The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1859-11-25
The Religious View OF Republican
HerOisms

The Religious View OF Republican
IIeroism.
The Independent, political religious
weekly paper published in the city Of New
York, and which, from the high character
and eminent abilities of its editorial man.
ayers, yields powerful Influence, both in
politics and religion, comes to US this week
with leading editorial article, entitled
"JoHN BROWN as a Hero" As one phase
of Republican Heroism, eminating from a
source of such high authority, we regard it
as worthy of notice, and give our readers
the following extracts, which contain the
gist and poiLt of the whole article:
The brave old man who lies in prison at
Charlestown, Virginia, awaiting the day of his
execution, is teaching this nation lessons of
heroism, of faith and of duty, which will
awaken its sluggish moral sense, and the al
most forgotten memories Of the heroes of the
pared by Algernon Sydney for the scaffold,
which was preserved in duplicate by friend
to teach posterity the essential rights of man,
and from which Jefferson borrowed much of
the thought and phrase of the Declaration of
Independence, the brief address of Brown to
the Virginia Court abont to sentence him for
improved crimes-whch at the worst were acts
of devotion to freedom and humanity--will out
live that sentence, and in the opinion Of man.
kind will make Brown the Judge and the
| Court the criminal.
| No man can study the demeanor OF Brown du-
ring his trial, and read his. final speech. to the
court. without feeling that with all his errors
of judgment. and his fatal mistake in the mode
| of his attack upon slavery, this fOrlOrn old man
is exhibiting a type of herosm which the
world has hardly seen since Cromwell and
Sydney shook tyrants with terror. Calm, self
| consistent, courteous towards his accusers and
| his judge, benignant in feeling towards all men,
mild and patient under personal injury, yet in.
flexibly committed to the cause of human free
dom, undaunted by the presence OF death, des-
psing every subterfuge and expedient for his
own deliverance, conscious of the purity OF his
motive, and the essential righteousness of his
object, faithful in God as his trust, he stands
not only brave man in community Of
towards, but a moral hero and prophet in
the presence of nation of :" sophists, econo.
| mists and calcuatOrs."
If we carefully analyse the action in the light
| of the heros character and motive, we shall
find that the criminal loses itself in the err
ratio that the sheer impracticability of the
| scheme is the TeG! ground for its cOndemna-
ton !; and that the ethical wrong in the case,
| lay in the grave and palpable prudential error
of imperiling life and society in the attempt to
achieve impossibilites.
And again
Virginians forget that slavery involves a
| permanent state of war between the conquer
ors and the conquered. Hostilities may be
long suspended, but are liable at any moment
to be renewed. John Brown, the crusader,
made war upon Virginia in the interest of the
weaker of the two hostile powers upon her
soil. He failed of course ; but the wrong Of
his act lies neither in the motive that prompted
ed it. nor in the object at which he aimed
the emancipation Of the captives-but in at
tempt ng what was desperately hopeless, and,
Mer. fore, unwarrantable.
Coming from one of the leading poltico-
religious organs of the Republican party,
in this country, and having been endorsed
in various ways by all the religious politi-
clans and not few of their secular organs,
who would seem in this respect fast becom-
ing rellgiousy inclined, it may not inaptly
be styled the Religious View Of Republican
Heroism. Itclearly teaches that the action
of JOHN BROWN would have entitled him
to the highest earthly fame, had his design
upon the citizens Of Virginia been feasible
and capable of successful execution-that
it was only wanting in the element of sue
cess, to have immortalized him, in the men,
cries of all Christian generations to come,
"as moral hero and prophet in the pres
ence Of nation of sophists, economists and
calculators." And it clearly follows from
this religious Interpretation of Republican
Heroism, that it has become the highest
duty of Republicans to unite their forces
and proceed to the slave States in solid
column, and, without any unnecessary delay,
for the same purpose JOHN BROWN did,
only with that additional element, the lack
of which failed to make JOHN BROWN SUBJ
lime; and that element they will be pretty
sure to have if their piety in this respect
don't meet with some speedy checks. 1t
cannot be doubted that this view of repub-
lcan heroism has been spreading with fear
full rapidity since WIN. H. SEWARD gave it
currency under the name and style of the
"lrrepresslble Conflict" 10 TACT the tone
of the entire Republican press Of the coun-
try clearly indicates warm sympathy with
this religious view and while they teach
the people this same doctrine by their inu-
endoes against Virginia, concerning the
Harper's Ferry affair, and continually imply
in their general conduct, their admiration Of
JOHN BRowN's heroism in the matter, they
still protest that it was not feasible ope
ration, and not the true way to rid the
country Of the curse of slavery. We will
endeavor to show tomorrow to what class
of heroes these protestants belong.
| "a Poor Miserable Vessel.''
The Rev. GEORGE B. CHEEvER, pastor of