Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1860-02-04
TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE FREE
PRESBYTERIAN. METHODIST EPIs-
COPELAND DISCIPLE CHURCHES,
OF SALINVILLE, COLUMBIANA
COUNTY. OHIO.
SALINEyILLE, Jan. l2. 1861

SALINEvILLE, Jan. Is. 1861.
GENTLEMEN-You have been severally applied
TO for tho use Of your houses. for the purpose Of
holding a meeting to hear lectures on John Brown
and Slavery. delivered Ly B. S. Jones and Mrs.
Grifhog, which request you thought proper. to re
fuse, some of you absolutely and others conditicn.
ally.
Now, gentlemen, we do not question your right,
as derived from the statutes Of Ohio, to make such
a decision. We do not expect mere worldliugs and
politicians to acknowledge any higher obligation;
We have a right, however, to a clear insight IT,
TO the principles that actuate the decisions of men
who have the charge of those edifces that are ded-
icated to the PRONUNCIATION of the sublime truths
that effect the glory of G,d, and tho we'll being Of
nan. We expect you, therefore. as protested fol
10 wers Of the teachings of Jesus Christ, and as
such, necessarily honest searchers after the truth,
to enter with US in a Christian spiri. upon a brief
investigation of the moral tenure by which you
hold that charge. and the principles that should
govern you in your decisions respecting them.
If as you maintain, those are the houses of God,
that he has committed to your charge as bis stew
ards; then it becomes you in the faithful discharge
Va 'b"s " II q iaClIIty tIht
they afford to the PRONUNCIATION of those truths
that are calculated to lift man from tho depths of
ignorance, superstition. and crime, into which he
has plum Sed himself; to an understanding of the
relations that ne sustains to himself, his God, and
the material universe those trusts that enable Us
to appreciate the excellencies and sublimsness of
the divine character, for they nre they that consti.
tute his glory. As the light OF truth is the only
efulgence by which tho perfections of the divine
attributes can DO revealed to man, and as the
teachings of a pure anti-slavery gospel, that main
tains the fatherhood of man, in the face Of all the
conventionali,ies and expediencies of corrupt gov.
%ernments and churches, constitute an important
portion of that tfulgence, it follows that you, BY
shutting the door upon our friends, have incurred
the responsibility Of throwing a veil over the glo-
~ Of God, by extinguishing the light of truth that
was wont to shine in his holy temple. Did we be-
lieve that no higher obligations than the promo
ton of the Interest Of the churches to which you
severally belong, attached themselves to your
stewardship. We would have set up no claim to DO
admitted; for church making is no part of our
mission. We believe that God, as in the case Of
the apostle Paul, has removed from our eyes the
ecaie5 ol Ioliticai ana ecciesiastlcat prejudice, and
sent us forth to proclaim the gospel of universal
liberty to this slavery cursed nation and It's time
serving churches; and this mission we will per-
form whether you receive US or not but to such
OF you as refuse 10 receive US, he has directed us
to shake of the dust from our feet as q testimony
against you, declaring through his attributes of
justice, and mercy, that except 70 repent there
shall not be left Of your present ecclesiastical struc-
lures one stone upon another that shall not be
thrown down. ,-
Viewing the subjec. in this light, we not only
ask, but demand the use Of those houses. Though
We freely coneede to you the preference when you
wish 20 occupy them, we deny your right 10 pro.
scribe their use to other messengers of Gods truth.
We admit there is some room for an honest differ.
ence of opinion with regard to the teachings tina,
are calculated to promote the best interest Of man:
yet we maintain that those Organizations that find
it necessary to resort to the nstrumentaiity Of the
Devil to sustain their distinct characteristics. be.
tray a degree Of corruption that calls loudly for the
rebose that Gods faithful messengers Of truth.
are always wont to administer. By s1amining for
a moment the pages Of history 700 will discover