elergyinan of the parish approached with a retinue of servants, and commanded him to desist. The preacher took no notice of the command, and proceeded to read his text. The clergyman then commanded the tithing-man to seize him. He was directed to be conveyed to Wareham jail; and to every question the preacher put, as to the ground of his being seized upon, the reverend and worthy clergyman only replied by the brandishing of his cane.-Instances have occurred in which clergymen of the Establishment, [the Church of England, better known as Episcopalians,] have refused to bu ry the dead. At Chidds Ercal, in Shropshire, the child of a poor man was refused interment, and the poor father was obliged to carry it six miles, before it could be laid to rest in its mother earth.--At Catsfield, in Sussex, a similar act of infamy was committed. At the moment when the bell had tolled, when the earth was to fall heavily upon the coffin containing the only remains of the being that affection had endeared, and when those who stood by needed all the consolations that religion can supply-at this moment the clergyman appeared, but advanced only to give pain to the mourners, and to agonize a parent's heart, by saying, Now that you have waited an hour till it suited me to come, I will not inter your child! I did not know that you were Dissenters, [in Englaod, all those who do not belong to the national church are called Dissenters,]-take your child somewhere elsetake it where you please--but here it shall not lie in consecrated ground." And, in fact, they were compelled to carry the child away eleven miles from the abode of its parents, and from the place that gave it birth, before it could find repose in its kindred dust."-These things occured no longer ago than 1825. For many other worse examples of the influence of the clergy in England, for the last ten years, see Dick's Philosophy of Religion. We are too much accustomed to look abroad after intolerance and persecution, instead of looking at home. It is a fast, that the clergy of a particular sect have in this country, America, already extended their influence so far over the people as to act just as they please with impunity. We have in America, at this time, as bad an influence from certain clergy as England ever had. For particulars read Whitman's Letters on Religious Liberty. Witness the great uproar made for the last six years about Masonry, because Wm. Morgan is supposed to have been murdered. But the deaths by suicide, occasioned by the excitements of the clergy, with many other calamities which they impose, are endured without a murmur ! It is time to look into these abominable acts. Brief relation of the horrible Massacre in France. After a long series of troubles in France, the Papists seeing nothing could be done against the Protestants by open force, began to devise how they could entrap them by subtlety, and that in two ways: first by pretending that an army was sent into the lower country, under the command of the Admiral, prince of Navarre and Conde; not that the king had any intention of so doing, but only with a view to ascertain what force the admiral had under him, who they were, and what were their names. The second was, a marriage suborned between the prince of Navarre and the sister of the king of France; to which were to be invited all the chief Protestants. Accordingly, they first began with the queen of Navarre; she consented to come to Paris, where she was at length won over to the king's mind. Shortly after she fell sick, and died within five days, not without suspicion of poison; but her body being opened, no signs thereof appeared. A certain apothecary, however, made his boast, that he had killed the queen by venomous odors and smells, prepared by himself. Notwithstanding this, the marriage still proceeded. The admiral, prince of Navarre and Conde, with divers other chief states of the Protestants, induced by the king's letters and many fair promises, came to Paris, and were received with great solemnity. The marriage at length took place on the 18th of August, 1572, and was solemnized by the cardinal of Bourbon upon a high stage set up on purpose without the church walls; the prince of Navarre and Conde came down, waiting for the king's sister, who was then at mass. This done, the company all went to the bishop's palace to dinner. In the evening they were conducted to the king's palace to supper. Four days after this, the admiral coming from the council table, on his way was shot at with a pistol, charged with three bullets, and wounded in both his arms. Notwithstanding which, he still remained in Paris, although the Vidam advised him to flee. Soldiers were appointed in various parts of the city to be ready at a watch-word, upon which they rushed out to the slaughter of the protestants, beginning with the admiral, who being dreadfully wounded, was cast out of the window into the street, where his head being struck off, was embalmed with spices to be sent to the pope. The savage people then cut off his arms and privy members, and drew him in that state thro' the streets of Paris, after which, they took the mangled body to the place of execution, out of the city, and there hung him up by the heels, exposing his mutilated body to the scorn of the populace. The martyrdom of this virtuous man had no sooner taken place, than the armed soldiers ran about slaying all the Protestants they could find within the city. This continued many days, but the greatest slaughter was in the three first days, in which were said to be murdered above 10,000 men and women, old and young, of all sorts and conditions. The bodies of the dead were carried in carts and thrown into the river, which was all stained therewith; also whole streams in various parts of the city ran with the blood of the slain. These brutal deeds were not confined within the walls of Paris, but extended into other cities and quarters of the realm, especially at Lyons, Orleans, Toulouse, and Rouen, where the cruelties were unparalleled. Within the space of one month, thirty thousand protestants, at least, are said to have been slain, as is credibly reported by those who testify of the matter. Now read the following horrid facts, which then took place: When intelligence of the massacre was received at Rome, the greatest rejoicings