Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1861-04-20
. LETTER FROM INDIANA. I.
Bouspos, March 81. 1861.

49,
people who could respond to the western minister
who advertises for a good congregation, in the
New York Independent. in this wise "Wanted--l
achuroh, with whom TO rebuke sin is not a great
er offence, than 10 commit it," But | see that on
exception mus, be made, and q qualification add
cd. / still adhere tO The opinion that there is less
political arrogance and pr,sstly assumption, il not
more Intelligence, here, than is usually found in a
new country.
Whether serene stupidity, or stormy opposition
60 The abolition Of slavery, will tend moot to. save
the Union. seems to me like fixing the choice be-
tween an autedoluyian petri!action and a nine
teehth century defuuctiou, to shed the blood of o.
martyr. Union. in a free government, is freedom
yet the compromises and Union men of the North
rssh blindly, madly, for another epoch OF slavery
For a month, / have enjoyed an unmolested run
Of abolition meetings in this section, already no.
sliced in the Li6srafor. At Sevastanoi, my last
meeting but one, the Union Democrats showed un-
mistakable demonstrations Of opposition to my
subject; on the outside, attacking the door Of the
church with various missiles inside, they encoun-
tered q potcer FROM the chairman of -the meeting,
chat, 10 efficiency might teach a host of New York
Mayors the grace Of manhood, Us it did the Roughs
the fear of the law. Sufficient encouragement to
eue huuNCty o. THESE mOOOCThtS uau UCeu gwen Wy
. lev Democratic ministers in tho vicinity, ono OF
whom denied the use Of his church, (Methodist
EpiscOpall, because" ho said, "a part Of the
members believe slavery is right; and he declar-
ed his own readiness TO shoulder his musket, to
drive the last '~'nigger" out Of Indiana, in case
slavery should be abolished, a fear, in this State,
greater than the fear Of the sword, or the day oil
doom, and about as likely to occur, as that the in
mate of the palace should beg for transportation
TO secure a good home, or a Carolina planter build
his house in On iceberg.
In no State in the Union is there such q low,
bitter prejudice against color as in Indiana even
the Black Laws upon the statute book, disgrace
full to heathendom. arc not TO these Union-savers a
sufficient guarantee against the''inalienable rights
Of the negro ana as the Constitution is to be
amended, the rights of lDdianians must be so Sc
cured, that tie photograph of a colored man shall
never cross the State and that amendment must
be irrevocable, or she will follow Carolina in Sc
ceesion !
But the special developm mt Of grudge Of all
the advantages for freedom. by the friends Of sla-
very, was reserved for the last meeting al Bithel,
where l had before held a meeting, which had
been slightly disturbed BY lawless boys, who had
been prosecuted by a type of manhood, rarely met
with in these days, ordaining that anti-slavery' as
we'll rs the popular gospel, should receive equal,
and the same kind Of protection.
Within q few miles around we're several petty
neighborhoods ruled by the Dynasty Of Slavery,
which, together wish the immediate neighborhOod
Of the meeting furnished ample material for q
mob, composed OF ths toughest of the Roughs'
msrshailed and guarded in front and rear by two
naono.,,a ,,;,,sta-o m n1 vrbcrn ito tho aradit
Of the NJ. Z. Cburcb) had lately been scwned for
whipping his wife, Ia healthy discipline that might
we'll be extended to the whipping of other mems
wivesl, and the other so fortified 10 ignorance as
to be thoroughly bomb-pruof to either discipline or
argument. The first of them offered. to guarantee
the meeting against violence, if a speech were al
lowed from the opposite side. As is usual for
anti-slavsry meetings, il was free to manly discus
sions.
As they came into tho church, far ou%tnumberipg
the friends Of freedom, armed with hickory clubs
ard whisky. and distributed themselves. RICH: and
left, over the whole house, ike a cooling dew upon
a summer evening, or its antagonist, the distinct
stencil Of a reeking distillery, l said to myself
uad tchom came ye out TO fight? My subject for
the evening was. 1.-The glory of abOlitionism. the
personal independence Of man, and the honorable
representation of Cod.
Among other noisy demonstrations on tho out
side, several guns were fred through the windows
right and left from the pulpit, and a solitary egg
was thrown with some force, from the door to the
platform opposite, besmearing the minister's seat,
and warning him that the only safeguard to his
dignity, if not to his well-trained wig, lies distinct
ly in the way he sits. Unmistakablc groans were
heard from those indoors still, the speaking was
uninterrupted for / have ascertained that in the
dissection OF mems errors, as we'll rs their joints,
there is science and safety and as my faith is
shat they will come out recuperated, l do not wince
at the pain of the operation. If some should die,
It. not be ''for want Of breath, like the Steam
Doctors Patient. but from a stupid refusal to keep
il going. Since the meeting. | have learned that
the security Of the minister against violence, was
not the only safeguard to free speech on that even
ing. Men who cannot compromise their princi-
pies. are sometimes able to defend their rights
The argument Of Revs. Nehemiah Adams and
Vandyke, proving ~slaVery right because Of its an
tiquity and high authority, is allsuficient testimo-
ny, and to sdduce another word, may pcrhaps haz'
ard the orthodoxy of some happy believer in
Southern Institutions, and plenary inspirations.
Henry Ward Beecher said in his sermon lately,
Wnht 10 osiuehtiy Hue, mere nave been many
representations Of Gods nature and government,
which il might almost be said to be evidence os
purity and virtue, TO abhOr and reject; aud ] am
not sure that the lack of purity in the present age
IL for the want of such cutspoken adventures.
who dare reveal the atheism that like a glitlering
serpent Turks and coils in the bosom of the Amer
lean church. a a
At the close of my remarks, Rev. John Shirley
tdeposedl took The stand, and prefaciDg with The
necessity Of performing the disagreeable duty Of
opposing a lady in public, he said h3 would
begin with the world, and come down to seces-
SION, aud, If he had time, notice ~"sympAthy"
which he saw was my ''sErong fOrte". SO If his