The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-03-18
The North Carolina Expulsion
"a Curious Case.

The North Carolina ExPalsl0n
"a Curious Case.
From the Cincinnati Times and ChTOpiclel
A week or two ago the telegraph an
nouuced, with interesting breyity, that
the Legislature 81 North Carolina had
expelled one q Is aismbsr., y William
Thorbe, ioF denying the existence q God,
The phraSepl6gy was 4 triae iur6treCtSI
and pending an attemptto eput God into
the Constitution" in our Own State, an
outline sketch Of the North GarQlipacase
may be Of interest,
Mr., Thorne was elected to the Legisla-
ture which has just expelled him, from
Warren county, and as Republican,
He was not particularly attractive to tho
Democratic members and the press, o
the following from the Raleigh Noid may
indicate - 45ss ti!sa q
The newly elected Representative from WaETenl!
. caEPet-tag eivu-rShtar and amiseessnatilL Alasl
fesenlahvs, aud while Ve thought you could mot
fall any lower, yet "ynu have Como and done IL"
Thorne appears to have beep q man Of
considerable education, q fair speaker and
writer, poet in small way, sadia radi-
cal, rampant donunUiatOr Otthe Christian
religion as presented in the Scriptures.
He was. or had been for some time, .
member Of the progressive Society Of
Friends Sometime In 1874 he publish
ed a pamphlet in reply 70 Q sermon Of the
Rev. Joseph Barker, Of which the follow
ing is a fair sample:
Look at Abraham, q iullOi fanatic phropsy, that
10 was ready 10 illustrate strong hnd, ppIuaSon:
Ing faith In his G0d, By the e1mmiYilon y one q
the greatest Of CEiples-ihp SAcIihcal murder Of his
only On. II lenough % say, That no lAthsF can
enact " absurd and wicked ! llrco now and keep
outside Of prison OF asylum Wallh Rad tie story
ot Lot and his daughter after the bprning u 80.
dom and GonlorFlhi and then Imagine, yhlI mlis
II twas ROrAO than that Of those who were Ryed,
Jephthah's vow 10 story Of hnaIlcal and Tragic
hoIIOr, scarcely eqpalHd-h the Annaiso o. mankind.
The cruel bargain hOtyepn gqt and Jglhthlh was
alike degrading aud dlSgnceiul 70 both p9rtiN On.
Elged 10 L. Not iOt theemPlFe o. lhp Eosld should
JChhthAh have mNde8ueh Talh vow. Not for the
Empire Of Heaven should God have Permitted ~
J fuldIlmOnt Had He be0n . merciiul God, He
might ~ In The oaSO Of Abraham, have substituted
nam or ome other unlmpgEtalt animal 70 b the
dSt to neOt tho victorious Jopht habi Or W might
have generously waived TIE bloody saeTilee Alto.
gethoF, and accepted In 10 stead, AnOehng OF Tuit;
but, In the Sslhih spirit d lhylock He 'dsleEmlls
oSa b e a. sSS MIR PS4R - Sa IN
the accomplished daughter Of the great Judge o.
iT6s CHRISTIAN System Of Theology teaches IhS
worship Of God, % other systems Of Theology tOach
the worship Of ldOll-lor The purpose Of dsptecat;
log His vengeance Il l. SOelAsh Systsm, designed
fgf tho glory 81 God and tbs humility Of man God
d represented aS an bnnIpOtent dO1p0t, who created
millions Of human balngi ior 10 other purpose but
that he might dhnk in AelE hatIOEy and hoEnagO
ton they had The alternative Of eteTnal dAmnatipn
Ian eternity Of misery, from which they would
gladly escape Into utter pppihllalOn, but which,
6iA No tNdNRo mercy be denies theM,; u must,
however b. coniesSedr that the favored teW=tho
elect Of hi. grace, who IN return l9r theI nlv3ton,
arc doomed iorsyor mVFe 20 stand before iIs throne
and Alng songs o. glOraoation and WoShiP, have
scarcely better time Of II They certainly d@0fTa
our WlrmSt sympathy The labor Of AiSyphuS,
pleasant pasime IN compHtSou' u
: So far ~ can DO discovered from the
disconnected rawlings OF the pamphlet, II
} Is not against the abstract idea Of ,Su.
} preme being that the author Is animad-
verting, but against the God Of the Scrip.
lures. There Is, indeed, faint, though
quite perCoptlble leaning toward some
God Of his own mauufaoture--apparently
Of tho Neo.PlatoulC schoOl-the indiyisi.
bio One into which we must oil sooner or
later return, with, Of course, q complete
loss Of personal identity. lta- y \.
In February, OF this year, the honse Of
Representative Of tho State took up the
, matter, and referred tho pamphlet, to.
: gcthcr with q resolution to expel, to the
, Committee on Privileges and Election,
The Committee failed 10 agree upon q re.
port, and with an evident disposition to
shirk the case, reported II back to the
House without recommendation, The
constitutional proyisioni governing the
case were quite brief. The old ConStitu.
, ton OF North Carolina disqualified for
civil Office "all persons who shalfdeny
the truth Of the Christian religion, or
the divine authority Of tho Old or New
Testament" When the present Consutu,
ton was adopted this was 50 modified as
to read, "All persons who shall deny the
, being Of Almighty God.n Under the
. strict letter OF the phrase II does not ap.
, pear, as explained above, that Thorle
had violated constitutional provision,
so tho managers determined TO try him
upon the charge Of blasphemy and q VIC.
lation Of the spirit Of the law. The reso.
luton moved, therefore was as follows
,wMEREAs, !. "; Thorne, thS member from
Warren county, has advocated and prOnulgatel. 4
most blaspholous document .1SversiVs o. The
: principles Of the Constitution Of North Carolina
and Of sound morality therefore l.r
Received, That tho ald ]. W. ThoFn0 DO, and 4
J hereby, expelled from seat Oh this aoOT.
After a spirited discussion, the pre-
vious question was enforced, and tho re-
solution carried by vote Of 40 10 81.
II certainly Ia one Of the most curious
cases on record. AZ the House was the
only Judge Of the merits Of It's own mem.
berS, their action was Of course beyond
: appeal and We can not for the life Of ia
find an reason to blame them for not
wanting sheep Of that color In the pas.
turc. Nor does the quite apparent fact
that, but for political feeling, the resolu.
tiOn would have failed, even In the least
change our opinion. Mr.. Thorne may,
possibly, have had perfect right to bis
religious views but 10 had no right, as a
legislator, Under such Constitution, 10
ttmst them prominently before the pub
lie. ,6i1j
Politically speaking, he willtully dig.
ged his own grave and 1t iSno more than
right that ho should DO put into II, aud
aariifely royered nm