The Sun. — 1860-04-07 (London, England)

DIL.GUTHRIE AND THE SLAVE TRADE  An American paper, the Presbyterian, which professes to be a religious journal of the highest orthodoxy, has attacked Dr. Guthrie's speech delivered lately at the meeting in Edinburgh, sympathising with Dr. Cheever. The rev, doctor has written an indignant rejoinder, in which he stigmatises maul of the charges in the Presbyterian as "untrue and contemptible." He proceeds to rebut some of the statements which he is accused of making : " You state that I spoke of the American eagle as polluted with blood.' Now, that may or may not be the case ; but I never used these words, nor said, indeed, a word, good or bad, about your eagle. You state also that I wished the next negro insurrection to succeed,' though they might have to fight to thel knees in the blood of the white man.' How can deny that ? for in your article are not the offensive words, fight to the knees in the blood of the white man' set within inverted commas, the usual sign of a quotation and the pledge of accuracy ? Alas for the credit of inverted commas and certain religious newspapers ! There is not a word of truth in your statement. The wronged and down-trodden negro may or may not be justified in doing for his personal what your own fathers did for their national liberty; though a man, he is black, and notwithstanding that an old-fashioned book called the Bible, says that God made of one blood all the families of the earth, he may no more have rights than the cow ho is sold with; yet I never used the words, nor spoke of blood, either on black men's knees or on American eagles. You say I Ws! bloodthirsty.' A horrid charge to bring against any minister of the Gospel. 'lf you mean, by aPPIt ing this abusive language to me, that I delight in t e shedding of human blood, or would have recourse to arms rather than suffer any wrong, I deny your charge, and appeal for my veracity to those who know me, and know how I abhor the cruelties inseparable from war. Perhaps you mean something else. Perhaps you mean that I would regard the slaves, if they had a fair prospect of success, as justified in rising to recover their freedom, and as a lag' resource, meeting arms with arms in the battle for liberty. If so, I plead guilty to the charge ; g_Riltlf W I must add, as were our Wallace and your ash: ington. Washington and his compatriots tholighb not liberty only, but independence even worth fight" ing for. In the days of the struggle which you yearly commemorate ministers preached up resistance; pulpits, as well as drums, sounded to arms. you laud the men who did the fight, and were ready te, fight to the knees in the blood of the white man, merely for the right to tax themselves' and have you the assurance to hold sip your hands in horror at the bare idea of poor Africans, ground to the dust, doing the samh to save themselves, their wives, their, children, from bleeding under the brutal lash, and being sold like cattle to the highest bidder ? Thong'' a violent termination to slavery is not one that any reflecting and right-thinking man would wish, tho system, as one of cruelty, of immorality, of robbell and of murder, is accursed both of God and man. iv; is the plague-spot of your state ; the plague-spot 01 your churches; and should its end, which God for" bid, be one of violence, on the heads of those vibe are not straining every nerve to brin; it to speedy and bloodless termination, will lie 'the guilt of all the fearful crimes that shall accOol pany its dying struggles. When these comet and the slaves are fighting for their rights, your disasters may recall the fearful words of Jefferson, What attribute of Jehovah would allow him to take part with us ?' "