The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1839-07-27
EEIEIA VOICE OLE ED1nLDGN5o
Gerrit Smiths Letter to John Tnppan.
PETERBoRo', May "a, 1888

'to letters addressed to the SecretarleS OF the
merican Board of Commissioners for Foreig
Missions, on the propriety OF receiving donation
. made-to its Treasury by those who hold slaves
Although not acquainted with your views of tn
subjects discussed in these replies, | will never
theless frankly state to you some ofmy own.
have never supposed that God requires hi
treasuryIto be closed against the contributions G
wicked men. When the Saviour commended tn
donation of the widow, he did not object that thu
treasury was open to all descriptions of persons
Nor have ever supposed, that the refusal of thu
keepers of His treasury to receive improperly anc
fiaudulenty obtained gifts, is Gods appointed
means for precludimg such gifts. | say not tina
this refusal is never to take place. A case may
be conceived of, where gift should be rejected
as when man goes to the treasury of benevo
lent society, saying that he has stolen sum o.
money, and proposes to benefit the society with
part of it. But in laying down general rules, we
need not make provision for cases of utterly i'm.
probable occurrence. The pamphlet before me
shows the impracticability of determining on, and
still more clearly the impractcabiity Of applying
a rule, under which some contributions would be
received and others rejected. In the eighteenth
verse of the twenty-third chapter of Deuterono-
my, God forbidS the bringing into his treasury Of
property acquired in the unlawful ways therein
specified But there is no Injunction in the case on
the keepers of His treasury, and for the obvious
reason that, in most instances, where gifts are
rendered to them, they are incapable ofGiscrmina-
ting, with perfect certainty, between such as are
acceptable and such as are not acceptable to the
Lord. The passage of scripture under considera-
ton might, as we shall hereafter see be used in
connection with others which ] shall quote, to
prove that the keepers Of the Lords treasury are
under obligation to deal plainly and faithfully with
the contributors to it and that this is Gods meth
cd for excluding improper gifts from it.
My proposition, to which, as to other general
propositions, there are exceptions, is, that the
keepers of the Lords treasury are to have it open
to the gifts of ALL But the keepers, and in that
capacity your Board, or the Board of any other
religious society, may justly be considered, are re-
quired TODD much more than to have it open to the
gifts of all.-They are as clearly bound to admonish
their contributors to gire right preachers of the
gospel are to admonish their hearers to hear right;
for accessible as the Lords treasury should be 10
the gifts of all, it no more follows that these gifts
are all acceptable, than that they who visit the
house of public worship, are all acceptable wor-
shippers. Furthermore, they are to adapt their
ndmonitions 10 the character of their patrons. III
for instance be the characteristic fault of your
New England contributors that they give grudg-
ingly, then your Board are especially to inculcate
On tlut pOTllOI vi lluCI uuly OIL
giving cheerfully and willingly. If deccitlulness
be the peculiar and striking blemish upon the
gifts you obtain from the state of New York-if|
your New York patrons put you off with contri- !
buttons unworthy of their means, and seek to con.
ceal from you the abundance of these means,-iG |
like Annanas and Saphira they keep back part
of what their professions pledge them to give,
then your Board are to endeavor to impress their
New York donors with the Divine adherence of
deceitful offerings. So aso if there be section
of our country in which they who contribute to
the treasury of your Board, are robbers the Board
ure not to fail of visiting that section with their
abundant and solemn testimonies against the
crime of insulting God with sacrifices which are
the fruit of robbery This course would be obvi-
ously proper, even though there were no specific
authority for it in the Bible. But there is such
authority. When Moses made collections for the
knowledge of the people led him to apprehend that
there might be reluctant contributors amongst
them and hence he spoke of the duty of giving
with willing heart 1t is inferable from his
rejoicing in the willingness of the peoples gifts,
that David also spoke of this duty, when he col
lected materials for the temple At another peri
cd in their history, the Jews were addicted to de-
ception in their offerings to the Lord and hence
was the curse of God denounced against the de-
ceiser At another PERIOD centuries distant from
those referred to- God said by his prophet ! hate
robbery for burnt Offering 1t may be confident
y interred from this declaration that this errlng
people were guilty. not only of the comparatively
small sins of making reluctant offerings and OF
making deceitful offerings to the Lord but OF pre-
suming, in the hardihood of their depravlty, to
pollute the Divine altar with the fruits of robbery
1t may, with reason, be farther Inferred that they
were peculiarly addicted to this enormous crime
at the time this fearful declaration was made.
How far your Board have followed the plain
teachings of the Bible, and endcavored to show
their patrons what are acceptable gifts, do not
know. | can witness that they have not been en-
tirely delinquent in this respect. Oltentimes have
| received from them sheets that have set forth in
Gods own language the spirit in which gifts to
him should be made.-And furthermore, these
sheets, as they incucated the duty of giving free
" and literally, were adapted to my case' and to
the correction of the faults which characterize my
riffs. | am not informed that your Board have
been equally faithful in supplying others with adj
montions peculiarly adapted to them. am not
informed that they are in tho practice OF remind
ing their patrons in those parts of our country