The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-06-22
CURRENTCOMMENT|



agree to live my seventy. or rather seventy
three, years over againl To which say. yea.
think with you. that 1t is good world on tho
whole, that II has been framed on q principle
OF oenevolence more pleasure than pain dealt
out OF us. steer my bark with Hope In the
head. leaving Fear astern. My hopes. indeed.
sometimes fall; but not oftener than the fore
bodings OF the gloomy" Cyclopae by Evert A.
and George l. Duyckinck vol. l. page 241.
dence. Washington. April 81, 1903. he says ITO
the corruption OF Christianity 1 am indeed OPP
posed; but not the genuine precepts Of Jesus
himself l am q Christian I'm the only srnsG I'm
which he wished any one TO be; sincerely 1t.
tachcd to his DOCTRINES In preference all 9TH
crs. They are the result of life OF inquiry
and reflection. and very different from that anti
Christian system imputed to by those who
know nothing of my opinion"
This I now send you. the only discharge
or my promise ! can probably ever execute.
And in confdng to you, know 1t will not be
exposed to the malignant perversiona Of those
who make every word from me a text for new
misrepresentation and calumnies."
He sent to DR.. Rush q syllabus Of estimate
OF the merit OF the doctrines Of Jesus COM
needed reformation, therefore. in eminent
degree" In this state OF things among the jews
Jesus appeared. His parentage was obscure; his
condition poor; his education null; his natural
endowments great; his life correct and inno-
cent; he was meek. benevolent. patient firm,
dlsinterested and OF the sublimest eioquence.
The disadvantages under which his doctrines
appear are remarka BILE Like Socrates and Epic
tetus he wrote nothing himself But he had
not like them, Aenophon or an Arrian to
write for him. l name not Plato. who only used
the name of Socrates TO the WITNESSES of
his brain
On the contrary, all the learned of his coun-
try, entrenched IN its power and riches. were op
posed to him. but his labors should undermine
their advantages. According to the ordinary
fate of those who attempt to enighten and
form mankind, he fell early victim to the
jealousy and combination of the altar and the
throne, at about thirty-three years of age. He
corrected the Desm OF the Jews, confirming
of cd nd
them Juster notions of his attributes and govern
ment. His moral doctrines. relating TO kindred
and friends were more pure and perfect than
those of the most correct of the philosophers.
and greatly more so than those of the Jews He
pushed his scrutinies into the heart OF man:
erected his tribunal In the region of his thoughts
and purified the waters OF the fountain head
He taught the doctrines OF future state which
was either doubted or disbelieved by the Jews:
and welded 1t with efficacy. an important
incentive, supplementary to the other motives
to moral conduct" Jefferson Correspondence.
ETC.. Vol III, page sos,
Again, same volume and page. he says: am.
moreover. averse to the communication Of my
religious tenets to the public. because II would
countenance the presumption OF those who have
endeavored to draw them before that tribunal,
and to seduce public opinion to erect itself into
that inquisition the right OF conscience,
which the laws have Justly prescribed. II
behooves him. too. n his own case. to give no
example of concession betraying the common
right of Independent opinion, by ering ques-
tons Of faith. which the laws have left between
God and himself.
Accept my afTectionate salutation"
After careful study of the history OF this pure
man. am confident, that none other than Ben
Jamin Rush ever knew his true religious tenets
and it came to him in confidence.
Let these truths longer remain dormant,
but keep them before the people.
THOMAS II. BOISSEAU,
young man of seventy-fve years of age
June 6, 1911
South Not the Worst.
| The child labor problem is not sectional The
attempt to prove that the South is the worst
sinner in that direction has done this section
as much injustice as it has wronged the South
erin people. The evil is here. AZ elsewhere. and
needs to be eradicated, but the same Is true
of other sections In an address at the National
Child Labor Convention In Boston DR.. A. J.
| McKelway brought this important matter tc
public attention saying:
! Prior to the last census the number of wo-
men and children employed in industries out
paratively insignificant Following the Civil
War there was rapid development of the pub
lie school system In that section. which gave
the means OF employment for thousands of ed
ucated and cultured women OF the South who
had been left in direst poverty. The women
teachers of the South formed n teaching force
superior. in all that makes the teachers life
successful and her influence enduring. to that
OF any other section.
THE census OF 1900 shows that In Pennsyl-
vania alone there were employed in aother &C.
equations than agriculture, 101.218 children I'M
der sixteen years OF age--more than those OF
North Carolina. South Carolina, Georgia, Ala
bama, Florida and Mississippi combined-and
there were ten thousand more children under
sixteen years OF age employed in Pittsburg alone
than In all of the cotton factories OF all the
Southern States combined. Even to-day fewer
women over sixteen years of age employed
In the Southern cotton mills than in the New
England mills.
while the Standard Of Legislation for the
protection of women and children confess
eddy lower in the Southern States than in the
North the need for such protection has been
correspondingly less up to the present time
Manifestly. the great work of child labor re-
| the bringing up of the standard Of legislation
| to fourteen years for day work and sixteen 70,
night work, the shortening OF the hours for wo-
men and children, the application OF the law to
industries not now within their scope. and the
! enforcement OF the law by sufficient mum her
| OF inspection officials together with the adop-
ton OF adequate certificate system furnish
ing proof of the ages Of the children employed
I'VE also need more compulsory school attend.
ance laws in the South as we'll as the Juvenile
court system and Juvenile reformatories.--Ra-
I leigh News and Observer.
A Good Word for Crcamer
Labor unions IT. Richmond endorsing
James J. Dreamer for member of the House OF
Delegates from that city. 6n general principles
we oppose dangerous labor organizations Of
any others, taking part In politics az organi-
will he elected He 10 man OF unusual abil-
| tty. with hne powers orator and--whai
many orators lack--clear headed and steady
common sense and a clean record.
! With the large poor population in Richmond
1t should be unwritten law there to have
at least one Of the hve delegates representa-
| tive of the labor interests That precedent wa
established at the last election and should BE-
4 continued. 1t IL fair. And labor could not {
have n moro credltAble or useful representative