Mt. Vernon Democratic banner (Mount Vernon, Ohio : 1853), 1861-01-29

              Hx rn rHA Yy- v; vi - ; :-" oi U s rrr. " VOLUME XXIV. MOUNT V , JANUARY .29 1861. NUMBER 41. r S - - 2 1 3V ffi 3Jh?oi &etypcr$.fc Ssunefr j rtrsusaaB nvx-nr rvxen.tr aouui. Oflot in T7oodTArd' Block, Third Story TK&MS T- toilers per um, payable in ad- tUM) Z,V wlthia tlx months ; 13,00 alter tee ex retien ef the year. Clubs ef twenty, $!, eaeh. jpfenson for flic iww. The Character and Influence . of Abolitionism. rreached at Brooklyn, Pec. 9, 19W JIT 'SET.7 HE2TRY J. VAK DYKE. ' The Firs Presbvteriaft chorch, corner f ?lmioa an4 Clinton ttrcets, Brookljn, waa Jansely croarI4 lajt evening (Deo. 9th, with a kiyhlj iateilifeoi coogng atioa, who Katened with ttarkel inieceataod attention to A discourse from -their tpaator,&ev. Henry J. Van Dke, on the Character and Imf aenee of Abolitionism from a eriptoral point of ier. la his opening .supplication, the rerereexl gentf eeoao prajed that FroT idenee wooU bless oar Seutbera brethren and vestrain tbe pasaioa of evil aaaoag them j that the master anient te enade vbmu servant, and he servant Ch rat's tSwceaaa, avod so both ait to gether ni ted oa Obrita oe in that Cburcb ioonded by Cnriat an4 ans Apoaties in which there is neither Greek aox lev, male nor female, bond nor free, bat all are eoe in Christ Jesm. Hi afra prayed that God -would biees the people of the Northern States, reetrata tbe ia1eno of faaatea1-eoe, proi&e ior those Vac, fer die ari tation of the times bave feeeo tferowa ort of employment, fceep the epeaker bicaseV from teaching anything which ws tio aceordaoee with the Jiviae wiU,tid -d;bie the -csinda of i a bearers 5f alt prrudice m& :pae.Mo. ao ttat they might be wilting to be yjoarinced of Che . truth. Y. Herald. Mr. Van Dyke' text "WAS-cbosen from S'aura lat Epistle to lunothy, Cih chiller, from the I nrst to the ruin verse, iticlueive. I. Let as many servants aa are oner tlbe yoke unt their ova maatera worthy of aU honor, that the asre of God and hi a doctrine beciot fclaa-tben d. 2. And they that bave believing ecaetera et them uotdeaoiee tbemrbecaese tbey are brethren; fcui.etber4o tbeen eerWoe becaoae tbey are faith ful and beloved, partakers of Uo beocct. these things teach and exhort. 3. If any man teach otherwise and ce-naerrt not to wholesome words, even rbeworda of our 'Lord Jesus Chritit, and to the doctriuo which is accord; ing to rndKnees. 4. lie is prood, knowing nothing but dotiofr aboat questions and slifeof words whereof eomeib envy, strife, railiaca, evil sarwisiaga. 5. Perverae dipntiti?a of men of corrept rnijds, and destcuite of the truth, supposing that gaia is goli&eser from euth -wuhdraw -fcay-, elL . - I propose, ba ead, -to fliscnee tbe character and inflanpe' of A bliiiorisra. Wilh this view I have seiecuU a txl from the Bihle, aod purpoee' to adhere to tacfouev and iritof ta tcacbiiifs. , We acknowledge in this place 4ot one standard of morals, bat oe authoritative and itrfaliible rule of faith and practice. 'For we are Cbrietiaxva tSere; not Papists to bow down to he d'etatioo: of any maa or cbarch; net heatbea pUiloeaphtM'tj, to grope our way by the feeWe g'HBiscerings of the light of nature ; not modern inEdeU, to appeal from the written law of Ged to the corrupt and fickle tribunal of reason nd irumaaity. but Christiana, on whose Leaner a inscribed this auhlime cfealUo: "T Ue w ud totbetesti-tnonyif they apeak not accordfngo this word it is because there is oo light ia them. Let cm direct foar apeoiai - attention to the fgge of our text. There is no dispute among commentators, there is no room for dispute, as to meaning of the expreavion " servanta ander the yoke." Krea Mr. Barnes, who U himself a distingaished aboJitioniKt, and has done more perhape thaa any oiber maa ui this country to propagate atoEt:eo dectriwee, adm4e tsiat "the addition of the phrase 'eider the yoke showe uo-1 doabtedly that it (i. e. the original word Igh!&) is to be snderstood here f slavery. Let me1 quote ' another testimoof on ttie point (roan an : eminent Scotch divide mean Dr. McKnight whose exposition of the epistle is a standard work in Great Britain and in this country, and in whose associations must exempt him from snspicioa af pro-slavery prejadice. He introduces his expositioa of this chapter with the following explanation; "Because the law of Hoses allowed no Israelite to be made slave for life without his own consent, the Jodaicing teachers, to allnre slaves to their party, taagbt that under the gospel likewise involuntary slavery is nnlaw-fitL This doctrine the apostle condemned here, as fa his other epistles, by enjoining Christian alave to honor and obey their masters, whether they were believers or unr elievers.aud by assuring Timothy that if any person taught otherwise he opposed the wholesome precept of Jesus Christ and the doctrine of the gospel, which in all points Is eonformable to godliness or sound morality, and was puffed op with pride without possessing any true knowledge either of the Jewish or Christian revelation." Oar (earned Scotch friend then goes on to expound the passage in following paraphrase, which we commend to the prayerful r attention of all whoa it may concern: " Let whatever Christian slaves are coder the yoke of anbelieven pay their own masters all respect and obedience, that the character of God wnoea we worabis may not be calumniated, and he doctrine of the gospel may not be evil spoken of as landing to destroy the political rights of mankind, Ad those Christian slaves who have believing masters, It them not despise them, faaoying that they ari their equals because they are their brethren to, Christ: for, though all - Christians are eqnal as to religions privileges, elavss are inferior to their masters in station. ' Wherefore let'thent serve their masters more dil-f gsatly, because they who enjoy the benefit of their services are believers and belorda of God. 