New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1878-10-12

from the households of this stricken
land, He had done 50 because they
had thus assembled privately and in
dividually instead of officially, by
simultaneous and public utter
apce.n ..sg~ -.,.---..-u ..--
Shocking as is this view Of Divine
Providence, it is that plainly taught
in the doctrine establishing days of
public fasting, humiliation and
prayer. 1t breathes through every
phase of the gubefnatoriar proclama-
ton, as the quotations from that
document herein made plainly show.
For our part we utterly repudiate
such a doctrine as irreverend, IRA
tional and utterly contrary to the
spirit of Christ's teachings. These
inculcate the doctrine that our Hea-
venly Father chastens us in love,
knows by his infinite wisdom what
is best for us, and always does it.
Thus true, humble, enlightened
Christians, knowing that God acts
always by natural means, and never
arbitrarily or tyrannically, in regard
ing the present pestilence as PrOvi-
dential-as everything that happens
in all places and at all times is Pro-
vidential-take it as warning to
seek out the causes of the "scourge"
in order that it may be guarded
against in future. From all the in
formation existing at present on the
subject, one at least of the causes of
yellow fever is filth exposed to the
dews of the night and the heat of the
sun. Garbage, fostering day after
day in the rays of our almost tropical
sun; stagnant bitches, into which
cutters have drained, ripped open to
send out foul exhalations; drainage
pipes, stopped up with dead ami
mails" casting forth their putrid con
tents on the surrounding earth, dug
up to clean them out-these are some
of the causes which have drawn down
the christening hand" of Provi-
dence upon this and neighboring
cities, and one Of the lessons taught
by that Christening hand is this: Be
ye clean.
Labor is wOrship-and the ap-
pointment of public street cleaning,
to be followed by continued efforts
in the same direction, though it
might be intellectual as an immedi-
ate cure, would have been a step in
the right direction; and unquestion-
ably more pleasing to the All Pure,
who is also the All-Loving, and
needs no Precipitation, than vain pc
titiOns and vainer fastings, no matter
how publicly or officially offered up.
Another lesson taught by the pes
thence is this-search and study,
until the other causes which have
brought it ON are ascertained for
it is absolutely certain that natural
causes exist for it as for all other
natural phenomena. In this view
the Examining Commission sent by
the Government are doing the work
intended by Providence and are
thus offering the only kind of prayer
likelyto be heard or answered in the
matter. Of course their labors can
have no effect in staying the exist
ing plague, but if they result in the
obtaining of information enabling
us to ward off the pestilence in
future or even to mitigate its de-
structiveness, they may be consid-
cred another illustration of thetruth
that g work is prayer"
At the same time it may not be
inappropriate to remark in respect
to the recent Day of Prayer, which
was pretty generally observed, that
as the fever has almost run its usual
course this tardily adopted remedy
is not unlikely to be soon followed
by an appreciable diminution of the
disease.