USA > New Jersey > Morris County > Morristown > The Record of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown, N.J. : v. 1-5 Jan. 1880-Dec. 1885, pt 1 > Part 44
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OVERDOING IN CHARITIES.
Laziness and intemperance are the two great crimes against society. And we have much reason for believing that they are in- creased by the pious zeal of good people to provide for the indolent and the victims of drink.
Society gives too much in mistaken charity.
If the lazy and the intemperate were made to work and restrained from drink, there would be very little need of providing for the poor. We would require hospitals for the sick and wounded. Providential mis- fortune must be cared for, and the deserving poor must be supported.
But it is a divine principle that he who will not work does not deserve to have any- thing to eat.
Therefore we would have laziness and in- temperance treated as vices to be punished ; and certainly the want of food is a light penalty to impose on him who will drink" what is evil and will not work for his daily bread.
" The worst enemy, therefore, of those en- gaged in real charitable work is the indis- criminate and reckless giver. He undoes whatever good work they do."-N. Y. Ob- server.
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THE RECORD
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MORRISTOWN, N. J. " THIS SHALL BE WRITTEN FOR THE GENERATION TO COME."-Psalms 102 : 18.
VOLUME III.
SEPTEMBER, 1883. NUMBER 9.
[Printed with the Approval of the Session. ]
THE RECORD
Will be published monthly at Morristown. N. J. Terms $1.00 per annum, in advance. Subscriptions may be made at the book- stores of Messrs. Runyon and Emmell, or to Messrs. James R. Voorhees and William D. Johnson, or by letter addressed to the
EDITOR OF THE RECORD, Morristown, N. J.
Entered at the Post Office at Morristown, N. J., as second class matter.
The remains of George Whitefield are beneath the pulpit of the old Presbyterian Church in Newburyport, Mass.
The RECORD for next month will contain interesting extracts from Mr. Barnes's "Manual of Our Church."
Special attention is requested to the list begun in the next column. Doubtless most of our readers can furnish some information. It is very desirable that the facts should be had before publishing the roll of members received during the pastorates of Drs. Fisher and McDowell.
A private diary contains this entry, under date of Sept. 29, 1842 : "Attended the cen- tenary celebration. Doct. Fisher preached the sermon, in place of Dr. Richards, who was sick. The house was pretty well filled." This was probably the centenary anniver- sary of the church, since Dr. Johnes came in 1742; but it seems to have passed very quickly out of memory. Dr. Irving writes, " When I was hunting facts, no one men- tioned that celebration to me." Who can give an account of the occasion ?
WHO CAN TELL?
Information is desired concerning the fol- lowing members of the church. Did they unite with other churches, and if so, what churches? Did they remove from Morris- town, if so, when ? Are they dead? If so, the date of death ? Are they living? If so, where? In case of the names of women, if married after joining the church, what was the date of marriage and name of husband ? Our readers will confer a favor by sending a postal card, addressed to the "Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Morristown, N. J.," with such information as they can fur- nish respecting any one or more of the names given below : '
NAMES AND MARKS.
JOINED CHURCH. 1810.
Feb. 21. Phebe, wife of Peter Norris, from Mendham,
Apr. 19. Joseph Beers.
May 4. Rachel Crowell, from South Han- over. Elias Byram, from Caldwell. 1811.
May 5. Nancy Fairchild, widow. : Mary Canfield.
= 1812.
Jan. 3. Charlotte, wife of Matthias Pierson, from South Hanover.
Feb. 28. Flora, servant of James James.
Apr. 27. Jerusha, wife of Jacob Mann: she is recorded as having died July 12, 1865, but one of the rolls marks her "dismissed ;" to what church and when was she dismissed ?
May I. Mehetable, wife of Timothy Fair- child.
July 3. Elizabeth Hatfield Fairchild, wife" of Jacob Beers.
Oct. 30. Matthias Williams, from Orange. .. Sally, wife of Samuel Roff,
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Oct. 30. Rachel, wife of Martin DeHart. Nov. 1. Mary A. Dickerson.
Dec. 25. Elizabeth Edwards, widow. .. .. Tryphena, wife of Joshua Secor.
.. Henry P. Russel.