'These things teach, and exhort the brethren to practice them.' If any one teach differently by aratag that ander the gospel slaves are not 1dond to serve their masters, bat oaght to be sneda free, and does not consent to the wholesome commandments which are oar Lord Jeans Christ's, and to the doctrine of the gospel which in all eoints is conformable to true morality, be is ' paSsi op with prile an J knoweth nothing either of the Jewish or the Christian revelation, though ba areunda ta- have mat knowledge of both, bat is distemrtred ja his xaind abont idle qats- tuiae and dAhala of words which afford ao fooa JaiiAs tnm nch a doctrine, bat art the source of . envy, oontententioa, evil, speaking, oncost us-picioa that the truth is not sincerely maintained, keen aispatis?! circled on contrary to conscience It men whc'lr ccrraptedU theii minds and das. .... . t i titsleai lie ires ejenns oi tae gospei, wno roc-9a whatever jroiaces most money if the best re-lirion: from all iach iapions tsachers withdraw thyself, and net c.ipc; wiia zmm. c . :- The text, M ilzu ex;scJeJ bj a Amencaa tl;:ioaut anJ a CccUh divine, (whoso tssti. r--ry rae4 net la canflri bj ;ttata:ioai front f Ic.itt e3c:-t,.:M,) it a propieey trri'-tsa t-f s &'J al woaicrfa" ;jlicbl t out tr::3St c::c3siiacsi. It f lva II'e-jii I '.z'.zi f aVolitionism la its principle, its t?int and Ua practice, and furnishes as plaia lastrno tloa in regard to our duty ia the premises. Before entering npoa the discnasioa of the doctrine, let as define the terms employed. By abolitionism we mean the principles and measures of ab olitlonists. And what ia an abolitionist? He is one that believes that slaveholding is a sin, and onght therefore to be abolished. This is the fundamental, the characteristic, the essential prinei pie of abolitionism that slaveholding Is a sin-that holding men In involatary servitude is an infringement npoa the rights of man, a beinons crime in the eight of God. A maa may believe on political or commercial groonds that slavery is an undesirable system, and that slave labor ia cot the most profitable; he may have various views as to the rights of slaveholders tinder the Cooatitution of the conn try J he may think this or that law npoa the statute books of Southern States is wrong, but this does not constitute htm an abolitionist, unless be believes that slavehold er is morally wrong. The alleged sinfulness of slaveholding, as it is the characterutio doctrine, ao it is the strength of abolitionism ia all its rami&ed and varioas forms. It is by this that it laps , hold npon the hearts and consciences of men. that it comes as a disturbing force into our ecclesiastical and civil Institutions and by e cuing religions animoauy wuica an oniorj proves to be the strongest of human passions,) imparts peculiar intensity to every contest into which it enters. And yon will perceive it isust here that abolitionism presents a proper subject for discission ia the pulpit- for it is one great purpose of the Bible, and therefore one great duty of God s ministers in its exposition, to show what is sin and what is not. Those who hold the doctrine that slaveholding ie sin, and onght therefore to be abolished, differ very much in the extent to which they reduce their theory to practice. In some this faith is almost without works. Thy eoateot themselves with only . -a . . i votiiir ta sucn a way as in -ineir jaament win bestsorosiote the tnumpn of tneirviewa. Utners aiandoff at what tbey auppoae a safe distance, as Shimei did wheo he stood on an opposite hill to corse K'iHg David, aud rebuke the sin and de nounce divine judgments npon tne sinner, . Uth- ere more practical, if not more prudent, go into the very widdt of the alleged wickedness and teaeb Mervaot orxJer tne jone mat tney ongnt not o count their own masters worthy of all Hiooor that liberty ia their iualienable right which they should maintain, if necessary, by tne hedUi-of bWod. &ow,itt ia sot for we to decide who of all these Are truest to thir own principles. - It ie not for me to decide whether tlte aaao who preaches this doctrine ia -brave words, asnid applauding molti-tsdee iu the city of Brookljii, or the one who ia the sulbiess of the night and iu the face of the lawa terrora goea to practice the preaching at Harper's 2rorty, ia the moat eon eietent abolitionist and toe most heroic maa. 1$. ie oot for me to decide which is the wtoet important part of a tree. and, if the Uee be poiaoooue, which is the most irr'imoxe, rhe voatr she (rwi. Out I am here to-night, in -Go' da name, and by Cis help, to abow that tlis tree of .abolitionism is evil, and only eil,-root 4uxi feranch. Sower aad leaf and fruit; that t sprHiga fwrn and is nourished fey ao utter njwrtiou of the Scripture a; that it prodacee ao real hnrfit. to the entlavx?. and ia the fraitfu! (lourcer6f divirinif and Strife ed"tiS3erftTif Wtlftsahtf"Tia.ve arrayed. Uie two parties in deadly Church and . t. have four diatioct proposi tions on the auljectlo esiMutata ioar these to nail ud and defend L Abolitionism has e faenftahros: w live Scriptutea- II. Its prieJ?ee be been premuJgated cbietly by misrepreaentation and abaee. III. It leads, in muHitudeaof cnees,and by a logical procees, to tter infidelity. ; IV. It is the chief cause uf tfee strife that agitates, and the danger that threaten a our coon-try. ' . .. ihelitionisnt AatmoJitindattoK in Scripture. Passing by the records of the patriarchal age, and waiving the question as to those servants in Abrabam'a family, wbo, in tbe eiiople bat ex-pressive Jangunjre of scripture, "were bought with hia eaoeey.'" let s come at once to the tribunal of that law which God promulgated amid the eoJesiwitveo of Sinai. What said that law ' and the testimony of that peculiar people over whom God ruled and for whose institutions he had assumed the reepotaibility ? The anawer . ... ... i r r - . 1. . - - a . .at. - - i in ua ia cnapur oi wfincuB, m worda- 41 Aud if thy krotber that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor and be aota unto thee, tbou shalt not compel biea'io serve as a bond servant ; but as a hired eervaot and a soojoarner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee onto the year of jnbilee, and then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him." So far, voa will observe, the law refers to the children of Israel, who. by poverty, were redaced to servitude. It was their right to be free at the year of jubilee, aaless they chose to remain in perpetual bondage, for which case provision is made in ether and distinct enactments. But not so with slaves of foreign birth, There was no year of jubilee provided for them. For what says the law? Bead tha 41-46 verses of the same chapter: 44 Both thy bondmen and thy bondmaids which thou shalt have shall be of the heathen that are round about thee. .Of them shall ye bay bond men and bond maids. Moreover, of the children of tha strargers that do sonjnurn among yon of them shall je bay and of their families that are with yon, which tbey beget ia your land; ad they shall be your possession. And ye shall take tbem as an inheritance for yonr children after yoa to inherit them as a possession ; they shall be yoor bod men forever. There it is. plainly written in the divine law. No leeialative enactment ; no statute framed by legal skilf waa ever more explicit and incapable F wwwa -a a . . 