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Show BIGOTRY. The Chicago Herald of the Gth inst. has the following article on the question ': of reconciliation between the North . and South: It touches upon religious bigotry" in a way that is excellent: One religious newspaper is the authority i for the assertion that another religions news paper printed two editions of the issue con-taming con-taming its obituary of General Grant, one for circulation in the North and the other for its readers in the South. In that edition which was intended for the Northern States there was nothing that oould by any possi-. possi-. bility give aid and comfort to a Southerner, but in. the one that was sent South there were references to Lee and Jackson and f ra- i ternal sentiments which were calculated to please the average person who twenty Years ago and more followed the fortunes of those command ers.- 1 The motive of the publisher in producing this double-barrel issue is reasonably plain! but it will cause a great many people to marvel why such a thing should have been necessary or even desirable in a religious publication. Secular narjers nnhlinliAi in nil -parts of ihe country did justioe to General Gen-eral Grant and to his opponents in one article, arti-cle, and no good reason can be given why a religious publication should not have done the same. This particular religious editor evidently believed that the words of fairness n . and truth which he wrote for Southern cir culation exclusively would be resented at the North, and in that verv act he drew up and presented an indictment which the religious reli-gious societies of the North cannot afford to pass unnoticed.- He recognized the disgraceful fact that, while soldiers who fought and all the great interests of business and -society which were temporarily estranged have fraternized, the ; .only-- organized hostility between the sections which yet remains is that to be found in the Christian churches of the two principal geographical divisions of-the v country. A few of them have united, but . . the majority of them are as far apart today to-day as they were before the surrender of Appomattox. ' . It will appear to most people that it is - about time for these pious non-combatants-on both sides to lay down their guns. Thev h VC ?eeds Particularly . enjoining upon . iKivraraa oi past injuries, but while politicians who fought each other in fiercer arenas than those which the clerev oocupied, and soldiers who faced each other with powder and ball have long since t hrown aside their bitterness, and in their rejoicine om the restoration and magnificent progress .. of the liuon let bygones be bvgones, many of the -parsons are still on their fortifications, fortifica-tions, muskets in hand,- ready to take a crack at a head wherever it may-appear. The pacification and unification of the sections after the settlement on the battle field of the only question that ever seriously divided them was inevitable. It had to .comev8nd though the bitterness could not all be'allayed at once under the most favorable favor-able circumstances, it was impossible from the first for the enduring hate of fanatics or the irresponsible utterances of demngo'nies to remsji the mighty Social, cbmmercial'and patriotic forces that were at work as soon as j the roar of the cannons died away. Since ' ?h this-was inevitable and most desirable, it I is a singular thing that the religious organ- ' izations did not lead the way. instead of blocking it, and strange that their recon- , f iliation was not so speedy and cordial that it would have furnished a splendid example for laymen. Such has not been the case . however; many of the brethren on both sides 6till glare at each other and nurse the verbal wounds received by their fathers more than a generation ago. It is time for them to come up out of the trenches and hang their guns on the antlers. |
