146 ~~ THE UNITED STATES IN PROPHECY.
I ever saw done in any kind of gathering, and Old-
School Presbyterian Doctors of Divinity, who have gen-
erally been noted for clerical dignity, take the greatest
delight in raising the cheers of the crowd by their keen
thrusts and witticisms. The Commercial was publicly
recommended as giving the official report, and of the
speech of the President of Washington and Jefferson
College, it said, ‘Dr. Hay’s address was received with
frequent marks of approbation, and his witty points drew
forth shouts of laughter.” Judging from what I have
seen, the standard of piety is not to be elevated by this
work.,”—J. IL. W., in Review of Feb. 17, 1874.
Between the professions of this Association, and
the objects which they are openly laboring to ob-
tain, there is an utter inconsistency, as the follow-
ing considerations will show. In the Review of
March 24, 1874, the writer last quoted says :—
“ We are sometimes perplexed to account for the sin-
guiar operations of the human mind. When we see men
of good natural ability and of superior privileges of
mental and moral culture, persistently clinging to the
weaker side in argument, and seeming able to discover
light only on the darkest side of a proposition, or en-
deavoring to sustain themselves by taking contradictory
positions, our charity is taxed to the utmost to give them
credit for the ability they seem to possess and for the
integrity of purpose they claim. Seldom have our re-
flections been more forcibly turned in this direction than
In viewing the course pursued by the advocates of the
Religious Amendment. A late number of the Chris
tian Statesman, speaking of the Seventh-day Adventists,
says (—
“ ‘From the beginning of the National Reform Movement.
they have regarded it as the first step toward the persecution
which they, as keepers of the seventh day, will endure, when
our Sabbath laws are revived and enforced. One can but
smile at their apprehensions of the success of a movement
which would not harm a hair of their heads, but their fears
are sincere enough, for all that.””
THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 147
Pursuing the line of argument into a considera-
tion of the question whether there is anything in the
professions of the Amendment party calculated to
change our opinion in this respect, he continues: —
“If a profession of good motives and of a desire to
steer clear of a union of Church and State on the part of
the Amendment party could give us assurance on this
point, then might we cease to notice this subject. On
this point they are very explicit. A few quotations will
sutlice to present their claims. Said Hon. Mr. Patter-
son, in the Pittsburgh Convention :—
‘Be not misled by the assertion that the movement agi-
tated by this Convention tends to religious intolerance, to
wedding Church and State. No such tendency exists. On
the contrary, this movement claims nothing but to secure in
the preamble of our national Constitution an acknowledg-
ment of the supremacy of God and the Christian character
of our nation, such as is now generally and authoritatively
conceded to be the law of our land.’
“This, surely, is lamb-like enough to throw us all off
our guard. The following remarks by President Brunot
(pronounced Bruno) on taking the chair are equally in-
nocent to view :—
‘““The fourth article of the Constitution declares that “no
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any
office or public trust under the United States,” and the first
amendment in the Constitution provides that ‘Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” We have not pro-
posed to change these. We deem them essential. in con-
nection with the amendment we ask, to the preservation of
religious liberty, and with it, an effective guard against a
union of Church and State.’
“And again: ‘The attempt to destroy the inalienable
right of freedom of conscience in religion in this, our fa-
~vored land, would meet with its very first organized re-
sistance from this Association.’
“And Dr. Kerr suid :(—
“‘We want no union of Church and State. Let that