The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-09-27
RiEgKai


tory Some of the newer States have got
ten far ahead Of her in wealth and popula-
tion, but she will forever be ahead OF
them in historical interest. Some OF the
newer States were born free, but she pur-
chased her religious freedom at a great
Price.
The first settlers of North Carolina
seem to have been refugees seeking an
asylum from religious persecution. From
the Old World they came to Virginia.
Persecution followed them thither and
they fled to North Carolina, then called
by their prosecutors "Rogues' Harbor.''
In this retreat they were not long Sc
cure. Persecution followed them again.
Whittier now should they flee? They
chose to stand their ground and fight.
They fought and triumphed. Today North
Cardinals people are among the freest of
the free.
1t is hard to realize that less than two
centuries ago religious coercion reigned
here. But such the historians tell us was
the fact. Conformity to the usages OF
the Church of England was required by
law. But. the Dissenters were here in
large numbers and they continued to dis
sent. Men elected to the offices of the
church refused to serve. Men required by
law to vote for officers ,of the church re-
fused to vote for men to fill offices that
they did not approve of The Presbyte-
rians and the Baptists, and later the
Methodists, filled the minds of the people
with other thoughts than those of abject
submission to ecclesiastical DEGREES, by
whatever pretensions they might be sup
411 III,
completely disestablished by the success
of the Revolution of &c, and our people
were left free to choose the ecclesiasticism
to which they would give allegiance.
1t must have been interesting to spcu-
late as to what would be the result of
placing diverse peoples with diverse
creeds in the same territory and leaving
them free to teach as they chose. The re-
suit has not been what might have been
feared. There has been no terrible an
archy. There has, it is true sometimes
been warm contention of creed against
creed for supremacy. but the contest has
been in the main an honorable one, and
today our State exhibits the spectacle of
diverse faiths existing side by side in
harmony of feeling, blending as the foliage
of the oak and the elm and the maple
blend to make the beauty of the autumn
forest
Our people have learned that it is just
as incumbent to respect the rights of
others as to insist on ones own rights,
and consequently there is among us reli-
gious liberation. Our only defense against
error is in a more earnest presentation of
the opposing truth. The fact that we do
not all think alike and teach alike adds
to the interest of our religious history. 1t
also adds to the stimulus which every
man has to think for himself in matters
of religion. There is among us no con
stituted authority to be followed with
confidence. Among conflicting teachings
all cannot be true. Which is the true
is a question which awakens individual
inquiry and puts man into much better
condition than that of one who has been
lulled to sleep by the voice of pretended
authority.
The following statistics taken from The
News and Observer Year Book of 1908
give the numbers and proportion of the
NsEiousA relieSsGs determinations in North