Year: 1861

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OF cAsEs, AND BY A LOGICAL PROCESS TO


UTTER ISFIDELITY.


On this point would no. and will not
be misunderstood. do not say that ab.
olitionism is infdelity. l speak only of
the tendencies Of the system as indicated
in its avowed principles and demonstrat.
ed in its practical fruits.


1t does not try slavery by the Bible;
but as one Of its leading advocates has re-
Gently declared, it tries the Bible by the
principles Of freedom. 1t insists that the
word Of God must be made to support
certain human opinions or forfeit all
claims upon our faith. That may not
be suspected Of exaggeration on this point
let me quote from the recent work Of Mr..
Barnes a passage which may we'll arrest
the attention Of all thinking men:


"Ihere are great principles in our ma
ture, as God has made us, which can new
er be set aside by any authority ola pro-
fessed revelation. If book claiming TO
be revelation from God, by any fair in
depreciation defended slavery, or placed
it on the same basis as the relation of
husband and wife, parent and child,
guardian and ward, such book would
not, and could not be received by the mass
of mankind as Divine revelation"


When a man sets up the great prin-
ciples Of our nature (by which he always
meaus his own preconceive2 opinions)
as the supreme tribunal before which
even the law Of God must be tried
when man says "the Bible must teach
aboitionism or will not receive it," he
has already cut loose from the shee. an
chor Of faith. True belief says, "Speak,
Lord, thy servant wants to hear" Abb
olitionism says, "Speak, Lord but speak
in accordance with the principles Of hu-
man nature, or they cannot he received
by the great mass Of mankind as a Divine
revelation" The fruit of such principles
is Just what we might expect. Wherev-
er the seed Of abolitionism has been sown
broadcast plentiful crop of infdelity has
sprung up. In the communities where
sntislavery excitement has been most
prevalent, the power ofthe Gospel has in
variahly declined; and when the tide Of
fanaticism begins to subside, the wrecks
of Church order and of Christian charac-
ter have been scattered on the shore. 1t
. is not a theory, bu. demonstrated fact,
that abolitionism leads to infdelity.-
Such men as Garrison, and Gddings,
and Gerrit Smith, have yielded to the
current of their own principles, and
thrown the Bible overheard. Thousands
of humber men who listen to abolition
screechers will go and do likewise.
There are tens of thousands of Christ
ian men who voted with the successful
party at the late election who do not SYM
pathize with the principles or aims of
abolitionism. Among these are some be-
loved members ofmy own flock, who will
not hesitate moment to put the seal of
appreciation upon the doctrines OF this
discourse. But, then, while this is ad-
mitted as a simple matter of truth and
justice, it cannot be denied, on the other
hand, that abolitionism did enter with
all its characteristic bitterness into the re-
cent contest; that the result never could
! have been accomplished without its assis
tance, and that it now appropriates the
victory in words of ridicule and scorn
that sting like a serpent. Let me give
you single specimen OF the spirit in
which abolitionism has carried on its po-
litical warfare, an extract from a journal
which claims to have a larger circulation
than any other religious paper in the land.
| quote from the New York Independent,
of September, 1860:


"The people will not levy war nor in
augurate revolution, even to relieve
Kansas, until they have first tried what
they can do by voting. If this peaceful
remedy should fail to be applied this
year, then the people will count the cost
wisely and decide for themselves boldly
and firmly which is the better way to rise
in arms and throw off a government
worse than that of old King George, or
endure it another four years and then
vote again"


Such is the spirit-such the love to the
Constitution and the Union of these States
with which this religious element has en-
tered into and seeks to control our party
politics.


An article published twenty years ago
in the Princeton Review, contain this re-
markable language:-


1.-The opinion that slaveholding in it.
self a crime must operate to produce the
disunion Of the States and the division of
all ecclesiastical societies in the country.
Just so far as this opinion operates it will
lead those who entertain it to submit to
any sacrifices to carry it out and give it
effect. We shall become two nations in
feeling, which must soon render US two
nations in fact.'


These words are wonderfully prophet
ic, and they who read the signs OF the
times must see that the period of their
fulfillment draws near in regard to eccle-
siastical society the division foretold is
already in great measure accomplished.
Three of orr great religious denomina-
tions have been rent in twain by the sim
pie question, "Is slaveholding sin?"
| Finding the Road.