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THE MINNESOTA TOWN OFNEW ULM.Brother Pierson in the Roleof Paul!Wicked Weber's Cruel Castigation!“For if the truth of god hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I also judgea as a sinner ?”This is good old Paul, speaking thewords put into his mouth by the “living god,” And yet Brother Lieber cruelly cuts and slashes the good Rev. Pierson to pieces for the trifling offence that pure old Paul justified that the truth of god and his glory might the more abound.A friend at Seymour has sent here the subjoined article, published in the Herald of this city some time ago. It had hitherto escaped our notice. There are not wanting wicked men who sincerely believe the Reverend Pierson a bad man at heart. And god-serving people charge him with having kept his own congregation here in a constant state of turmoil. They alleged that his conceit and pride filled him with the most extravagant whims. Then the wicked take up the refrain and more than hint that the good Pierson was a type of the original Christian that erst in his zeal for god’s glory tore his doubting neighbor in pieces with pincers or burned him at the stake. If it could be shown that the good Pierson was that kind of a hair-pin, (to come down to the common understanding), his influence for good would be damaged, because burning and skinning alive as methods of demonstrating god’s love andpromoting his glory have gone out of fashion.So the insinuations that the good Pierson was a self-conceited, narrow-minded bigot and a bad man, must be met here with flat denial. That his zeal was for god and his glory is undeniable. And he made a strong point against the enemies of his “master” by bis version of the affair at New Ulm. And how did he know that at this day and distance there would be an infidel at hand to set up the vulgar and worldly-minded truth against his version, made for god’s glory! How could the good man know this?But he did know that a story detailinghow god sent savages to slaughter the infidels who refused his church a foothold in their town, and how they were cowards and fled to cellars because they lacked the courage that only religion imparts, would redound to the glory of god. And if god sent she bears to destroy children who scoffed at his servant why should he not send savages to destroy the scoffers of New Ulm ?God is the same to-day and to-morrow and forever, and we know he sent the bears, for he says so himself, and by the same token we know he sent the savages, for his truthful messenger says so. From his sacred desk he preached a sermon inawhich this passage occurs:“In Minnesota the village of.New Ulm has had a strange history. It was first settled by atheists and infidels of the lowest type, who planned that it should be a godless community. They proposed to let in the gambling saloon the drinking saloon, theater and brothel, but keep odt the church. It was there that the awful farce was enacted in carrica-ture of the crucifixion and lord’s supper, but god was not dead or indifferent. The Sioux IndiauB swept down upon it and destroyed it, and the very first man who fled cowering to the cellars to escape the •tomahawk and scalping knife, was the leader in that dreadful sacrilege. The place was rebuilt; but in July, 1881, one of the most dreadful tornadoes ever known in the west, swept It into a secondruin. God’s whirlwind obeyed his avenging decree, and the illustrated papers or July 24, 1881, vainly sought to picture the awful desolation.”This is what raised Brother Lieber s unbelieving ire. And forgetting the holy office of prieat and the awful majesty that sits upon the brow of a presby-terian minister, he thus irreverently replied:REVEREND ARTHUR T. PI ERSON.I find the above untruthful and slanderous statement made in a sermon preached by you in the Second presbyterian church of this city, Sunday, the 15th of April. You have either been misinformed, or, to support a theory, have willingly pervertea the truth. It were more charitable to believe the former, and I hope you may have the comfort of thatextenuating circumstance for the gross injustice you have done to this^ frontier village, I pass on to particularize your errors in this affair.You say “New Ulm was sottled by atheists and infidels of the lowest type.” There you are mistaken. True, the village was settled by infidels, but they 'were not of the “lowest type.” As a body theytestimonying a civil and law-abiding place. Bo you consider myself and family aa of the “lowest type ?” Mr. Charles Koehne, an educated gentleman of this city, now a partner in the “Art Emporium” here,, was one of the settlers there, Is he one of “the lowest .type?” Hon. Wm. Pfend-er, who still lives at New Ulm, was one of the early settlers. He is a man of character and ability. He was one of ..the Lincoln electors, and has bepu twice elected secretary of the state of Minnesota. Is Mr. Pfender one of “the lowest type?” The names of other reputable men, true in society and upright in business, might be mentioned, but I have named enough to render “null and told0 your statement.You again aay they “purported to let in the gambling saloons, drinking saloons, theaters and brothels, but to keep out the church. Prohibition was not adopted, and the church was not excluded; but it is infamously false to charge that our little community “purposed” to countenance “the brothel.”You say “It was there that the awful farce was enacted in caricature of the crucifixion and lord’s supper.” That I believe to be utterly without foundation. What