Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-12-13
NEiIlburY.

JOHN DRSWN OERMoN.-ReV. MIR. Scott, OF
the Methodist Church, gave discourse, last
Sabbath, with reference to the death of John
Brown. He took for his text the words in
John, 10Th chapter, It'll verse :-"IHe JeuS an
s,cered him, We hare a la,c and by our la,o he
ought to de-" and in Daniel, Sd chapter, 18th
verse :-"Be it knoUn unto thee, 0 king, that ove
'cW not serve thy gods, nor 0orship thy golden I'M
age ,olich thou hast set up"
The extreme wickedness of kingIy and
priestly tyranny were first referred to and
the fact that the massof the people are dis
posed to yield to Law was said to have
been seized upon by the few more knowing
and crafty ones to extend their power and in
fuence, so that whenever they have any fend-
ish scheme to execute, any dark and bloody
design, any course of wrong at which the peo-
pie would stand aghast, they manage to Sc
cure their end by some formal and solemn
enactment So when the Son of God stood
before PLATE, the blood-thirsty priests said =
eve hare a h,C, &c" The seven times heated
furnace, the lions den, Calvary, and the Vir-
ginia seatfold, all repeat the cry, "JVe hare a
lar, &c"
The charges made against John Brown, viz:
of treason, insurrection, and murder, were then
fully examined, and reasons were given to
show that he was not morally guilty of any
of those offences. No number of individuals
can ALLEVIATE the rights of man or oppose the
laws Of God by statutes contrary to Justice and
the commands of Jehovah. Such statutes
1Iu -
solemn duty of every patriot to trample them
under his feet. The slave laws are thus athe-
istcal, destructive of the natural rights of man.
and directly opposed to the life and teachings
of the Son of God: they are based upon pratt
cal premises and supported by piratical
means. 1t cannot be treason to rescue men
and women from the control of such laws.
A Virginia jury may write "tredSon" on the
scaffold's front, and the word may be repeated
by the thousands Of time-serving politicians
who bow down to the Moloch of slavery but
they find no response in the holy train Of those
who surround the throne of a compassionate
God
Reference was made to the causes of the
American Revolution, when resistance to
tyrants" was declared to be obedience to
God, p and the inquiry was made by what law
of ethics the martyr of December I'd could be
branded by the name of traitor.
The charge of instruction was not proved
but, on the contrary it was shown that John
Brown had no other object than to lberate as
many slaves as he could all of whom had "an
inalenabe right to freedom and were held in
bondage only by the chain of the highway
man. Says Jehovah, 'Behold all souls are
| mine; as the soul of the father so also the
soul of the son is mine" The claim of the
STAKEHOLDER therefore violates the claim of God.
This violation of Gods law and this outrage
on his poor, vexed the righteous soul of the
noble old man, and from Heaven he heard the
voice of God bidding him remember those in
bonds as bound with them" The desire to
free the slaves has the approval of the court of
| Heaven and finds response in every honest
mans heart. Said the Preacher 81 believe it
would be my duty to stop short in my sermon,
or even to cut short the half uttered sentence in
prayer to help hide the outcast, and would
make my plea to crucifed God expecting
his appreciation Would you admit a claim
that dragged your sons and daughters into
bondage? Would you brand the man who
sacrificed his life to deliver them an insurrec
tionists No. Instead Of it being a crime, it
is one of the highest evidences of his glorious
character No law, no constitution, no com.
pact made this side of Heaven can ever give
an individual the right to hold his fellow mau
| in bondage.
The last charge that Of murder, was exam
ined under the light of the notifies which
prompted the act lie had no selfish motive,
and forbade any one to shed blood except in
selfdefence. Patrick Henry said, "give me
liberty or give me DEATH" but John Brown,
in q spirit of selfdevoton uttered words in.
fintely above them give them liberty or give
me DEATH" But it is SAID he was the cause of
the death of several persons. SO were the
patriots of the revolution the cause Of the
death Of many. Were they therefore murder.
ersf Other reasons were given why John
Brown could not be deemed guilty of murder,
and In concluding this part Of his subject, MIR.
scott said, even with death staring him in the
face, he was true to the cause which he cherish
ed. Above all, mark his unutterable affection