Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-07-17
THE GUILT OF SILENCE IN REGARD tt
SLAVERY.

THE GUILT OF SILENCE IN REGARD TC
, SLAVERY.
An eztrnct from sermon by Rev. George b
Cheevcr of New York before the American Mis-
sonary Association, Boston, May 9th, 1853
> The only obligation upon you to speak out at all
against slavery is, that Slavery is sin. Your only
right to reprove those that maintain it, is Gods
t command upon you to rebuke sin. If slavery be
not sim there is no alternative but of its Christian
lawfulness, and you have not an inch OF ground tC
stand upon for opposing it. But when, by God Z
t word you show it to be sin. and apply Gods own
, reprobation and let loose Gods appointed wrath
against it, its defenders cannot endure that light
ening that consuming fire that blasted by the
yolles of that thunder
And yet we are advised to ovacuate this citadel
and to cast ourselves upon instructions concerning
the moral duties that grow out of the existence oi
slavery the moral duties that grow out of the ex'
istence of great sin, while the sin itself remains
unindicted. 1t is treason aganstGod and inhuman-
ity to man, to ignore deny the ein, and talk
about its regulation. Suppose we treated other
rank iniquites in the same way. What are the
moral duties growing out of the existence OF idol
airy? Why, according to this formula, you must
on no account denounce it as sin, or else you
cannot get near it with the gospel You must
therefore just keep an aifectonate guardianship
over it, to preserve it from abuses You must see
III tIle servants OI tne Neii
| paid and kindly treated that the priests do not
oppross them, that in their rites of worship they
permit no abominations, no proianeness or impu-
rity nor drunkenness, but that everything in the
whole business be done decontly and in ORDER
You must take that the idol images be made
out of solid mahogany that will not rot, and you
must supply the attendants with the bound vol,
umes of tho Evangelical Tract Society Library.
You must see to it that there be no dancing, nor
tobacco-chewing, nor splitting in the temples
You must take care that the sacred bulls are not
tormented, nor starved, but well fed and proper
! ly exercised. You must Swallow the camel, but
strain at every guat." This done, you will have a
very nice neat orderly idolatry, the niquity of
which being concealed the thing itself need be no
nuisance at ALL
| What are the moral duties growing out of the
existence of swillmilk distillerics According TO
the policy of the Tract Society, by the morality it
| is teaching through the concealment OF sin,
through adulteratiOn of truth, through the with
holding OF Gods word, out of the fear of man,
what are we to do with any such poisonous nuis
ance y? We can only attack some of the circum'
stances, the adjuncts but not tho evil ITSELF in its
essence. But what are the moral duties growing
out OF the existence of swill-milk distilleries?-
Oh, simply that the cans be washed clean with
soap'suds every day, and the carts that carry them
be painted with "Pure milk from Goshen" or
Canaan some other equally godly locality, and be
driven by the most pious deacons OF the commu-
SC. setting the authorities to abolish it--if you
are prudent you will avoid that for if you do that
you will DO called radical abolitonists and you
have right abolish swill-milk, but only to see
that it IS carried to your customers in godly carts
and clean tin cans You have only to abate the
abuses of it, but not to denounce it as nuisance.
If you put the carts and the cows, and the milk
men under supervision of an executive commit
tee of the godliest, staid, conservative ministers
and elders in the community, you will have done
your whole duty in the premises which is not by
any means to provide pure milk put away the
bad but tC maintain peace and union.
Morality and religion, according to such teach
ings, dependent the latitude and ioDg-
tude. South of such line you must not speak OF
SUCH and such sins; you must not speak OF any
thing sin if it be the custom Of the country or
a domestic institution, or established by Jaw, or
its defenders you that if you preach against
the sin you shall not preach the Gospel. a mem
Der of my church was travelling this winter for
his health in Florida, One day he had business
with merchant who begged pardon for making
him wait, because said he, have been occupied
with selling that wench there (pointing to little
girl some ten years old) and have just had to fin.
ish up the bargain and take the money, "And
how much did you getS" "Four hundred and
fifty dollars" And do you think this traffic is
rightp "Oh, tits the custom of the cOuntry."-
And the Tract Society answers, "Oh, tits the cus'
tom of the country, and you may not publish
oh. tits the custom of the country, and you may
not speak of it as SIM"
The same gentleman visited the slave pen in
Char lesion, and there. amidst the crowd of Chris
tlan gentleman, saw negro woman put upon the
block for sale. All her qualities were catalogued
and vouched for, and at length the leerng devil OF
q broker looked round the assembly with smile
of satisfaction, and closed the enumeration by say
! ing Gentlemen, should you find her iii for moth.
! ing else, you may be sure she will serve as a good
breeder on any plantation" This is the Chris
tianity and refinement of slavery in Charleston!
Christian gentlemen in Charleston accustomed
to such transactions and such language, and
Christian gentlemen in the Tract Society must by
no means say that it is sin. This is that insltu-
ton, to shield which from reprObatOn and COM
mend it to public favor, Southside literature can
be manufactured and sustained even by the church
and the ministry at the North Were 1t not for
the sake of the poor slave, we would not wound
the delicacy of sentiment and feeling that makes
a Christian assembly shrink with adherence from
the mention of such an internal abomnatlon,
which yet is only glimpse OF its horrors, what
will you say Of the abomnaton of standing forth
in defence of il, the iniquity of denying that 1t IS
a sin, or tho expediency OF refusing to stamp 1t
with the condemnation OF the Almighty? No
wonder that men are infdels if their vision is fill
ed and fascinated with the examples of such piety,
If they neglect tho gospel itseli, and take their
ideas of it from such expositors.
And yet, these apologizing ministers object to
being called pro-slavery. They think it great
insult, great injury real persecution,
that they cannot be permitted to defend sla-
very, to protect it from condemnation as sin,
and throw the whole weight of their example and
their silence in favor of it, and yet cannot at the
same time be regarded and acknowledged as anti
slavery They think they are quite martyrs for
righteousness sake, the victims of a terrible pro-
scription. But, gentlemen, let me look at the ac-
tual position you occupy and the manner in
which you throw your influence for the support OF
ono of the most infamous and dreadful abomna-
.ions which the Gospel has had to encounter.
You object to being called pro slavery but II
you keep silence. when this mighty and solemn
conflict against oppression is waging in the land,