Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1857-04-11
preaching Politics.

we p,opose for the edi6catloa OF such a. ihs! N.Y.
bs sufficiently familiar with the customs OF past
time. to refresh the memories of our DemoeISuc
brethren with laudable ptecedsnts in that hne'
showing what was universally considered SOUND
and proper, in the early days Of iherepubhc' ere
the despotism Of the slave power had eradicateo
every Democratic instinct from the leaders oil tha
party Then, the clergy were called upon, with
one voice, 10 :! thunder against oppression
now, if anything is said by them against " op
preston or modern evils, compared with when
the evils complained OF by our f'thers were as
naught, it is called 9 preaching politics. ianas
ieism." &c, and Know Nothing Governsr Is
commended BY democratic presses for issuing
his ban againstit
How was it with our fathers Of three-qusrters Of
century sgo7 In the warfare with " oPpres-
sion in their time, the clergy were called upon
everywhere, as the principal opponents OF the doc
trines embodied by jefferson in his memorable
declaration, to be " instant in season and out OF
season, in defending, on all public occasions
the glorious sentiment, that AL MEN mo ex-
ception Oh account Of seolUrlare created sauAL,
and endowed with the inalienable right to lie,
LIBERTY, and. the pursuit of happiness OIL
which right the Southern STAKEHOLDER has no more
business to deprive them than the British mon
arch. 5
When the Provincial Congress met at Cam
bridge, in October, IVA, they addressed the FOL
lowing circular to the clergy, to stimulate them
to the full execution of their duties, then no more
incumbent on them to perform, when hidden SO
to do BY the fathers of the republic, than now,
when OUT liberties are menaced by much more
formidable adversary than at that time =
I" Req. Sir We cannot but acknowledge the
goodness Of Heaven in constantly supplying us
with preachers of The Gospel, whose concern mas
been the temporal aud spiritual happiness Of the
people. In day ike this, when all the irlenus
Of civil and religious LIBERTY are exertlng
themselves to deliver this country from us pres
ent calamities, weicsnROt but place great nope III
an order of men, who have ever distinguished
themselves in their country cause and do, there
fore, recommend to the munster of the Gospel, IN
the several towns and other places in this colo
nv that they assist as IN GDeTtgng that dreadtat
SLAVERY with which we are now threatened.
Thus said the Provincial Congress in l774, to
the clergy Of that time, and they noblyresponded
to the appeal, by doing what the hunkers Of this
day would term hpreaching politics" on the
Lords day as well as on other holy days,
which Gov. Gardner fOrbids being now so pro-
famed. isass fr.s ~ RI s-rg Is
And in good old democratic Virginia,
which was truly Democratic in those days, equal
zeal was manifested in the good cause, Mr.. JEFF.
ferson leading off, When the General Assembly
of Virginia had their attention called to the po-
sition Of Massachusetts,, and Boston in particular,
in relation to the Port B i'll, the members decided
upon a'day Of fasting aud prayer, and made an
appealto the clergy, in behalf Of the rights of the
people against British oppression. Says Mr.. JEFF
ferson, one Of the members Of that Assembly, in
recording the matter -
We returned nome, and in our several coun-
ties snUited the clergy to meet assemblies of the
people onlthe first OF June, 1.-THE day appointed
fol fast,) to perform the ceremonies of the day,
and to address them discourses suited to the occG-
SION The people met generally, with anxiety
and alarm in their countenances, and the effect
of theday through the whole colony was like a
shock Of electricity, aFousng every man, and plac
ing him erect and solidly on his centre"
Thus said Thomas Jefferson. In June, l775,
John Adams, in commencing this system Of point
cal preaching, wrote to Iais wife, from Phila-
adelphia - taa nsb...l d 10
"MsaDedr IL have been this morning to hear
Mr.. Dufheld, preacher Of this city. His dis
course was kind Of exposition upon the S5th
chapter of Isaiah. He applied the lotole proph-
ecu TO this coitntr and gave us as inviting an en-
tertamment as | ever heard. He filled and SWELL
ed the bssom Of every hearer. hope you have
received letter in which enclosed you pas
toral letter from the Synod of New York and Phil
adelphia; by this you will see that the clergy this
soay are noio begianisg to engage IN politics. and
they engage With teTvor that toH produce ICON
Of
1t was John Adams, styled, with Jefferson, the
great pillar in the revolutionary cause, who ex-
claimed g Let the pulpits thunder against Oppyes-
sion, and they did thunder, with wonderful ef-
feet, too. Said that ultra conservative divine,
Rev. DR.. Spring of New York, in work pub
lshed about ten years since, Z. That great event
in the history Of the world, the American Revo-
luton, neUv soopld hare been achieved, toithosa
the influence of the g,sslpit." What compliment
is this to the prOprety and efficiency Of "pOliti-
cal preaching" And why should not the clergy
in the middle Of the nineteenth century /" thun-
der with equal zeal and power, against the mon
strbus political and moral evils Of our time, com
mtted as all these evils are BY professedly "Chris-
tian" Fuiersf The tyranny practised upon us,now-
adays,by the oppressive slave power Of the South,
is infinitely more outrageous and alarming than
any suffered by our ancestors from British mis-
rule.
And Daniel, Webster, standing on Plymouth
Rock in 1920, confirmed this view OF the duty of
the Christian clergy to preach against the great
browning evil Of the time, growing out of slavery,
BY invoking he ministers Of religion, that they
proclaitnlits dennneistion of those crimesp--the
slave trade, &C. Said Mr.. Webster, " 1.-THE pull
pit be s,le,t a0heneUsr and iOhereVer there may be
a sinner bloody ,oith this guilt, THAT PULPIT Is
FALSE TO ITS TRUST"
We trust the preaching on the ensuing Fast
Day, will be such as will satisfy Gov. Gardner
that the clergJ Of Massachusetts, are not, at this
day, behind their revolutionary predecessors, in
fidelity to the cause Of freedom, true Christiani.
~, and the rights Of man. In view Of the insult
heaPed upon the clergy Of Massachusetts, by her
degenerate Governor, in issuing proclamation
unfit TO be read BY any free and independent oc.
cupant Of her pulpits, we give the following ex-
tract from the model proclamation Of Gov. VIII
liams Of Maine. which is one, the reading of
which cannot but edify any congregation in New
England, and tend to stimulate both readers and
hearers to more thorough performance Of their
moral, religious, and civil duties
Let us not fail to plead for q wider spread Of
that sentiment Of brotherhood which would make
neighbors OF al mankind, and for the removal OF
every form Of Intolerance, whether religious, So
cial, or political Let US invoke for every human
being the hestimable blessings Of liberty, inteili
gence, and domestic happiness. Let Us pray that
health and plenty may be the common lot, and
that peace, contentmrnt, and pure religion, may
rrevaii fhe,nob ont orr hotder , q = Y" =