11 of perversion, w nea tne aooiiuonisa iei b?b that alavebolding is sin, in the simplicity of my faith in the Holy Scriptures, I point him to this sacred record ami tell him, ia all candor, as my text does, that his teaching blasphemes the same of God and his doctrine. when he begins to doat aboat questions and strifes of words, appealing to the Declaration of Independence, end asserting that the idea of property ia manU aa eaerisatty and a crime, I a till bold turn to tne reeora saiag, auu taVa Vim aa aa inheritance for TOor children after yoa to inherit them for ft posession.,,-- When be waxes warm, aa he ei way a ooea u dm opponent quote scriptnre (which is the great test to try tha spirit whether they be of God the very spear of Ithoriel to reveal their true eharao ter) when be gets angry, and begins to pour oat his evil tumisings and abase npon slavsboUeri I obey the precept which aaya, from o eh withdraw thyself," comforting myself with thi. thought that tha wisdom of God is wiser than men, and the kindness of God kinder than men. Philosophers may reason and reformers may rave till doomsday, they oarer can convince me thai God, ia the LevUieal law, or in any other law, sanctioned ata; and as I knew, from the plain patsaga I have quoted, and many more Lite it, that He did t&neUoa alaveboldinr amon hi ancient people, I know, also, by the logie of that J IBiUi wiu vmwvm wv awv aw fcia if OSXa that slavtholditg is not-ata. . - , . There men arson rrofeseinj "christians, and not a few talalstera of tie Gospel, who answer this argument from t'-e Oil TsiUnent Scrip-tnrat fey ft aiaipla denial of tltlr ftothorlty. Thsy da oot Uli cs how God azli ever cr where coaoUnaace that which ia morally wrong, cat thsy eeatsat themselves with saytsf that tha Levitical law is ao rate of action for as, and tbey appeal from Its decisions to what they con sider tne higner tribaoai or too uospeu juat os, therefore, join Issue with them before tha bat of the New Testament Scriptures. It is aa historic troth acknowledged on ail hands, that at the ad vent of Jesus Christ slavery existed all over the . ... m m . a .a m . civilixed world, ana was tntimatey interwoven with iu social and civil iaatitatlona. Ia Jadea, in Asia Minor, in Greece, in all tha countries where the Saviour or his Apostles preached the Gof tel. slareholdinr was inst as common as it is today in South Carolina. It is not alleged by aay one, or at least by any one having any pre tensions to scholarship or candor, that the Roman laws regulating slavery were area as mild as the very worst statutes which nave been passed on the subject in modern times. It will oot be de nied by an honest and well informed man that modern civilization and the restraining - inno ences of the Gospel have shed ameliorating in- oaences npon tbe revelation between master and slave which were utterly unknown at the advent of Christianity. And bow did Jeans and his Apostles treat this subject? Masters and slaves met them at every step in their missionary work. and Were even present in every audience to wnicn thev Drenched. The Roman law which gave the fall power of life and death "into the master's hand was familiar to them, ana all tbe evils con nected with the' system surrounded them every day aa obvionaly aa tbe light of heaven; and yet it is a remarkable fact, which tha abolitionist does not because he cannot deny, that the New Testament is utterly silent in regard to the ai- leered sinfulness of slavenoldios;. In all tne in strujtion of the Saviour: in all the reported ser mons of the inspired Apostles, in all the epistles they were moved by the Holy Spirit to write for the instruction of coming generations, there is not one distinct and explicit denunciation of alaveboldin?, nor one prewpt reqnirtng the master to emancipate his slaves. Every acknowledged sin is openly and repeatedly condemned and in name-sured terms. Diunkenneos and adultery, theft and murder all the moral wrongs which ever bad been known to aul'ct society, are forbidden by name ; and yet. according to the teaching of abolitionism, thia greatest of all sins, tbis sum ot all villainies, is never spoken of except in respectful terms How can this be accounted for. Let. Dr. Wayland, whose work on Moral Science is taught in many of our schools, answer tbis question, and let parents whose children are studying that book, diligently consider bis an swer. I quote from Wayland's Moral Science, 21.1. rThe Gospel was designed not for one race or for one time, but for all races and for all times. It looked not to the abolition of slavery for that ao alone, but for its universal abolition. Hence the important object of its author was to gain for it a lodgment in every part of the known world, ao that by its universal diffusion among all claaae of aociety it might quietly end peacefully modify and subdue the evil pasaiona of men. In thia manner alone could its object a univer-aal moral revolution have been accomplished-For if it had forbidden the evil instead of aub-verting tbe principle; if it had proclaimed-the unlawfulness of slavery and tanaht slaves to re siU the oppression of the masters, it would, in- hostility tbrooghout the civilized world; its an nouncement would have been the signal of servile war, and the very name of the christian religion would have been forgotten amidst the agitation of univeraal bloodshed." We pease not now to comment upon the admitted fact that Jesus Christ and his Apostles pursued a course entirely different from that adopted by the abolitionists, including the learned author himself, nor to inquire whether the teaching of abolitionism ia not as likely to produce strife and bloodshed in these days as in the first ages of the church. What we now call attention to and protest against is the imputation here cast op on Christ aud hia Apostles. Do yon believe the Savior sought to insinuate his religion into the earth by concealing its real design, and preserving a profound silence in regard to one of the very worst sine it came to destroy? Do yoa believe that when he healed the Centurion's servant, whom every honeet commentator 'admits to have been a, slave,) and pronounced that pre-cios logy upon the master, 'I have not seen so (rreat faith in aeraer do you believe the Jesus eeffeeed that vnan to live on in sin because he deprecnted Che consequences of preaching aboli-tioniamf When Paul stood upon Mar's Hill, surrounded by ten thousand times as many slaveholders as there were tdoie in tbe city, do you believe he kept bac4r any of the requirements of the Gospel because be was afraid of a tumult among the people? We ask these abolition philosophers whether as a matter of fact, idolatry and the vices connected with it were not even aaore intimately interwoven with the social and civil life of the Roman Empire thaa slavery was? Did tbe Apostles abstain from preaching against idolatry? Nay, who does not know