were made. The pope and cardinals went in solemn procession to the church of St. Mark to give thanks to God. A jubilee was also published, and the guns were fired from the castle of St. Angelo. To the person who brought the news, the cardinal of Lorraine gave 1000 crowns. Like rejoicings were also made all over France for this imagined overthrow of the faithful. The exceeding barbarity of these christian demons will be fully felt by every tender heart on reading the following: Philip le Doux, a jeweller, on his return from a journey, had gone to bed; his wife at this time had the midwife attending upon her, and was ready to be delivered, when she heard the furies below thundering at the door, and commanding it to be opened to them in the king's name. Ill as she was, she ventured down, and opened it to these tigers, who presently stabbed her husband in his bed. The midwife seeing them bent to murder the woman also, now ready to be delivered, entreated them to stay, at least till the infant was born. They, notwithstanding, took this poor woman, half dead with fear, and thrust into her a dagger to the very hilt. She, finding herself mortally wounded, and yet desirous to give birth to her infant, went into a corn-loft, whither they pursued her and stabbed her likewise in the belly, then threw her out of the window into the street: upon which fall, the child came from her, to the great astonishment and confusion of the Papists, who were constrained to confess the cruelties of these butchers of the innocent and helpless. One of the curderers having snatched up a little child in his arms, the poor innocent babe began to play with his beard, and to smile upon him; but instead of being moved to compassion, the barbarian stabbed it with his dagger, and threw it into the river. In reading these painful events we feel our hearts deeply af fected., We pity the innocent sufferers and despise the barbarians who are so lost to humanity. But these acts, terriblo as they are, are less than nothing, when compared with the representations of Deity as taught by Calvinists at the present day. The above acts are no worse than Calvinism, and I may go further, and say, considering circnmstances, the Calvinists of this day are guilty of worse conduct than the Papists. I mean the measures they adopt to silence investigation and in fettering the mind. But when their peculiar and essential doctrines are analysed and brought to the test of reason and scrip ture, they are too horrible to read. The following is an illus tration of Calvinism: "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor ?" ROMANS. ix, 21. From this passage and the context, Calvinists argue, 1st. That God is a Sovereign-which I freely allow; 2d. That as a Sovereign, God has a right to do as he pleases with his creatures-to which I cordially assent; 3d. That God has "power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor"—which I do firmly believe; 4th. That God has foreordained a "certain, definite" number of mankind to celestial glory, and the rest to the endurance of endless suffering-which I do deny, and allege that there is no foundation for the sentiment, neither in revelation nor reason, I do not intend, at present, to argue the point with the reader-but simply request him to accompany me, in imagination, to the workshop of my neighbor, who is a potter. We e see him take a lump of clay-divide it in two equal parts, form of each an image of a man-and endue both with sensation, reason, and power of speech. For the sake of distinction he names one of them Calvin, and the other Servetus. In form and feature there is a general resemblance-but in the countenance of Calvin we discover indications of a cruel disposition, while the countenance of Servetus is indicative of genuine benevolence. We follow them into another apartment, and find that the potter has already built a fire of green wood. We venture to make some queries touching the matter in hand and are informed, in substance, that the potter, by virtue of his right to do as he pleases with his own clay, he has exercised his power in forming of the same lump the twain before us-that they are perfectly equal in his sight; but he entends to torture one of them with fire, for the manifestation of his own glory, and to increase the happiness of the other. We are shocked with the palpable cruelty of the plan-but have no doubt that Calvin is the one to undergo the torture. But we are deceived. The potter binds Servetus, and suspends him at a sufficient height from the flames to prevent extinction of life without diminishing the quantum of suffering. He then calls upon Calvin to view the writhing of the victim, and desires him to note the exquisite torment that Servetus manifests. Calvin rubs his hands in an ecstasy of joy, while beholding the agony of the vessel of dishonor, made of the same lump of clay of which himself was formed, praises the skill of the potter, so admirably displayed in the adaption of means to ends; and unable longer to restrain the overflowing gratitude he feels for these tokens of impartial goodness, exclaims in rapture, Amen! Alleluia ! ! Reader! dost thou commiserate the suffering doom of that imaginary victim? If Calvinism be true, he is the representative of millions of our race! Art thou shocked by the inhuman rejoicing of that imaginary wretch? If Calvinism be true, he typifies the saint in glory! Dost thou condemn the worse than diabolical cruelty of that imaginary potter? If Calvinism be true, he is the very image of the Almighty!-Christian Messenger. That this is not a carricature, misrepresentation, or an exaggerated statement, will appear evident by a reference to the hymns now used in worship among the Calvinists. They may be found by every person who has a copy of Watts' psalms and hymns. Here is a specimen of orthodox hymns of devotion→→→ "Down to this base, this sinful earth, His precious blood the monsters spilt; While weighty vengeance prest him down Large as the loads of all our guilt.”—Winchell & Waits, 45, Zb. HYMN 44. L. M. Hell-or the Vengeance of God. "With holy fear and humble song, Crush'd with the weight of both thy hands. There guilty ghosts of Adam's race, Tremble, my soul, and kiss the Son: Else your damnation hastens on, And hell gapes wide to wait your fall."-Watts & Select, 2 b. |