M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1863-10-29

U q = =
Ihavs seen with great amusement
a protest against my letter on the
"Bible view Of Slavery" signed by
you and a long list Of your clergy, ia
which you condemns It as "ba,c0rths
Of aHy servant of Jesus C6ris,," al
IAN effort to sustain, on Bible princi
pies, the States 10 rebellion against
the Government in the wicked attemp,
to establish, by force of arms, a tyran
ny in the name Of the Republic, WHO'S,
cornerstone shall be the perpetua
bondage of the African, land ss suct
you say that it challenges yonv "in
dignast ,spro6ation." ,a oval az;
Now my Right Reverend brother,
| am sorry to be obliged to charge
you, not only with gross insult aga.
inst your senior, bat with the more
serious ofonse of a false accusation
My fret letter was published in Jan
Diary, 1851, more than three months
before the war began, at a, time when
no one could anticipate the form oil
Government which the Southern
States should adopt, or. the course
which Congress might take in refer.
ence 10 their secession. And when
| consented to its republication, I did
not suppose that it would be used in
the service Of any political party,
although had no right to complain,
if it were so used, because the letter,
once published, became public prop.
erty. Butin its present form there ia
nothing whatever in it which bears
on the question of "rebellion," !" or OF
the perpetual bondage Of the Afri-
can" or Of a tyranny under the name
of a Republic" Of which slavery
should be the "corner-stone." On
ths contrary, | referred ON the lasI
page, to my lecture published IN
Buffalo in 1850, and to my booE
called "Tbe American CitiEsn," pub
.lished III New York, in 1857, where
II set forth the same views on the
subject OF slavery, adding, however,
a plan for it's gradual abolition, when.
ever the South should consent, and
the whole strength ofthe Government
could aid in its accomplishment. "
"Sooner or later" | added, ~ believe
that some measure Of that character
must be adopted. But it belongs to
the slave States themselves to take
the lead in such movement. And
meanwhile theit lega! rights and their
feelings must be respected, five would
hope for unity and peace"
With these facts before you:eyes, i am
totally at loss to imagine how even
the extravaganza Of party zeal could
frame against me 30 bitter q denunci.
alton. The whole object ofmy letter
was to prove, from the Bible, that in
the relation Of master and slave there
was necessarily no sin whatever.-
The sin, if there we're any, lay in the
treatment of the slave, ard not in the
relation itself. OF course, it was
liable to abuse, as all human relations
must be. But while it was certain
that thousands OF Christian brethren
who held slaves we're treating them
with kindness and justice, according
to the Apostles rule, aud earnestly
labcrIng to improve the comforts and
ameliOrats the hardships Of the insti
tuition, ! held it to be a cruel and
absurd charge to accuse them as sin (.
ners against the Divine law, when
they were only doing what the Word
Of God allowed under the constitution
and established code Of their country.
| do not know whether your band
Of indignan! reprobaticnists ever saw
my book, published in 1857, but you
read it, because sent You copy and
have your letter Of acknowledgement,
in which, while you dissonted from
lome Of my conclusions, you did Il
with the courtesy Of a Christian gen.
tlernan. In that letter there Is nothing
said about my opinions being sun.
worthy oil any servant OF Jesus Christ"
and nothing Of "indignant reproba
ion" But, tempord mutantuy, et
nos mutamur in Ills. 90 10 '2sll |
Yes /! the times are indeed sadly
and you have changed &C.
For many years you met
N brotherly conncil with these South.
,rn Shareholders. You invited them
% the hospitalities ofyour house, an6
paid them especial defereuce. The
new light OF Eastern AbolitIonism
had not yet risen within our Church,
aud IL you then thought as you now
think, you took excellent care thar no
man amongst your Southern frieuds
should know it. Moreover your
favorite Theological Seminary, only
three years ago, was the Virginia