The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-03-20


who left Mt dollar nor soldi r, and scarce
~ slip, to oppos, and rcsstit.
Whit the effect Of this important move
ment may have on the country, it is
impossible now to determine we can only
say that we have the most unlimited conf.
dsnce, that III taking thi step, the President,
his Cabinet, their mil tary advisers, Gen.
Sc 1T and others, have done what, under the
ci:cu!n lance, was wisest and best.
~.
Something is perhaps due to Mr.. McElroy
in reference to the subject Of his c1nmuni-
cation Of last week. ...... ....... ..
In our notice of the school exhibition, on.
terms o! commendation were general, while
tie things that we censureds;we were very
careful to specify, abiding TO no one by
name, aiming at the offense alone, and spar
ing, or 'pardoning' ifyou please, the offender.
We censured the bringing ,forward of a
fcurilous article ''as the fruit oflitcrary train
ing surprising at the time, as the public
have since lcarnedsfrcni Mr.McElroy himself.
that it was smusgled in, and thatits reading
was Therefore mn offense TO less against the
school and its teachers than an insult TO the
audience
Mr. McElroy, in stating to the public that
the article to which we alluded, as well MS
some other items 10 which we did not allude,
were ''added to the paper at late date, and
after all the other performances were submit
ted for review" comedies a responsibility
due to the common sense humankind, whether
verscd in such matters or net, and which no
public journal has the power to create or
destroy -..
The other item Of consure, wasan ATTEMPT
tojustiiy slavery from the Bibl,. This, rs
argument, is by no means youthful 1t is
fairly hoary both from its antiquity and its
iniquity, and when presented, never failsto
produce chuckle as malignant on the part
ofthose who hate the Bible, as it * s:lv
on the part Of taoSe who love slavery.
Ifa school boy were to undertake to de,
fend drunkenness or polyea:ny from the
bible, would he deserve 10 rcbuke And
yet, for the latter Of these vices defense
may be made from patliarchal authority,
much more plausible than any from the
same source, in favor of that fran Of chattcl
slavery that still curses a portion of our
common country, but IN IRE deeply dishonors
those who volunteer in its defence without
even the excuse that they have any pccunia-
ry interest involved in it.
No crime is more effectually prevented
both by legislative enactment and public
sentiment, in eighteen States Of our Union,
embracing about two third Of cur freemen,
than the buying and selling of men, women
and children. The foreign trade, that is,
buying Of the hcathen," is piracy by the
unanimous consent Of the civilized world.
Arc we wong then as a public journal, in
eaut;oning young men, or even those who
are oder, against attempting to derive from
the Bible teachings, which if reduced to
practice, will render them liable to be hung
as cozimon pirates?
Slavery is most obviously something else
than nltrc question Of political policy
Less than year ago it succeeded in destroy
ing tho last of two great political parties,
WHICH had divided between them the empire
OF government for more than quarter of a
century, AMI is now engaged in the aniable
work ofattempting to overthrow the govern,
ment itself. 1t mocks alike at the sanctity
of the State, the school, the church or even
the social circle, and forces on us tie ques
ton whether the word ereryaohere or nouhere
expresses the place to which it properly
belongs