The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-11-20

INTENsS ALARM AND EXCITEMENT IN VIRGr-
MA. The panic which seized upon the people
Of Harper's Ferry when John Brown and his
Armory seems to be on the increase and 10 be
spreading throughout the entire State. Our
Richmond correspondent In letter which we
publish elsewhere, describes the excitement Of
the people as surprising all comprehension,
and as producing condition of bewiiderment
Ridiculous rnmors are spread from mouth to
mouth, and eagerly swallowed and believed in,
Of there being another abeiitionist incursion on
foot, with the design Of seizing upon some; of
the leading citizens Of the border counties and
holding them as hostages for Old Browns
safety. The consequence is that the citizens
are arming and enrolling themselves in volun-
teer companies, and are, In fact, preparing for
civil war. The fact ofsoms accidental burning
Of . corn stack is msgaias& into visions of
armed hoses carrying nre and sword into the
Ola Dominiea; and straiehtwsy, on the tele-
graphic requisitioa of some thoroughly scared
commander, the whole available military force
of the State Is put in movement and its
march only stopped when it is ascertained that
nothing terrible has occurred, or is likely to
occur, and that the visions Of burning home
steads and slaughtered families were evoked
by chance spark from the pipe of careless
negro, or the segar Of a rollicking militia
man.
We regret to see evidences Of such panic
on the part OF the people Of Virginia. If Col.
Davis and his command were withdrawn from
Charlestown we believe that Brown and his fell
low-prisoners would be perfectly safe from any
attempts at rescue on the part of Northern
aboiitionists- The only apprehension for their
safety would come from an entirely different
quarter. All these ridiculous stories about
contemplated rescues, and incursions to seize
hostages, and incendiary bands encamped on
the mountains, are the silliest bugbears, and
ought not to frighten party Of four year-old
children. Let the people of Virginia, strong
in their own consciousness of strength, pay no
heed to the imaginary fears Of few thorough
iy scared militia men, but rely on their own
ability to repel all lawless invasions, and at
the same time feel double security in the power
of the federal government and in the patriot
ism and good sense of the people of the North.
The SUNDAY FASAT1CIsM IN A NEW PHASE
The Presby teriaus the strictest and most stiff.
necked sect of Christians, the followers of
John Knox, have taken up arms against Sun
day funerals. The Presbyteries Of Baltimore,
Philadelphia and Donegal have passed strong
resolutions on the subject, and call on the
clergy to counsel their people to resist, by
circumstances presented to the Legislature,
any attempt to repeal existing Sunday laws.
But there Is movement oA Sc. Of a more
singular and daring nature, and which is Of the
same stripe with the antislavery fanaticism
which threatens the overthrow Of the Union by
civil war. An account Of this movement will
be found in a letter in another column, from
which it appears that it is now found out by
the fanatics that the constitution of the United
States. and nearly all the State constitutions,
are against them, and that they are resolved to
have the federal and State constitutions
changed, so as to meet their views, and enable
them to pass strong penal laws to enforce their
gloomy Sunday observances on the whole COM
munity, and to carry out number Of other
tyrannies too numerous for detail.
This is portentous sign of the times. Such
is the audacity of these men that they
coolly declare that those who do not like the
proposed change in the constitution must leave
the country. They talk of bringing it about
and maintaining it, if necessary, by force of
arms. Such is the peril in which civil and reli-
gious liberty is involved by a rampant fanati-
cism, which menaces our institutions with
destruction and meditates the restoration in the
New World Of the times of the Roundheads
This evil springs directly from the federation
and encouragement given to the anti-slavery
agitation for the last twenty years in the North;
for there is only one step between interfering
with the rights and institutions Of distant
States and the overthrow of civil and religious
liberty in our own-between the despotism
which would compel other communities to
adopt our political views, and that which would
coerce our neighbors ia our own community to
swallow, under pains and penalties, the bitter
pills and draughts Of religious dogmatism
in which they do not believe. The effect
Of the tyranny of Sunday laws in London
has been to disgust the population with
religious services. In recent sermon
by Dr. Cumming Of that city, it was
stated that more people went out of London
every Sabbath, on excursions of pleasure, than
were found in all the churches and chapels of
the city, and that out Of the population of
three millions there were only 10000 commu-
nicants in the churches Of all evangelical de-
nominations. 1t is the same in New York.
More of the people cannot go on Sunday ex-
cursions Of pleasure than go to church, for
they are effectually barred, but it may be
safely said that for every one who attends di-
vine service five stay at home. The London
ers at present have the advantage over u.s. for
they both gain health and strannth md "a 4ha