Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1840-02-05

Now in the name OF reason | ask to know
what there is in the fact that God appointed
a government for the Jea0s, subjee, to his
erpress commands, which goes to prove
that he has ordained those governments of
men which are not under his express COM
mands, but are entirely subject TO mans
discretion-entirely the creatures of mems
sel6shness, prejudices, passions and lnsts ?
Show me government, now existing on
the face of the globe, whose constitution,
statute book, and common talo" are the
"erpress commands" of JehOUdh, and !
will acknowledge that government TO be an
ordinance Of God Look at the govern
ment THAT Of the United Stales] which
claims TO be the purest and best of mems
making, that now exists, or ever did exist
since the fall OF man. Look at it, say
What do you see? In the midst Of it
stands an enormous system OF sin-made
up of robbery, oppression, adultery, incest,
murder of body and soul-a practical multi
ticallon Of all Gods holy law-thrusIing lis
roots down into he'll for sap and nourish-
ment, aud throwing up its inpious branches
towards heaven in defiance of the scalhiny
thunderbols Of the Almighty! Tell me
not that this horrid monster is an abuse of
government II was planted and has beer.
nouri,hed and re red up by The same hands
VIII CHI made and have sustained The govern
ment-and tho,e hands, not The hands of a
holy God, but the hands of sinful men. If
snch be the best Of all human governments.
what, ak in the name of Christianity, are
the olhers?!
repeat, here,-Talk not about the abus-
es OF governments. There is no such thing
as The abuse of discretionary po10er. And
have before shown that on such power all
human governments stand. just as slavery
is built on The principle Of property in man
so human governments are built on the
principle of holding human properly and
life al human discretion. All must admit,
and all do admit, after canGid examina-
lion OF the case, that every possible kind
and degree of wickedness appearing in con-
necilon with American slavery, grow out of
the system as lis natural, legitimate fruits
that there i, no sucT thing as an abuse of
the principle Of holding property in man.
The very idea that the man j. held as prop
erty lays the foundation for all conceivable
cruelty, injustice, aud iniquiIy towards him.
Just so with the principle of violence which
lies al the foundation of human govern
ments. When human lives, and Of course
all subordinate human interests, are placed
IN the hands, and al the control, of de-
PRAYED human beings, what is there 100 vile
or alrociouS TO be looked for as the legiti
mate results2 Nothing-nothnr- as the
history of our own professedly ENLIGHTENED
government alone-+lo say nothing about
the denominations Of all the other govern
ments which have preceded it, and which
are contemporary with it--abundantly testi-
tes. The sins of this single nation-whicb
has been in existence but little more than
hall century-against the colored races,
are enough TO sink thousand worlds TO
The lowest depths of the bottomless Dit
And vel every one Of these sins grow legil-
Imately and most naturally out Of the prin-
] ciple of violence which lies al the founda-
ton of all existing human governments
Not one OF them is in the least an abuse Of
the government which has committed them.
such government, | protest, is not an
ordinance of God, but The Workmanship OF
depraved men.
Friend Curtis says:
But under this supreme authority 1.-THE
authority OF God these princes and heads
OF lamllles; or heads of thousands, aud
hundreds, aud illies, exercised civil and
JUDICIAL authority as truly as any of our
subordinate rulers and civil magistrates
exercise authority under and in accordance
win our constitution and statute book"
he might have said that these Jewish
leaders, and officers under God, exercised
civil and Judicial authority, under Gods
supreme authority, as truly as the subor
dlnales of the Pope Of Rome exercise an
lhorlly under hin-and his argument would
have been precisely as strong as il is now.
i "hal this has 10 do with showing that the
government of the United States, The gov
ernmenls of Russia and Turkey. and the
! governments Of the Beast and Of The false
Prophet, are the ordinances Of God, re-
mains TO be shown.
| Again :--Friend Curtis says:
| Al later period, The government of
that naIon was changed 10 monarchy
with Gods approval aud sanction. True