National Republican., 1885-08-04
EQUAL COrRTEsY TO ALL.

INNeUJ lsHub vi llllS NtMbIhItAs
The article referred to was a report Of i
q days dongs at campmeetng of
spiritualists held in the state Of Penn.
sylvauia, and our correspondent was
moved to reproach THE REPUBLICAN
"for taking any notice whatever Of
that fanatical sect His communica.
tion is thckly studded with epithetcal
gems, showing rare skill in coarse de.
nunciation, but manifesting n lack Of
that tolerant charity which should char
acteriae the utterances of one who pro
fesses to be conscientious follower of
the founder of the Christian religion.
1t does not appear to have occurred
to our correspondent that, in the con.
duct of secular newspaper, oil sccs or
denominations should be treated with
equal courtesy so long as they obey the
laws. 1t is only when one of the sects
attempts to resist the authority of gov.
ernment, as some of the Latter Day
Saints arc doing, that the secular press
is called upon or has any moral right to
administer reproof.
The spiritualists constitute large el. |
ement of our Heterogeneous population. |
1t is not our business to sit in Judgment |.
on their creed or to crticise their |
methods of public worship. They have
the same rights under the law and the
same claim for fair treatment by the
press rs any of the older sects or churches
So far as we know they are, as u rule,
aw.abidng citizens, paying taxes,
making no war on other churches, but
industriously minding their own business.
They are, therefore, entitled to respect
ful mention in all secular papers. When
they hold campmeeting and anything
happens that is worth publishing, by
reason of its interest as news, it should
be published-not with sneers and filings
and jeers, but with the courtesy due to
all citizens who are united in lawful
way for the accomplishment of lawful
objects.
Among the best Of the good features
of our fundamental law is the entire alb.
sence of any connection between church
and state. Absolute liberty ofconscience
is the right Of all in this free country.
There is no law to prevent the erection
+ of heather temples. The jew and the
Christian are equal before the law. The
car Of Juggernaut might be lawfully
hauled along Pennsylvania avenue, if it
"lurned to the right as the law directs"
f on meeting any other vehicle. All
religions and no religion are left to
stand or fall, each on its own merits or
p dement's. TO this grand tolerance we
owe more Of our happiness and pros.
perity than to any other single cause, aud
A The REPUBLICAN may always be de.
| pended upon for a just appreciation OF
| IL. --S"o IIueriy nr.
Wolves on the press.
We need not go far back toward the
dawn of history to get hint Of what we
e might have had in this country If our
S fathers had built the governmental struc.
s ture less wisely than they did. During
the colonial period in Massachusetts, the
s most cruel persecution was the rule.
h. One hundred acts were passed for the
punishment of heresies The Quakers
and Baptists were oppressed and perso.
: cuted by men who believed that they
: were serving God in thus shamefully
maltreating their neighbors. Indians
, captured in battle were sent to the West
Il Indies and traded off for rum. They
were heather whom the Lord had de
livered into the hands Of his people
- There are men and women in Washing.
ton to-day whose ancestors knew what il
" was to be "sOre from their cart.tail
y scourgngs and from the pillory lame
because they would not ACCEPT the creed
' of the Puritans.
But those prosecutors were good men.
They intended to do no wrong. They
- did not see the awful satire of their
course when they, having fled from perse.
i cution in the old world, set up the
:, same cruelties in their new home.
/ If our correspondent--who is a type OF
\. a numerous cass-were capable of get
ting out Of the rut his feet have worn, il
he could climb to the average moral al.
titude and take fair view of the situa.
tion, he would see that his letter is I'm.
, Christian, narrow, bigoted, and mean.
And such view would do him good. II
=, would be like blast of fresh air through
, a tmted dungeon. 1t would be sunlight
. in cave. 1t would give him such sen.
saton as Columbus must have felt when
= his eye fell on the land of the new
world. This may, however, be impossi,
Bile. There are cyeless fish in Mammoth
Cave, for nature does not like to work in
, vain. The ancestors Of these fish had
eyes, but generations of disuse have
eliminated the organs of vision. Is il
not possible that moral sight may be de.
stroyed in the same way? May not sue
9 cessive generations Of bigotry result in
the destruction of what we may call the
! moral eye?
The RGPunLlCAN will cheerlully hope
o for the best in regard to this cor.
respondents case, will hope that he,
and all of his kidney, may learn the
great lesson of Christian charity and
, come in time TO understand that all
/ sects are equal before the law and in
their claim 10 courteous treatment by
. the press. Meantime TIE REpUBLIcAN
, will continue to treat all sects with
equal fairness-all lawful associations
of citizens with uniform courtesy, thus
fulfilling the law and the prophets and
conforming to the beautiful lessons of