Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1863-01-22

the very passions by which they were un.
consciously inflamcd--they affected 70 re-
store the society by first destroying it,
and, thenceforward, not By the renewal
Of individual min Is according to Chris.
tianity, but by political reformations and
reconstructions, according to their own
speculative conceits. They aspred to a
millennium not of grace, but Of nature;
not spiritual by the power of the Holy
Ghost, but pIatonic, according to the i'm.
pulses and sentiments Of the natural mind.
They pnt feeling in the place Of consci.
ence. They substituted man cd for
Goldman; imaginary human rights for
the revealed human duties; and the hap.
piness of the creature for the glory of the
Creator--a happiness consisting not in a
spiritual likeness to God, as ne Scrip
turc has described, but in the multiplying
agreeable sensations, according to the
baptized p7ganism of Sophisticated
Schoolmcn. They referred to the irregn.
larties OF society, to restraints unnatur.
ally laid by the family, the State the
Church, for which they substituted a
more relinei free love, u self.determininp
will, and liberty to enjoy whatever g od
and nature had put into their hands
Such, at least, was the spirit and genius
Of the idolatry which, at length, embod.
led itself in the Abolitionism of the
North, developing itself, however, vari.
ousI y, according to the different tempera.
mcnts, tastes, mental and moral habits.
or the associations, aud other accidental
peculiarities of the individuals who fell
in its snare
Great errors do not obtain currency
and become effect, but as they are permit
ted to have reference to respectable au-
thority. Unhappily for the country, Alb.
oitlonists acquired that advantage. For
IT was an illusion that glared, at the same
time, upon the benevolent seekers and the
infatuated dreamers of common saliva
ton. and captivated, for a time, some
whom 1t could not absolutely seduce or
hopelessly destroy. 1t was SO as when,
under similar temptation in the mother
country, some such men as Edmund Burke
and Robert Hall were borne on the de-
ceitIul current of false opinions till the
roar of the tumbing cataract awoke them.
and they were hardly saved by springing
into the eddies, or clinging to the rocks.
Forgetlul of the lessons of history and
rev, lation, they were Slow to believe that
wisdom which boasted such great thing,
OF a superior light and heavenly chari-
ty, could be, after all, shallow and delu.
slve. They sympathized, generously or
bcnevolently, with afflicted humanity, and
the painted dreams of universal emanci-
patton which played before thor excited
iances, seem a realization of what be.
longs only to an age III the dark, unre-
vcaled futurity of Providence, to which
we have yet to pass amid scenes more
terrible than any of the antecelent revo.
lutions through which Jesus Christ ha,
been advancing to His throne of Judge.
ment and glory. So here; few like AT.
ans and Claiming, to say nothing OF dis
tinguished living men, by we know not
what secret political or philosophic bias,
what vein o! morbid sentiment, what
blurred ethical or theological vision, by
words whose meaning they did not meas.
ure, by reasonings inconsistent with
some of their acknowledged principles,
and unworthy of their intellect and their
fame, gave encouragement, if not patron
age to the dangerous idolatry.
Abolition became an institution organ
ic aud vtal-body and soul-a working
power, representative of new type Of
moral and social wisdom, improved,
philosophical, and des
tined to prevail. AS its gaudy sophistry
took its natural, popular effect, it assumed
to be arrogant, iasulting and cncroaching.
1t was envious of Gods appointed or
dels, the family, the State, the Church
and scrupIcd not to aSsail their blood.ce-
foundations 1t labelled the
Constitution as league with death and
a covenant with hell" 1t set up its con
ventionS, and sent abroad its agents. 1t
became subtle disputant, a cunning, in
novator,, daring reIormer, fiery agi.
tator, a vlrulent decaimer, malignant
aenouncrr, implacabIe prosecutor. Gain
ing confidence at its acquired ascendency
over the simple, the curious, the fearful,
he imaginative, the sentimental, the un-
disciplined, the passionate, it aspired to
popular control and revolutionary dis
lnction. But to that end it must become
'eligious. 1t was ready for the occasion. I
It taPpealed accordingly to the moral sense,
low jostled from its popularity. 1t ap-
'ealed to Scripture. now twisted by i'm.
proved versions, arbitrary criticism and
antastic commentaries, from its literal
lirect and scientific meanings, till it was
made as subservient and obscure as a
)elphic oracle-the very Scripture which
had before denounced as hostile to its
deas, or had disparaged as unworthy of
competition with its higher law 1t even
lothed itself in the robes of sancity and
,cpt its Sabbaths. 1t assumed control,
Xtensively, of the religious press. 1t as
ended the platform and the pulpit. 1t
gured at anniversaries. 1t dispensed,
a cdthefra, the oracle of the new divinity,
nd imprecated the wrath Of heaven upon
II who refuse lealty aud homage. To
he same end, also, it must be political -
affected the well being of the State. 1t
tudled intrigue and fnesse. 1t became
n expert. 1t mastered all the Chicane of
Tres, caucuses aud conventions. 1t cal.
nIated its forces. 1t disciplined its ranks.
found the balance OF power, and then
Old itself to the progressive party. The ,
rice was tie government ofhe coantry.-
he object was the dissolusion of the In. {
IN, and then the introduction of its New ,
eruSalem-a returning Messiah "a {