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Show 1 CUUUCIl AND STATE. i'Vrff Sioco religioua "actions" are declared by the Supremo court to boj legally subject to prohibition and punishment, it may be well to briefly survey our position, for it is understood under-stood that a legal interpretation of law ia law. - Second The Supreme court decision de-cision iu the case of George Reynolds exhaustively definea religion as consisting con-sisting ot opiuiona aud actiouB. Consequently Con-sequently all that cannot be included in "opinions" is included in "actions" religious words of prayer and pra'uo, creeds, corporations, printed bookB, temples for worship, beneficent institutions, utc., etc., being certainly not religious "opinions" "opin-ions" are necessarily included under the only alternative term, "religious actiona;" and as such are, according to the late decisiou, tubj?ct to legal prohibition. Third But the leader need not bo alarmed ut ttie sweep of this innocent judgment. Though Ihn Prtnrt. nnta thn whnlft nennlfl nf the United Slatea under the abeolute despotic authority of congreas no matter whatever;, for the court pro-testa pro-testa against the union of church and state. What doea it nioiier, though the court's interpretation of tbe First Amendment converts it from a sentinel sen-tinel protecting religiouB liberty into a brigand thro'.tling religioua liberty? 1-j it ot any poaaioia consequence mat iho court (xprejBly makes congress muster ol religion in the United States? Can we not Bee how amiable and innocent the court ia? Does it nut expressly triumph in the overthrow over-throw nf "ohureu and state" quoting quot-ing Jeflrson? FiiurthQi what possible conae queues can it be to say that to put religious "actions" under tbo regu-Uting regu-Uting powerof coDgrcss is to establish the union of church and stale? Did not Mr. JeUeraou give us the definition, and also io the very aame paragraph proteat against church aud state? And didn't Mr. Jetieraon know? His three connected theses -are these: First Religion consists of "opinions" and "actions," Second The civil power rightfully claims to control religioua actions Ttiird The union of church and Btate is tyrauny. If Mr...Jtllersou protests against the union of church and state as tyranny, it follows that there can be no union of church and Btate in hii putting the matter ol religion into the hands of congress. At all events the court has taken no false ground, "having simply put itself under Jefferson. It interpreted inter-preted the I tw jual as his fluency suggested. Jijth It is only to be lamented that Jefferaon'a glory, and tbe court's glory derived trom bim are not original. However, it it somethiug to have the fellowship, and march in the ranks ol such primitive leaders as Herod, Nero, Domitian and Uonuer. For iudeed the noble army of martyrs necessarily supposes a noble company ot persecutors. Ai..d I balieve I bave beard or read that Nero possessed almost teminino beauty and grace, illustrating the class to which be belonged aud to which tbe court inwardly aspires M ascend. Suth There is indited, aj wull as direct; ndvautaei' in putting religion under the cot trol of congress, (not, let it be rc:nembered, uniting church ,n:,d state, ) even though congress -nuuld prohibit certain religioua ac-:ipus. ac-:ipus. For liunyao would never bave written Pilgrim' Progress if be bad !not been confined for years in an1 English jail. r Sccer.th Let it be considered,! there are recondite beauliea in Jerlereon'a special style of dt-j mocracy. Ho improved even1 on lis French modt-l Tl:e French revolutionist blundered ioto tbo auppression of " the (JuUten JiuU;" iu fact, dabbled in blood awkwardly; awk-wardly; were a aai.guiue set of politicians. poli-ticians. But Jtflersoo covers their whole .practice by his one axiom "religious actions" are under civil regulation. The peculiar beauty of! it is that Jtfleriooiiru sheds no blood; is uuave, geutle, deferential. His i reading of the Golden Rule a8up-j pressible part of "religion" because not an "opinion." would bo ttmply! not "do as you would be done by,"1 but do to congress as congresa would Lave you do tbal is, obey. Jeiler-sou'd Jeiler-sou'd axiom coveis and deGi.es as minute!)' as it sweeps broadly. Thii ia tlio peculiar bcauly of a rule of conduct. Eighth Congress being religiously icnipiiioua, will vir.dioale its guardianship guard-ianship of oach and every form and style of creed and worship; will summarily sum-marily snub all irregular preachers and idly curious people who carelessly ramble into church, and so perform religious "actions" without license, and in Gne, Bince religious buildings are not rrligioua "opiuiona" they may all be closed or sold cr erased from their sites Never lei the public lor-c.et, lor-c.et, however, that tho Supreme court is (in Jeflerson'a way) in deadly oppo sition to tho union of church and otiite. ,A';i To make the most of circumstances, cir-cumstances, and to try to get all the t:o"d poa-dblo out uf the inevitable, looking at the whole matter in a financial point of view, it is plain, anil doubtless tho court lias seen what uhc may be mad o of Jefleraoniam in indirectly indi-rectly furthering "the fundamental imcr-.stH ol aociely," that an im-mt'iwi im-mt'iwi revenue may be collected from the licensing of religious "actions," mid in tiiia way tbe entire national debt be paid off sooner and more adroitly than in any other way. Gentile |