Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1839-04-17

It appears that the Emancipator had an article |
Oh this subject, some weeks, months since, which,
for some reason or other, overlooked at the time
find the following extracts from it in the Annual
Report of the Massachusetts Ant-SIavery Society
While trust, and indeed know that the application
of to my Baptist brethren in Vermont will be ex
tremely limited, there is too much evi ence tina,
there yet too many Of other denominations even
in Vermont, and of Baptists well as other de-
nominations, elsewhere, to whom it is applicable
without the least abatement of force.
"A few months ago, it was the opinion
ofsome Of our friends, that the whole mass
Of the clergy, in the free states. were about
to drop their hostility to the anti-slavery
cause, and would then. gradually come
round to its support. We now fear that
this hope is destined to prove deIusive;
and that many of the professed ministers
of the gospel are settling down IN a fixed
hatred of the principles of liberty, and
settled determination TO maintain, at every
hazard, the lawfulness Of slavery, and the
criminality Of efforts for its renewal
And they are evincing readiness to aban-
don every principle, to impugn every
doctrine, to violate every obligation, to
outrage every feeling, to sacrifice every
interes.. heretofore held dear or sacred, if
it is found to afford countenance or s,rength
to anti-slavery. The war ecclesiastical is
intended TO be a war of extermination.-
The leaders are bent upon initiating b.
naparte, who used to boast that he was
conquering a peace" and was success
fu only as there was none left to resist.
1.-The peace of the church." in nearly all
of our large organizations, and in many
hundreds of individual congregations, is
committed on this issue; and the leaders
are determined that the "peace of the
church, shall exist only by the suppress
sion of abolition, and the silence Of its adj
vocates. The battle on that side has fall
len into new hands. Before the abolition
probe had reached the depths of the sore,
body was opposed to slavery, but abolition
was impracticable. Hence our opposers
of that day, We'd with abolhionists them
selves in their expressions of adherence
ofslavery. But in proportion as the good
providence of God has so signally illus
trated the practicabiliiy and beneficial con-
sequences of abolition, it has been found
necessary to put the defence of sIacery as
IL is, into the hands of men who had not
too strongly committed themselves aea:ns,
slarery IN the ABSTRACT Hence the com.
ing forth of Emerson, Spring, and others,
who have heretofore kept aloof"
Referring to series of pro-slavery es,
says published in the Boston Recorder
by the Rev Ralph Emerson, D. D. Of
Andover, the Eaiancipator goes on to
say:
"We only saw portion ofthem, from,
which we ascertained that the drift of his
argument was substantially this; thai
since the adoption of measures for the alb.
clifton of slavery was likely to hurt the
reputation and influence of the ctereu il
was therefore the du'y Of aboitionists 70
give over their efforts, and leave slavery
TO abolish itseIf''
Abiding TO letter which Rev. Dr..
Osgood, OF Springfield, published in the
Recorder, in reply. the Emancipator adds
The letter referred 10, appears 10 us
to be highly valuable as part of the his
tory of the ecclesiastical branch of this
great conflict: and as placing in Just
light the merits of question which, we
fear. as destined TO shake the churches of
tie North as aostb an earthquake. For,
asihe present defenders of slavery have
gone too far to retract, and as We cannot
suppose the friends of abolition will con-
sent to support slavery in the church after
1t is repudiated in the state, we see moth
ing that IS to prevent radical CONFUSION