Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1849-09-01

litionists affirm that Slavery is a violation Of
the eternal and immutable Law of Justice
a law older than the Bible, and which would
not be altered were that Book annihilated
they declare that the slaves right to freedom
is sel-erident, and therefore that TO hold him
in bondage is a sin. 'Ah!' says the slave
holder, or his apologist, the Bible sanctions
. Slavery, and tina; is the infallible word Of
: God-the only rule Of faith and practice.-
: God established and regulated Slavery
. among the Jews, and neither Christ nor his
: Apostles condemned it, but on the contrary
. recognized the relation Of master and slave
as innocent, and directed the parties how 10
discharge their respective duiies.' This is.
sue must be met in one Of two ways. We
must either enter upon a thorough eXamina-
ton Of texts, with a willingness 10 yield the
point if they are found to be against us or
we must plant ourselves on The great elemen-
tary law of God, written in our social and
moral natures, and declare that i the Bible
sanctions Slavery, it could not have come
from God. To say nothing Of the absurdiiy
of stalking a sell evidcnt TRUTH upon the incul-
c%ations of a book, the first method is beset
with serious difficulties. In the first place,
the question is complicated, embracing his.
torical facts interspersed through a long sue
cession of ages, principles Of Interpretation,
national customs and peculiarilies, the doubt
ful meaning languages no long er spoken, &C.,
&C., and requiring for its authoritative settle
ment an amount Of knowledge which few Abb
olilIonTsts can ever hope TO attain. Those
who claim 10 be the authorized expounders
Of the book, and who have spent their lives
in the effort 10 ascertain its meaning, instead
OF agreeing in their interpretations, present a
spectacle of confusion not unlike that of Ba-
the unsophisticaled Abolilionist. Is it strange
that he h~esiIates 10 enter a field so difficult Of
cultivation, and where so much has already
been done 10 so little purpose, and seeks a
basis for his operations in a universal and
selfevident law? If the question could be
settled by the preeepts Of Christ, there would
be little difficulty but our popular Divines
affirm that those rrecepts are qualified by facts
and inculcations recorded in other parts of
the Bible, and in the work Of marshaIing
texts, who can match them? We believe
that, to-day, nothing would suitthe pro-slave-
ny clergy half so well as to get the Abolition
lists to eXpend their energies in an exegetical
war, because that is a field of which they
know themselves 10 be the masters. We
might perhaps beat them in time, but in our
opinion there is a shorter as well as a more
legitimate way. Plant yourself boldly upon
the Law Of God, written unmistakably in ev-
cry human soul, and tell the craven Atheists
that if they succeed in fastening Slavery up
on the Bible, they will not thereby save the
former from eXecration, but viii consign the
latter TO irremediable infAmy. Depend upon
it, they will throw Slavery overheard when,
and only when, they find it necessary 10 do
so as a means of saving the Book, and it need
not take US long TO push them 10 that alterna-
tive. Already have some of these Biblical
apologists been forced to change their tune,
and TO proclaim the Book unequivocally anti
slavery, in order 10 save it from the odium
which their former teachings had begun 10
bring upon it. This will be the result every
where before long. If Abolitionists general.
ly had taken this position fifteen years ago,
we do not believe that Northern c~lergymen
would now be found appealing 10 the Bible
in Justification Of the sum of all villanies.'
A. There are certain starting points in all
controversies says the Free Press. True
enough, and zoe choose to start from an ele-
menlary point. In other words, we 90 back
to Gods oldest and primary revelation to man
10 that revelation which is made alike 10
every huAan soul, whether he has seen the
Bible or not. This we think is The only fair
start. Those who take any other will find
their path sinuous and difficult, and may
think themselves fortunate if they don't get
mired. 'ChriSfianS,' says our friend, start
from the position, 'lhat the Bible is the oniy
infalIible rule of belief and praclice.' Here
he is mistaken. The whole Catholic world,
while il receives the Bible as an inspired
book, repndiates this dogma. If it be said
that Catholics are not Christians, we reply,
so neither, Judging them by their fruits, are
one in a hundred of the Pfo,estanls. Many
Of the most eminent saints that the world has
ever seen have been Catholics, and many Of
the best men in the world at the present day
are Of the same faith. Nor do Profesianfs
agree in The doctrine that the Bible is The on
Iy infallibIe guide. To say nothing Of Qua
kers, Unitarians, and other liberal sects, those
called Orthodox are greatly divided in opin.
ion respecting the trde theory Of insniraiion.