some fanatical individual may have done I cannot say, but the community enacted no such caricature as you mention.You further say: “God was not dead or indifferent. The Sioux Indians swept down upon it and destroyed it, and the very first man who fled cowerinj to the cellars, to escape the tomahaw and scalping-knife was the leader in the dreadful sacrilege.” It is exceedingly ungracious in you to charge cowardice upon any one of the little band of men who gallantly defended New Ulm. At that time there was no cowardice there. A braver defense of a place has not been made. This Indian attack on New Ulm took place in 1862. At that time the majority of the men of this “godless community”—were away from home, in the army for the union. I was there with many of my neighbors. When the Indians led by Little Crow, attacked New Ulm, there were 250 men in the town. There were from 1,100 to 12,000 of the vengeful Sioux Indians laid seige to thetown and made a desperate assault uponit. But against this fearful odds this little band of 250 men stood firm, defended their homes and repulsed the savages. I do not believe that on that day there was a coward in New Ulm; There was no man so base aa to go “cowering to the cellars.” I do not claim this gallantry for the infidels alone. Every man there irrespective of his faith took up arms for the town. It is a slander on New Ulm, the infidels and the Christians alike, to charge cowardice on anyone there that day when 250,poorly equipped men repulsed 1,100 armed Indians. Of that 250 defenders, sixty of them^vere killed. The only persons who went to the cellars were the women and children. A large number of them went into the large cellar under my store. The doctor of the place prepared a pot of poison. They had resolved to take their portion of it rather than fail into the bands of the infuriated Indians.I feel certain, sir, that you could not have it in your heart to charge cowardice upon the people of New Ulm if you knew all the circumstances connected with that seige and defense. Your zeal to forward a theory has, I fear, misled you.The Indians were no respecters of creeds. The two presbyterian missionaries and one of the episcopal faith came fleeing in from the vengeance of the Indians. I do not blame them. They could only do that or die.New U)m from its first settlement has been noted in business circles for its integrity and sound credit. More than one of the infidels of that “godless community” have been honored by the people of the county and state with “places of trust and profit.” It was celebrated for its hospitality to neighbors and strangers. I ao not set New Ulm as a “garden of eden.” Like all other places it had its blemishes, but it was not what you painted it. Peter Lieber.The Place About Gone Up.Salmon City, Idaho, Aug. 6, ’83.J. R. Monroe:—Enclosed find p. o. order for $2.50, which please credit to my subscription to the Ironclad Age. I am sorry that I got so far behind but it could not be helped. Times are very dull here this summer and money is hard to get, but I hope I shall be able to make it all right yet. I like The Age better all the time.Doctor, this place is abont gone up. After having got along without a church here for twenty years the methodists have captured the town and are building a church 30x50. Several of the worst old sinners among the Salmon eaters have been converted and are playing the pious dodge now, after they have got too old to be of any other use to the world. The old practice of gambling for the lord was resorted to to raise money to build a church. A cake was put up, to be voted to the best looking girl in town, and on another occasion a log cabin quilt was voted on and through such means aa these the salmon eaters were swindled out of about two thousand dollars to help build a church. But moat of our leading men here are outspoken infidels, and I think we will hold the fort awhile.Wishing the captain and the crew a long life, and the passengers a jolly passage, I remain, G. F. Phillips.Isn’t tbls a Case for Sympathy? And whowill Help the Captain carry this Brother?Clanton, Ala., Aug. 15,1883.Dr. Monroe : My trip on your ironclad train was to end on the 4th of this month, but you didn’t dump me. I would have written before this but have been unable to on account of sickness. I have been paralyzed for several years, not having walked a step in three and half veara, and doubt if I ever walk again. Therefore my money is out and I do not wish to be a deadhead on your train and would have you dump me until I can raise the money to buy a new ticket. It may be several months before I get it, but I will send it when I do. I like the paper better than any I read. My first acquaintance was with the Seymour Times, and I like that name better thanthe other, W. J. Frazer.She’s a Daisy.Dallas, Texas, Aug. 13, ’83.Dr. Monroe : I enclose order for your paper six months. I got one accidentally, ana, after reading it, I concluded I wanted it, and wauted it bad. It’s a daisy. Praise ye the lord! E. R. Glover,LeMieux1 Safeguard Against Contagion.♦Ancient dames can dispense with the old-time sack of offensive aaafedlta In the boeom when traveling to prevent contagion. The Ingenuity and ahem-tonleklU o! L. K. LeMltui, of Seymour, Wis., he* given ue the neat and elegant Carbolated Sachet which can he worn asa safeguard against contagious and infectious diseases Send him a dime for a earn* pit paekigt, and yoii will hot ktep house without the fragrant destroyer of poisonous vapors hsre-aiter.
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