The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1861-01-06
The Fast Day Union Sernl0ns-The Clergy
~, Stntesmen and TheOlOgiaMs.

In yesterday issue we published some TWEEN
ty sermons preached on Friday, the day set
apart by the President for national fast
Some OF them were good, some bad, and some
Indifferent; but we confess that on the whole
we fear that, like the speeches in Congress, they
have done more harm than good. The clergy
owe the country much at the present juncturc,
for they have done much to bring about our
troubles, but We fear they will do but little to
cure them.
The clergy are useful to the community when
they keep strictly within the limits of their pro-
iession; but when they dabble in politics, attempt
to solve social problems, or affect craftsmanship,
then they are out of their element and exhibit
themselves more incompetent to direct the
pubic mind than even the politicians They
deal IN distractions, and have no just concep-
tons OF the practical in human government.
There Is one remarkable fact connected with
these sermons which must have struck the minds
of all who read them, and that is the different
the very opposite light in which slavery is
regarded 10y the different preachers. Some Of
thcm.Slikc Beecher and White, denounce negro
slavery as the most heinous of all sins" the
gigantic and terrible and heaven defying sys-
tenn of oppression and barbarsm and crime
which is cursing the land;" and they burn
with holy ardor to cut it out Of the heart of the
South with the sword, though the nation should
bleed to death from the operation Others,
prove from the Bible--irom the Old Testament
as well as the Ncw-that slavery has been re-
cognized by God in all ages as righteous in
stitution; that the patriarchs practised it with
His sanction; that Moses in his divine legation
laid down precise rules to regulate it; that it
is protected by the last Of the Ten Command
ments-s' thou shalt not coyet Thy neighbor's
male slave nor his female slavc;' that it is no.
torious slavery existed on every side of
Christ and his Apostles, and yet they
did not denounce it. whereas they did
denounce idolatry and every known sin /;
that on the contrary, they exhorted slaves
TO honor and obey their masters; and, finally,
that the Fug9tive Slave law carrying out the
provision Of the constitution for restoring
bondmen is borrowed from st. Paul. "And
there is, moreover says DR.. Vinton, "a fugitive
slave law of the New Testament, in the Epistle
Of st. Paul to Philemon" and what is still bet
ter, the great Apostle Of Christianity practised
that law himself, sending back the fugitive,
Onesimus, to his master. Well, therefore, may
Dr. Raphall ask "the reverend gentleman
of Brooklyn and his compeers:' -"IIow dare
you, in the face of the sanction and protection
afforded to slave Toperty in the Ten Com
mandments-how dare you denounce slave
holding as sin? When you remember that
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job-the men with
whom the Almighty communcd, with whose
names He emphatically connects His own most
holy name, and to whom He vouchsafed to give
the character Of perfect, upright, fearing God
and eschewing evil'-(Job l., S)-that all
these men were shareholders, does il not
strike you that you are guilty of
something very little short Of blaspheMy?"
When theological doctors thus differ, how are
their disciples TO agree? Is il not true that the
clergy make infdels by their contradictory
teachings? Can anything more clearly demon
strate the absurdity Of presenting slavery as a
politico-religious question, and rendering IL
party test on moral and religious grounds:
What says Rev. Theodore F. White. Of the
Church of the Puritanss-
Even A. Barnes charges vast measure Of the respon-
sibiy for the continuance of slavery the Christian
church, and If any other argument be needed than the
daily observation Of every man on this point let II be
afforded in the avoweo position u the Old School resby
terrain, the Reformed Dutch and the Protestant Episco
pal, well other denominations in the attitude Of the
American Tract Society and the examples ct an Adams,
a lord and III. j. Nandyke To what depths Of base
may not others fall when the Amounted ministers Of
the very Jesus, &c, &c.
On the other hand, hear DR.. Taylor, OF Grace
church, Broadway
South Carolina has been irrtatcd and goaled TO mad
by the bes that have been poured orh for years
upon the most sacred and mast delicate Of her domestic
institutions By the moontebanks OF the pulpit VIII, IN
their pestierous career are animated by the most gno
bic of all the forms in which worldly ambition can dis
play itsethe ambition fr securing notoriety by an as
ISOLATION with the demons in paaderng to the false pre-
iudces and malignant passions Of vulgar minds.
The present excited condition Of the public mind
the South 10 be attributed 70 two Causes The first
i the mistake of supposing that the insane rawlings Of
certain anatcai preachers OF abotonsm in which the
gbberish Of faehood Is dressed NJ IN the language oil
Holy writhe mart sayings of others, bordering always
upon blas phenyin which bcls and denuncations are
clothed and mixed With coarse anecdotes and vulgar RI
badry fair expostons o. the feelings Of Northern
people Tor their countrymen OF the south
One is for war, and another is for peace. One
holds Mr. Buchanan up to scorn as vile mon
stcr for aiding slavery and not putting down
South Carolina by fire and sword. Another ex-
claims Blessed be James Buchanan, IL only
for that one thing, that he will not, if he can
help it, consent to the shedding Of single drop
OF blood y
Dr. vinton, whose sermon in other respects
is good, attributes the present crisis to the fact
that 1.-The constitution contains no acknowledge
ment Of God.-no recognition Of Jesus Christ"
''Why, then" he asks SHOULD we expect Gods
blessing on our Union as one nation.'' We ask,
which God should be acknowledged The
clergy differ 80 widely about God and what he
teaches that every sect would want
divinity to suit its own views ac-
knowledgcd in the constitution. If
any other than Puritan God were recognized
in the constitution, Bcecher would call him
he