that by denouncing this sin tbey broeght down upon themselves the whole power of the Roman Empire? Nero covered the bodies of the christian martyrs with pitch and lighted ep the city with their burning bodies, just because tbey woald not witb hold or" compromise the truth ia regard to tbe worship of idols.: In the light of that fierce persecution, it is aprofaoe tritling for Dr. Wayland,, or any other man, to tell us that Jesus or Paul held back their honest opinions of slavery for fear of a aervile war in which "the very name of the Christian religion would have been forgot ten." The name of tbe Christian religion ia not so easily forgotten; nor are God's great purposes of redemption capable of being defeated by an honest declaration of his truth every where and at all times. And yet this philosophy, ao die honoring to Chriat and his apostles, is moulding the character of oar young men and women. It eomes into oar schools and mingles with the very life blood of future generations the sentiment that Christ and hia Apostles held back the truth, and suffered sin to go nnrebuked for fear of the wrath of man. And all this to maintain at all hazards, and in the face of the Savior's example to the contrary, the nnacriptural dogma that slaveholding is sin. - Bat it most be observed in this connection, that the Apostles went much further than to abstain from preaching against slaveholdiog. They admitted slaveholders to the communion of the ch arch. Ia onr text, masters are acknowledged as "brethren, faithfal and beloved, partakers of tha benefit." If the New Testament ia to be re. oeived as a faithfal history, no man was ever re jected by the apostolic church en the ground that bo owned slaves. If he abused bis power as a master, if he availed himself of the authority conferred by tha Roman law to eommitednltery, or murder or cruelty, be was rejected tot these crimes, just as ha would be rejected now for similar crimes from any christian church ia oar Southern btates. If parents abused or neglect-ad their children, they warn censured, not fat having children, but for not treating them pro periy. And so with the slaveholder. It was not the owning of slave, bnt tho manner in whieh he falUed the duties of his station that made him a subject for church . discipline. - The mere fact that ha was n slaveholder oojmora subjected him to cans are than the mere fact that he was a father or husband. It is npoa the recognized lawfulness of the tel&Uonthat 3 - the precepts ftgnlaiing tha reciprocal daiies ef that relation era based. vy.- s .r tf-H;: J.i . : - These preeepU are scattered all through the inspired epistles. There is not one commend ot exhortation to emancipate the slave. The Apos tie well anew that for the present t iixncipation would bono real blessing to him. But the master is exhorted to be kind and considerate, and the slave to be obedient, that so they might preserve tbe unit of that church in which there is no distinction between Greek or Jew, male or female, bond "or free. Oh, if ministers of the Oospel In this land or age, had but followed Paul aa he followed Christ, and instead of hurling anathemas and exciting wrath against slavehold ere, bad sought only to bring both master and slave to the fountain of Emanuel's blood; if the agencies of the blessed Gospel had only been suffered to work their way quietly, as the light and dew of the morning, iato the structare of society, both North and pontb, how different wonld have been tbe position of our country this day before Godl How different would have been the privileges enjoyed by the poor black man's soul which, ia this bitter contest, has been too much neglected and despised. Then there would have been no need to have ejon verted our churches into military barracks for collecting, fire-arms to carry on war upon a distant frontier. No need for a sovereign State t$ execute the fearful penalty of the law upon tha invader for doing no more than honestly to carry oat the teaching of Abolition Preachers, whs) bind heavy hardens, nod grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, while they touch them not with one of their fingers. No need for the widow and orphan to weep in anguish of heart over those cold graves for whose dishonor nd desolation God will hold the real authors responsible. No occasion or pretext Tor slaveholding States to pa-is such stringent laws for tber punishment of the secret incendiary aad the prevention of servile war. : - - . . .- : ; -. ; '::,:.' I shall not attempt to show wiat will be the condition of the African race in this country when the Gospel ehall have brought all classes under it- complete dominion. What civil and social relations men will sustain in the times of millenial glory I do not know. r I cordially embrace .the current ooinioat of our church that slavery is permitted and regulated by the divine law under both the Jewish and Christioo dispensations, not as the final dsstiny of the enslaved, but as an important and necessary process in their transition from heathenism to Christiauitv a wheel in the great macbinry of Providence, by which ibe final redemption is to .be accom plished. However thia may be, one thing I know, and erery abolitionis. might know it if he would, that there are christian families at the south in which a patriarchal fidelitv and affection exist between the bond and the free, and where slaves are better fed and clothed and instructed, and have a better opportunity for salvation than the majority ot laboring people in the city of New York. If tbe tongue of abolitionism had onlv kept silence these twenty years past, the number of such families would be tenfold as great. Fa. naticism at the North i one chief stumbling block iu the way of tbe Goepel at the South. This is one great grievance : that presses to-day upon the hearts of our ehristiau brethren at the South. This, in a measnr- xolains whr such men aa-Dr. Thornwell.- ef touth Carolina, and Dr. Palmer, of New Orleans men whose genius and leirufag- end piety won J adorn any state or staUon-arajUjng toeg from the Unionv They feel tbat the influence of the christian min istry is hindered, and their power to uo good botb to roaster and slave crippled, by the constant agitation of abolitionism in our national coun cils, and the incessant turmoil excited by the nnacriptural dogma, that slaveholding is Sin. 2f. The Principles of AlxUlionism hate been propagated- cnwjly . by Misrepresentation and Abuse. ' Having no foundation in Scriptnre, it does not carry on its warfare by Scripture weapons - Its prevailmr spirit i fierce and proud, and its language is full of wrath and bitterness. Let me prove this by testimony from its own lips. I quote Dr. Channingof Boston, whose name is a tower of strength to the abolition cause, and whose memory is their continual boast. In a work pabiished in the year 18116, I fiud the following words: .