Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1861-03-14
ST JOHNS EP1srLE TO THE rRoJANs.


ST. JOHNS BP1sTLE TO THE TRoJANs.
Saint John--pot the Evangelist but he whose |
sirname is Hopkins, and who is hailed as the |
Bishop of Vermont-wrote an epistle "to the |
Committee Of Arrangements a, the Union Ban
ouet in Troy, on the 22d of February" which |
epistle bears date the 10th of the same month, |
in which he aments 1.-THE spirit of sectional d-
vision" that troubles the land, and assigns the
reason for our "intestno" connections as fol-
lows:
"Thc exciting cause Of this pcrilous discussion i.
well known to be The por,i doctrine Of The spfuBt IF
s'troy MS it exists 10 the Sou hcru States. The
strong abolition feeling Of Old England has found an
echo i'm New EuelHud and ufdeitv has Joined hands
with an honest though misguided nuacism, to g-
morn the authority of the Bible and trnmuc uur no
bic Constitution In the dust The largest Christian
denominations have been divided by bitter contro-
versy, and the dogma Of abolitiouisn. in thou
sands Of pulpi,s, hnS been preached more zealousy
than the Gospel Of pence Our leading politicians
have caught the popular Infection and made the anti
slavery crusade the war cry Of party. In vain
the Hugunge of scripture IT, vain the example Of
the Savior and He apostles In vain the old and
tabli,hed interpretations Of the Church I'm vain the
notorious fact that at the time when the Constitution
was adopted, negro slavery was maintained with only
one exception, in all States Of the Union. In vain
were the securities dearly provided by the Consti
tuition itself. In vain the oaths Of allegiance which
should bind the conscience Of every citizen IN vain
the acts Of Congress and the repeated judgments Of
the Supreme Court, which is the highest legal author
ity. The spirit Of abolitioui-m discovered higher
law than the Bible or the Constitution. The SUI
preme law OF the hand was supreme longer. Wis
err than God purcr thrn Christ, more inspired than
ST. Paul and in ui respects superior TO the patriots of
the Revolution, those -1fapponied rel1rners coutu-
u'd their assaults upon the principles which for .cv-
cn'v y, ars had led the Republic 10 the loeSt degree
OF prosperity and honor. until NJ length they achieved
temporary triumph And we behold the sad result
this day. in the secession of seven among the south
ern States. and the impending miserics OF n civil ar,
whose awful ruiuous effects it is impossible to con-
template without the deepest emotion
previous attempt had been made by this
modern st, John to show that "thc novel doc
trine of the >infulness of slavery" was not taught
by the earlier saints and is nowhere supported
or countenanced by the Holy Scriptures. On
the other hand he attempts TO prove that slave
ry sanctioned and upheld by the Bible, by the
Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New,
by Judaism and Christianity and that slavery
is now pIactsel in the Southern States is strict
ly Biblical and Christian Institution.
Now, admitting that portions of the Old Tes-
lament, or that Judaism sanctions slavery. does
it follow that Christians of this age are iusrifn-
bic in making slaves chattels of their fellow
men? Because Abraham is said to have been
commanded TO offer up Isaac as sacrifice to
the Lord, does it follow that a Christian father
would do right to butcher and roast his son ON
the altar? Because people under the Jewish
dispensat;on were put to death for gathering
sticks to make fine ON the Sabbath, should we
be doing right to hang or to stone to death,
those who should work on Sunday? Because
the Hebrews were required to circumcsc their
sons, must we perform that bloody right on our
boys? And because Solomon was moi rebuked
by the writer's of the Old Testament for having
three hundred wives and seven hundred concu-
bines, is it right and proper for Brigham Young
to keep score or two of women when he call,
wives? Is the Bishop prepared to 90 the whol,
length of his argument? viii he be consis
tent and introduce and maintain as right ant
suitable for Christians all the customs rites and
institutions of the Hebrew nation ? If not, hi,
argument for slavery, drawn from the Jewish
Scriptures, is Of no force, is not worth the pa
per it is written on. 1t destroys itself
And has the Bishop forgotten that Moses
the great lawgiver OF the lsraclites, was rai,ct
up and especially empowered to emancipate hi
brethren from Egyptian bondage? Does h,
not know that this was the great mission o
Moses? and how cfloctually he fulfilled it, An,
because some politician or priest, at subse
quent age, introduced slavery into tie Hebrew
Commonwealth, and which was condemned b,
the best men of ne nation must we, who pro
fess to. be Christians and boast of our ci,iza
ton, after lapse of thirty centuries, maintain
that slavery is Divine institution, and mus
our Bishops uphold it? approve of the forcb
separation Of husbands and wives, parents an,
children, and the sale Of mothers and babes q
auction like so many cattle? Does not tn
Right Reverend Bishop of Vermont remembc
that the religious teachers of the Hebrews
their prophcts-mot their priests nor their mol
iticians y but their prophets described an ac
ceptable Fast to the Lord to be one wherein
the bonds of vickcLuess were broken, heav
burdens undonc, the oppressed permitted to y,
free, and every yoke of honda e broken? Blu
the Bishop cndeavors 20 show that slavery /
sanctioned BY the New Testament. and uphel
l,,,(