Religious Liberty

Persecution may indeed exist without brandish¬ ing deadly weapons over the head of the supposed errorist. It may follow its victim with suspicion and scorn. It may turn upon him the demoniac glare of anger, and breathe venom from its lips. But this spirit, we have reason to hope, is fast dis¬ appearing from among us ; or, if it lingers in some quarters and occasionally lifts up its horrid form, it is looked upon with general disgust as a base out¬ rage upon humanity, and the grossest violation of the laws of God. Such is our liberty. It is worth treasures and blood, and there are those in other lands who would gladly pay and are paying this great price for it. But we were free born. It is a heritage which has descended to us from the Pilgrim Fathers, who, in the language of the gifted poetess, “ Have left unstained, what here they found, Freedom to worship God.” What then is the practical bearing of religions liberty upon our happiness and prosperity as a nation 1 In the first place, it is the parent and guardian of mental liberty. Independence of thought on one subject leads to independence of thought on others. Especially is this true in reference to religion. If there are restraints here, the whole soul is in bond¬ age ; and if there is freedom here, then are we free indeed. One may be in poverty or in prison and suffer a thousand disabilities, and be “ a man for a’ that but if he allows his conscience to be in the keeping of another, he is a slave of the most menial kind. There is nothing left in him that can give strength or dignity to a human being ; no indi¬ vidual character or noble endeavors, or lofty aspira¬ tions. The glory has departed. There have been times in the history of nations, nor have those times entirely passed away, when religious restrictions were laid upon the intellect as well as upon the conscience. Men were not allowed to think, or at least to express their thoughts, with¬ out having first ascertained whether they were in harmony with the popular creed, and the prescribed faith. It is recorded of the Alexandrian fathers that in their honest intention to develop the true sense of Scripture, they inserted a punctuation mark after the word tv, in the third verse of the first chapter of the Gospel of John. The conscientious Chrysostom was greatly alarmed at this proceeding, and denounced it as rank heresy. Epiphanius, still more zealous, declared it an act of blasphemy, and a sin against the Holy Ghost. Excitements rose high in the theological world. Wise heads combined to stay the spreading evil. And thus, on account of a single dot, the perilous work of punctuating the inspired volume was delayed for years. A similar spirit of hostility to free thought crippled the en¬ ergies of philosophers and scholars, and spread over the earth the darkness of a thousand years. Strong and active minds then existed. There were giants in those days. But they were doomed to walk only in the go-carts of despotism. They were occupied with the most profitless inquiries. Not daring to rise up in conscious majesty and pursue their work in the open face of day, they burrowed in the obscurity of convents and cloisters, and wast¬ ed on puerile conceits the powers that were designed for discovery and progress. Preachers and authors wrote with the fear of the censorship, or the Index of prohibited books, before their eyes. The shadow of the pillory or of the grim inquisition fell, through their study windows, sadly and ominously upon the page that should have been dedicated to freedom, to truth, and to God. But no such bit or bridle is im¬ posed on us ; and never can be. Our philosophers and learned men may push their investigations as far as they please ; no prince or prelate can harm them. They may make, or think they make, dis¬ coveries in science that are wonderful and startling; and they may announce thetn to the world and to the church ever so boldly ; no sun or successor of St. Dominic will raise his iron hand, nor bend upon them a frowning brow. If some of their the¬ ories seem to come athwart the Bible, be it so. The fate of the Tuscan philosopher, often so plain¬ tively deprecated, they have no occasion to fear, — however much it might in some instances be de¬ served. Our men of genius may exert themselves to the utmost, may range the wide creation, and unlock, if they can, the mysteries of nature. Their acquisi¬ tions may equal their pretensions even. They may “ Know all learning and all science know, And all the subtle, nice affinities Of matter trace, its virtues, motions, laws, And most familiarly and deeply talk Of mental, moral, natural, divine, Leaving the earth at will, may soar to heaven, And read the glorious visions of the skies, And gaze far back into the awful depths of Deity.” No obstructions will be thrown in their lumi¬ nous path. Our transcendentalists may indulge in imaginative theories and keen speculations, and with looks of wondrous wisdom, speak of the “ absolute,” and the “infinite,” and the “innate,” as familiar things, intelligible and palpable to their every sense. They may put forth those long reaches of thought which pluck bright honor from the palefaced moon, or dive into the bottom of the deep, where fathom-line can never touch the ground, and drag up drowned honor by the locks ! Our policy and our safety consist in simply standing out of their adventurous way, and giving them as wide a range as possible. …