-'The abolitiouifits have done wrong, I believe; nor is their wrong to be winked at because done fanatically or with good intentions: for bow much roiachief may be wrought with food designs! r They have fallen into the common- error of en thusiasts, that of exaggerating their object, of feeling as if no evil existed but that which they opposed, and a9 if no guilt could be compared with that of countenancing aud upholding iC The tone of their newspapers, so far as I have seen them, has often been fierce,' bitter and abusive. They have sent forth their orators, some of them transported with fiery zeal, to soand the alarm against slavery through the land, to gather together young and oldpupils from schools, females hardly arrived at years of discretion, the ignorant, tha excitable, tbe impetuous, and to organize these into associations for the battle against oppression. Very unhappily they preached their doctrine to the colored people and collected them into societies. To thia mixed and excitable multitude ; minute heart-rending descriptions of slavery were given in piercing tones of passion; and slaveholders were held op as monsters of cruelty and crime. The abolitionist, indeed, proposed to coovert slaveholders, and for this end he approached them with vituperation and exhausted on tbem the vocabulary of abuse. And he has reaped as he sowed." . Such is the testimony of Dr. Channiag, given in the year 1836. What woald he have thought and said if be had lived until the year i860, and seen this little stream, over whose infant violence Le lamented, swelling into a torrent and flooding the land? Abolitionism is abusive in its persistent misrepreseotatiod of the legal principle involving in the relation between master and slave. Tbey reiterate in a thousand exciting forms the assertion that the idea of property in man blots oat bis manhood and degrades him to the level of a brute or stone. -Domestic slavery,"' says Dr. Wayland, in his work on Moral Science, "supposes at beat that the relation between master and slave is not that which exists between maa and man, bnt i- a modification at least of that which exists between man and tbe brutes." Do not these aboiitioaiat philosophers know that according to the laws ot every civilized country en earth, a man has propertv in his children and a woman baa property in her husband? The statutes of the State of New York aad of every other Northern State, recognize and protect this property, and our courts of justice have repeat' edly assessed iu value. If a man is killed on a railroad, his wife may bring suit and recover damages for the pecuniary loss "she has suffered. If one man entice away the daughter of another, and marry her while she is atiU under age, the father may bring a civil suit for damages fat the low ef that chili's services, and the pecuniary compensatiosi ie the only redress tbe lav provide. .. A j , .. . ..Thus the common la cf Christendom and the statutes of our own State recognize property in man. - la what done thai property consist? Simply in snob services as a man or child may properly be required to render - Thie is all the Levitical lav, or ay other lav, means when it says: "Your bondsmen shall be your possession or pro-pert and an inheritance for yocr children."-The property consists not in the right to treat the alave like a brute, but simply in ft legal claim for snch services as tsn ia that position cay properly be required to render. ? :- t . , - And yet abolitionists in the face of the &Ifine taw, persist in denouncing the very relation ha tween master and slave "a a anodUSeatiow, at least of that which exists between man and the brutes." This, however, is not the worst or most prevalent form which their abusive spirit assumes. Their mode of arguing; the questioa of slaveholding by the pretended appeal to facts is a tissue of misrepresentation from beginning to end. Let me illustrate my meaning by a parallel case. Sappose I endertake to prove the wickedness of marriage as it exists in the city of New York. Ia thia discussion, sappose the Bible is excluded, or at least that it ia not recognized aa having exclusive jurisdiction in the deciaien of tbe question. My first appeal is to the statute law oftba State. , ; j 1 show there enactments which nullify the law of God and make divorce a marketable and cheap commodity. I collect the advertisements ef year daily .papers, in which lawyers offer to procure the legal separation of man and wife for a stipulated price, to say nothing in thisjsacred place of other advertisements which decency forbids me to quote. Then I tarn to the records of onr criminal courts, and find that every day some creel husband beats bia wife, or some unnatural parent murders his child, or soma discontented wife or hnsbeod seeks the dissolution of the marriage bond. In the next place, I tarn to the orphan asylums and hospitals, and show there the miserable wrecks of-domestic tyranny iu wives deserted aad children maimed by'drunkea parents. In the last place, I go through our streets and into our tenement houses, and con nt the thousands of ragged children, who, amid ignorance and filth, are training for the prison and gallows. Samming all these facts together, I put tbem forth aa the fruits of marriage in the city of New York', and-a proof that the relation itself is sinful." If I were a novelist, and had written a book to illustrate this same doctrine, I would call this array of farts a "Key." In this key I say nothing about the sweet charities and affections that flourish in ten thousand homes ; not a word about the multitude of lovin? kicd-neaea that charaeterize the daily lift of honest people; not a word about the instruction and discipline that are training children at ten thousand firesides for usefulness here and glory hereafter; all this I ignore, and qnote onlv the statute nook. the newspapers,; the records of criminal courtaH and the miseries of the abodes of poverty. Now, What have I done ? I have not mis. stated or exaggerated a siugle fact. And yet am I not a falsifier and slanderer of the deepest dye ? Is there a virtuous woman or an honest man in this city whose cheeks would . not burn with indignation at my one sided and injurious statement ? Now, this is just what abolitionism has done in regard to slaveholding. It has uodertaken to illustrate its cardinal doctrine in works of its fancy, has attempted to underpin it with an nccumulalion of facU. These facts are collected inAjpreqinely the way I have described. Tbe statute j books of alavebolding States are Bearcbed. aaji every. wron enactment collated; news