Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1846-12-04
Isaac WinanS.

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world whose claim to strength is based upon
the same contingency as was that of the fool,
but who are either not so honest as TO ac-
knowledge 1t, or so intelligent as to perceive
it. The untried strength of some reformers
is astonishing even TO themselves, and they
do not begin to suspect how powerless they
are until they have attempted to bear the
weight of principle, and live the lives Of true
men. The history Of the anti-slavery enter
prise presents some lamentable illustrations
Of this fact. Men who were intellectually
convinced Of the truth Of abolilionism, but
whose moral strength was not equal to the
sacrifice involved ia a practical application Of
that truth, entered upon the course and ran
well for a season, then fdliered and turned
from the principles they professed 10 hold
Perchance it was not that they loved the
slave less, but sect, or party, or personal in
teresis more. They were not willing to
lace man where God placed him, "a little
lower than the angels" but they thrust him
down beneath their human organizations
they regarded hun of less importance than
creeds-of less worth than constitutions
Humanity, Party, Sect, stand 10 them in the
order Of Good, Better, Best, and for the two
latter they unhcsitatingly sacrificed the for
mer. As it was in the earlier days Of the en-
~terprise, so is it now and those of whom
better things might.be expected, have resort
ed to means, of which they ought 10 be
ashamed, to sustain their political and relig-
ious organizations.
Our meeting at Gainesville was held in
the Congregational church, Of which Isaac
Winans is pastor. You rccollect he was
very friendly TO Disnnion, when first present.
ed, and to those who advocated it; lately,
however, if we have been correctly informed,
he has pursued a course calculated to bring
this doctrine into disrepute, among a certain
class, by connecting the s~o-called heterodox
opinions Of our friends Foster upon theology,
as expressed In private conversation, with
the anti-slavery principles which ihey taught
in public. After our first meeting he remark
ed, in the presence of friend Curtis, that it
was his opinion that Elizabeth Jones did not
believe in the v]icarious atonement-this much
he himself admitted--our informant under
stood him to say that disbelief was expressed
in public. We would not do Isaac Winans
injustice, and perhaps his sagacious comment
upon our anti.slavery position was only an
evidence of the philosophical character of his
mind-a proof of his inquiring disposition
or, it mag be that he designed to strengthen
the belief to which he had before given cur
rency, that the movement was an infdel one,
to which no christian should give his coun-
tenance or support. An incidental allusion
was made to this, at a subsequent meeting,
in remarking upon the false charges that were
made against the abolitionists. This drew
from him an explanation and a defining of
his position. Those who were not blinded
by sect could but regard him as a priestIy
mouser who was watching every moral re-
former, hoping to find among his private
opinions something to sieze upon by which
he might array the prejudices of the people
against The course advocated. He distinctly
stated that a denial of the atonement was a
principle of the Disunion party. He after
wards denied having done this, and probably
did not intend TO say it, but was exceedingly
careful not to intimate in any way that it
lcas not a principle of the party. He spoke
of those reformers who used just enough an
ti-slavery to spice their discourses with,
while they taught heretical doctrines, and
asserted also that what that audience had
heard from us that day could not be embrace
ed without adopting anti-christian principles.
When we held him to this, and demanded
that he should either prove or retract his as.
%sertion, he evaded the point; and the more
we insisted upon proof or retraction, the
more q~uib!ing and Jesuitism he displayed
Finding himself in a close corner, he en-
deavored to throw the burthen of proof upor
us, by insisting that we should inform tn
audience whether we believed in the atone
ment. OF course we denied his rilht t.
: question us on points in theology, and insis
4 ted that he should state to the audience wha
t anti-christian doctrine we had presented il
, our remarks upon slavery.
f.. Tie accordingly hlaue d miserable altemp
to sustain the charge by declaring that w,
had spoken lightly Of baptism, prayer, tn
r ordinances, &c. The fact is we had toll
2 more truth of the sects than was palatable t
n sectarians-we had said that if a man obseI
we'd the ordinances, paid the minister, an,
. went to meeting regularly, he was regarde,
as an excellent christian, although he wa.
guilty Of the most g%rievous oppression to
! wards his fellow-men--that the churcl
taught, by its practice, that there was a saw
. ing, sanctifying influence in forms and cere.
7 monies. Out of this he endearored to ex
tract enough anti-christlan doctrine TO make
I good his charge. In the course of this dis
, CUSTOM Geo. c. Baker, a Congregations