Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1865-12-23

Of ruin, and l confess that even now mn
mind is not satisfied that the ship Of State
is entirely off the lee. shore or safely moor.
cd. There is wildness in the political
heavens which to tho attentive observer
must appear portentous of evil in the fu-
ture and what makes it the more alarming
is that the immense mass of our people
are ignorant oil their chartered rights
How few Of the teeming millions Of this
nation ever carefully read or studied The
Constitution of the United States Do
you suppose that more than one in every
thousand has ever done so And yet this
grand instrument is the book of the peo-
ple-not by any means the exclusive prop
erty of the jutist, the lawer or the politi.
clan, but, | repeat it, the book of ihe peo-
PIE, made for them and By them, and for
mer special benefit and the man who
fails to make it the rule of his lille, as
citizen, is derelict of duty.
But let us now proceed to inquire into
what is our present condition, and whas
our future prospects and first Of all, l
shall view them as they stand related TO
the Bjb}e standard of Christian purity and
excellence. Let US 20 to the law aud to
the testimony. We read, Titus, Sd chap
l-3 verses "Put them in mind to be
subject to principalities and powers,to obey
magistrates, to be ready for every good
work-to speak evil of no man, to be no
brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness
unto all men-for VIC ourselves also were
sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving divers lusts and pleasures, living
in envy, and malice, hateful and hating
one another" | ask YOU whether this
nation as whole, nay. even that portion
of it who profess and call themselves
Christians, are living in the stale of mind
50 beautifully eoc,ibed by the Apostle in
the FIRST two verses which | have read, or
whether, alaS, the condition to which be
refers as beirg in the past With him is not
in the present with US Is it not an un-
deniable fact that, in many instances, even
the ministers Of religion have not the po.
litcnoss Of the pubicans spoken of by our
divine Master 10 st. Matt, 5th chapter,
verses 46-47 Is that the spirit of gen.
tleness, meekDess and tO,Geaya1ace which
tho Apostle, epjoins in his letter to Titus
Characteristic Of those who call the same
Lord, Master, and who declare publicly
by their own act and word bat henccforth
they vii! walk together according to His
commandment On the contrary, is not
the spirit of intolerance and persecution
rampant iD the land ? What does our
Lord say, John, 18th chap, 35th verse,
"By this sha! all men know that ye are
my disciples if 20 have love one to anoth
er." Remember what st. Paul tells us,
Love worketh no i'll to his neighbor-
Therefore love is the fulfilling Of the law.
By their fruits ye shall know them" Is
it true that NC, as Christian Church, are
carrying out the principles Of the good Sa
maritan ! We have, at this day, thrown
out upon the world some four millions Of
human begins who never before had any
care about the future, and what is being
done to render them comfortable or pro-
vide them with the means OF honest
honora le sef.support l knowledge
there is any quantity Of blatant oratory or
this subject, but Mut unfortunately neith-
er feeds, nor clothes, nor ahelters the mis-
erabie and unhappy creatures whose pres
ent condition, if we may believe one-hal
even OF what we are told in the public
prints, is horrible in the extreme. We
are told upon the best authority that thoy
are dying by the hundreds-yea, by tht
thousands. The public journals of tn
day Inform Us that hospitals and aims
houses are beng prepared for them
These are both new inve ntions SO far a
the negro is concerned, and never wer
needed for him before. Aud not only ar,
we told that their ply steal condition i
dcpIorablc, almost beyond description
but that the hot breath Of moral pestilene'
is sweeping over them like the srocco o
the desert. Moral disease, moral dealt
is worse than any temporal calamity. IL
rescue them from human servtude only
to leave them to the bondage Of Satin, i
poor compensation.
Therefore, hold it is the duty of thos
who took these people from their forme
condition and through whose agenc,
: they uow occupy theiI present one to pro-
vide ampiy for them especially that por'
tion of th4 American people whose aucas
. tors were chiefly concerned in brlngin
, them 10 these shore, aud whose children
. children are now living on the princ1l