It is the power of truth evolved by free discussion, and mainly as it is and will be administered in the hands of Young America and the secular press.
The young men of the nation have the control of their literary societies in our colleges and seminaries, and of the popular lyceums and other associations, where every member has a vote in deciding what shall be discussed; and here the battle will be fought for religious liberty and the Bible.
In this conflict there will appear two distinct classes. The first will be those of shallow capacity and acquirements, who, perceiving themselves to be in the party of reason and common sense, will imagine that they have acquired this position, not by the progress of the age, brought about to a great extent by the discussions, the labors and sufferings of wise and good men, many of them distinguished as metaphysicians and theologians, but that it is all owing to their own remarkable genius and independent thought. Thus [pg 360] they will become “heady, high-minded,” rash and contemptuous. Of these, some will be borne away to utter skepticism, immorality and final ruin. Others, unable to reason correctly, and bewildered by the conflict, will swing around to the opposite extreme, and enter a church where they can rest their faith on a priesthood claiming to be heaven-inspired, which shall decide all questions of faith and practice for them.
But the nobler portion of Young America will understand truly their great mission, and, taught by the mistakes and darkness of the past, with a modest and humble sense of their own inability to go forward without help, both from God and their fellow-men, will seek for truth, duty and happiness in the appropriate path of calm, honest, fair and free discussion. And their generous hearts and strong arms will be shield and buckler even to the feeblest who may enter the lists.
What the Religious Press will do?
This question is the most perplexing of all, at least to those who have attentively marked the recent developments in the religious world.
What is there that more clearly defies at once the moral sense, the common sense and the teachings of the Bible, than the system of slavery as it now exists in this country, and yet a majority of not only editors, but of the ministers of Christ, in some of our most intelligent and large denominations, openly refuse freedom of discourse on this subject; nay, more, some of the religious papers are openly justifying the slave trade, which politicians, even those without any [pg 361] pretensions to religious principle, have placed as piracy, the highest civil crime.
And the last year has witnessed the deliberate crushing of free debate on this subject, in one of our largest and most effective benevolent associations. And some of those whose whole lives have exhibited them among the most amiable, conscientious and exemplary men, are to be found upholding such a course.
Who then can predict what will be the course of the religious press, when every editor must maintain the distinctive tenets of a sect, or at once lose his professional character and his income?
It is very easy to predict what will be the course of those who will make no sacrifice for truth. A large portion will neither read, or think or discuss, or, so far as they have power to prevent, allow others to do so. Some will take this course in the satisfied belief that they, and the church which they have infallibly decided to be infallible, can never err. Others will avoid all discussion for fear of being convinced of mistakes, obliging them, if acknowledged, to sacrifices of pride, character and income.