The Cadiz Democratic sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1854-1864, 1860-03-14
From the Herald and Era.
Inquiry Answered.

n&eu lact 10, ludt SlaHSiy ~ "H
our own country, recognized by its Constitution
and protected by its laws. We hold 1t to be
the bounden duty of the Christian to yield obe-
denee to the laws Of his country; or, in case
he cannot do 50 in good conscience, to submit
to the penalty without murmuring or complaint
If we do not like the constitution or the laws
of the country, we may labor by peaceful and
constitutional means, to procure their altera-
ton or repeal; and, falling in that, if the burden
becomes intolerable, we may leave the country,
or in the last resort, raise the standard OF rev.
olution. But all these pertain to US as citizens,
and are matters to be discussed in the arena OF
politics. They do not belong to the pulpit or
to the religious press, because the kingdom of
Christ "is not OF this world" aud his mission
was moral and spi' itual; not temporal or politi-
cal. So then, while slavery is interviewer in
the texture of the political fabric under which
we live, whatever we may do as citizens, in the
pulpit or the religious press, we do not feel
bound either to assail or defend it.
Such are the sentiments that we have from
time to time expressed in the columns of the
Herald, and they were embodied at some length
in sermon published few weeks since, under
the title of DUTY to God and the State" For
some reasons, we knw not what, that sermon
seems to have created mo small str'' in certain
quarters; and we have been assailed with a
shower Of missiles in the form of letters and
Al u,;4h ortioInc yl-o1 oud
underscored, coming from the East, the North
and the Northwest, their heat being generally
in inverse ration to the cold Of the climate from
which they emanate. What we note as lit
tie amusing is that they are, for the most part
stamped with "broad seals" having devices in
rdicative of the sentiments Of the author or SEN
dor of the document. AS, Tor instance, here is
one with wax impression, attached to news
paper, having in the center, a well defined fig
ure (in rele() ofa runaway negro, in full flight,
with the words, "Am not a brother and a
man." encircng him Whore he is going we
do not know. Probably 10 an Underground
Railroad, or some other machine, invented to
enable good Christian people to violate the laws
of the country with impuuity. OF all the mis-
sives that have come to US on this topic, save a
goodly number of expressions Of satisfaction at
the positions assumed in the sermon, the fol-
lowing from the pen OF Rev. j. Whitney, is
about the only candid ard moderate thing we
have seen. We give it to oblige friend, whom
we have known for more than quarter ola cen
fury, and especially because, in private note,
he expresses an earnest desire to know low we
will meet his argument. 1t must be under
stood, however, that with this the controversy
ends. Our course is marked out, and the path
of duty to US is plain. The Tier aid is nota po-
litcal, but a religious journal. While it i'll
cudes cheerful obedience to the laws Of the
religious press from the discussion OF exciting
political questions, it will not stulhfy itself by
rushing into the "vexed question" OF slavery,
the most exciting Of them all Let all letter
writers and paper senders or this topic govern
themselves accordingly, and save their labor,
ink, paper and postage by seeking some other
medium OF access to the public. They cannot
obtain that access through the columns of the
Herald. We depart from our rule only in the
case of Br. Whitney because of personal con-
siderations, and because Of his apparent candor
and sincerity, and reply to HIM only so far as
the question of the propriety or improperly Of
discussing these matters in the pulpit is con-
cerned. Here is his letter;
To Dr. WILLIAMsoN-D Broher:-As
your paper is not an inquSitorial one, may be
permitted | trust, to question the validity o
your recent discourse on the proper sphere o
the Christian pulpit, drawn from the words o
Christ to the Pharisees "Render therefore unto
Cesar the things that are Caesars, and unto
God the things that are Gods" In the expo.
stion of your suhject--if understand you
the patry affair Of political taxation is unms-
takably connected with the moral question o.
human freedom, but | see not by what method
of argument you have brought them into the
same category. | understand the matter of tax
alton to be susceptible Of political action, and
also to be necessity of every civil government
while the great moral question Of human free
dom--as ! understand its one that towers
above all human organizations aud above all po-
ltical legislation. Taxation and personal free
dom are not Of the same category. | was glad
to see one so we'll qualified stepping forward to
set us all right if we were not right, in our du-
ties TO God and the State, but regret that you
could not have found it in your way to point
out the full and radical difference between polit.
ical and moral topics Of conversation and dis
course. The right Of every man to his own
person, is moral right, because God alone has
the power to bestow it; human governments
may be instituted to protect this right but nev.
er to take it from US. Ii | am right in this
position, we may readily understand how an in
diyidual can faithfully discharge his dutg to tn
Slater and at the same time render unto God
the things that are his by aboring firmly but
lovingly for the delverance of his children from
n much greater oppression than that which was
imposed upon the Jewish people by the Roman
power, or by the American Colonies by the Bri-
tish Crown 1t seems to me that the minister
of Christ may seek in vain 'or moral question
to discourse upon if he cannot find it in that
which is dearer than our very existence and
positively the highest of Gods gifts to man.
1t is all llimportant that we understand our du
ty to God and the State. As followers OF Christ
and children Of the Infinite Father, can we full
ly discharge our obligations for the blessings we
enjoy, without loving and serving our fellow
men! 1t appears to me that the Christian pull
pit should speak out upon this subject and thai
it should aim in melting tenderness and love to
reach the American heart with this sublime
truth, that we have all but one Father and arc
all brethren; that but one blood is flowing ii
the races of men, and but one life is animating
the soul OF Gods Intelligent Universe.
"When," as you affirm, "the boisterous pas
sions are reused and men forget their brother
hood" it is not, believe, because their mora
nature has been outraged, but because Of SOM