The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1885-08-02
WHY JEFFERSON DAVIS LwEs"


hand last night contained this special:
Rev. II. o. HOFFMAN, an eminent
Methodist divine, of Blooming
ton, Illinois, delivered an eloquent
GRANT memorial sermon on last
Sunday, in the course of which
he said: "What an inscrutable
providence that is which allows
traitors to live on while heroes and
patriots die. 1t humiliates one that
JEFFERSON DAVIS should live TO see the
death of GRANT. 1t may be q mercy of
God TO lengthen the life of the culprits
to give them time for repentance. And
ifthat is the ground upon which DAVIS
is spared, then may we expect that he
will live yet thousand years, for @
equal the enormlty of his traitorous
otfenses."
In the name of justice, humanity
and decency, is this virulence, this
outrage mill, bloody shirt iniquity
business, these invectives, never 10
cease? Is it the part of Christian
minister in this hour OF national be-
reavement, when from Northern
mountain and Southern seaside the
hearts Of all are bowed in sorrow, thus
TO traduce an old man on the verge OF
the very Beyond that that other great
hero, from McGregor, is Just explor'
ing? Is it for ga man of God" thus to
construe the mercy of God? just in
the very midst of tho sweet sanctity
of a holy peace that wraps the nation
in mantle of grief, this fanatic comes
with his accursed tirebrand to kindie
anew the fires OF sectional strife and
hate, to give the lie to the
professions which arc being
made by his own people. And this
from minister of tho very denomina-
tion,too, of which the great GRANT him.
self was member! 1t would seem as
though the corpse itself would have
turned in its case as that "eminont
divine" delivered himself Of that hid
eous caricaturo of religion at just
about tho very hour the storm and
lightning bolt struck tho cottage
whose walls were yet perfumod with
the spirit of forgiveness and broad
catholic charity that ponned those
noble lines to the Confederate GEN
ERAL BUcKNEB, and that keen sense
OF the widowed woman who had just
asked that Confederate general
should DO one Of tho pail bearers for
the national coffin.
We would have extended no alton.
ton TO the wild rawlings OF a
mediocre man, but when one
of the leading papers of the country
announced tho sentiments as coming
from an eminent Methodist divine
in an eloquent memorial Sermon" we
cannot refrain from suggesting to our
No. thern friends that they at once
put the emphaIic seal of severost con-
domination on the sentiment and its
utterance by this asssilant whose bad
heart would delight to eau
terize a healing wound. In
stead of preaching and practicing
the precepts Of that embodiment of ira
ternal love and charity OF Him who
died on the cross in tho interest of tue
evi-minded, he crusRdes with rare
delight against u noble, heroic char
a.tar who only the other day reit5r-
Rted substantially what no urged
some 10 years ago in Congress, OF tho
record of the nation: "Beacon OF
freedom, it guides the pres
ont generation to rOtrace the
fountain OF our years and
stand beside its source to
contemplate the scene whore Massa-
chusetts and Virginia, as stro niger
brothers of the family, stood foremost
TO defend our common rights, while
remembrances of the petty Earrings
of to-day are buried in the nobler
friendship of an earlier time" With
this as our guide of tho true character
Of Mr. DAVIS we will now consign to
silent contempt the mslignity of the
Iean who desecrates his cloth and be-
lies his creed, as we hnpo to sec his
own people pressing upon him with
an avalanche of condemnation.