Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1838-08-08

Hitherto your Board has pursued an o.
posIte course, and hence have the gifts Of
Shareholders flowed abundantlv into its
treasury. Is it not obvious, that, in pur-
SUNG this opposite course, the board has
gone counter to the Bibe2 Nav more,
is notthls opposite course inconsistent with
It's own practice toward some of its pat
rons-towards those of them, who needed,
and whom it has therefore visited with,
admonItlohs 10 be more free and Iibe raj in
their gifts
The course of the Board hitherto has
been slch, as to invite rather than repe
the shareholders gifts; for it has been
such as to teach the Shareholder, that his
oppression constitutes but iyht sin, if,
indeed, any sin at all, In the eyes of the
Board. Slaves have been hired and even
bought, on account Of the Boald, though
believe this practice has now ceased
}"nd cheerfuIly admit that it was never
pursued with motives Ct gain. When
the Board increases its number, the fact,
that a candidate is a STAKEHOLDER, is no OBJ
Election 10 his election. And who should
succeed, in becoming its last appointed
Secretary, but the Rev. VIM. J. Armstrong,
Of VirgInia-that eminent hater Of the
cause Of abolition, who, in one Of his
communications, charges upon abolition
ISIS a "vioIent, reckless, and wicked spir-
IitP 1t may not have been to SoOthe and
please SHAREHOLDERS, much as it looked
like it but 1t certlinIy was not 10 please
aboIitionists, that Mr. Armstrong vas
raised 10 his present responsible and hon
orabIe oftise. That your Board are not
disposed 10 off nd the Shareholder, may BE-
inferred from the tone of the pamphlet
you have sent me. Tbs pamphlet, which
Board, says, that 4 division in our reli-
gions and benevolent societies about slave
holding Is no more proper than wonld be
" SIM ar divisions founded upon different
AMI conflicting views. which the friends
ot these societies entertain on other great
questions of morals aud politics. We
nave it, therefore, on the authority of the
American 3 'arI Of Commissioners for
Foreign Missions, that there is 10 less
reason for going on harmonousiy with Il
Saveholder in a religious or benevolent
society, than with one, hose views about
the tariff or the currency, differ from our
own.
Your Board is evidently at disagree
ment with God. He tells robbers that he
hates robbery for sacrifice Your Board,
on the contrary, avoids ruffling the self
compIacency Of the robbers, who contrib
ute to the treasury. and smoothes the way
for these gifts The pamphlet under con-
sideratian declares that your Board has
nothing to do with slavery" and that it
does not "feel obliged to look after and
condemn" it, But polite in the eve of
worldly prudence, as is this Indifference
to slavery, how unlike is it to that p ain
and frank dealing with corrupt contribut-
ors to the treasury and altar of the Lord
Of which we have obligatory examples in
the Bible
But your Board may say, and to be
consistent with some things they have
said and done, they must say, that the
Shareholder is not a robber; and, there
fore, that their duty towards him can, in
no wise, be inferred from Gods decIara-
tons respecting the sacrifice Of robbers.
1t must be admitted. that, in case the slave
holder be robber, your Board are, in
; view Of the Scriptural reasons adduced
r for it, bound to express their adherence
. of his sacrifcial gifts. The question,
7 whether the Board has been right or wrong
t in refusing 10 express its adherence,
r turns clearly on the turtherquestion, wheth-
, er the STAKEHOLDER be, or be not a robher.
Is not the American STAKEHOLDER rob-
+ ber? | ask not what he is in the public
? opinion. In that he NAV be a generous,
l chivaIrous, and high-souIed gentleman.
: | ask what he is in truth aud in facts.
S Public opinion is IN unsafe guide in as
l certainng what is morally right or NOR
= aIlv wrong. Mr.. Graves, whose hands
} are stained with the blood of poor CiIey,
2 iustifes himself on the ground that pub
} lie opinion, which sanctions dueIIing, is
t the paramount law of the land. A dozel
wears ago, it was no crime, ia public opin-
S ion, for a man to get living, and 20 roll
: up wealth, by destroying the bodies and
souls Of his neighborS, with intoxicating
drinks Now, public opinion may be as
. wrong on the subject of saveho!drng. as
! it ever has been on the subje Of dueIling
or rum-seIling. repeat the question -
D is not the American Shareholder, in truth,
S and in fact, a robber2 For abundant and
= unanswerabIe proof, that he is, Irefer you
# TO the slave code, which he himself has
' framed and adopted. Says this code
+ "AII that slave possesses belongs TO hi:
n master - and again: Slaves are incapa
+ bic of inheriting or transmitting proper
Il ty." Can it be denied, in view Of thi:
5 code, that the American STAKEHOLDER is {
e robber, and self-convcted robber! Ane
e can it be denied, in view Of this code, tina
n its unhappy and outraged subjects AM