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«TC THE LEAD EH. [Saturday,
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NATIVE AMERICA. Thjj American who attemp...
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TOLERATION AND THE MORMONS. A- OEBTAm co...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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«Tc The Lead Eh. [Saturday,
« TC THE LEAD EH . [ Saturday ,
Native America. Thjj American Who Attemp...
NATIVE AMERICA . Thjj American who attempts to explain away the " E ^ ow-nothing" movement , appears to us to miss the point of that spontaneous action , and hardly to catch the very spirit of the day in his own aiUdevouring republic . Such parties , he tells us , are continually arising , put can do nothing separately from the two great parties in the State , formerly called Federalist and Republican , now whig and Democrat , into which all supernumerary payties merge . Let us admit that all parties
within the Union are American , and that when their distinctive purpose is opposed , they sink "back into one of the two g ? es $ sectionj-rCons ^ ryatiye or . Progressist . Jilt , as the American admits , the ^ Boiow « . nothjng , party is not organised , or Tt » it slightly soj ana it is therefore the mare , remarkable , as a » almost sponjfca » eous . 0 j 0 fusip !; n of popular feeling , Ciilled out |> y ftnta ^ pjMsni to -. .. taev . afctempi ; pf the IRopaan Gatlwlws to su |> pres 8 thei Bible jn the ^ tate Bchpols , where the volume had not
fceefi . usedf'QV sectarian purposes ,, the parfa ;> ^ P **^? i * " ¦ ¦ c » pt ' . 1 > ecawet ^ is co ^ e ^ trftteiicb ^ jly " prt the ri \ jijfetfi pfan ^ goiusing ** ibj ^ gpoersr —that is ,-recentimmigrants obeyingI &^ eor outside nofcionsy and not pursing genuine mdigenous Ameriqajj objects . TheBbwanists had organised a , party to tipjen the balance at elections , nijich as some parties , for mere mercenary objects , stand back to turji the balance at our own bpirpugh elections . The IZnow ^ nothings , with ; little , of organisation but a common , purpose ^ stood more ; back , and
neutralised the Waiting policy of the Catholics . The » ew parfey is loosely organiaedT ^ - pnly "by coromunity ofpurpose , it ii not t ( secret" so , much as latent it is ,, exiled forth by ; its purpose , and . waJl ! w ^ rgeintpjfcjie two great giartiestliat . tUvide the Jftafajwhen its purppse is , opposed . It belongs chi ^ itty to the "Whig , party , ;; b ^ caxise it , belongs greatly to a class wnjch exists inmost representative countrics--tbe blsiss wliich usually holds back from political movements ; but that only
slows its truly national character . It differs from the "I ^ ative , Americans' * in being , nonr political where they were ultra-demoqriatlc It consists of Whigs morejealpus of American feeling and popular right than the ultra democratic iStra-American agitators . In sliorfc , it is latent American society coming oiit in the dprmant Whig ranks . It ia essentially born of ^ the occasion . The very name of" ICnow-nothing , '' the origin of Wshiah we do not know , serves to
indicate the impalpable character of the party aa a separate division of the American people . If there , is anything , that distinguishes the Know-nothings afc all , it ia the fact , that fchey do not belong to any distinctive , division , They are distinguished for being undistinr guis ^ d . Jt is a spontaneous , putm . oving , such as is excited in the . individual "b y the rapst inward promptings of conscience when ordinary dry principles fail to k ; eep him clear , iij . perfect justice ^ The Romanists , agitating ^; o gel ? ppsaession of the American mind in
the schoola , had adhered abundantly to professions , principles , grounds of liberality , toleration , and so fqrth . But the ultimate tendency "was as clear as the movement itself , and the . 3 £ now-ijiothings do not meot the attack by any cut and dried , assortment of counter principles , which would have been difficult , but almost by an inarticulate impulse pf common , sense . If the 3 £ uow-nothings xeside to a great extent amongst quiet Whigs irad act in a democratic mode , it Bhows that ^ hey arp m ore American than , eith er Whig or Democrat .
It ; is , in fact , a spontaneous action to asaert 1 iho independence and freedom of the American minfl and nature . It is one of the " better forms of that general energy which resists encroachments hostile to it , and
constantly encroaches upon weaker natures around . The pressure of America upon Cuba is a similar impulse , which may be condemned by the letter of the law , as it is understood in Europe . It is not regular , but we all know that the result would be to settle a difficult question according to p lain sense , and assimilate the American territory to natural geography , to rescue Cuba from a dejgraded bondage into a constituent province of the most powerful country in the world .
There is just the same spirit in the replies of Mr . Marcy and Mr . Buchanan on the subject of privateering . The practice , as it has hitherto been conducted , is one which it is difficult to distinguish very nicely from buccaneering <~ -a licensed piracy * Yefy it has enabled the American people to vindicate their independence and power at sea without placing upon , their treasury and their national resources the incumbrance of an immense
organised navy . Ia the same way American trade * coveusi the world , committing faults and absurdities , but regaining itshealthy tone £ y the spontaneous act of common-sense y & Bb railway © «^ crated , although a great railway speculator may caricature the magnitude of hiB ^ own operations by issuing spurious shares which have no foundation in real business , President fierce may have committed agrievous fault in permitting an American naval captain to bombard the miserable
capital of Mosquitia--- & reytown . But the political interests at stake in that mongrel territory are paltry , while the one rescue of / Kossta , the Hungarian , from the unlawful detention Tby the powerful empire of Austria , exemplifies the free action of the Western Sejrtiblie itt vindicating the Bpiritof justice mUeh more than it is violated at Greytown ; ¦ . W ; foresee , as ^ distijprc ^ «& -popsible , that the ultimate vindication' in that swamp will , by and by , substitute American , government and American possession fop the
vagrant pauper sovereignty which 18 now enthroned . America is almost the only country in , the world that dares or cares to speak her mind . Her faults are glaring , her virtues are gigantic ^ her healthy opinion in the globe immense . If , occasionally , a representative of the -Republic can exemplify its mistakes ai a foreign court , some sturdy Eepuhlican like Mi ; Sickels can easily be sent over to tell the plain American mind ; and we do not know arty conclusion upon which the American mind can be made up which is not likely to tte fulfilled . The conclusion which ¦ Mr .