paper Reports of the cruelty and crime onr the prt"Bfwicked masters are treasured spend classified iall the outrages that have been per petrated "by lewd fellows of the baser sort," of whom there arn plenty, both North and South, are eagerly seised and recorded, aud tbe mass of vileness and filth collected from the kernels and sewers of society, is pat forth as a faithful exibi-lion of. .sJarthoidiDg. Senators, iu the forum, and ministers in the pulpit, distil tbis raw material into the more refined slander "that Southern society is essentially barbarous, and that slaveholding bad its origin in helU" Legislative bodies enact and re enact statutes which declare that slaveholding ia auch an enormoua crime that if a Soothern roan under the broad shield of the constitution, aud with the decisions of the Supreme court bf the country in bis hand, shall come within their jurisdiction, and set up a claim to a fugitive alave, be shall be punished with a fine of $2,000 and 15 years imprisonment. This method of argument has continaed until multitudes- of honest chriitian people in this and other lands believe that slaveholdiog is tbe sin of sin-, the sam of all villainies. Let me illustrate this by an incident in my own experience. A few years since I took from the centra table of a christian family in Scotland. by whom I had been most kindly entertained, a book entitled Life and Manners in America." On the blank leaf was an .inscription atating that the book bad been bestowed upon one of tbe children of the family as a reward of diligence in an institution of learning. The frontis piece was a picture of a man of fierce countenance beating a naked woman. The contents of the book were professedly compiled from the testimony of Americans npon the subject of slavery. 1 dare not quote in this place the extracts which I made in my memorandum. It will bo sdfScient to say that the book asserts as undoubted facts that the banks of the Mississippi are studded with iron gallows for the punishment of slaves that in the city of . Charleston the bloody block upon which masters cat off tbe hands of disobedient servants may be seen in the public squares, and that sins against chastity are com mon and nnrebuked in professedly christian families. " - Now-, in my heart I did not feel angry at the author of tbat book, nor at the school teacher who bestowed it upon his scholar, for in cbris tian charity I gave them credit for honesty in the ease ; but standing there a stranger among the martyr memeries of that glorious land to which my heart had ao often roadeits pilgrimage I did feel that you and I, and every man in A-raerica was wronged by the revtiers of their na live land, who teach foreigners that hanging and cutting off bands, and -beating women are the characteristics of our life and manners. But we need not go to foreign lands : for proof that abolitionism has carried on its Warfare by the language of abuse. Tbe annual meeting of the American AntiSIavery Soeiety brings the evidence to pur doors. We have been accustomed to laugh at these. venal exhibitions of fanaticism, not thinking perhaps that what was fun to as was working death to oar brethren whose property and reputation we are boend to protect, Tbe faet is, we have suffered a fire to be built la onr midst whose sparks have ben scattered far and wide and now when tbe smoke of the conflagration comes back to blind your eyes, and tbe heat of it begins to scorch our industrial and comraetcia! interests, , it will not do for us to say that the utterances of that society are the ravings of a fanatical and insignificant few i for the men who compose it are honored ia our midst With titles and offices. lis President is a Chief Justice of the Slate of New Jersey. The -ministers - who have thrown over its doings tbe sanction of our boly religion, are quoted and magnified ail over the laud as the representative men of the age and the man who stood np ia its deliberations in the year 1852 and exhausted the vocabulary of abuse upon the compromise measures and the great statesmen who framed them, is now a Judge in oar courts and the guardian of our lives and our -property; Vv?; -'- '- "' " ; . li will dosbtiess be amid that - aoiare presentation and abuse have not . been eon fined ia the' prepress of this unhappy contest to. the nbolitioo-ista of the " North that demagogues and self seeking men at the South have been violent and abusive, aad that newspapers professedly in the interests of the Sputa, - with ft spirit' which can be chnraetenzed as little lees thau diabolical, have circulated every scandal ja the most aggravated and irritating form.' Bat suppose all this tabs) grantedwhat then ? Can -chnst'an men juBtiff or pal'iiatet th wfath and iavil; STExiing which arn at their own doott by pointing to tbe rttaliation which , it has .provoked rtoue their neighbors?; If I were - preaching to-day to a Southern audience it woald. be my duty, and 1 trust God would give me grace to perform it, to -tell them of their sins " ia this matter, and espe cially would it be my privilege aa a minister of the Gospel of peace a privilege from which do falae viewa of manhood should prevent me to exhort and beseech them as brethren. I would assure them that there are multitude . here who still cherish the memory of the battle fields and council chambers where our fathers cemented thia Union of Stales, and who still stand by the compact of the constitution to the -utmost extremity. - . . I would tell the thousands of ; christian ministers, among whom are some of tbe brightest or naments of the American pulpit, and the tens of thousands of christian men and women, towards whom, while the love of Christ burns in me my heart never can grow cold, that if they will only be patient and hope to the end, all wrongs may yet be righted.; Therefore I would beseech them oot to put a great golf between us and cot off the very opportunity for reconciliation upon an honorable basis, by a revolution whose end no human eye can see. But, then, I am not preaching at the Sooth. I stand here at one of the main fountain beads of the abuse we have complained of. I stand here to rebuke this sin, and exhort the gailty parties to ., repent and forsake iU. It ia magnanimous and CtrisHike for those from whom the first provocation came to make the first concessions. The legislative enactments which are in open and acknowledged violation of the constitution, and whose chief design is to put a atigma npon alavebolding, mnst and will be repealed. Truth and justice will ultimately prevail, and Godvs bleaings of generations yet unborn will rest upon that partr.ia thii unhappy contest, who firat stand forth to otter the language of conci:iation and proSVr the jolive branch