The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1860-02-09


proofs of, as wei; as safeguards 10, Write
Do any claim that this Law is not a proof
of decline IN morality7 That on the
contrary divorce ought to have been grant
ed on the eighteen different grounds /?
The law is never made before the crime
specified in it is known, ard the fact that
each year some new clause is added to
make it easier to obtain divorce, shows
beyond doubt, that formerly these various
acts were unknown. Certainly then there
il dreadful decline in characer-l8 t.
l, in only i years. Shocking. Horrible
The 4" Fugitive Slave bill, Missouri
Compromise" aud Maine Liquor law, "
have more or less agitated this entire
country, Or various portions of it, l do
not intend here to discuss their justice or
injustice, constitutionality or unconstitu-
tivnality, or even their expediency, but l
do say that if just and expedieut, they
ought not to have met with the opposi-
ton they did if unjust and inexpedient
that opposition ought to continue. Either
way they show a decline of integrity and
virtue But it is urged on the opposite
/ side that religious infdelity used formerly
to abound. while Christianity has now
shamed it away, besides filing our land
with benevolent institutions for the re-
lief Of the distressed that it has also mul-
tiplicd the institutions Of learning and re.
fined society All this they cxclaim is
an improvement upon the past ! do not
deny these things are so ] do not draw
from them the same inferences. Suppose
infdelity used 10 be more openly avowcd.
This showed Some thought and vieor
none can be openly an inGdel without
some study. And to acknowledge it is to
challenge discussion. Now inGdeity is
equally prevalent, but disguised under
the various forms of Free love, ;" "Pan-
T tbeism," and all the isws Of the day.
Besides there Is practical unbelief even
I in the professors Of Christianity ten thou
sand times worse than the bhndest inf
deity or the most rabid atheism. This
appears in the strong church and weak
christian spirit so prevalent in the nation.
/ 1t is seen in the disposition Of every body
to have a church at their own door; TO
hire minister and never pay him; to
dismiss lin if he happens to speak one
word of truth in a sermon to make re-
ligion consist in soft seats, flexible con
rscieuces, creeds and forms, pomp and dis
play, while every virtue of the heart IS
ignored. This appears in the professors
turning the beggar hungry and naked
from his door, and giving SlU0 for the
povertv-stricken Inhabitants Of the Fee
ice islands. 1t is seen in church mem
bers reviling church members behind
their back, and protesting the utmost es-
TEEN before their face. This is n3 false
statement. 1t can be seen evrry day not
a stones throw from this spot. When
one thinks of these things, of the hollow
ness aud rottenness Of society, of the
/ lmeanness and hypocrisy of even church
meubers, 1t Is some consolation to know
that the time IS coming when all this
mask viii be stripped off, whea every
one will appear in his true character, and
one almost wishes it could be immediate
". that he might see the shame and con-
fusion with which these hypocrites would
sneak off and try to hide themselves.
So much for the boasted Improvement
in religion. As to the benevolent insti-
tutions, who founded them Who sus-
tain them Why generally some heart
/ less, soulIess old miser, who has spent his
/ life in grinding dewn and expressing the
poor, who has amassed a fortune by " keep
ing back the hire of the laborers," and
who wished to erect a monument to per
petuate his memory. Such were Ne
Donaugh, Girard and also Trowbridge Of
( this city. One can now see in yonder
/ cemetery a towering granite, raised in his
/ praise Do you not hear, as you pass
along the streets, the voice Of the poor
execrating his name? Such generally
are the founders Of these institutions.
There are, hewcyer, few honorable ex-
ceptions, Just enough to prove the rule.
Such an exception is the founder of the
Cooper Institute In neighboung city, a
noble soul who has not retained his mon
ey WITH 2 sordld grasp, until deatH snatch
ed it from his clutch. He has chosen to
use it himself for useful purpose; to be
the dispenser of his own bounty, and not
leave it for prey to lawyers, for bone
Of endless contention. But really the
! necessity for such institutions is proof
Of want Of generosity and benevolenoe.
Nearly all who enjoy their benefit have
relatives, either parents or children, broth
. ers or sisters, friends or connections, who
can, should, and unless destitute Of afec-
tion, would support them.
/ The very existence then of benevolent
institution shows decline in virtue, a
want Of beneyolerce; when many now
have to put their generosity together to
make it equal that of siugle individuals