The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-02-18
MAC.

Mn. EDITOR A friend has lust placed
in our handsa copy of last weeks Democrat,
in ii we find two articles relating 10 the
difficulty in the Fricdcns Lutheran
Church. Being interested in the ccelcsi-
astical and legal aspects Of this case. we
have read these articles with considerable
care, and with your consent shall now offer
a few reflections upon them. The first is
a short paragraph by the editor, anmad-
verting very severely on a certain writer
signing himself Justice, who, il seems,
took the liberty of calling into question the
correctness of Il report of the trial at Stoys-
town, which the editor himself made not
long ago. The author of this paragraph
is unusually vindictive lie calls Jus
tice" "a falsifier of the truth and an arrant
hypocritc into the bargain, and seems to
insinuate that nothing short ofa personal
rencounter can appcasc his wrath and sat.
isfy his wounded honor.
We procured a copy of the HERALD con
tanning the structures of Justice, TO see
what had been said by that parsonage 10
occasion such an overflow of editorial
bile To our great surprise we found
nothing whatever 10 justify gentCmaa'S
anger. Justice had simply stated a few
things as facts, and asked a few pertinent
questions 1t occurred 10 us Immediately
that, if the editor had been able to set
aside the facts and answer the questions,
he would not have fallen into such an un-
scemly passion; we are sorry for him.
but we fail to discover the misreprcsenta.
tions OF which he complains SO bitterly.
''Jnstice" says that the editor Of the DfLf-
ocrdt travelled twenty miles on 4 cold.
stormy day, over a very rough road. Is
not this fact lfso, where is the misrep-
reseniation Justice" also saws the ed
itOr of the Dem0ccrat went 10 act as rcpor-
ter for one side of the case. Is not this
true? IL SO, where is the personality
That IT as true we refer to the report itself
as evidence. The editor asserts that fapr.
feeR persons refused to pay the church
tax. Justice afiirms that more than
IRE times this number, indeed, much the
greater part of the church al Fridens rcille-
ed TO pay 1t. Does not every person ac-
quain,ed with the facts know that here
Justice is right and the editor wrong?
The latter stated in his report that the
plaintiffs counsel cited numerous auihori-
ties to prove that Art 1, Sec 3, of the Con
stitution of Pennsylvania, did not sustain
the defendants r their refusal topay. Jus
tice' begs TO have the, names of these au-
thoritieS. with volume and page, so that he
and other unlearned lawyers may know
what their duties are under this new de-
yclopment or extension of ecclesiastical
power, and why "A repentlng sinner by
joining Il church, iorteits his constitutional
rights. Arc such questions misrepreSenta-
tons and personalities which! They
,.r..t, sal l..
very sharpness, combined with the force
and skill with which they were pressed.
that made them penetrate the tender cuti-
Gle of the reporter and prick his iraic
soul
We repeat that y e are sorry for the gen
tlemanly editor of the Democrat, and he
himself is no doubt sorry by this time for
what he said IN his unfortunate paragraph.
He is entirely too sensitive in regard to
and is much too hastv 10
oyerturn the vessels OF his wrath or every
poor wight that prcsumcs TO ask plain
question. II is. we submit. far more in
accordance with Christian courtesy tot
answer such queries canddly, than TO call |
the asker a ''f;llsifier and arrant hypo- |
crite. Had we never seen the article of
Justice, we could have decided very |
easily who had the advantage in the con
troyersy. To illustrate, let us relate an |
anecdote. In the days of Luther, when |
religious disputes ran high between Prot !
estanis and Catholics, an uncducated man !
was in the habit of attending the debates |
among the Doctors of Theology, which in /
those times were carried on in Latin. Some
one said TO him, Why do you go? YOU /
cannot understand what is said Ah, /
but | know who gets beat. he repietl. /
Well who gets beat was then asked /
Why, the fellow that gets mad answer (
I'd the shrewd peasant. so we con .
,lude in reference to this matter be-
ween Justice and our editor The for
ner entrencbed behind solid facts and .
lristling questions. keeps his temper /
The latter exposed in n dangerous position
1nthe open field, gets furiously and out
mad. Again we repeat we
ire sorry for him. His name smacks of the
'oHrt, but his manners seem borrowed |
rom the Doors We now leave him 10 at |
end TO another scribe, the author OF the
second article mentioned.
This scribe ensconces himself behind /
he word Teritas From his prctentious
Latin nom de plume, " he would no doubt /
nave us infer that he is both gentleman
md q scholar. Perhaps, too, he would |
have us surmise that he is one of the cler-
". Such are commonly supposed to have !
| little smattering of the Roman tongue.
Be that as it may, /" Veritas" speaks SO
of "the Bible, the Augsburg |
Confession, TIE Formula of the General !
synod, the Book of Worship, Liturgy, |
tie, that, rs in the case of Goldsmith's |
lisputatious schoolmaster,
''-.hc wonder grows.
Than one srnnll head can carfA al he knows - |