The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1873-11-06
ENFIDELTTY NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
RADICAETsW.

There has lately been held in the city Of
New York meeting Of an association,
called ''The Free Religious Association, y
devoted to what its members designate as
free religion. It was held in the large hall
Of the Cooper Union, which the Tribune
says was ''two-thirds filed with an audi
ence Of a high order Of intelligence" The
meeting was presided over by Mr.. Charles
storrs, Of Brooklyn, and the Rev. @ o. B.
rockingham made very long address on
the occasion. We have read the Tri5uz6s
report Of this speech and must confess our
selves somewhat startled by its revelations.
We were aware that infdelity had pro-
gressed to an alarming extent in the North
ern States, but we had no idea Of the bold
ness and audacity with which it is being
avowed and inculcated. Free religion, ac-
cording to Mr.. rockingham, is no religion
at all, so far as the Bible is concerned. It
is purely a religion of nature, without any
Bible or Saviour or God of the universe. It
is, as this Reverend infdel explained it,
the religion of science. We give an extract
from his closing remarks, on the first
day. Speaking Of his faith, he says:
''The result will be a gospel of
kindness, a religion Of humanity, natural
philanthropy, social reform, social science,
the deifcation of charity, the worship Of
culture, reports instead of liturgies, politics
instead of prayersr' The bcnediction, which
followed this extraordinary sermon of the
Rev Frnthinnllana---.-.-- .--l---Pfsr Win MS
faith. It was Il bid you good evening. -
And we say, ''Good night to Marmon, y
and the Rev. Infdel o. B. rockingham.
But this gentleman was not alone in his
glory of trying to overturn nearly nineteen
hundred years Of Christianity. There were
other reverend gentlemen, so-called, who
were present, or who wrote letters approx
ing the object of the meeting. There was
the Rev. Dr. Gannet, of Boston, the Rev.
VIM. j. Potter, of New Bedford, tho Rev.
]. w. Chadwick, of Brooklyn, and many
literary celebrities, such as James Parton,
Henry w. Blackwell, Francis E. Abbott,
Professor E. l.. Youmans and Col Thomas
Wentworth Higginson, all of whose produc-
tions our Southern youth are reading in the
Northern magazines. T. is well enough, we
think, for them to be informed what sort of
literature they are encouraging. There
were also letters read from Charles
Bradlaugh, the English Radical, now
in this country, and from Gerrit Smith
of old abolition memory, Judge Hoadly,
of Cincinnati, William Lloyd Garrison,
and even old Peter Coooer himself. On the
third and last day of this remarkable con-
vention of reverend and literary infdels,
Mr.. rockingham made a good deal Of fun
out of the great revival which took place
some years ago in Boston and the irrever-
ened Chadwick said that ''God created the
heavens and earth and there was an end of
it, except a very few times he had to inter
fere and try to mend in some way the great
world machine, which had not somehow
gone satisfactorily These free religious
jokers seem to have had a jolly time AS
usual on such gatherings at the North, there
were some seml-women present., who read
essays and made speeches, Mrs. A. B. Black
well and Mrs. Mary f. Davis among the
number The Rev. w. ]. Potter, as evi-
dence of the progress Of the free religion
among the churches, said. that in his own
society at New Bedford, the ordinances of
baptism and the communion had been dis
continued. AS rockingham began the IN
fdel exercises of the convention, so he ended
them by asserting, that ''the widest dream
cherished to-day, was the dream Of the
Christian Church, and the most audncious
dreamer was Jesus of Nazareth" ''How
long, o Lord, how long" Every one of
these impious infdels are Radicals Of the
deepest dye.