of peace The great fear ta that the retraction wilt come too late: but sooner or later it will come. - Abol: ti-inism oajht t.i and one day will change tbe mode of ita warfare and adopt another vocabulary. I believe in the liberty of the press and the freedom of speech ; but I do not believe that any man has a right before God, or in the eyes of civilizrd law, to speak and publish what be plea s without regard to the conaequeoca. With the conscientious convictions of our fellowciti-S-ns, neither we nnr the law have any right to interfere; but the law ought to protect ail men from the utterance of libellous wards, whose only effect is to create division and strife. J I trust and pray end Call upon - yon tonnite with me in the supplication, that God - would give abolitionists repentance and a better mind 1 so that in time to come they may at least propagate their principles in decent and respectful languaga. . IIL Abolilionism leads in. muUilndcs ef. . ease, and, by a logical process, to - ultcr Inii' deliiy. ;- - " On this point I woald not and will not bemis-anderatood.- I do not aaf that .abolitionism is infidelity. I speak only of the tendencies of the system as indicated, ia its avowed principles and demonstrated in its practical fruits. V It does not try slavery by the Bible, bnt as one of its leading advocates has recently decla red, it tries the liiWe "by prtrndplesjoof -Jrv dom. It insists that the word of God must be made to support certain human opinions, or for feitall claims upon our faith. That I may not be accused of exaggeration on this point, let me quote from the recent work of Mr. Barnes a passage which may well arrest the attention of all thinking men t " There are great principles in oar nature, as God has made ns, which can never be set aside by any authority of a professed revelation. If a book claiming to be a revelation from God, by any fair interpretation, defended slavery, or placed it on the same basis as the relation of has. band and wife, parent and child, guardian and ward, each a book would not be received by the mass of mankind as a Divine revelation." This assumption thatjmen are capable of judging beforehand what is to be expected, in a di vine revelation, u the . cockatrice a egg from which, ia all ages, heresfes have been hatched fTa- -! . I aa a. i nis is tne spiaer s wen wbicn men nave . spun out of their own brains, and clinging to which they have attempted to swing over the yawning abyss oi lnndeuty. Alas, how many have fallen in and been dashed to pieces I When ft man sets up the great principles of our nature (by which be always means his own preooncetved opinions) as the supreme tribunal before which even tne taw oi uoa mast ne triea wneo a man says, "The Bible must teach abolitionism or I wtll not receive it" he has already cut loose from the thet anchor of faith. True" belief says, "Speak, Lord, thy servant waits to hear." Abolitionism says, "Speak, Lord, but speak in accordance with the principles of human nature, or they cannot be received by the great mass of mankind as a Divine revelation." The frnit of snch principles is just what we might expect. Wherever the seed ef abolitionism has been sown broadcast, a plentiful crop ot Infidelity has sprung np. In the communities whereanti-slavery excitement has been most prevalent, the power of the gospel has invariably declined; and when the tide of fanaticism begins to subside, the wrecks of church order and of Christiau character have been scattered on the Shore, I mean no diarepect to New England to the good men who there stand by the ancient landmarks and contend earnestly for the truth nor to the illustrious dead whose praise is in all the church-es ; but who does not know that the Slates in which abolitionism has achieved its most signal triumphs are at the same time the great strong holds of Infidelity in the land? I have ofin thought that if Some of those eld : Pilgrim fa thers could come back, in the spirit and . power of Eha&vto attend a grand celebration at rIy mouth Ruck, they might as well preach on this text: "If ye were Abraham's children, ja would do tbe works of Abraham. The effect of abolitionism opon individuals ia no leas striking and mournful than its infl leoce upon communities. It is a remarkable and in - . - a . struct! ve tact, ana one at wnicn unnstian men would do well to pause and consider, that in this country all the promiaeut leaders of abolUiOD- ism, outside of the ministry, have become aow ed infidels l end that alt our notorious abolition preachers have renounced the great doctrines of grace as tbey are taught in tne standards of the reformed churches have retorted to the most violent - progress of Interpretation to avoid the obvious meaning of plain Scriptural texts, and ascribed to the apostles ef Chriat principles from which piety and moral coarage instinctively re- lun. jkucj utM wBi iw ua am wiuca lae .Jl T. TL.- V- .1-. '1 t.- 1. . , T?- ble does sot declare to be sin. They denounce, in language seen as the sternest prophets of tbe law never employed, ft relation which Jssus and bis apostles recognized and "regulated. . They seek to insulate terms end bx.ts of Christian communion utterly at variance with the organic law of the church aa founded by its Divine Head and, attempting to justify this usurpation of Di vine' prerogatives, by an appeal from uod a law to the dictates of fallen human nat-re, they would set up e spiritual ; tyranny more odions and tnauratle,; because mere arbitrary aad uecertaia ta iu decisions than Popery Juelf, And as tie trea is so have its firniu been, If u oot a theory, tnt e demonstrated fact, that abol-itioni.m U&i to inCdelity. Such men as Gar-riaon, and CiuiDgs, and Gerritt Smith have yieklad to tLe curreat of their own principle, and thrown the Bible overboard. Tboe-aada of humbler men who listen to abolition preachers will go and do like wise. And whether it be the ' restraints of God, that eaablea each preachers to row up the stream and regard the authority of Scriptnre in other matters, tbeir toSaenee npon this one subject is all the more pernicious because they prophesy in the name of Christ. In this sincere and plain utterance of my deep coo- vicuona, I am only diacbargwe; my conscience toward the flock over which I am set. - When .. . i . , . t r a j tne aaepnera seetn toe wok coming u is gwsa to give warning. " IV. Abolitionism it theckisf cause tf.lXt Sirif$ that agitates and ike Dattser tXat ' tkrtzUns Our Country. ' . Here, aa upon the preceding point, I will not be misunderstood.' I am not here as tbe advocate or opponent of any political party ; and it is no more than' simple ja.