The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1863-10-14

corner stone shall be the perpetual bond
age of the African" and as such you say
that it challenges your "sndignant repro
baton"
Now my Right Reverend brother I am
sorry to be obliged to charge you, not on
ly with gross ins ult against your senior,
but with the more serious offence of a false
accusation. Ny letter was first published
in January 1861 more than three months
before the war began, at a time when no
one could anticipate the form Of Govern
ment which the Southern States should
adopt, or the course which Congress might
take in reference to their secession. And
when I consented to its republication,
did not suppose that it would be used in
the service of any political party although
| had no right to complain, ifit were so
used, because the letter, once published,
became public property But in its pres
ent form there is nothing whatever in it
which bears on the questi on OF rebellion,
or of the perpetual bondage of the Afri-
can,' or ofa tyranny under the name of
Republic of which slavery should be the
"corner- stone" On the contrary, re-
ferred, on the last page, to my lecture pub
lished IN Buffalo in 1850, and to my book
called ''The American Citizen" published
in New York. in 1857, where 81 set forth
the same views on the subject of slavery,
adding, however, plan for its gradual
abolition whenever the South should con-
sent, and the whole strength of the Gov
ernment could aid in its accomplishment
,'Sooner or later" l added, 81 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 their legal
rights and their natural feelings must be
respected, if we would hope for unity and
peace
With these facts before your eyes, am
totally at a loss to imagine how even the
extravaganza of party zeal could frame
against me SO bitter denunciation. The
whole object of my letter was to prove,
from tie Bible, that in the relation of mas
ter and slave there was necessarily no sin
whatever. The sin, if there were any,
lay in the treatment of the slave, and 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 our Christian brethrers who
held slaves were treating them with kind
ness and justice, according to the Apos-
ties rule, and earnestly laboring to i'm
prove the comforts and ameliorate the
hardships of the institution, held it to
be cruel and absurd charge to accuse
them as sinners against the Divine law.
when they were only doing what the Word
of God allows, under the constitution and
established code Of thei, country.
do not know whether your band OF in-
dignant reprobationists ever saw my book
published Is, 81, but you read u, because
sent you copy, and l have your letter
of acknowledgement, in which, while you
dissented from some ofmy conclusions, you
did it with the courtesy of Christian gen.
tleman. In that letter there is nothing
said about my opinions being unworthy
of any servant of Jesus Christ and moth
ing of indignant reprobation." But,
tempOra nsutantur, ct nos nutansmT III
a2,S.
Yes the times are indeed sadly chang
ed, and you have changed accordingly.
For many years you met in brotherly
council with these Southern shareholders.
You invited them to the hospitalities ol
your house, and paid them especial defer
ence. The new light of Eastern Abol-
ii onism had not yet risen within our
Church, and if you then thought as you
now think, you took excellent care that
no man amongst your Southern friends
should know il. Moreover, your favorite
Theological Seminary, only three years
ago, was the Virginia school at Alexan
dria, raised to great prosperity by Bishop
Meade, stakeholder, and | am vesy sure
that nothing at variance with my Bible
view of slavery was taught in that institu-
ton. Yes We may we'll say of you, as
of many others-Quant1n1 nsutat'ts al
lilo How changed is the Bishop of Penn
sylvania, in three years, from his former
( course of conservatism, peace and Scriptu-
raj 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 re-
Ii -nnl IL