.. .. Isabel, wife of John Conplin; she is marked "dismissed to New Vernon ;" but when ?
1813.
Jan. I. Rebecca, wife of Roseter Lum ; she is marked "Euclid, O," but when ?
Apr. 26, Hugh Huston (or Dustan), from Associate Reform Church, N. Y., marked "to New Ver- non ; " but when ?
June 29. Anna, wife of Robert Harrison. from South Hanover, marked "to Newark ; " but what church and when ?
Mrs. Jerusha Alsover, from Parsip- pany.
Aug. 27. Amelia Maria Smith.
Nov. 2. William Johnson.
Sarah, wife of Enos Egbert, from Elizabethtown. Did she join the Methodist Church here ? Jonathan Dayton, from Basking- ridge.
Phebe, wife of Jonathan Dayton, from Baskingridge.
1814.
Mar. 4. Anna Lambert, widow. « " James Martin.
Apr. 22. S.Iva, a free black-woman.
June 14. Joseph Garner.
Susan, servant of Andrew Ogden. Henry Hardy, colored.
.. 22. Sally Oliver. Did she marry Mah- lon Bonnel and go to New Vernon ? If so, when ?
Hilah Mitchell.
Margaret, wife of Isaac Goble.
Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Still.
Mehetable, wite of David Wood.
Aug. 29. James D. Johnson.
Phebe Pierson.
.. Hannah Miller.
Sally Meeker.
.. Julia Ann Pierson.
.. Julia F. Hedges.
Abby Connet (later Mrs. Philip Cook.)
Aug. 29. Joanna Freeman (later Mrs Ashbel U. Guerin.) Clarrisa Byram (later Mrs Thomp- son.) Nov. 3. Philip Cook. .. .. Dina Young, widow (later Mrs. Eph Cutler), marked " dismissed;" but when and to what church? Dec. 22. Sarah Dickerson, marked "later Mrs. Lewis Brookfield, " and " dismissed ;" but when ? 16 Benjamin Lindsly. Hannah, wife of Benjamin Lind- sly.
. Miss Mary Cook.
.. Stephen Conklin.
Dec. 30. Mary Bonnel, wife of Nathaniel, from Bottle Hill; marked "to Green Village," and "dead;" but when ?
1815. Feb. 23. Ann, wife of Wm. Davison.
Nancy (or Mary?) wife of Wm. Wooley.
Sarah, wife of David Wooley; marked "dismissed to the Methodist church as wife of Lewis ; Brookfield." Is this correct ? if so, when married and dismissed ?
David Wooley.
Sarah, wife of Ezra Halsey, Jr., marked "to Hamburgh, Sussex Co.," but when ?
Elijah P. son of John Oliver ; mark- ed "to New Vernon" and "died at N. V." but when ? Zenas, son of Luther Connet. Stephen H. son of David Pierson; marked "dismissed," but when and where?
April 28. Susan, daughter of Abner Fair- child ; marked "to New Vernon as wife of Ager Lindsly." Is this correct ? if so, when mar- ried and dismissed ?
.. .. Dorcas, wife of Thomas Mitchel.
.. Elizabeth, wife of John Finegar, marked "dismissed," but when and where?
.. Akaba, servant of Joseph Cutler. marked "wife of Sam, Canfield" and "dead." Is this correct? if so, when married and died?
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THE RECORD.
April 28 Phebe Condict, marked "later wife of Moses I .. Guerin," and "dead." Is this correct ? If so, when married and died.
Jonas Willis, and Elizabeth his wife, from Orange.
June 22. Isaac Prudden and his wife Anna marked "dismissed," but when and where ?
" Deborah, wife of Chatfield Tuttle; marked "dead."
# " Susan, daughter of the widow Ed- wards.
Aug. 23. John, son of Ebenezer Stiles. Dinah, servant of Thomas Mor- gan.
Oct. 26. Phebe, wife of Ebenezer Pierson, marked "dismissed," but when and where ?
Mary Lawrence.
Marcus, son of James Ford, marked "ordained."
Sarah, wife of James Humes (or Holmes ?), from Mendham.
Dec. 28. Sarah, daughter of Joseph Lindsly, Jr., marked "dismissed 1818." Phebe, daughter of Edward Con- dict ; marked "later Mrs. Peter Freeman" and "dead," but when married and died ?
