Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1843-06-21

WIN - w tOSpcCtet Vi pOiSOuS-d TdI6nL
of mankind who is not partial in the fam
ily:-if he believes that Moses was no
more authorised to plumber and kill and
drive off bis neighbors, than the Ameri-
cans TO treat the Indians in the same way,
or the British to rob and kill the Chinese
and seize on the Sandwich Islands If
he believes all these, and other things be.
longing with them, then he is 80 far con-
sistent with himself when he SAYS "God
puts no new causes into operation in or
Ter to punish for SIM and so far he
yields the ground and overthrows the doc
tfine of rewards and pupishmen,s; and
when this view is consistently carried out
the doctrine is entirely overlhrown-the
Author of Nature is made source of
goodness, and arbitrary power is set
aside.
Friend Ballou has said several things
consistent with this view. He says;-"The
consequences attendant upon the trans
erosion oteither The physiological organic.
or moral laws of the Creator, are the proper
and just punishment Of the offender; and
obedience to each of these laws, is attend
ed with its appropriate reward of good to
him who yields it," The doctrine herein
advanced, aside from the language used,
is sound. l shall not be drawn away
from the idea, into a strife about words.
still maintain, notwilh standing the slight
ofhanc with which the words punish
ment" and "reward," are Wrought into
the sentence, that rewards and punish
ments as attached to God in preaching by
government advocates, and practiced by
them in their governments,a are heaven wide
from the nee essary consequences OF well
and ill doing.
1t should oe Borne in mind that | have
marked, and would have kept up. the dis
tinction between what the Divine govern.
ment IS, and what it is asserted to be in
preaching rewards and puniskments.-
The difficulty with Eli BaIlou's work is,
while with one breath he admits the Di-
vine government to be what in truth it is,
with the next breath he cohfounds and
lndentlhes with il someth ing else entirely
different. And then again he will return
to his first view. He begins and leaves
of with the doctrine that mankind are
governed, as is all the rest of the uni
verse, without an arbitrary exercise. o.
power on the part of the Great Source O
Being and Blessedness. With this he j:
not content. He must intermiugle and in
terweave with it. rewards and punish
ments that are based on an arbitrary ex
ercise OF power. This he does by intro
ducing and endorsing the work Of Joseph
Butler. Joseph Butler says we are I'M
der the government oft the Author of Ma
ture in the same sense as we are unde
the government of civil magistrates >
Eli Ballou says, g. God puts no new caus
es into operation in order TO punish sin. ;
Put this and that together. There il
about as much concord between them a,
between the Episcopalianism of the Bish
op and the Uniyersalism of the Editor
And yet the latter has otherwise endorsed
the doctrine Of the former. Thus he ha
: thrown himselfine utter self-con.radicliol
and confusion.
| ask the endorser of the doctrine
that we are under Divine and human gov
eminent alike-[would ask the author
he were living,l precisely how many hu
man beings it takes to make human
3 government. One man has sometimes a
E effectively and really governed millions
: as millions ever governed one. The Bisho
r has set no bounds, and made no 6is,inc
z lions. Nor has friend BaIlou done it, O
j undertaken it. No man Of ordinary dis
e cernment will undertake to do it. for
9 will see at once that i. cannot be done.-
S The doctrine advanced by Joseph Butle
e and endorsed by Eli Ballou sustains tn
e divine right OF kings, equally with th
a divine right of the people. 10 govern wit
# force arbitrarily exercised. All will agre
if at once that in all the departme nts of hi
d man governments founded on force. til;
q M hich exists IN iho e. IL. ,rill /