North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1865-01-11
PREACHERS,
"By Their Fruits Ye shall know them


In the Republican of week or two since,
the editor Of that sheet delibeTHey and false
ly charged us with being preacher, Had
he not at the same time, int;mated that h c
too, belonged to that class, we should have set
down much in malice against him. AS il is we
wish to disabuse the public mind Of The i'm
preston that we have any afIiiation or sympa
thy with tha; tribe of ofhypocritrcaI mendl
canis to which he belongs. We propose to
test MIN and them by that ancient rule BY
their fruits We shall know them" In exam
ing these "'ruI,s," We shall coniine ourselves
to the very small porti. Of the ''moral vine
yard, in our immediate vcinlty. Not doubt
ing in the least, that other Portions of the
field will exhibit fruits equally poisonous and
baneful,
twenty three years ago, two men, calling
themselves preachers, made frequent visits to
our quiet little village, aud engaged in preach
Ing tho doctrines Of aboitionism. Their
meetings were attended by but few; The
greater portion of them, young persons, drawn
thence, by idle curiosity Not SO with Ira
Avery, he was a acorShipper at this shrine
and drank in the words of treason. scdlton
and hate which iell from the lips of these
apostles of aboIitionism, as the thirsty tray
eler drinks at the cool bubbIing fountain at
the way side. 1t was there he received the
inspiration, which has made him through
ell his subsequent life up to this time, IA
flAtlC and Spdltioujst Tb,sa ~
their doctrines were abhorcd By the great
mass Of the people of both political parties.
The prophetic words o a Washington and
jackson. warning them against the invidu-
Gus "misrepreseDt tatiOns, which would pro
duce jeslonsies, heart burnings and aliena
tions between those who ought to be bound
together by fraternal affection " still rang in
their ears and stIfed the voice of treason and
sedltlen. Not so, with Ira Avery. He took
these preachers and their internal doctrines
to his bosom. He feasted fed and sustained
them; be encouraged and aided the prosecu.
ton 1f some young men who it was alIedgcd
had disturbed their meetings. 1t may be
thought strange that these men should have
preached the doctrines of abolitionism in this
town. We had slavery here: (an,css
the siav ish alteration with which these
preachers and their ebony idol was locked
upon by Ira Avery and ona or TWO Others.
may e'caIled 'slavery.) What fruits then
were produced by their labors? After the
lapse or nearly quarter OF = century we are
reap'ng the bitter fruits Of the teachings Of
Post. Melvin and their faithful convert and
Disciple, in war, bloodshcd, tears, stamp dn,
ties, prescriptions and Violations OF our most
sscfed rights. Ira Avery rcaps his reward
nthf shape Of 81 day as a Government
tax assessor. One of these original preach
ers' T Sb0litionisn, Pos,, turned out to
bea notorious rascal and public defaulter.-
Ths'cther Melvin. i.as been hopalessly insane
for years. 10 Ira Avery, their pupil is as m
eane as the one and as far as his capacity
allows, as srascally as the o;her-"By their
fruits re shall know them"
we now come to txamine the traits of
more recent T'laborer in the vineyard" One
who is the great exemplar, the model man. |
for all the small fry OF preachers and presid
jHgciders now days, who awake or asleep. |
in The pulpi: and out oft have floating in
their fevered brains, visions Of fat pekings in |
the State Senate or in the halls of Congress. |
The success, of this man has turned the
heads ofal,the h,tle would-be Landon's in
The country. From preaching the gospel, !
they have gone aralghtway into preaching
Pohues, Though, compared with those of
whom we havejust been speaking, he caIue
inat "eleventh hour" he received his renrv
sis0' Kenny, did We say2 The Pennsyl-