Eliza, wife of David Hurd.
Hannah, daughter of Moses Estey ; marked "dismissed."
Eliza, daughter of Jonathan Ogden. 1816.
Feb. 22. Halsey, sou of Daniel Prudden. Elia W., son of Noah Crane ; marked "ordained."
Sophronia, daughter of Jeremiah Day.
Harriet, wife of Jacob Canfield. Sarah, daughter of Henry Benfield. Ann C. Lindsly ; marked "dis- missed," but when and where ?
May 3. Delancy Newton and wife Sarah ; marked "dismissed," but when and where ?
." James Garrigues ; marked "dis- missed," but when and where ? Janc, daughter of Joseph Marsh ; marked "later Mrs. Henry Thorp." and "dead," but when married and died ? 1 .
May 3. Eliza, wife of John Millard.
Titus, servant of Dr. Hunt.
Rose, servant of Henry King. Aug. 15. Jerry, son of John Caldwell ; marked "dismissed."
Franklin, son of Jonathan Cow- dery ; marked "dismissed."
Hannah, wife of Samuel Pierson ; marked "dead," but when ? Jane, wife of Abraham Johnson.
.. Mary, daughter of Caleb Camp- bell ; marked "later Mrs. James Martin." and "dead," but when married and died ?
Ruth, daughter of Stephen Turner, Aug. 25. John M. Benedict, from New Haven.
1817.
Feb. 20. Louisa, daughter of Chas. Mor- rell ; marked "dismissed."
May 22. Maria, wife of Henry J. Browne.
Lucy. wife of Charles Comstock.
" Elizabeth, widow of --- Fine.
.4 John Wooley and Elizabeth his wife.
Susanna, wife of Henry Alwood, from Rockaway.
Aug. 28. Margaret, wife of Joshua De Hart, marked "dismissed," but when and where ? .. Mary, daughter of Moses Estey ; marked "dismissed."
.. Sarah, daughter of Demas Ford, from Newburgh.
Martha, wife of John Robinson. from Hanover.
Sept. 3. Margaret, "a free blackwoman," from Mendham.
1818.
Feb. 19. Benajah Burnet, from Jefferson. May 28. Mahlon Ford ; marked "dismissed," but when and where ?
Gabriel Green and his wife Mary ; marked "to Newark," but when and where ? Aug. 27. Joseph, son of John McCord. 1819.
May 6. James Davis, and his wife Nancy from Bloomfield.
Aug. 26. Aaron Bonnel, from Springfield. Phebe, wife of Aaron Bonnel, from Elizabethtown.
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THE RECORD.
1820.
Feb. 24. Eliza S. Johnes, daughter of Tim- othy Johnes.
June 15. Mary, wife of Jacob Shipman.
Abigail, wife of Henry Vail from Hanover.
Aug. 24. Matilda, daughter of Moses Prud- den ; marked to "New Vernon," but when ?
.. ..
Sarah, wife of Silas Bowen.
.. .. Bythinia, wife of Joseph Canfield. Nov. 23. Phebe Babbit ; marked "later Mrs. Samuel Pierson" and "dead," but when married and died ?
1821. Feb. 22. James Shelley, "a free colored man."
May 28. Sarah, wife of John Munson.
Aug. 23. Elizabeth, widow of John Haines (or Harris).
Dec. 6. Cleopatra, wife of Daniel Prudden, from Succasunna.
1822.
Feb. 26. Susan, daughter of Mahlon John- son, " later Mrs. Jon. E. Hunt- ington of Newark." Did she join a church in Newark ?
May 16. Mary, wife of Geo. K. Drake, marked " dismissed ; " but when and where ?
..
Hannah, wife of James Wilson.
.. Anna and Hannah, daughters of Isaac Canfield, marked " dis- missed; " but when and where ? Mary, daughter of Stout Benja- min, marked " later Mrs. Steph- en Tunis" and "dead ;" but when married and died ?
.. .. Sarah, wife of Elisha J. Pierson.
.. Henry Vail, Jr.
.. 21. Abby, wife of Hiram Lindsly, marked " to New Vernon ; " but when ?
..
..
Martha, wife of David Beers.