-tice for cne to say plainly that I do not consider republicaa and abolitionists as necessarily synonymous tar ma. There are tena of thoueanda of Chriatiaa . mea who voted with tbe successful, party i a the late election who do not sympathize with the principles or aims of abolitionism- Among these are some beloved members of my own flck, who will not hesitate a moment to put the seal of their approbation upon the doctrine cf this dieroeree. And what ia still more to the point, there seems to be sufficient evidence that the man who has just been chosen to be the heed of this a a tic n is among the more conservative and Bible loving men of bis party. - We hae no fears that if the new Administration could be qnietly inaugurated it would or Ot cocld abolitionis the- Government. There are honest people enough in the Northern States to prevent scch a result. But. then, while this U admitted as a simple matter of truth and jo- lice, it csnnot be denied, on the other hand, that AboitU'jni-m did enter, with all its characteristic bitterbAsa, into ibe rcnt content ; tbat the re-ault never co'-ild have b-n eccomp!ihed without it- aesistanpe, and that it now appropriates the victory in wordjof ridiccle and acorn that atir.g like a aerpent. Let me give you. as a single, specimen of thp ppirit in wKich Abolltionirm has carried i n its political warfare, an extract from a journa' which claim". -to have a larger circulation than any other reliciona P"Pr in the land. I quote from the N. Y. Independent of September, IR5G: .' Th p-ople will not levy war nor inaugurate a revelation, even to relieve Kansas, until they have first tried what they can do by votier. If tbii peaoefol remedy ahonld fail to be applied this rear then the people will count the coat wise, lj, and deride for themselves boldly and firmly which is the better way to rise m arms and fh row off a Governtmeot woree than that of old King George, or endure it another four years, and then vote again." Snch is the Spirit such the love te the Coasti lotion and Union of these States with which this religious element has entered into and seeks , .t i;r.. But we deceive ourselves if we suppose that oar present dangers ar of a birth so recect as 1856. As the qaestioae now before the country rise iu their magnitude above aU partv interests, and ought at Once to blot rfat aU party lines, so the origin Is found fr back of all party orga&h tatioos Xs they now exist. An article publtsbed twenty years ago.ln -the Princeton Setietb contains this remarkable ian gaage 1 . . . " The opinion lhatsiavehoTdingis itself a crime . . . , . t j- . uubi vpvraio iu (inniaca ins unuuiuu ci kuo States and the division of all ecclesiastical societies in this country. Just so far as this opinion operates, it will lead those who entertain it to submit to any sacrifices to carry it out and give it effect. We shall become two nations in feeling which mnst soon render us two nations in tact." ;. These words are wonderfully prophetic, and they who read the signs of the times must see that the ptiipd of their fulfillment draws a ear. Iu regard to ecclesiastical societies, the division foretold is in a great measure accompTiahed. Three of our great religious denominations have been rent 'n twain by the simple question. Is slaveholding a sin?" - . It yet remains to be seen whether the American Tract Society, and the Ameeicaa Board of Foreign Missions, will be revolutionized and dismembered by a contest which, we are told, is to be annually renewed. In regard to the union of these States, there is too ranch reason to feat that we are already 'two nations in fee'ing,n aad to anticipate the sear approach of the calamity which shall blot out some of the stars in our ensign and make us two cations in fact. And what has brought as to the verge of this precipice ? What evil spirit has put enmity be-tweeu the seed of those whom God by His blessing on the wisdom and sacrifices of our fathers, made one flesh 7 What bas created and fostered this lienatian between the North and Sooth, until disunion that used to be whispered in cor ners stalks forth ih open daylight, and Is recognized as a neeesaity by multitudes of thiakiog men in all sections of tbe land ? I believe be. fore God that tbis division of feeling, of which actual disunion will be but the expression aed embodiment, was begotten of abolitionism, has ben rocked in ita cradle and fed with ita poisoned m-Jk, and instructed by its nyms'era, unntj girded with a Itrenvtli whirh mmM not !tAik.r nf this upper world, it ia taking hold oporvthe pil lar- of the Constitution and shattering the noble fabrie to ita bape. - Ter was a lime whiv the Coast! otioe el qin-tiooa between . the North and South the conflict of materiaf interests growing eutof their differences in soil and production were discus ed in the spirit of 6tAtesmanh!p and Christian. Courtesy. Then, such rr.eo as Dnil Webster .on tbe one aide, and Calhoun on the other, stood . up face to face and defended the rights of thai. re-pective constituency in words which will be ..j i .i t t-.i. . .: ' ifuvicu u iun Hiue iu-fima tongue a sail en dare as a model of eloqnence and a pattern of manly debate. But abolitvviianj began ta crep in. it came first as a purely moral question,. tint varw .nAn ita aMvi... a .V.. 1 V . sufficient number to hold the balance t?f power between contending parties ia many districts and; tA.t a . - A aniranta tnr tV. a nrHi.n., mc'ieA nvwn it as a weapon for gratifvin their ambi'.Ioa v avenging lheir duappoiotments. Cader- the shadow of their patronage, eincere abolitionists became more bold and abuaive in adoeatic their principle. The unlawful aad witis-i business of entioing slaves front , tKr maatsrs wax pdahed forward with inerea-ing e-.l Hen who, in the fttttv aara. of the Kwrubbc, could not have obtained the smallest 5w, were rlscUi ta Congress opon this single isaov aad . rI:r'srt bf the Gospel descended from the pulpit ta raia-gle religioee simeity with the fcoinc ca-.Jron of politieal etrife. -- . . - . ""-'Not was thia process conCned to one s"a in the eonteat.' Abuse aTways provoke reerimiaa-tion. So lour aa ho in an eature ia p-siooat-, bard words will be responded te by harder blws-And now behold tbe result t : In the ha"s whare Webster and Calhoun, Adams and "cDee reuderea tne very name ei American aiat'smaa-ahip illustrioas, and revived the memory of claa. aic eloquence, we have heard the outpoaric of both Northern and Southern violence f.-oa c:,i who mnst be nameless in this cre'Ir''""- ; in the land where such slaveholders a ' - ton and lladiaon onited with Htn!!;- -. ; '. . . coik in cemestlsg the Uaioa wh.k'b ;'.r v - toped woIJ be perp-taal, con:Tr-er: r ' j. fictnres, end all oor great it.'; .t a .. i r-r- trmnta) intermta. and rTnVin ca tVe of dissolation ; and at abolitionis a i . s frl