, 1875-12-27

4Ho u'abEnee114 nuhlE NJ Abingdon, ILL.,, on
Christmas-Dny, tia details Of which woro
printed in our last issue, lead one Utmost to
doubt tho eillcacy Of Christianity and educa
ton as prcyentiycs Of crime. Abingdon Col
lego is I'M educational Institution under tho
control and in tic interests Of tho Ce,nnbcll-
ito or Christian Church. Tho administration
Of It's government has beon marked BY wrt,,-
Cling and diBsensiou for many yoars, which
have succeeded in dividing tho friends of4ho
institution and the 1no1nberB OF the Church
into bitter and turbulent factions, known
as tho BuTLEn and PEnKEr factions.
Tho contest assumed tho shape Of
open warfare two yonrs ago. Tho first
step was tho removal Of Mr.. DurLzR,
then President Of the College, by the PEnKEY
faction, which had succeeded in elocting
minority Of tho Trustees. The Church then
stepped in md sought to punish oue Of tie
Professors who had been instrumental in re-
moving Bu11En mud appointing pEn1EY, tho
result OF which was split in tho mcmbor-
ship and tho organization Of another Church.
Tho fight now wa1ed tiorcar and Hercer. as It
was CONTEXT not only between two college
At*SEANA0 HAN 1LtHCIA L"0 NAAEl66. llG
quarrel went into tho courts, and in still
pending thcro. but meanwhile there llas been
no truce. The fight assumed pcrsopal
character, anil threats Of violence were opeu-
ly nude. Ff.lgics were suspended in
tho town, dwellings wero dofacod, and tie
local papers woro filed with vinl;ctivo and
ln1'ammatory articles, mud thug tho hatred
was nourisled and gradually worked up to
the point Of outbreak. At Inst tho culmiua.
tion came. While tho Church which had &C.
ceded was holding sabbath.school sociable,
at which President pknKEr was in attendance,
tho BuT1EH faction grow 30 noisy mud turbu-
lent that interference became necessary, and
during tho interference tho President was
struck upon tho head with somo blunt instru-
1nent, and at last accounts was in diving
condition. Further than tlis, tho dispatches
Intimate there is danger Of general outbreak
among the people, so bitter Is the prevailing
hatred.
1t is not very pleasant to reflect that this
Infamous md bloody business originated in
the boson Of q Christian Churci-autl Of
Church which nakes specinl application of
the nn1no Christian" and TINT the consum-
mutton Of thia business took place In Sab.
bath.sohool-room upon day which OF jail
others is sacred to the memory of tho angels
legend" Goodwill towards mcn." In all
tts aspects, it bears tho character of those
bar-roon feuds Which arc the frequent fruits
Of political partisanAhip among loafers, vaga.
bonds, and bummers, and in such q q,,arter
would not Rttsact particular attention; but
that quarrel arising in Cslsistian, Church
over question OF the government Of q
college should not only result in dividing tic
Church, but at Inst reach the sanguinary md
cowarslly net OF assassination, must Of neces-
sity give ua pause, aud in that pnuse two or
three suggestions inevitably will OCCUR, First
that tlis bloody and brutal business ouce
1nore confirms the old truth, 10 often oxeu-
pliilcd In tie history Of individuals az well Is
Of nations, tllat, Of all hatreds, religious ha-
t1oda are tho 1noat virulent and violent. Sec.
ond, It gives rise 10 doubt at least whether
Christianity aud education can completely
overcome tho dopravity Of human nature.
Tlae third suggestion touches the fu.
tuso. Justice muus now step In bo-
tween these miserable aud disgrace
ful factions and mote out punishment, and
that punishment should ba all the more
prompt and severe since tho perpetrators OF
this outrage ue presumed, at least, to have
bud those advantages Of religion and educa-
ton which ars not enjoyed by the lower
ranks OF criminals. lIaying punished the
perpetrators Of this Immediate Outrage, ths
rartisana upon both sides should bs disposed