Sickels impersonated , the identification of Ouba with the Union , is a settled fact of the future . But it is the result of inarticulate justice , as distinct from European pedantry as the Know-nothingism which is silently working at home .
Toleration And The Mormons. A- Oebtam Co...
TOLERATION AND THE MORMONS . A- OEBTAm community of Mormons in London went to a magistrate , went through the ordinary forms , and got their chapel , or meeting house-, licensed for the per f ° vnilimce of religions worship . A . ny sect of Protestant Dissenters can obtain such ft license ; and the Mormons are Protestant Dissenters . They are , therefore , under the protection of the law : and their meeting house having been invaded the other day by an orthodox man , who sneered at and _ disturbed their no doubt insane proceedings , he was handed over to tlie police ; the police brought him before a magistrate ; and by the magistrate he was repr imanded , informed of the state of tho law , and bound over , < fcc . Thereupon n question of religious toleration ia raised . Tho leading journal approves of the decision of tho magistrates , that decision being in accordance with tbe > law , but throws doubts upon tho wisdom of the law , and aslca how far is this toleration to go . Are
Atheists , obtaining such a license aa Protestant Dissenters , to be permitted to meet together for " religious worship" of negations ? —and are Mormons to be so completely tolerated that if a Mormon is returned to Parliament we are to allow him to take his seat ? The general answer might be that the law , as to licensing chapels , is not in a logical condition : magistrates should not be called upon to deeide on theological points . How amend the law ? "We say — get rid of the law . Ifor , Mormons have a perfect right to meet together to invoke Jpe Smith $ Atheists have a perfect right to meet tpgether : their errors as to a nvture world does not disentitle them
to citizenship in this . The magistrate is a civil officer ; he provides for order ; and the sole condition of Ms granting a license to prayerful people should be that they are to Keep tolerably quiet . If Methodism is to meet together , why not Mdrmdnisnj . ? The Mormon is more , not less , than an o-rthodox person ; he believes all that the Archbishop of Canterbury ^ does ; , pr sbotjlcL do , and a . good deal more . And if Mormonism , w ] by not -A . fcheism ? Is the man who repudiates « Toe Smith less entitled to orthodox regard than
the man who does believe in Joe Smith r—is lie likely to be less rational—that is , less orderly ? A prayer meeting ; should be reyarded in the eye pf the law as an ordinary public meeting— -nothing more . Certainly we reojiire a law prgQjiising , fpr cerfcaan sects , the property of the community in ttbe chapel or church . ; but for an errant lunacy , such as ihe Mormons , there should be perfect liberty Joe Smith , should be entitled to take the
IiPndpn T ^ avern for prayer , if JMir . Bathe would let it tp him—whichl Mr , Bathe would , i £ J 3 mith gave seciarities . And there should be this perfect Ubertv , because if the law refuses it , it will- he obtained m spite of the law- —secretly , if forbidden publicity . The 3 % mes ^ asks—Are we to license a cliapel for a sect indulging in blasphemy and indecency ? The Times does not define blasphemy and indecency ; but it means what it would call " Infidels ; " and we answer ^—Yes , if you license Protestant Dissenters in general , for you know vei ? y well the spread of infideiity ia Hot an affair of magistrates' licenses .
Beyond the gueation of licensing lies the larger question . Suppose a Mormon returned by the city of London to ait in Parliament—and we are convinced tliat if a Mormon became the richest man ia the city of London , he would have as- few difficulties in getting a seat as Baron Tfcothschild met with—ought the Speaker to let him in before the bar P Why not ? In the Jew Bill debates Sir Robert IngJAs put the case *—Suppose a Mahomniedan settled iu London , and returned at the heffd of the poll ( say ia an anti-Itussian . agitation ) , would you give him a
seat ? x —and Liberals replied , at thethno : " Of course we would , " Oi course , then , the civil and religious liberty party would vote for Joe Smith . "We can conceive Lord John RuSfsell bringing in , and dropping , ten successive Mormon Bills , and going Tfp Morinan celer brations , and dancing in succession with tho fifty , more or less , Mesdanaes Smith . What is our xeligious toleration worth if it bemerely an endurance of Jews and Protestant Dissenters P
To say that wo must not endure tho Mormons is to say wo should not endure ourselves , Nauvoo ia filled from England ; tho Mormon movement is the chief religious movement of our time ; and are we- to give up onv faith in tho enlightenment of our country ? In one word , toleration is a civil , not rclip ioua , question . Persecute Mormouiam- —and it flourishes . In persecution is tho history of tho growth of moat religious creeds ; yob the world seems over to bo forgptting that oxperienco .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 16, 1854, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16091854/page/14/
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