.. Bernard McCormick.
..
.. Stephen O. Guerin.
..
23. Urania, wife of Henry Minton. Phebe, wife of Lewis Johnson.
.. .. Jonathan Thompson and his wife Harriet.
..
Timothy II. Prudden, marked " to .. New Vernon ; " but when? Ira Prudden. .
May 23. Obadiah L. Woodruff. Aug. 1. James Burnet.
Elizabeth Trowbridge and Mary Ann B,, daughters of Rev. Asa Lyman, marked "to Chatham ;" but when ?
.. Phebe, wife of John Sparling.
Eunice, widow of Mahlon Lindsly. marked "to New Vernon ;" but when ?
.. . Caty Lewis, servant of A. O. Pier- son.
.. 8. Gitty, wife of Ephraim Fairchild, marked "to New Vernon ; " but"7 when ?
Betsey, daughter of Caleb Howard. Jane, widow of David Carmichael, marked " now wife of Edward Condict."
Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Baker.
Jabez, son of Michael Edwards.
15. Julia, daughter of Wm. Beadle, marked "to New Vernon as wife of Lewis Armstrong ; " but when married and dismissed ?
John, son of Daniel Tunis, marked "to New Vernon ; " but when? Hannah, daughter of Uzal Mun- son, marked "gone west, wife of John Gillam ;" but when married and dismissed ?
Eliza, wife of james Wood.
.. William Cook, marked in pencil, " Newark,"
.. Sarah, wife of Wm. A. Whelpley, marked " dismissed 1830 ;" but where ?
Louisa and Sarah, daughters of Jacob Mann, marked "dis- missed ;" but when and where ? 22. Louisa, daughter of Chas. Car- michael.
Hannah, wife of Chas. Wilson, marked " to New Vernon ;" but when ?
..
.. Martha, wife of Jonathan Pierson, marked " to Newark."
Ebenezer Pierson; two dates of his death are on roll, " Dec. 1, 1843" and " Dec. 19, 1851." Which is correct ?
Elizabeth, wife of James Conway.
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Aug. 22. Sidney D., son of Bethuel Pierson, marked " dismissed." Matthias Burnet, son of Stephen .. Freeman.
Isaac, son of Isaac Canfield, Elias, son of Zophar Freeman.
Nov. 12. John M., son of John Sparling, marked " gone to Ohio."
23, Adam Gilchrist.
1823.
May 15. Hannah, wife of Wmn. Goble, marked "to New Vernon ;" but when?
Martha, wife of John Lindsly, marked " to New Vernon ;" but when?
22. Elizabeth Coe.
..
Sophia, wife of Elisha Cameron, Ruth, wife of Jonathan Miller, marked "to New Vernon ; " but when ?
Huldah Ayers, marked "dis-
missed ;" but when and where ?
.. . Nathanael Wilson, son of Jonathan Hathaway.
Ann, widow of David Halliday, marked "to New Vernon ;" but when ?
Susan R., daughter of Thomas Guerin.
26. Hannah Wooley, widow, from Spring Street Church, N. Y.
Mary, daughter of Hannah Wooley, from same, and wife of James Van Fleet, Sr., marked "to Newark ;" but when and where !
1824.
June 4. Hannah, wife of Francis Casterline. Dec. 2. Phebe Canfield, widow, "from Hanover, daughter of Jacob, wife of Wm. Wisner, marked as having died "Aug. 1838" on one roll, and " Jan. 8, 1849, aet. '41," on another. Which is correct.
If we divide the known regions of this world into thirty equal parts ; the Christian part is as five; the Mahometan's as six . and the Idolaters as nineteen .- Brerewood 1674.
CLIPPINGS.
THE LAURENTIAN LIBRARY.
