Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1843-05-24
Anti .Soreru Addy ess.

informed and corrected himself on some
points where he has formerly been in error
on the subject. So far as the Anri-Savery
doctrines heretofore promulgated by aboli-
tlonlsts generally are calculated TO effect the
object, friend Palmer's address was very
good, as to its moral aspects. 1t was what
would be considered well adapted to the
condition Of things in Castleton, in as much
as II was very much confined 10 what have
been deemed first notwithstanding the
wrong of slavery, the safety Of immediate
emancipation, &c. Cas,leton was ignorant
of a, b, c, on the subject, having been large
" under Vermont Chronicle influence.
Like priest, like people.
Friend Palmer was followed by a young
man whom | understood to be a medical
student. He was a native, believe, of the
Blue Law State-but had lived in Alabama.
He resorled to the Mosaic law TO prove that
slavery is Christidn institution! Cited
Levticus XIV: 45, 46, which reads as fol-
lows moreover, Of the children Of the
4
strangers that do sojourn among you, of
them shall We buy, and Of their families tina,
are with you, which they begat in your
land: and they shall be your possession.
| And ye shall lake them as an inheritance
| for your children after you, to inherit them
| for possession they shall be your bond
men forever: but over your brethren The
children Of Israel, We shall not rule one over
another with rigor." This, to be sure,
proves that slavery was Mosaic institution.
But how does it prove that il is Christian
institution Circumcision was Mosaic
institution. But is it a Christian insrilu-
tion2 The Mosaic law allowed the selling
of that which died of itself, to aliens. Ii al
so hung witches, stoned to death sabbath
breakers and disobedient children, destroyed
enemies with vengeance, and did many 9th
er like things directly contrary 10 what Je-
sus taught and pracIiced. How then can
such institutions and acts of Moses be call
ed Christian? Christ, from whose name |
the werd Christian comes, taught that we
should do TO others as we would have others
do to US. The difficulty is, those who have
undertaken TO follow The Bible as a guide
have prcfsssed Christianity, but have prac-
ticed Judaism. ..-* ..-.
The young man undertook to reason on
the subject. He said nature had drawn a
very broad line between the African aud the
European. The African, he said, is down
ward in his tendencies, towards the earth |
He even went so far as to say that the Al
rcans are better off in slavery Than al liber-
~. And for proof TO this point he asserted
that be had seen free colored people in Phil
adelphia calling for bread, while he never
knew a slave in Alabama TO ask for more
than chew Of tobacco. There are some
facts and considerations to come in here
with which il would be we'll for this young
man and as many as think with him on The
point, 10 famiiarize themselves. In the
first place, the people of color nominaly free
in this country are violently oppressed and
degraded on every hand so that they have
not fair opportunity for rising, and never
will have while slavery and caste continue.
Notwithstanding all this it is not true that
they are comparatively So degraded in every
respect as he seemed 10 think. He would
do well 10 be better informed on the subject.
He was particularly unhappy for himself in
fixing on Philadelphia with view to show
the comparative condition of the nominally
free colored people. have seen statistics
showing that they pay more Than their pro-
portion Of the poor tax, in that city, compar-
ed with the whites. They not only sup
port their own poor, but help the whites sup
port theirs. Again, il the friend is acquaint-
ed with the doings Of slavery, he knows that
it does not stop at color. He knows, or
ought to know, that advertisements for run
away slaves describe the hunted victims as I
being of all manner Of colors, from black,
through brown and yellow, TO white. II is
not an uncommon thing for courts ofinquiry 7
be black blood running in the veins of the
seized victim or not. The truth is, the col T
ored race left to themselves, have less pau
perism than the whites. Great Britain has t
10 day one pauper in every OF of her in
habilants, while Africa has only one in IS.
So far then as being supplied with bread is
concerned-and this was the thing alluded |
to by the young man in his comparison of
The colored people of Philadelphia with those
! on his ground, sustain an argument in favor
of enslaving a large portion of the white