Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1857-05-01
THE rABooEp on ssrroxl

Albert Barnes, In his book on the
Church and Slavery, has some tenn
pcrate and well-considercd remarks
upon this subject:
"The spirit Of the age and the spirit
OF the Gospel, as l understand IL, do
mand, not that tho subject Of slavery
should have any undue prominence
in these discussions; not that it should
be forced into the publications OF the
Tract Society and tho Sunday School
Union; not that IL should occupy the
sole place in the pulpit; but that IL
should be treated Just as all other acknow-
ledgcd euils and rrongs are; as contrary
70 the Gospel of Christ, as preventing
the salvation of'men, as violation
Of the spirit Of the Gospel, and as an
evil not TO be perpetuated, but to be
removed. For one, am weary--and
| am sure that in this | speak the
sentiments of many thousands of 9TH
crs--of the perpetuatdefercncc shown
10 the holders Of slaves In the pulpit
and in the religious literature of the
land. | am weary Of tho care taken,
moro than In other cases Of wrong,
10 conciliate their favor and 10 avoid
giving thom oflensc. | am weary Of
tho anxiety evinced that every APP
proach 10 this subject, In so large
part of tho literature Of tho land,
should bo cut of, and that NJ so many
points we meet this rs n matter that
II by common consent to be regarded
as inapproachable. Why should this
be sol How has II happened that In
a christian land mighty organizations
have grown up, with vast power and
wealth, from which all reference 10
slavery Is excluded on principle, and
that II Is impossible through any ma
tional organization, though having
their scat fh tho North, and sustained
chiney by Northern funds,It TO utter
one word-yes, one ,rord--in behalf OF
tho slave2 one word, even 10 Chris
tian master, that shall direct his at.
tention 10 his duty TO n fellow-man
that he holds in hopeless bondage?
one word 10 induce him 10 treat him
In all respects as brother for whom
Christ dled2 Ii IL clear 10 my mind
that q great change should be effected
on this subject In the Christian liter
ature Of the land, and that In religious
newspapers, In the publications Of the
Tract Society and of the Sunday
School Union, aud In all other publ.
cations, tho subject of slavery should
be approached precisely as any other
admitted evil or wrong Is approached.
"The same Is true In regard to
preaching. / would not have the
pulpit depart from its legitimate OBJ
ject. | would not havo II placed on
tho samo level with the lycoum. |
would not have II place of vitupcr-
ativo language, or Of defamation on
political subjects. would not have
II n place whore party politics should
bo discussed, or whore the opinions OF
one political party should bo defend
ed, or whore any political measure
should be advocated. i would not
have IL n place whore the interests OF
one section Of the land should bo ar
rayed against another; nor would !
| have IL abused 40 as TO cmbittcr one
part of tho country against another.
| would not have ita place whore dis
union should bo advocated; nor would
l have IL n place whore union should
| be advocated at tho expense Of Justice,
mercy, humanity, liberty. Tho pulpit
is place whore everything should
be discussed In It's proper proportions,
that bears ON tho progress of religion
and tho salvation OF mon. Every
thing that tcnds to promote religion
should bo defended and enforced ov-
erything that hlndors II should bo re.
bnl<ed and condemned. There Is no
subject whatever which bears ON the
subject of human salvation that can
properly escape tho notice of tho pul.
pit There Is nothing that can claim
to be exempted from that, however
shielded and protected by laws and
by the established customs ofa nation
on however incorporated into civil
constitutions, that tonds TO destroy
tho soul, or In any way 10 hinder the
progress Of tho Gospel Of Christ
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