The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1864-02-29
Krtrnluno Qispattb.


MoNDAf MORNING. FEHRtIAEv 90 ,as,
"A Esaab'ished kslisiou.
The order Of the military comma maudant OF
No"o'k expeliing from the pulpits Of the
churches all clergymen who do not bow the
Knee to the Federal BAal, aud recurring tha.
their places shall be supplied by supple tools
q the Yankee dynasty, whom the congrega.
lions are to be made to support, gives US
slight foretaste OF what we have to expect
should the Confoderacy be cverrun hy Its
merciiess invaders. 1t is not only our prop
er;y that is to be taken, it is not only our
hves that areto be sacrificed, but when the
heart, overburdened with the woes Of earth
would turn for hope anl consolation to
Heaven, it's to be denied that only refuge
Of poor humanity which never before has
the rnostinfamous and accursed of human
fsrsnta denied.
Tie pulpits of the South have been here
tofore occupied by a body of clergymen who
would compare favorably in talents, Ia purity
Of private life, and In devotion to their sa-
cred calling, with any in the world. We
speak not Of any one denomination. The
remark is true of all There has been rs
much zeal and as little fanaticism among
the Southern clergy as among the clergy Of
any land under the sun. They have ncycr
been infected with The thousand is,ss v hicl,
have swept like whirlwind over Puritan
New England, and yet, whilst New England
ana The North are almost submerged by inf
delity, such has been the intelligent devotion
OF the Southern Clergy to their duties. and
such the Influence OF their virtuous exam
pie, that the number of commandments in
the South is larger ia proportion to the
population than that of any other country,
and tie n'Iuber even Of negroes introduced
INTO the Christian church larger than the
Whole number of converts in heathen lands
made by all the foreign missions of Protts-
tant Chiistcndom together And it is sucl,
men who are to he driven from their pulpits
aud separated from their tlocks; who are to
be torn from those whom they had tauuht
troin Infancy the truths Of the Christian re
ligion; whom they had united in marriage.
and the dust of whose Kindred they had
given to the grave, and who had dried the
tears OF bereavement and aiiiicti On with
words OF hnman sympathy and heavenly
comfort. These veneratei teachers. c0un-
seilors, and friends are 20 be torn from eur
embrace, aud their places to be supplied by
howiing abolition deryishes, imported from
the hotbcd of New England fanaticis,a TO
below forth religion without either faith
Or works, gospel without charity or love
and morality which recognizes no crime
but slavery.
But the Lord OF Heaven dwelleth not
alone in temples made by hands When
these temples are converted into Pagan
shfines, when another Gospel is preached
in them than that which more than eighteen
centuries have broueht down to this ss.r,-1
eraiion, we may be compelled 10 meet for
religious worship in woods and caves, but
we shall still have access TO Him whose
presence fills Heaven and earth, and who is
a just and righteous God. If aught We're
needed to fire our hearts and nerve our arms
in this holy struggle for civil and religious
liberty, it is found in that crowning act of
despotism which has been inaugurated in
the churches in Norfolk, and which is des-
tined to become universal in the South as
soon as our enemies have succeeded In their
plans of conquest. Let US see who will first
report this lighting the fires of religious
prosecutions; this effort to plant upon the
soil Of free country the rack, the thumb
screw, and the etake by the sons of those
Pilgrims who pretended to come to America
for freedom t, worship God" If We mis-
take not the character of the Confederate
people, if indeed they have any Of the feel
ines common TO mankind, this last device of
despotism will rouse to superhuman and
might the burning heart Of the