St. Mary's gazette., 1863-11-05

yVuA ooutSfeTH BEtehus tuOut0 KNOW IT,
Moreover. your farsrite Theological Semi
nary, only three years ago. was the Vir-
giBia school at Alexandria. raised to pr eat
prosperity by Bishop Meade. a shareholder,
and ] am very SIRE that. nothing at .vari-
ance with nay Bible view Of slavery WAS
taught in that institution. Yes: wssmay
sel. ~ OF yollss of 1DaAy sshsrss sE.asaa-
tim. matafss dJ itlo! How changsd is the
Bishop Of Pennsylvania. in three years,
from his former course of conservatism,
peace and Scriptural consistency!
But the Word Of God has not changed;
the doctrine Of the Apostles has not chang
ed; the Constitution of our country has not
changed; the great standards of religious
truth aud real civic loyalty remain jlst Us
they were; and | remain along with them,
withstanding this bitter and unjust as
sauls from you aud your clergy. do not
Intend to initiate your late style Of vitu-
peration, for trust that have learned,
even when / am reviled, not to revile
again. / respect the good opinion Of your
clergy, aud ann not aware that have done
anything to forfeit IT, / respect your
Office. your talents. your personal char
acter, and the wisdonl aud success with
which. for many years. your Episcopatc
has been conducted But do not respect
your departure from the old and we'll set
tied rule Of tue Church. aud frsm the
Apostolic law of Christian fairuess and
courtesy. do not believe in the n,odern
discovery of thase Eastern philanthrophis,s
who deny the divinity of our Rcdecmer,
and attach no Importance to the Bible cx-
cept as it may suit themselves. do not
believe that the veuerated founders of our
American Church were ignorant of the
Scriptures and blind to the principles of
Gospel morality. do not believe that
Washington aud his compatriots, who
framed our Constitution with such express
provisions for the rights of shareholders
were tyrants aud d-spots. sinners against
the law@of iiod aud the feelings of human
ity. But do believe ia tn. teaching of
the inspired Apostles, and in the Holy
La,holic Cor universally Church you and
your clergy also profess to believe. ,knop
that the doctrine of that Church was clear
amt unanimous ou the iamtulness of slavery
for eighteen CENTURIES together; and oil that
p"int regard yonr ''pro,es," and "indig-
nsnt reprobation" as the idle wind that
passes by.
| wish you. therefore. to be advertised
that | shall publish. within few months,
1T u gracious Providenc. should spare nv
life and faculties. a FULL demons tration of
the truth ''wh"rein | stand" And I shall
prove in that hook. BY the most unques-
tionable authorities. that slaves aud slave
holders w.re in the Church from the be-
ginning; that slavery vas held to he con.
sistent with Christian principle by the
Fathers and Councils. aud by all I'rotes-
tant divines and commentators, up to the
very close of the last century, aud that this
fact was universal among all Churches and
sects throughout the Christian world.
shall contend that our Church, which
maintains the primitive rule of catholic
consent aud abjures MI novelties. is bound
by her very Constitution, to hold fast to
chat only safe and enduring rule. or aban-
don her Apostolic claims. and descend to
the level OF thasc who ARE driven about
by Every wind of doctrine" And | shall
print your Indignant rcprobation." with
its list of names in the preface to my book
80 that 1T caluot give you tame. may.
at least. do my part to give you noto,.iety
That the niuetcenth century is Century
of last improvement and wonderful dis
covery in the arts and sciences, grant as
willingly as any man. But in religious
truth or reverence for the Bible. the aye
in which We, live is prolific in daring and
inpious innovation. We have seen pro-
fessedly Christian communities divided
and sub-divided ON every side. We have
seen the rise and spread of UniversaIism,
Milleris,n. Psuth-i>m. Mormonism. aud
Spiritualisr. We have seen even our
venerable Mother Church Of England sore
ly agitsted by the. contagious fever of
change. on the one hand toward supersti-
tion. and on the ether towards iuIdel
And we have heard tue in
creasing clamor against ihe Bible, s,me-
tunes from the dsvo,ces of geological
speculation d sfnne,iiucs from the bold
deniers of iuirucscs and prophecy. and not
least upon the list. from the l"ud- -toneued
apostles of anti=slavery. We have marked
the oratols which cry Down with the
Bible. II It maintains the usefulness of Ella
very" We hare msrvcled at the seuaiori-
81 eloquence which proclaimed that iii was
high time to hare am anti-slavery God aud
an snti-s!arery Bible We have heard
the CONSTITUTIONS of our own country de-
nouuced ss ..arovenant xitll death and a
lesgne with hell. I'VE have heard the
boosted discrimination that the Union shall
never be restored until its provisieaa for
the protsc,ionnt slavery are utterly abolish
ed. And what il the result of this new
philanshrophy NE The fearful jadecneat Of
i;od has descrsricd to chsssi-s these uulti-
rlied acts Of rebellion sgains: his divine
iiovernmcnt. and what the iual c,tas-
sroyhe shall be Is only knows to Hisa who
see,h The end from the lsgirting. 2