did you think that | was 2"
I'm certain way. Isupposed that you had
been baptized into it,"
"Of course when was baby but that
was no affair of NINE"
You we're entered in the church then, be
fore you entered the army. SO far, the church
would seem to have the prior claim to you, not
to speak of your being Gods by creation.
will say nothing of your being Christ's by re-
demPiion, because do not know whether you
will or will not choose to accept the terms on
which that is offered you. But if the claims
OF the church and those of the army upon you
conflict, which do you mean to abide by? As
you say, don't think your being bapt zsd by
Others binds you in honor, though it may some.
what in gratitude"
There's no use in talking. | cannot, at
present, give up my profession"
IF you are not ready at any moment, at
any cost, to give up anything in order to follow
Christ, go into the church, Marshall, to whose
altar your mother carried you in her arms.
TO when its members are all assembled to vel
come some other child into its fold. Go not
IN bravado, but in sober sadness Dip your
hand into the font before them all, and say,
with this hand | wash from my brow that
| sign which you laid upon it, but which it has
proved unworthy to wear. A follower of Christ
l cannot be- My sandals are not strong enough
| TO follow his bare and bleeding feet through
low and thorny ways and he who is not with
HIM IS against him. A hypocrite / will not be-
1t L range myself ON Satan's side, at least il
shall be under no false colors' You could not
do it, Marshall. An unchrisiian man you think
you can make up your mind to be; but an un
| christened one you would not Yet Christ said
not, he who merely does not deny me before
men, will confess before my Father who is
in heaven; but he who confesses me before
men, We dispute Christ's claims upon us
we would not consent to cast from us a 1.-THE
of our claims upon him yet what is baptism
but an empty form-a desecrated form-if the
spirit be not washed, but only the body2 1t il
so with US all. We cling to the Christ with
oHe hand, and we push away the Cross with
the other. We would have his wages--not hi,
work. We take our stand on this world with
both feet, and lay hold on the threshold o
heavens gate with just so many unwilling fin
gers only as we think may enable US to vaul,
IN when we feel that at last the slippery earth il
rolling from underneath US, ard that we mus
go Somewhere elsa desperate and disgrace
iui game to play. You cannot make up you
mind to be altogether Satan's. Be altogethe
GODS, then, for integrity's, and loyaltys, ant
honor's sake St. Paul bids us. BE not con
formed to this world, but be ye transformed b,
the renewing of your minds > a task hare
enough for most of US to achieve in the tim,
gwen us to do itin, yet not, it would seem, hare
enough to satisfy our ambition; for we most O
Us choose harder, saying to ourselves, b
conformed to this world, but be ye TRANSFORMED
BY the renewing of your minds; and in tn,
selfcontradictory endeavor to accomplish this
we spend our strength and life in vain, succeed
ing only in the first half of it. No; this worlt
is not yet conformed to Christianity, nor car
we yet be transformed by Christianity, Will
conforming ourselves to the world. 1t ia ,
lees unchristian world than it was, thanks Il
the saints of eighteen centuries, who have live.
and died to make it 40 but its every nm w;ll;n,