Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-01-21
II elan of Violence in this CIty-SermOn by
Rev. M. ID, Conway.

Reian of Violence in this City-SermOn by
Rev. NJ. ID, Conway.
Rev. NJ. D. Conway preached on the subject
: of the reign of violence in this city to a
crowded house on yesterday. His text was
from Gal. vi, Is: "Neither circumcision
availeth any thing nor uncircumcision, but a
new creature u in connection with | Sam'l.
XVI, %: "And it came to pass that when
the evil spirit from God was upon SAUL that
David took harp and played with his hand
so Saul was refreshed and was well, and the
evil spirit departed from him" These two
passages were the assertion of a principle
and its illustration.
We see in our Western life, for character
we have not yet formed, a great King Saul
among all other people. He is q head and
shoulders above others; the flower of the
people. He is no traditional monarch, chosen
| by priests and aristocrats from their own
| line and for their own purposes; but born
| King of the people-he goes forth to seek his
| fathers asses and finds kingdom. So above
| the old parchment, powers and paper-nobili-
| ties of the world this Western World rises
the Giant King. But Saul with all his great
ness and strength is full of a wild and way
| ward passion which porvortS that strength
and costs him his crown. He is the symbol
| of subversive power, of inharmonious great
! ness, as he sleeps in his tent with the javelin
beside him. One day he will learn from the
soft strains of David's harp that there is a
peaceful power more potent than the javelin.
The present state Of Western society is one in
| which violence reigns it reigns in the crimes
and in the treatment of the crimes. The outlaw
takes to the javeIn and the law replies with
the iavelin. McHugh flies at his wife's
throat and on Friday next the law flies at his
throat. We have had lately lesson in the
history of the dark deed which laid low two
of our officers. 1t was very sad to have two
men engaged in the discharge of their duty
thus cut down blythe hand of violence. But
this was not the saddest part of the event.
When we get more civilized we shall be no
more furious at such deeds than at the deadly
streak of lightning. The Phenicians used to
shoot arrows at thunder clouds. The saddest
thing about the deed wa the readiness with
which the usual guardians OfNlaw and order
flew to violence as the reply to crime, and
were only restrained by the hope held out that
the law would be as vindictiye as the mob |
Is society," then, an Ogre, that can only be
satisfied with blood2 Revenge puts the err
mine on and calls itself justice.
]. Pauls speaking of "the new creature"
implies an "old creature" as the source Of
the evil and vioences. The youngest per-
son is not less than 10000, 600 years old. Our
every passion used to crawl and snarl in
perennial swsmps and marshes. This is the
told serpent in us. Mans heart has been
called a l'cage of mclean birds" it is some
thing to have the wild forces of nature Gagged;
otherwise they can not be tamed. Every
passion means power, if we only had the
harp whose music could win it from evil to
good. How much good steam did men allow
to escape before they knew how to harness il
to thecar of progress2 Out Of 5000 men OF
Napoleon's army at Eylau, 80, 900 were taken
from dungeons. He knew that house break
. ing and manslaughter were as powerful as
they were perverted; he strung them as
sinews in the arm of war. We could string
them in better arm. Some hope was TO be
derived from the fact that the majority o.
crimes in this city were rather of the bold
daring sort, instead of the mean and pecu
lating sort. In 1860 the crimes against per
! sons were about 1880, full of risk to the vii
lains; the selfish crimes-against property
were no, and most Of these nsbler thar
swindling. Yet evil broods on and sway
p the magnificent Saul. Where is Dayidi
harp2
Paul says neither circumcision nor uncir
I cumcision availeth any thing. Dogmas will
I not do. Most Of our criminals are church
Z members ! once ministered in Peniten
: tiary near Boston, and they impressed me a
y very pious indeed, so much so, that if an,
I of them had whistled song on Sunday,
n would have been as much as his life wa
o worth, almost. We have, it seems abOu
!, two millions in this city in church property
Does IL make new creature OF any-Douy
: The Church has not made itself new erea
! ture. Jesus said "Love your enemies" tn
4 Minister who preached at the watchmen'
n funeral, said to the excited crowd, "Strangl
n your enemieslp That is we'll enough for tn
!: old creatures it is good Choctaw doctrine
l. This is great city for sending mi:
sionaries to Boorioboola- Cha. But W
have as many human sacrifices her
as in King Dahomey's dominion-King Ba
, Whisky, King Worse Whisky, Kings Hun
p ger and Cold, have their blood-stained dc
ininions and affairs around us. Old Parse
Miles, when very aged, announced at tn
close of sermon that he intended, durin
the week, to go on a mission TO the heather
One of the deaeons, in great agitation, e1
claimed, "Why, my dear sir, you never tol
US word of this what shall we do r "Ol
brother" said the parsOn, II don't expect
= leave town" OF all stupdities or hypocr
!. sizes ever preserved in an age Of commo
u sense, this Of leaving our own heathenisl
u for that of foreign lands is worst and meanes
q There was time when people believed thi
laEE unless Christ were offered the heathens the
s, would suffer eternal torments then mission
TO aries were noble and great and did not wa
= for weather to 60 forth; but now no sane ma
!, believes that men will be damned for not b
N lieyiDg a religion they never heard of an
missions have be come huge, expensiyeshar
= On the canal, in this city, between broadws
!. and Miami Depot, there is enough Of As
y. Minor, and Africa and the South Sea ISLAM