The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-05-17
THE PULPIT IN WASHINGTON CITY.

I
/ is not known.
THE PULPIT IN WASHINGTON CITY.
A Washington correspondent of the Boston
Transcript has a letter in that paper, contain
| ing some illusions to the Pulpit in this city,
particularly in its relation to Slavery.
AS for the pulpit-the pulpit doubtless feels
the pressure from without For though our
people are not many of them shareholders, vet
the dominant power over the Government is
Southern; and the Importance of standing well
with those who control the purse-strings of the
Treasury is felt in our community. Then it is
said, HWhat good can come of our citizens
enlising In this war of Freedom? We have no
franchise, and what use is it for US to quarrel
with our bread and butter? 1t is all very well .
for those who live in the mountains of Vermont,
or along the creeks and inlets of Maine, to cry
out against Slavery; but we see nothing of its
horrDrs here, and those who want to play the
part of the hon among us will do we'll to enact
it after the fashion of Mr.. Nicholas Bottom
Let them "aggravate" their sweet voices so as
" to roar as gently as any sucking dove"
In all this doctrine of reserve" the pulpit
sympathizes, with one exception-and this ex-
ception is the pulpit of the Unitarian Church,
as noW filled by the Rev. Mr.. Conway This
gentleman is native of the State of Virginia.
He commenced his life as Methodist minister
and as such has preached in all our Methodist
pulpits here, and was reputed as a very promis-
ing "circuH rider" He however took a wider
!" circuit" than is usual for Methodist centiates,
and rode himself out of all the bounds of the
Methodist Episcopal Church South" and
"North;" for he entered himself as student
of divinity at Cambridge, and was one of the
graduating class of 1854. From Cambridge
he came to Washington, and the pulpit of the
Unitarian Church being vacant, he was invited
to preach, and has been settled, with the unan-
imous voice of the Society in his favor.
This Society was formed by the labors of the
Rev. Mr. Little, from England, man of emf
nent ability 1t has had for it's pastors since
his death the most distinguished ministers of
the Unitarian denomination the last, not least
of whom was the Rev. DR.. Dewey. Mr.. Conway
has been growing into the esteem of his hearers.
Every sermon adds to the weight of the impress
sion that they have preacher whose ministry
meets the wants of progressive Christianity.
His former friends see him in this new relation
with surprise and regret. But we have now in
our mind to speak of sermon of Mr.. Conway's,
" recently preached, and which was listened to
with the most profound attention, and has been
} highly commended by the audience to whom it
was delivered. VA
Il
consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers;
the moon and stars which thou hast ordained
What is Man. that thou art mindful of him? or
the Son of Man, that thou visitest him? for thou
hast made him little lower than the angels,
and hast crowned him with glory and honor"
1t was in the delivery of this discourse, which
throughout was one to rivet and sustain the at
tention of the audience that Mr.. Conway intro
duced the following remarks. He said:
II will venture to affirm, that of all things it is
most difficult properly to estimate and reverence
. the men who are beneath US. AS it is easy for
the weak to cling to the strong, it is hard for the
: strong to value and respect the weak. We do
! DOT believe in their manhood, and therefore do
not revere them. The one thing that is gradu-
, ally engraving itself on the world most surely,
, because SO slowly, is the sacredness Of Man,
whether found in the penitentiary or slave-mar-
, ket or on thrones. The first age has little of
this reverence. They would eat each other.
|, This is abolished; but the next generation will
kill and rob each other; the next will not do
that, but will fight and enslave each other.
We await the age that will cease this, and
rrealize the full sadness of the fact that this
poor Humanity, so despised, maltreated, slain,
enslaved, is Gods own heart. Look you! and
|. see Christ bleeding and torn for he says,
! 'Inasmuch as We have not done it unto one of
E Of the least of these my brothers, ye have not
1 done unto mel The least of mankind his
: brothers
e "Can it be that each man we see, of whatever
degree or complexion, has in him that which
eertifes his brotherhood to the Son OF God
sThe least of these my brothers, And yet the
I Christian heart is continually outraged by hav-
ing the inferiority Of men plead as reason for
, denying them the elevating influence OF edpca-
ton, and all the blessings of life, liberty, and the
{ pursuit of happiness. Whole races to-day lie
under the foot of civil, religious, social oppres-
! sion, because of the contempt Of man. But if
! we have forgotten them, God has not. Their
cry will pierce, where many sanity prayer
6 cannot enter. He who touches them, touches
Gods heart he who forgets them and their
cause, hath forgotten the Father. Can a
woman forget her sucking child, that she should
not have compassion on the son OF her womb
Yea, she may forget, yet will not forget thee
"And we plead inferiority, caste, from our aris-
tocracies and tyrannies The very helplessness
: which should excite our love aud care is made
the pretext of neglect. The child is SO helpless
that we will leave it in the waves. The men
are so Inferior that they are fit for nothing but
to work, eat, drink, and be merry like hogs
O, my friends, fear few of us can talk with
! much grace about inferior castles and races, Tor
{ il there is anything mean, unmanly, 1t IS the
I spirit which reveres not man. And as GOD hives,
no man reveres God who reveres not man; Tor
3 says the Book. If ye love not your brother,
whom We have seen, how can ye love GOD,
; whom We have not seen?' There he stands
declared the image of God, and who loyeth
him not, says St. John, 'knoweth not God T"
To make an end of this long letter, Mr.. Con-
way stands no chance of coming into compet-
ton with "Brother Slicer," of the Methodist
Episcopal Church South, for the chaplaincy of
; the Senate of the United States; nor do we
think him in any danger Of being seduced from
an avowal of his sentiments by any office within
the gift of the President-places of preferment
which lead to "bad eminence," and usually
are accepted at the cost Of selfrespect, and the
sacrifice of reputation won by life OF labor
and study.
MARRIAGE OF LUCY STONE UNDER PRO-
TEST.
= I. W. Higginson sends to the Worcester Spy
| L. co1I