Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1846-12-10
Extract Of Mr.. Patton's Sermon,
On be connection Of .41tislaperu l0ith LlideLitg.

complete' unless we notice the effect produced
upon many of the opponents OF slavery, by the
past action of the church. The truth is precl- |
sely this unpalatable as it may be to
the mass of the churches. There are many
ardent advocates of antislavery principles, men
who from the bottom their hearts loathe slave
holding, who are moral in their lives, men of
truth, ofchastity, of honesty, of moral daring,
from whose lips no oath, no impure word pro-
ceeds, but who nevertheless are thoroughly inf |
del in their principles. could name some of
the more prominent if necessary | have heard
them denounce the Bible, and have more often
read their words of condemnation Their num-
Der is increasing, and their principles are sue
cessfully nstilled into minds whose ardor out
weighs their Judgment Every year that passes,
witnesses the conversion of many from Christ
anity to infdeity.
am well aware that pro-slavery ministers
have derived an argument from these very facts,
against the anti-savery cause They have de-
Inounced it as tending to nidellty, and made
the opinions of some attached to the Garrsonian
party text from which to warn their people
against laboring for the slave. | am as keenly
alive to the evil influence of the antchurch abb
olitioniss,as firmly opposed to their extravaganza
Of opinion and action, as willing publicly
and privately to deprecate their course, as are
those to whom have referred But neverthe-
less, have word of truth in the name of
crushed humanity and of the living God, to speak
to these ministerial friends of oppression.
Rail on, scott on, at the infdelity of Gar
risonism ifyou please, but know two things that
you scch at the work of your own hands,
and that the longer you maintain your position,
the larger will be the number Of such inhdes
who will attack the church. Nay start not at
this announcement as though it were something
strange reatlirm it, that the inddelity Of
certun aboIitionlsts, whose names have become
byword with you, is occasioned by your con-
duct You often call them, the roublers Of
Israel" will answer in their behalf ont Of
that blessed book which your inhumanity has
brought into contempt; " And it came to pass,
when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him,
/ Art thou he thut trOubhth Israel? And he
answered, A" | have not troubled Israeli but thou
and thy fathers house. in that we have forsaken
1.-The commandments of the Lord aud thou hast
followed BaaIim." There was time, when these
men believed in the religion of Jesus Christ
when they reyerenced the Sabbath, attended
5 upon the worship Of God in the sanctuary, and
respected the ambassadors Of the Saviour
! What has occasloncd the sad change over which
!! l. as well as yourselves mourn? Hear me, We
I ministers and church members who have been
e false to humanity and to God in the cause of the
e slave These men were sensible of the wrongs
: inflicted upon their brother man-they saw the
, scourge which descended upon his naked body,
and buried itself in his quivering flesh, they be-
: held as the tear ran down his cheeks, they list
g ened to his groans, his cries for help thrilled
a through their hearts, they were witnesses of the
: degradation Of body and soul to which he was
r reduced, and were reused to action as he crouch
n ed before them, spoiled ofhis rghts-a miserable
l. dehumanizcd chattel. Their souls burning with
r, anxiety to abolish a system which thus outraged
l. millions of their fellow men, they came to you
expecting that the ministers and followers of the
d compassionate Saviour would remember those
d in bonds as bound with them" What was the
d reception with which they met! You denoun
; ced them as fanatics, you refused to open your
: houses OF worship that the voice of the slave
5 might be heard, you defended the STAKEHOLDER
e and declared that the Bible sanctioned the claim
e Of property in man, you admitted slaveholdinq
f preachers and professors to your pulpits and tC
your communion tables, and were in fact Sc
busy in " tithing mint, anise, and cummn," it
regulating church government and correcting
heretcs, that you " omitted the weghler mat
d tiers of the law, judgment, mercy and faith. -
With you joined the theological seminaries the
religious press, the ecclesiastical bodies of the
: land, all asserting that the rights of the master
n were guaranteed by the Word of God. One
h extreme bogets lis opposite. They took you al
your word-they believed that the Bible did
sanction slavery, aud as their consciences con.
demned it, they followed out the path you pre-
scribed, and cast away the Bible. do not de-
lend their course-5ut | charge its guilt in a
great measure upon you And now what is the
= result Your indifference to humanity, your
wanton practical perversion of the sacred scrip
> ture, drove them to " come-oulism'' and in6del
ity, and now, forsooth, you strengthen your
: selves in opposition to anti-savery principle.
by reference to their Irregularities! This re
:. acts upon them and they again upon you, ant
y thus the breach widens, the evil increases, tn,
: cause of emancipation suffers, and the Bible i
= dishonored
> A few words in conclusion and have done
}. My hearers, the present crisis is one Of ntens
y interest to the true follower Of Christ. ne,
race of infdels has arisen, not profane, unchaste
= immoral as were their predecessors and as man
:. of their coemporasies are, but, evincing a re
gard for God, for truth, for humanity, for moral:
and whose complaint is that the church are al
- raycd against God against truth, against human
y ity, against sound morals 1t is an evil hour
y when in6delIty can marshal its forces, with HI
=. manty for its watchword, with the conscenc
- of the world on its side, while Christianity i
= the hands of those who betray t,leads its host t
~ kattlo Cor In a. ;oGJ