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'TEX.\$ ST.\TE LlilRAUY
suacled that the 1ranquilit.r that reigns amoug the vnrio~s Dc~o_mina- tion~ i~ not owing entirely to the absence of a persecutmg i;p1nt hut is attributable iu no small degree to the wnnt or power to persecute. There will always be found bad men enough in fiery church who would for the g1:atification of bigotry or ambition, lead to the i,take or the scaffold the followNs of e,·ery crcecl but their own. A11d what restrains them in this country? sunply the want of the protection of ciYil authority. If then our country is the only assylnm of religious freedom; who of all others ought to be the most concerned for her welfare & foremost in her defence? those persons surely who haYe the cause of christ the nearest at heart. If ours is' the only Go,·ernment which allows of univer~al toleration; permits eYery man to worship God ill his own way and gives to none the power to persecute, is 1;1ot the cause of the christian religion deeply imoh·ed in its preserrnbon and prosperity? And how can it be said of a preacher of that Re- ligion, that he is guilty of a dereliction of his high obligations to his great Captain & i\laster in fighting in defence of such a Government? We ~-ield the solution of the questions to the Ile,·erend Gentleman who rebuked his christian brother for performing such serdce. And can i\lr. Brantly be sincere ill the opinion that the cause of Chri$t and his country are at varience? Does he really believe that a :Minister cannot aid in repelling a hostile aggression of the latter without for- saking his obligations to the former. We entreat him to a reconsic.1- eration of the matter and hope that he will not suffer any $pleen which he may have contracted toward us for exposing the diformity of the doctrine, to cause him to cling to that doctrine with more obstinate pertinacity. To fight for our country in the day of peril anc1 disaster is the !,'feat duty of a cbristian; for the overthrow of our Govt. would not only he a death blow to rational liberty .but an extingnishment of rrli~ious freedom throughout the .world. He therefore who fights in her tlefence renders an acceptable service to the intere::;t of the ('hris- tian Reliiion. The r·ause of our country is the cause of t: od- 1 H 110 part of the foregoing remarks han:~ we aimed any disrespeet to the dt·nomination of chl'istiang to which i\Ir. Branth· is an uuworthY mem- ber. 'l'he habti!-l~ hare been distinguished for their readinei,s to serYe their country in peate or 1U<11· we know that the unpatriotic nnd Tory- like principle whith wr haYe been combattinp:, ran never ht> rendered popular among them, by the influence of )Ir. Brantly or nny other man. The controversy going on about whirh of the religious !lenomi- 11atio11s ought to hare the government of Franklin College, we take 110 interest in whatever and our objection to Mr. Brantly was not on al'c·ount of his relii!ious rrcecl hut because of his political doctrine. In- dependent of the insulting letter which he address to us, he has been writing others containing slaudC'rous insinuations, all of which we will notice in a tlue cour~e of timr.. For the present we mu~t suspend the conirorersy until we are released from duties whic:h require imme- 1liate n!tt•11tio11. The leaminl!' may lie on the part of our ,rntagonist hut rigltt will be 011 ours, and so long as we battle in defence of a sound principle, we fear not to measure lances with n fore who !.:eeks the field from malice. [Enclor,ed :] Editorial in C'olumhus Enquirer- Gn-
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