St. Mary's gazette., 1863-11-05
LETTER FROM JOHN n. HOP
RINS. ID. d.,

BISHOP OF THs PHoTEsrANT EPrsC1PAL
CHURCH IN THE DIocEsE OF VERMoSr
TO TIE Rr. Rev ALoSzo PoTrER. ID.
D, RIsuop or THE DlocxsE o. PENN.
syLrAxIA: "
aare seen with great am axement. a
protest against my letter Oh the '.lsitae
View Of slavery" signed by you and .
long list Of your clergy, in which ycu con-
dcmn !, as ''nnscerthy II any ssrpaas Q,
Jesus Christ" as .'au effort to sustain o.,
Bible principles. the States in rebellion
against the Government 10 the wicked at.
tempt 10 establish. by force of arms, a
TYRANNY in III. rane Of Republic whuse
corner-<tone shai; De the perpetual bon
dage Of tho African" and as such you say
that il challenges ycur Indignant repro
I.nion "
New NV Right Reverend brother. 7 am
sorry to lie obliged to charge you. not only
with gross Insult against yoiir senior, but
with the more serious offence of 4 false
accusation. My letter was FIRST published
in JaGuary. 1861. more than three months
bef'rc til. war began at a time when no
nue cnnld aniici pate the fnrm Of Govern
meht which rhe Southern States shauld
Adopt. or the course which Congress might
take IN reference to their secession And
when | consented to its republication, /
did nc, suppose that it Would be used in
the service Of any political party. although
hai TO right To complain. il it were SC
usel; because the letter, once published,
became public property. But in its pre-
sent form there is nothing whatever III it
which bears on the question of ''reb-l-
lion" Or Of The perpetual bondage of tho
African" ar uf II Tyranny under he name
of a Republic" ef which slavery should he
the "enrncr-stone" On the contrary. |
refereed. on the last page. TO my lecture
pnblishrl in Bnt1slo in 1860. and 10 my
book called The American Citizen pub
li.hcd in New York. in 1857. where IL
set forth The same views on the subject o!
slavery, ud,iing. however. . plan far it.
grutlp<k addition whenever the Sauih
should conses.t. and the whole strength oil
the Govcrnnpent could aid in its accam-
plishment .'Sooner or later" | added
Il believe that some measure 1T that char
aeter aust be adopted. But il belongs to
the sluye States themselves to take the leao
in such q movement And meanwhile
their legal rights and their natural feelings
must he respected, if We would hope for
unity and peace ,Hga suF
With these facts before your eyes. am
totally ut loss to imagine how even the
extravagance OF party zeal could frame
against ne so bitter dcilunciation. The
whole etjert of MY letter was 20 prt'vc,
from the Bile. that iu the relation OF alas.
ter and slave there was necessarily no sin
whatever. The sin, if there we're any. Law
in the treatment Of the slave. and not il the
relation itself OF course. it was liable to
abuse. as ali human relations must be-
Bat while il was certain that thousands of
our Christian brethren who held Slaves
we're treating them with kisdpess aud jus
tice. sceOrding 20 tie Apostles rule. and
earnestly lahoring 10 iinrrove the comfaris
ald an,cliorate the hsrdships of the institu-
ti,n. held it to be Truel and absurd
charge 10 accuse them as 'aaners against
the Divine Law. when they we're only doing
what the Word sf God allowed, under the
constitution and established code Of, ihsir
country - ww .ll !
do net know whether yonr band ofin-
dignant reprotat:onisis ever saw my bosk.
published in 1859. but uou read II. be
cause ] sent yau copy. and have y,,ur
letter tf acknowledgements. in which willie
you eiffen'cd from snune OF my conclusiars.
yoa s!id ii With The courtesy Of Christian
gentleman ln that letter there II nething
said about my opinions bting ..unwortIhy
OF any arvaa,tl OF Jesus Christ Ani noih-
ing Of indignant reprofasiau. Hns.
hmpord naafaHtar. ef NOS nsasamsr IN Hiis.
Ass. The slmss are Indeed sadly chsngrd.
and you have ehangcd accordingly Ebr
maay pears ys'u met III brotherly soua,cil
with these Souihrrn slsvshalders. Ysu
invited them 10 the Inequalities of yuur
house. and paid them especisl defercurs.
The neg llgh. Of Easlers Abolisiouisn.