New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-08-09

and Won think that in doing his you have overturned
the oThodoI doctrine Of :o;a depIsy'y where's goa
have Only laid .be foundation Of that doctrine. Wi:h-
ont spch a creation, man could cave hs3 no moral
nature to be deprsved and could 10; have deprsved -
Horses who have no moral natures nor moral discern
ment canno. be morally deprsved. TO be de,
prsved,' according 70 Webster, II 70 be " made os1
Il or wore: yi.is.ed tainted corrupted" How IL i.
with mankind l. no. his description theirs Have
they preserved the moral image ard character OF God
Or have they becoue vitia.ed, tainted, corrupted !!
We wan. no theories sbou. il. What are the facts
Whence the dram shops, the slave auctions Whence
the prosl.veTy priests and politicians and tDeJ sop
porters Like people, ike priest. Yon say Man is
inerciful and loviDg~ Wherel In America Look
at the crushed slave and a. the bsIo. box for the
answer Look a. q world in festers. " Bat the rel-
pions. you will cay, are corrupt" AND VIA, ere
mems religions bat themselves What business have
You TO demand radical reforms, If man s no. radically
wrong, You do believe total deprsvity. You cannot
help believing IT, Among the moe. terrible preschers
OF Total dsprav,y in onT day, are Phillips Parker,
and Garrison. Little behind them, at times is Gent
Smith In this very discourse you say, Vsln Is the
earthly existence Of man, unless he shall be born again.
Why "born again" unless the man, spiritually, be
totally dead II alive, why not nurse him up,
instead of seeking for him new life You cay, also,
that "the masses of men are only the ruins OF men,
Speaking Of certain crimes you ,sy they are crimes,
"not Of, but against human nature" and that tnese
crimes express the perversiOns of nature not nanre
itself" Orthodox, again, if you mean-ss you must
nature, as God made it. But what is pervers'on
Of nature" but corruption, faint, & depravity OF
ns.ure1 OF such q nature, thus tainted, ,hus de-
BE- any new birth, or heavenly land" for it, why
should we not truthfnlly sing
.s . %os ssn a a:' I sslS by
O. nv dea. Sir! The question is not whether M.
mspity Is not in "ruins -self-destroyed, You and
know II is. Every earnest reformer knows it. The
only ueson-snd the question preached by your dis.
course-is, by what power and BY what processes, II
apv sbsn humanity be reclaimed This is the ques.
ton at issue between BY yourself the issue, and
our position in respect to IT, are stated distinctly as
will appear, soon
OF THE THEOLOGIES AND THE REFORMS.
You have not only assumed that those who differ
with you in theology have Of course, abjared reason
Won 20 further and claim That their theology must
first Be displaced by yours, before there can De sub.
santial and successful reform. Hsd you said this OF
the hypocritica Pro-Savery and Pro,Rum religion of
the country whether calling itsei hoeis sa h or
"Word of God or by Mature and Reason, 1
should make no demur against your statement. B9t
this is not your language nor your meaning. ~ Is
what you call "the soul-dark sning, s0ulshrlVelDg,
" and soul-enssving religion of auhorlty'-its the
" belef in revelation by boOk"-it is the belief IN
total depravity'-it is what you call these art
" fetal fanciful, and insane religions this "eoom-
enable conventional and book Iehgion =" religions
q" altogether alien and revolving to human nature
religions that have impudently and lyngly asserted
their superiority to human nature"it is the arti-
" fetal religions that prevail over the earth It ID
the degrading submission to the doctrine OF total de-
prayity-n one word, it is the religion OF !" ortho'
dow" which you say "makes God infinitely more
malignant and cruel than the most malignant and
cruel men"-this it lis that you tell us must give
place" to your Religion of Nature and Reason" be-
fore "Polygamy autobiography, War, Slavery,
&C., can be overthrown. For, hence" you say
d. e., from the religion that teaches total deprav,
itv') comes "false morality, base spirit and duarfed
manhood" and "hence it is explained that many
worthy people admit that even el Slavery is nght'
And 80 you make your appeal, as follows: =.
Friend Of Temperance, friend OF Peace frlend OF
" Freedom work against Intoxicating Drinks, and
" War and Slavery-but fatter yourself with no hope
religion has been supplaned by the Religion of Ma
ture. Seeker of reform in politics the current reh
" gion blocks up your way also"
This is frank and explicit. Believers in orthodoxy"
and in the revelation OF religion by book tne
precious Bible that most eloquent defender, next to
d" Mature, of both Divine and human rights as you
"joyfuly see it to be- when welded by such mighty
Of God as Ge 1aet
c eyes C nov himself that mighty man Of Cod
must give up his mghtiest weapon) or their abors in
the cause Of Temperance, Peace and Freedom can pe
neither extensive nor permanent" Neither ny
moral, religious political eXertion, can they DC
crowned with success. They may as well be spared
from the ranks of reformers and stand aside, to be
" supplanted" by the rehgiomsts OF the hengion %
nature" who, alone, competent to the task.
II reormers OF my theological views hal taken sucn
position in respect to reformers holding your 1t would
have been called unreasonable, bgoted uncharitso
and narrow But, coming from the theological SCHOOL
of "liberaty and charity" that embraces AL en-
Gebteped and broad minded men, must accept 1t,
suppose, as exemphfcation OF the religion OF
reason;" though the ratiociston with It's results
"puzzles my common sense This may be because
have not vet learned to solve all possible problems
only o ''' ~ ,
must needs revise, too, my historical impressions
and "reminiscences before can get ont OF the puz-
zle." must conclude that the Towards, the FIeys,
the Sharpes the Claiksons the Wberforces, the Yves
eys the Edwardses, the Hopkinses, the Stieses the
Jaws, were all converts TO your Religion OF Reason
believing nothing the authority OF the precious
"Bible that most eloquent defender next to nature
&c: that they all repudiated the soul whitening
doctrines Of original sin, depravty, eternal PUNISH
mept the atonement, &C; and perhaps doubted tneii
own future existence Or else must conclude tnst
their lsbors were of no permanent or extensive
value. ... E
the falseness of the current religion you hnd IN ITS ia
ure 70 secure the condemnation and hanging OF the
murderer of Philip Barton Key portion OF the
"relisious press favoring his acquitta and none OF
"them advocating his conviction = How am 10 un-
derstand this (! Do You mean to say thai II was tne
soulwi,herng' religion Of orthodoxy that, for forty
wears past had been manufacturing ecclesiastical cap
s ont of its opposition to the death penalty Tor muir
der haunting it's rival with preaching the gospel OF
the gauows stigmatizing the Cross OF Atonement as
the Fgreat central gallows of the universe, boastng
1--WE shall explode total deprsvity and hell, by sbol-
ishipg the gallows" and instigating popular camor
against every legal conviction and execution, az
public murder 7 Was it orthodoxy" that, by doing
this, prevented the hanging Of the murderer Hsd
he been convicted and hung through orthodox intiu.
ence would the customary execratiOn'o OF orthodoxy
for its "ssnguinary bsrbarty have been wanting
AS reformer You deplore the corruption OF morals,
the alarming rroads of awessness the decline oil inc
sni,;t of liberty. As theologan, you hail the pro-
gress of your Religion of Reason You say
z Christendom has now become Philosophical and