, 1874-08-02

''NEITHER DO I CONDEMN THEE.'
TO the Editor Of The Chicago Tribune !:
SIR: The great sensation marks this as 3
good Tina for calling attention to those much
misunderstood words of Christ. The law rs
given to Moses zanhed human life and 70 male
chastity az OF equal value. Be who forcibly took
away either forfeited his life, whilo the adulter-
ess, equally with the murderess, WAS aaiEdged
Unworthy to live. In His Sermon on the Mount.
Christ refers to this law i" I havs heard that
1t hath been said Thou shalt not commit adua-
terry" Did He follow this up BY condemulng or
repeating the Law to which the attention OF Ills
hearers WAS thus called? Did He in any sense
relax its scverity7 Oh, no! On the contrary, He
gave q new and moss comprehensive definition
to the crime thus condemned, by adding, "But
cay unto you, that whosoeTer looketh On .
woman to lust after her hath committed adultery
with her already IN Ills heart" This is ChriBt's
lava law demanding perfect purity in heart,
word, ard action. and leaving the penalty just as
He found it. OF course He did not Intend to at
tach the death-penalsy to impure thought, for Of
this no man can judge another; but He Set every
man to Judge himself, and required of each q
chastity which shripEs from no scrutiny, even
that Of the Omniporent Eye To assuuo that He
required less Of women than of men would 90 to
place them in more degraded position than that
they had already occupied, and wou1d forever
dispose OF the claim that Christianity elavates the
weaker sex.
Arewe to assume then, that Christ annulled His
own law in the case Of the woman brought to
Him for Judgment? As this case stood. it was
the civil law-the law Of the land-~hich
was the duty Of the proper civil magistrates aud
executive officers. For any one else to have 49,
sumcd their places would have been an act Of
direct nsurIat,on, and Christ was eminentlv i
laN-abiding citizen. The men who brought this
sinner to Him to he judged wanted, IN all proba-
bil,ty, to tempt Him to tho assumption Of civil
authority, IN order to test His claim as king OF
the Jews. and bring about conflict between
Him and their Roman governors; and
for Him to hive ordered the execution OF
tine law would have been IS inconsistent with
His professions ana purposes IS for any preach
or to-day to usurp the duties OF = judge of
Court of Oyer and Termincr. He used the eocca-
zion to convict the entire assembly of Sin. He
recognized the sin of the accneed, and the con-
demnation He refused was Judicial. It did not
prevent or forbid her trial and punishment by
the proper authorities, and took away no jot or
little Of tho penalty attached to her crime.
Another thing: He commanded her to "Sin no
more" and did not build palace in which ele
might be maintained in luxury and ld1cness, and
go be preserved from temptation. He did not
change her surroundings, but By His command,
M rcferenca to soraty. what Il had i1ona or
might do. No matter to hor what others had
done ar continued doing. she vas to - rim no
more"
it ,nnoarn to ma tbat t11;s 1n,eerabla Beecher
acnndnl with tens of thonsnnds nf similar
cT1nas IL the direct onterowth of tha falsn in
ternratat;ona which FIR fi,;rtr vosra # has henn
fashionable to put OIL these words OF the Great
feress +harofo,e adn,tarv IN woman "a a
ycn;a, ain I,oos .t tho min tb;s doctrine haa
wronaht so1oa go,~a 400 Thaodora T;i+nn
stood verv nsar tbs head ~ tbe mor,I teactera
Of this land d. md aae r. and % look T At him now