Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1857-10-17

desire to dissolve the Union involves no moral trea
son, and incurs no reproach in q SHAREHOLDER. In u
letter TO BroUks's constituents, Mason declared, Il
know OF none whose public career | hold more
worthy of the free and cordial appreciation of his
constituents than his. lie has shown himself
alike able and prompt TO sustain the rights and
sentiments OF his constituents IN debate and by
vote, or to riRdicdte ia a different mode. and under
circumstances of painful DUTY, the honor of his
friends In reference to the then pending cleo
ton, he intimated that in case Fremont should be
chosen President, but one course remained for the
SO~uth-1MMEDIATE, ABSOLUTE, ETERNAL sEPARA
rioN.'
Such was the man whom Boston gentlemen
deemed proper to honor Such was the man who
on BUNKER HILL was received with applause i
applause which glorifed the Fugitive Act, justif.
CO the outrage on Sumner, rebuked the Lcgisla-
ture of Massachusetts for its regard for human
rights, and breathed the aspiration, Union and
Slavery, now and forever Boston has indeed nc
monopoly of FLUNKEYIsa, but she has contrived to
give it a depth and an intensity rarely surpassed
by the most ingenious s~eryility. And think you,
gentlemen, that men who thus PROSTATE them
selves before the Slave Power will, from the love
OF liberty, aid you in rescuiug the North from It's
degrading domination2
If we turn to the American Church, a mournful
scene meets our view. The fire gold has become
dim-the salt has lost its SAVIOR. The Church
whose Office it is to distribute the bread of life is
scattering among the people the apples of SodOm.
The great struggle Of the Southern portion of the
Church is at present to array the sum Of all vii
lanies' in the garments of Christianity, and to
teach for doctrines the denominations of the slave
code. Thank God, ONE of these proslavery
| churches have severed their connection with then
Northern sisters. The absence of Reverend and
Right Reverend slave.breeders and traders from
our church councils will tend to save those coun-
ellis in future from much temptation and from
much guilt.
III L nI--I : - ~
pursuing, in regard to slavery, a time.serving,
man-pleasing policy, probably still more offensive
to God than that of our pro.slavery politician.
The larger portion OF our clergy, like the Priest
and Leyito rebuked by our Lord, pass by on the
other side, evincing neither sympathy for their
wounded brother, nor Indignation against his as
sailants; while others pass over to the thieves,
bless them in the name of the Lord, and aid in
robbiug their helpless victim. or all our North.
ern churches, the Methodist has afforded the most
striking and painful illustration of the corrupting
influence Of political and ecclesiastical union with
Shareholders. The hypocrisy of this church, is
melancholy and astounding. Founded as an anti
slavery church, and recording in its standards the
most express condemnation Of slavery as sinful, it
becomes the INSCRIPTIONS tool of the slavehold-
ere. In 1886, the General Conference, alarmed 10y
the awakening conscience of the North, and anx
ious to screen the church from the odium which
was then attached to the utterance Of anti-slavery
sentiments, voted that it was decidedly opposed to
modern abolition How far the modern abolition
which they opposed differed from the ancient ado.
lition of the fathers and standards of the church,
it did not suit their purpose to explain. Said
John Wesley-1 strike at the root of this compli.
Gated villany. absolutely deny all siaveholding
to be consistent with any degree of natural JUS
tice. Men-buyers are exactly on a level with men
stealers.' Said DIR. Coke-'The buying of men is
complicated crime Said Bishop Asbury-'O
Lord. Danish the internal spirit of slavery from
thy dear Zion I! Said DR.. Adam Clark-'In hea-
then countries, slavery was in some sort excusable,
but among Christians, it is an enormity and a
crime for which p%erdition has scarcely an adequate
state of punishment In 1880, the church voted
that it acknowledged that slavery is contrary to
to the laws of God, man and nature, contrary to
the dictates of conscience and true religion In
1875, the Conference declared, We do hold in the
deepest adherence the practice Of slavery > and
in 1886, when this condemnation of modern aboli
tionism was Eliminated, their book of discipline
most untruly affirmed, we declare that we are
as much as erer convinced of the great evil OF
slavery The word modern was q fraudulent
but transparent veil, intended to hide, if possible,
the hypocrisy of those who used it. The resolu-
ton was demanded to satisfy the vast number OF
Methodist Shareholders and traders, and avowed
+ pro.slavery Methodist ministers. The Georgia
Conference boldly threw aside the mask, and with
unblushing front voted that Slavery as it exists in
the United States is not a moral evil
The New York Conference of 1886 virtually de.
Slaueu iIOiu tue ministry III idlueTs VI Nv Nlelu'
odist Church, by resolving, None ought to be cleo
ted to the Office of a deacon or elder in our church,
unless he gives a pledge to the Conference that he
will refrain from agitating the church with discus
sions on this subject (abolition), Imagine John
Wesley asked for q pledge, as a condition of ordi
nation, that he would never preach against a Ger
tain popular sin Sooner would he have gone Il
the stake, than thus betray his Lord and Master
Did any church ever before bestow ordination OF
f terms so iniquitOus, so utterly at variance with TIT
duty of the Christian ministry, so audaciously de
faint of the Gospel Of Jesus Christ?
"A man with black skin said John Wesley, 'be
! ing wronged or outraged by a white man, can hav
no redress it being a law in all our colonies, tina
the oath of a black against a white goes for moth
ing. What villany is this! Little did the father
of Methodism think, when writing this sentence
that this same villany would be freely and gratuit
ously perpetrated by a body of Methodist minis
tiers protesting great respect for him, and pretend
ing to hold his sentiments on the subject Of sa
very The General Conference of 1910 resolved
That it lie inexpedient and unjustiiable for any
preacher to permit colored persons to give test
! mony against white persons, in any State wher,
they are denied that privilege by law. In nj
l State did the law recognize these church court
5 held by Methodist preachers, nor attempt to de
fine what persons might be admitted as witness
: es nor did the jurisdiction of these courts exten,
e beyond controversies about Methodist doctrine an,
t discipline. Every minister had full. legal authori
o ty to admit what witnesses he pleased. Yet t
a give the villany of the slave code the sanction o
f ecclesiastical example, these Methodist ministers
t deliberately, and of their own free will, determin
that in the Slave States, no man, bond or free
i clergyman or laymen, to whom God Almighty ha,
s given a dark complexion, should be permitted t
d testify in their church courts, where q achite maj
y was a party. The testimony of their own con
r verts, of their own communicates, was to be Sc
e aside as unworthy of credit, on account of tn
r tincture of their skin BY this rule, moreover, til
e Southern preachers gave themselves the privileg,
a of committing, with impunity from all church cen
> sure, any immortality provided there were none Blu
'colored people to witness their misdeeds. Sure
O lv, it is a cause of thankfulness, that tho3e VIII
! seduced and bullied our Northern Methodists in
to all this wickedness have since Withdrawn iron
4 the Conference, and formed n Church by them
!. selves, in which, without rebuke, they can enjo
I the luxury Of despotic authority over the poor an
helpless. / have referred to this melancholy an,
n humiliating history to show the demoralizing in
fuence, even over Christian ministers, of eccles
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