Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1869-08-11
THE CONSTITUTION AND RE-
LEGION.

6&S&Ns eI
There has long been o respectable
aud intelligent portion of u citizens
dissatisfied, because in the Constitution
Of the United States there is no ac-
acknowledgement of God in express Ian.
guage, and that the only allusion in it
to the Saviour Of mankind is found in
the words :: the year of our Lord"
which are. embodied in its date /; and
they have been taking measures by
public meetings and 10 various other
ways to SO influence public opinion
that by an amendment to tho Constitu-
ton these so-called defects may be
remedisd. 1t is eighty-two years since
the Constitution was adopted. The
progress of the country under it has
been onward, and at this moment its
position commands the respect of the
world. It is the most attractive point
on the face Of the earth. Multitudes
are flowing into it, and every day adds
to tho conviction, that if there is q
land favored above all others by the
Creator and Ruler Of the world, it is
this. To US who enjoy the iuestimable
privileges secured by the Constitution,
ought there not to be in these results
the evidence of its source7 Is it need
full, when looking on the luscious fruit
as it hangs on a bending bough, that
there should be written on the trunk Of
the tree the name of Him who supplied
its nourishmonts? No more does it
seem to be allowable to proclaim that
the Constitution Of the United States,
which breathss throughout IL the pure
principles of Christianity, is defective
in reverence for the Father of all, be-
cause His mann is not recorded on its
face as the source of the wisdom which
framed it.
The name Of George Washington SUBJ
scribed to it is an assurance that in the
convention among the great men asso-
ciated with him in framing it, there was
no insensibility Of their dependence on
the Creator who had endowed them
with the inalienable rights Of life,
Liberty and the pursuit Of happiness"
to secure the blessings of which the
Constitution was ordained and estab-
lished. Nor does it seem to us that any
one who studies it can be in doubt that
the very end of it was to secure per-
m~anently all that q Christian values as
his own birthright, and that which his
religion teaches him that others are
entitled to enjoy equally with himself.
A form Of government was created by
it to promote the general welfare. The
source of power was declared by it to
be in the people. Their personal rights
are secured, and the free exercise Of re-
ligion guaranteed. No such persecu-
ton can arise under it rs drove Penn
and the Puritaus and tho H~ugueuots
and Catholics alike to our shores. In
deed, it is full of principles, which be-
ing developed, have already freed the
debtor from prison, burst the bonds Of
the slave, and given to every man equal
rights before the law. If there be any
thing more to secure to man greater
means for the promotion of his welfare,
and a reader way to a higher and purer
civilization than already exist, they
will be only q natural outgrowth Of that
venerated instrument. Under customs
Of the olden time, it was common to
overload public documents with ascrip-
tons to the Deity. They added no
force to their validity nor effect to their
observance. In our judgment, in the
spirit Of our Constitution is to be found
a true expression Of the veneration Of
its trainers for the God whom they
adored, and in whose fears their labors
were performed. The only way in
which we Of this day can give a
stronger expression to that spirit is in
our veneration for that great work by a
closer adherence to its principles, and
by lives consistent with the laws Of
that God by whom eur fathers were
inspired.