Passing up a staircase at one corner of this cloister, I came out on its upper gallery, close to the door of the vestibule to the Laurentian Library. Entering at this door, one finds one's self at the foot of the fine triple staircase built by Vasari, whose am- ple and majestic lines form a fitting introduc- tion to the chamber to which it conducts ; a long, narrow hall, that at first sight reminds you of a modern church. Rows of benches and racks, resembling slips, stretch on either hand throughout its length, with a central aisle and a desk at its farther end. On ex- amination you see that the eighty-eight racks are bookcases, where, each fastened by a chain, the books are laid ready for the occupant of the bench to turn their leaves. This was the method adopted when this hall was finished in 1571, and it has been left unchanged to the present day. When readers were few it was not an inconvenient system, but now all books desired for refer- ence are taken from their places and carried to an adjoining room, fitted up with modern conveniences for the student. The main hall, therefore, presents no appearance of a library, all the racks being covered with curtains, and the clerks, with a few chance visitors, being the only occupants of the room. The dark ceiling and pavement, and the racks of beautifully carved wood almost black with time, the ancient stained win- dows, the work of a scholar of Raphael. John of Udine, give it a solemn and impressive magnificence. It seems a fitting home for the relics of antiquity. A long, narrow panel, inscribed with the names of the books in that division, is attached to each rack. The attendant lifts the green cloth from these treasures with a reverent hand. He shows you a Syrian Bible of the sixth century, a Greek Gospel of the eighth, and, earliest of all, a Virgil, with annota- tions made in the year 494. Later manu- scripts, many of them richly illuminated, abound; among the illustrations more in- teresting to ordinary eyes are the contem- porary portraits of Dante, of Petrarch and Laura .- Springfield Republican.
The Laurentian Library is at Florence, in
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Italy, and is so called from Lorenzo de Me- dici, its real founder. It was begun by Cos- mo de Medici, the grandfather of Lorenzo. Cosmo was a merchant who accumulated an immense fortune, but, notwithstanding his intense application to his business pursuits, gave great attention to letters. He in- structed his friends and correspondents to procure for him ancient manuscripts in every language. The Eastern Empire was then falling to pieces, and this enabled him to obtain many inestimable works in Heb- rew, Greek, Chaldaic, Arabic and in the In- dian languages.
These books thus gathered were the nu- cleus of the great library. Lorenzo made many additions, donating his own library to it, and enriching it with books collected by him from every part of the earth. He em- ployed every available means to procure the rarest volumes on every subject. Politian and Pico, two celebrated bibliophilists of his time, were, under his guidance, diligently engaged in purchasing, arranging and cata- loguing books.
Lorenzo at last erected the present build- ing occupied by this library, also using the talent and genius of Vasari, as the architect, in its erection.
During the troublous time attendant upon the ascendancy to power of Savonarola and his subsequent downfall, great loss to the library was feared from pillage by the pop- ulace. But, while the frenzy of the people was at its greatest height, some of the youth of the noblest families of Florence guarded it until the fury was over.
Prior to this many of the volumes had been distributed as presents by Savonarola to the cardinals and other eminent men, whose favor he desired to obtain.
Many of its volumes had been seized for the use of the State, which was afterwards obliged to sell these volumes to raise money for its needs.
Leo X. purchased ali he could obtain-re- moved the library to. Rome in 1508, where it was kept until the accession of Clement VII., who restored it to Florence where it has since remained.
Prior to this, in 1494, during the invasion of Italy by Charles VIII. of France, this in- 'valuable library had been plundered by the French -- aided, to their eternal disgrace be
it written-by the Florentines themselves, who openly carried off or secretly purloined whatever they could lay their hands upon, that was interesting, or rare, or valuable. Manuscripts of inestimable worth, exquisite sculptures, vases and other works of art, shared in the general ruin. so that the vast storehouses, which, Lorenzo and his ancestry had been able through their wealth and assiduity, to ac- cumulate during half a century, were de- molished in a day.
The present library contains 120,000 printed volumes and 6,000 manuscripts.
EDITOR.
FALSE MESSIAHS.
THREE REMARKABLE SPECIMENS.
Sabatai Sevi about the middle of the seventeenth century, appeared at Smyrna and proclaimed himself to the Jews as their Messiah. Evelyn says that "the report of Sabatai and his doctrine flew through those parts of Turkey which the Jews inhabited ; they were so deeply possessed of their new kingdom and their promotion to honor, that none of them attended to business of any kind, except to prepare for a journey to Jerusalem." Unfortunately Sabatai was so zealous that he was locked up in the Castle of Abydos, where, we are told, "he composed a new mode of worship." He was carried to Adrianople and his divinity put to a singular test. The Grand Seignior ordered him to be stripped naked and set up as a target for the archers to shoot at. If his skin proved arrow- proof his pretensions were to be ad- mitted. Upon this Sabatai, to save his life, turned Turk, declaring that he had long been desirous of making so glorious a pro- fession. The Jews, who were all ready to start for Jerusalem, were much chagrined at this proceeding-the historian says that they "were overcome with confusion and dejection of spirit."
