The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-06-23
Ghe9ntelIigrurer.
call for a National Centennial
Convention.

A century ago our fathers based tn
nation, in the very beginning Of its indie
pendent life, OH the principles Of general
unsec,arian Christianity. Declaring thei
independence Of oppressive human au
thority, they did not fail also to declar
deyoutIy their national dependence upo
God, Having inherited Christian inst
buttons OF civil government from thel
fathers who settled the country, the
transmitted them to their children
Proyidentiully and historically, we ar
A Christian nation. With Christianit
a.a recognized part Of the common Ia
Of the land; with the Christian sabbat
IA the sacred day acknowledged by Law
with the oath OF God as the pledge
official fidelity and the instrument OF i
vestigation in our courts Of justice; VII
days Of public fasting and thank'giyln.
set apart by State and National appoint
ment: with Christian ministers employs
by Government 10 conduct divine setN ~
in the legislatures Of the nation ana ~ ~, iM'
States, in the army and navy. al q Ia e%S
cational and reformatory ihs'i' ~ on,
and, above all, with the bio!e a. so OI'
national book, in our common schoolS
tho symbol and standard held aloit, dur,
Inc Hi our history, in the forefront o.
onr system Of public education, we have
os n nation, Christian responsibilities
%b;"b We dare not ignore, and Chris
rocIor which we are most sacred
Iy bound to maintain.
AS we enter upon this second century
of our national Independence, We cannot
be blind to the fact that great and growing
dangers threaten our Christian institu
lions Of government. The theory Of SO
cuIarism, essentially hostile to the princi
pies and purposes OF the men whos'
deeds we now commemorate, is undoinL
the work Of our fathers. Its advocates
have repeatedly assailed the employment
Of cnaplains in Congress and State legis
latures, and, in some cases with success
Their influence has led judges Of the
Supreme Court OF New York city, the
Supreme Court Of California, and the
Supreme Court OF Ohio, and even Chris
tian ministers, to affirm that Christianity
is no part Of our common law. They
have rendered our Sabbath laws in many
cases imperative, and imperiled their
observance in connection with the Centen-
NAL Exhibition. They have stricken the
name Of God from the oath, as frequent.
ly administered, and boldly demanded
that it be wholly abolished. They have
driven the Bible from the public schools
Of St. Louis, Chicago, Rochester, Sar
Francisco, and other important places
In word, they insist that the connec
ton which has always existed, and still
exists, between the American Govern
ment and the Christian religion, shall BIZ
severed ut every point.
In all these assaults the appeal Is made
to the Constitution Of the United States
This written instrument, the basis Of all
national institutions, the compact by
which we agree to be governed as n ma
ton, acknowledges no connection be
tween our Government and Christianity
II contains no explicit acknowledgment
OF God, OF Christ, or Of the Bible. 1t il
maintained that the government itsel
should be MS secular as its written Con
stitution; that the institutions OF the ma
ton should be in harmony with the fun
damental law on which they rest. The
want OF any acknowledgement OF God OF
the Christian religion in the National
Constitution is the most formidable wea
pon in the hands Of the enemies Of the
Christian institutions OF our nation
Nor do they fail to employ it.
Thus the issue is pressed upon US =
Clearly and indisputably conform the
written Constitution TO the actual char
acter Of the nation, or allow the nation
to be drawn into conformity to the Con-
stitution. We cannot eyade it. 1t must
be met and settled. As patriotic citizens
concerned for the nation, We must take
our stand. 1t ia not the existence oil
Christianity or the Bible that is at stake.
II is our national welfare, our national
character, our Christian institutions OF
government, and our religious and civil
liberties resting upon them. Common
Grating this Centennial year, the achieve
nents OF Christian ancestors, shall We
suffer the Inheritance which they pur-
chased ut incalculable cost, and be.
queathed to us, 10 be robbed Of its glory!
Shall we permit the Bible to be banished
from our schools, and our Sabbath laws
TO be violated, because there is no &c.
acknowledgement OF God, and Christ, and
the Bible in the Constitution? Shall we
not rather, in the spirit OF the fathers
and carrying out their purposes, cherish
the Christian schools and laws that have
come down to US, and in the day Of their
peril, secure for them an undeniable
legal basis in the nations fundamental
law? Wise statesmanship, fidelity to
the trust from our fathers, and our duty
to the generations to come, alike dictate
our choice.
In the words OF one Of the wisest Of our
citizens and most patriotic OF our lawyers,
now gone TO his rest: "God preserve US,
we must 70 back. We must reform our
political administrations in the all-im'
portant point OF their moral principles
Our Christian population must do this
II is work for them, and every other
work OF theirs will be hindered till this is
done. We must retrace our steps: retrieve
our errors; regain the position We have
lost. Reform Ia wanted in another senst
than what party schemers think Of. Lei
us have reformation Of the elements o.
public life. Let us dig up the buried
standard OF the fathers, and fashion our
selves anew by it. Let us return to the
primary spirit OF the Government, ere
the doom Of the nations that forget God
become our own"
The National Reform Association, or.
ganized to maintain existing features Of
the American Government, and secure q
Religious Amendment to tho Constitu'
ton Of the United States, invites all aux
iliary associations, and Ill bodies OF citi'
zens who favor this cause, without dis
ttuction Of party or creed, to appoint
delegates to attend the Convention to b
held in the Academy Of Music, Philadel
phia. beginning Wednesday evening, Jun'
18th. at ~ o'clock, and closing on thu
evening Of Friday June S0th, 1876.
FELIX r. BRuNoT,
President National Reform Association.
wOMAN,S REVENGE.
. S..,.. .-.o.., ~ 6'.,,,,o