The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1878-04-25

oluSIo SIOl", \f,J Ihao Nv AAuA isliu
Minneapolis, which are virtually one
city, have population nearly is large
as the octogenarian city of Cleveland,
and trade extenqinQuvey a sDR4aeef
500 to 1000 1ifiesf nearly IveR d i lc-
ton. CoWeup tgthe q kat MOI h.
west, yodstal 1espeotu6.e, -6nsej4a>,
tive, incredulous, plug-hat editor you,
and let this wonderful Minnesota eli
mate cleanse your liver, quicken your
wits and increase your stock of infor-
nation.
Z ANo1yrERQNpEIeDoNx AFFAIR.
simultaneously with the revival of
tile. Beeehes.
gregational church, comes a scand al in.
the Protestant Episcolaff1 eGdfcll,I
which, for the time being, eclipses in
interest the great Plymouth church af-
fair. Tie central figure in this new
scandal is no other and 10 less per-
sonage than ,Bishop, McCroskey,, Epjs,
copal Bishop of Michigan, u prelate "a
years of age, and who, up to the expos
ure of his amours, was held III the high
est esteem by all Christians and looked
upon Us a man of great purity Of CHAR.
acter. But, like Soloman who in lis
age was led away by strange women"
the venerable Bispop has fallen, never
to rise again i'll the respect of his own
church or Of other churches.
The chief sinner with the Bishop is a
handsome young lady of Detroit, about
20 years of age, named Fanny Richards.
The infatuated old man was in the llab-
it of sending her letters, filled with ell
dearing terms, and dashes, (meaning
either kisses or other favors,) and &C
cepting her offer of ''half the bed and
all the covering" These letters finally
fell into the hands Of members of the
Bishops church and he was confronted
with the charge Of licentious conduct,
forced to resign and has departed for
Europe.
This affair promises to become as con-
snjcuons as, and more interesting to il
morbid public hunger for scandal than,
the great Bishop Onderdonk case which
some years ago shocked the Episcopal
church on both sides of the water, and
spoiled very promising prelate's pros
poets in the church. =.
! We have been one Of those who I'D to
this moment have believed in the inno-
cence of Beecher, and we are ready to
give Bishop McCroskey the benefit of
any doubts, but it seems that he has
virtually confessed and will take refuge
in Europe. And however much we
may differ from the clergy as to their
exploded aud false theology, we be-
lieve that, rs Il rule, they are men who
are aiming ut purity of life and for the
elevation Of men. They are, however,
men of like passions" with other men,
have exceptional opportunities, are
trusted implicitly by the wives and
daughters Of men who oppose and dis
like them as i class, and hence have
things very much their own way. They
stand between husband and wife in re-
llglous matters, unless the husband is
willing to follow the wife who is led bv
the minister, and the religious educa-
ton OF the children is left to the wo-
man and the priest or preacher, and
hence it is the rule with men who are
not churchmen, to avoid religious con-
versation ut home. Men who are too
free to be bound by the clergy, and
whose reason is too strong to accept
any one of the religious sayten,s, feel
that the submission of their wives and
children to church and ministerial con-
troll in religious matters is the price
they must pay for domestic peace.
And us domestic peace is their only
heaven they do submit. Thus it is that
the clergy gain and keep their ascend
ency, and is it any wonder, with so
much opportunity, so much respect, so
much coddllng and petting as the cler-
gy receive from women, that the weak
or the vicious ones should use their op-
portunities for evil.
A New York paper recently publish
ed a list of three hundred ministers
who have, within few years, been ex-
posed in some criminal or licentious
act, principally in amours with women.
These are ugly facts but their expos
ure cannot fail to do great good.
If men should use the same logic
Which church members generally use H.
gainst other clurchs or systems, they
would say that so much corruption a.
mong the leaders indicates something
corrupting in the system. But this
does not necessarily follow. So much
Free Loveism, or rather Free Lustism.
among the clergy no more shows that
the religion is at fault, than Free Love-
ism and hnmbuggery in connection
with Spiritualisn shows that the phi
losophy or religion Of Spiritualists is at
fault. The religion of Christ is pure,
whether embraced under Catholic, Pro-
testant, Splritualist, or other form, and
though every clergyman in Europe and
America should fall tomorrow and he
driyen out of the churches in disgrace,
Christianity would go on with resist
less sweep until it conquered the world
What the world now needs is not to
have Christianity broken or weakened,
but to have the undue power of the
priesthood and the clergy over the con-
sciences of men broken, and to have
the blasplemous dogmas of old theolo.
gy, which rest upon human souls like
a nightmare, overthrown and b;.ni shed
from the earth.
We find IN the Pioneer Press mes
sage copied from the Banner of Light
pnrportng to be from the spirit of