Richard Brothers was one of the last of the False Messiahs, and he made a good deal of noise and not a few converts in Eng- land toward the close of the last century. He undertook to restore the blind to sight ; he saw visions ; he emitted prophecies ; he published a new gospel, entitled : " A Re- vealed Knowledge of the Prophecies and Times," Among his disciples was Sharpe,
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THE RECORD).
the celebrated engraver, together with a Mr. Halked, M. P., who is said to have been a man of considerable learning.
One last example of religious pretension will bring us nearer home. Robert Mat- thews, better known as Matthias, came to New York to work as a house carpenter. About 1829 he began to preach in the streets of Albany. He permitted his beard to grow ; he wore grotesque clothing ; he was repeat- edly arrested for making a disturbance ; he professed to be a Jew ; he declaimed against Freemasonry ; sometimes he mounted an old and half-starved horse. He declared to them that " He was the Spirit of Truth ; that the Spirit of Truth had disappeared from the earth at the death of the Matthias men- tioned in the New Testament; that the Spirit of Christ had entered into Matthias, and that he was the same Matthias, the Apostle of the New Testament, risen from the dead." Some of his dupes conveyed their property to him, and then went into insolvency. Ultimately he was found out and discarded. Of the subsequent career of the prophet nothing is known, except that he died in Arkansas.
THE CHURCH AND PROHIBITION.
The fact is that prohibitionists have crowded a question of civil policy back into the domain of ethical principles, and while sometimes, perhaps, right on the question of policy, they have generally gone wrong on the question of principle. It is true that human laws derive their binding force from their conformity with divine enactments, and the better the Catholic citizen under- stands his duties to the church the purer will be his conceptions of, and the readier will be his compliance with, his duties to the State. But farther than this it is scarcely prudent to combine their respective spheres of authority. While the State may well hesitate, under present circumstances, to enforce personal temperance by law, so the church acts wisely by confining her applica- tion of great moral principles to the private conscience rather than that of the general public. In short, the question of prohibi- tion as it concerns whole communities, and properly understood, belongs to the domain of politics rather than theology, and it would At the recent ninth annual meeting of the be a grave mistake to assert that there was | Dakota Sunday School Association about
dogmatic authority binding Catholics on any side of such question. What the State may do is to say that the liquor traffic is the prolific source of certain evils and inimical to the general welfare ; and public authority being specially organized to preserve and not destroy, it cannot be a party to the de- struction of its own existence by permitting the continuance of so destructive an agent. The State has the power to do any and all things needed to fulfil the end of organized society -- viz., the preservation of the general welfare of the people. If the State comes to regard the liquor traffic as a disorganizing agent, or as destroying its members or other- wise rendering them unable to fulfil their part of that mutual relationship and obliga- tion which exists between the citizen and the State, then the question of restriction or prohibition stands forth plain and simple as one for state settlement. Viewed thus, the church could find nothing in prohibition to oppose. For instance, from judicial statis- tics it is ascertained that a very large per- centage of crime originates from frequenting liquor saloons ; this fact alone is enough to place prohibition on the list of preventives to be used against crime-a basis which the church could not and would not oppose, since the State has a right to prevent as well as to punish crime. Again, equally as large a proportion of pauperism and lunacy, which demands State aid to provide for, is traceable to the convivial drinking com- monly practised in liquor saloons ; that may fairly place prohibition among the prevent- ives of pauperism. Now, the church could not say it was otherwise than right for the State to seek relief from these burdens, which right might be extended to prohibi- tion without infringing in the least upon the province of the church. It will thus be seen that prohibition, when it appears in politics, should be treated as a question of public policy, one of a variety of means for pro- curing the well-being of the State, the dis- cussion of which by no means necessarily involves a conflict of religious principle between the parties for and against it .- The Catholic World.
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