Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1865-05-22
Thr nauIoii IournaI.

We are aware Of the unpopulafity Of
those doctrines amongst large class Of
professors as a rule Of Praeiiee. They
seem to do very well as a mere matter Of
theory, and to enable one class of people TO
arrogato to themselves a higher deglce of
morality than that Of their neighbors who
have not experienced,tlIe mysteries Of the
second birth. 1t is not difficult for snch
persons to persuade themselves that they
are doing Gods service by inflieting the
severest tortures upon those who have in
CURED the guilt of disagreeing with them.
The descendants Of the Puriians come by
this propensity very honestly, and as IL
would be the most objectionable sacrilege
now a.days to say that the Puritans ever
did OF thought anything that was not in
strict accordance with the Gospel we
will refrain from any comments upon the
treatment inflicted by those pious God
fearing people, upon those who thought
Iit no heinous sin to kiss their wives on
Sunday, or who believed in the diabolical
heresy Of quakerism. The Gospel of St.
Beecher is far morepopular just now than
the Gospel ias preached by ST. Paul
Without Beecherism, which is the most
popular style of modern American Chris
tianity how wretched and miserable this
country would have been We would
iprobably never have been made aware OF
the sinfulness Of slavery, and the misery
of the slaves if Mrs, Beecher Stowe had
not written the faithful and true history Of
Uncle Toms Oabin--and who can csti-
mate the kealthful aud coneiliating inhu-
ences Of her illustrious brothers. sermons
uponthe happy termination of the Kansas
trouble, and the beautiful episode of the
John Brown raid 1ow aa4l8A
The sin of slavery has been treated with
degree of forbearance and tenderness
highly characteristic of the Beecher phase
of christianity. st. Paul taught slaves to
be obedient to their masters. ST. Beecher
taught them to cut their throats. Christ
admonished his followers to judge not that
} they be not judged, and that when they
saw mote in their brothers eye, that
they should be intent first upon taking the
beam out of their own before attempting
to remove the mote from their brothers.
Beecherism taught its followers that they
were the salt of the earth--the light of the
world, and that it was their mission to
saltthe balance Of mankind. They were
to refuse in the first place TO break bread at
the same communion table with the slave
holders-then by degrees to prevent them
from breaking bread among themselves
finally to root out the gigantic evil by de-
stroyipg the property and the lives oi all
who had been even in any way connected
with it. .., ... .. ...4... ...s..-.
1t is not our province we admit to COM
mend the observance Of christian precepts
to those who are in authority. We are
free to admit that those gentlemen who
have devoted years Of their lives to the
study of the christian theology in those
celebrated institutions where it is supposed
to be thoroughly understood, and who
have been preaching it so industriously
against slavery for many years past, and
who now insist upon killing captured
rebels with ropes instead OF bullets, in
order to "make treason more thoroughly
odious," may be far better theologiGns
than we are and better entitled to give
advice. Still we may be pardoned for
Expressing the unlearned, it may be, and
perhaps heretical opinion, that mercy and
forgiveness was one of the lessons that
\ Christ came upon earth to teach man
kind, "Do as yeu wish to be done by"
is simple rule-easily comprehended.
We are not aware. that Christ placed any
restrictions upon it, although his modern
followers may be able to suggest many.
When the woman was taken in adultery
and elamorous mob assembled to stone
Iher to death, Christ said. "let him that is
without guilt cast the first stOne," and it
certainly was not, in the estimation of our
modern rebel-bating christians, very
good way to make adultery odiOus, when
he told her simply, to ego and sin no