Weekly national intelligencer., 1864-03-31

ent poicy, anu extendS ltS cOnquestS not 80 muoi
by the inculcaton Of its principles by the powe
Of the sword, and the difference between the reli
gion Of Christ and Of the False Prophet is marked
by this feature Of their respective systems dis
tinctively as by any other peculiar to- each.
And yet such is the predominance Of the physi
cal over the Intellectual of the instincts of brute
force over the suggestions Of moral truth, that
tions protesting Christianity have been slow to
learn the efficacy of spiritual forces as means Of
reform, and have been ever prompt t, exchange
the weapons of more ethereal temper for those
welded by the politician and the warrior. The
line that divides the political from the moral and
social world is not clearly perceived, or, if peEceiy
ed, is not respected in the fervor Of passion that
sometimes takes away the reason of whole peo
pie, There are today many who suppose themselves
to be "good Union men" who would not support
the war for an hour except as war against slave
ry. They openly avow the fact, and glory in post
poning the political objects of the war to is social
and moral aspects We have seen major gene
raj fatty refuse TO draw bis sword in defence Of
the Union unless this view of duty was 6rst'con-
eeded, and in the face of such contumacy he was
rewarded with high diplomatic honors by the Pre-
sident and Senate.
Now, we venture to affirm that any such theory
of action is equally unsound in policy and false in
ethics. And in this judgment we are sustained
by the most primary and fundamental principles
of both the political and moral world. They who
would "thsorize with bayonets and dogmatize in
blood" attempt the impossible if they hope by such
agencies to implant and fecundatc the principles
of philanthropy and freedom. They may destroy
the slave system for a time by the march Of our
armies, but they have not eradicated slavery from
its basis in the degraded condition of the slave
Is it said that the slave system must be trodden
down before this root of slavery can be extrpated
The reply is easy. War is not legitimate means
of social reform in the figure of the State and will
always prove more hindrance than help to the
true reformer and genuine philanthropist. War
becomes necessary and morally defensible only
when it is required to repel aggsessions supported
by physical force intruding on the just preroga-
tives of the State. Hence the war for the main
tenance of the Constitution and the enforcement
of the laws against the encroachments of an armed
sedition may be said to have been necessary and
morally defensible but it is necessary and morally
defensible only as it keeps within the sanctions
imposed by the Constitution and by the very ma
ture of civil society. War for the defence of law.
fu Government is authorized by Scripture and by
tae moral polity Of States. But war for the cor
rection Of social evils is an anomaly which does
equal violence 10 the sanctions of the Divine law
and to the right thinking of men as rational beings
We are not stating new propositions in ethics
or social science. The truths we PROFOUND are
admitted by all enlightened phianthropists. They
were inculcated by the wisdom and illustrated by
the eloquencc of Channipg Let us hear what
Senator Sumner has SO justly said of that great
before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard
University at their anniversary of August %,
1916:
In his defence Of the ibeyty of the African race he
alwsss invoked the great considerations of Justice and
humanity The argument OF economy, which is deemed
by minds the only argument pertinent 10 the subject
presented itself to him. The question of profit and
loss was absorbed that of eht and wrong His maxim
was Any thing but slavery poverty than slavery
colors Of reprobation, unbuman, unjust unchrsan
unworthy of age Of light and Of republic protesting
Freedom hrs gentle soul found word of harsbness for
those whom BIRTH education and custom have bred its
support be impacable towards wrong; but used
soft words towards wrong-doeTs He looked forward
the day when they too, encompassed by moral blockade
invisible TO the eye but potent than navies aud
under the influence of increasing Chrstsn light dused
from all the pations shrl with righteous msgnanmity
acknowledge the wrong and set their captves free.
Hereafter just and enlightened public opinion, re-
garding the euds and OF mapknd shall condemn both
sides wrong shall deem all fratricda and shall
see in every battlefield from which to avert the
from that dismal duel beneath the was
Of Grecan Thebes To hasten this condition of the pabc
mind phlanthropist bene6centy labored. Follow my
white plume, sad lhe chivarous monarch of France as
he plunged toto the thckes Of the vulgar fight Follow
the Right respendent than plume or oridamme,
was the watchw ord of Channiog With soul that knded
deed OF self sacrifice in righteous cause, his clear Chris
tan judgment the mockery Of WHAT'S called military
glory whether ancient thuBderbos Of war in the
career of modern conquest. He that the fairesg
flowers cannot bloom in n soil moIsened by human blood
He saw that to evil by bullets and bsyones
less great and glorious than to it by good He
saw that the courage Of the camp inferior to the
Christian ferttude Of patience, resgnson and forgive
ness of evas the spirit which scourged aud crucifed
the Saviour was less divine than that which murmured
Father forgive them, for they know not what they do
This reflects the true spirit of the Christian
rcformsr. 1t was under the influence Of such a
spirit that the evils of slavery melted away before
the progress Of the gospel in the Roman Empire.
Not by might, not by power, but by the spirit Of
Christianity, gradually infusing itself into the
of societv were the supports of slavery un-