Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-03-05
SECrARIAN .sCRUB RACE"

Inc "ConVeDtlon 10 put LDe CnrlSuan
Religion into the Federal Constitution"
does not challenge the admiration Of the
New York Tribune, which says: "To very
large lsi:y the demand Of this convention
sounds much as If the board of health were
to insist on a constitutional warrant for
breathing the air, or "a constitutional obi
CATION to observe the laws of the body"
And the New York Journal of Commerce
expresses the opinion that the movement
IN behalf of religious amendment to
the Constitution does not enlist the sym
paJbes Of any considerable part Of the Chris
tan public. That paper says 1t is oP-
posed by religious journals Of various sects,
and that few elergymen of commanding in-
fuence sustain It. At the msetipg Of the
National Convention il New Yclk on the
26,h ult., called to promote the Objec', Rev.
Drs. McIlvaine and Tying were almost the
only gentlemen present Of marked ability
and wide reputation. This fact moves the
Journal Of Commerce TO say that If this
undertaking responded to the wishes Of
Christians ofthe several denominations--ifit
were really a crusade against irreligion and
immorality-Cooper Institute would not
be large enough to hold the
eminent diVines who would gather
there to battle for it. As this
is TIE ninth annual convention ofthn kind,
and is a failure in respect Of the average
power of its promoters, we fairly assume
that it does not represent the wishes of the
great body of Christian sects in the United
States.
In e,diDg, once year, the printed re-
ports Of these conventions, we cannot help
thinking, says the Journal Of Commerce,
how different a face the question would
wear if some particular class of Christians,
sly the Catholics, had begun this work
The Catholics, if they had thought of it in
season. and been disposed to do it, might
have been the pioneers in asking the
adoption of some vague, comprehensive,
religious amendment. Had they
done 50, we are quite sure that
the Protestant clergymen foremost
in supporting the present movement,
would have fought against it. The amend
ment asked by the Catholics might be as
general in its terms rs that advocated by
these conventions. The Catholics might
have disavoWed, as streuuously as these
conventions do, the design ''to Cypress any
individual conscience, or to effect any union
Of church and State" But would their
disclaimers have been accepted? Would
not great numbers of Professionals Instantly
have taken the alarm, and rallied to defend
the national charter against the possible
dangers of such an amendment? We know
well enough that they would have done so.
And the very men who assembled at Coop
er Institute in New York to agitate for an
amendment, would be the first to utter in
dignant protests against ii; and it is
quite probable that the most eloquent and
earnest voices there raised would have been
those of Drs. Tying and McIlvaine. We
should hear much about "Jesuit machina-
lions" and "CaLholic domination" and
should be solemnly warned against "giving
an inch" aud 10 beware of the entering
WEDGE" and so forth. Had the Catholics
originated this amen lment the Protestants
would all be exhorted to stand by the Con-
sitution as il is, and their pulpit orators
and editors would never tire of prsising the
foresight Of those calm, wise men who laid
tie broad principles of religious liberty ard
equality, deep and ineradicable, we trust,
at the very base of our institutions. But
the Catholics do not demand any religious
amendment to tle Constitution. Should
the proposed amendment carry, however,
it would then be entirely in order for the
Catholics, or for any otker sect, to amend
again, and boldly. The barrier once broken
down, it will be scrub race among the
conflicting sects to see which will get pos
session of the government. Nothing is SO
directly calculated to stimulate tie Cathos
lice to incorporate State with (their) church
SIS the challenge thrown out by a few Pro-
testant representatives at these annual con-
ventions. 1t matters not how cautiously
the gentlemen engaged in this movement
may word their resolutions, so as 10 ex-