Ell
- Jk
I AM SET FOR THE DEFENCE OF THE GOSPEL.'
BY OIISOIT S. MURRAY.
! 1
BRANDON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 1838.
VOL. X. NO. 41.
rKnnu
TLa TctMORT TtLioiirR it publish
4 wrr'Jj, at $2,00 a yaar, payable withio four
moo'' i f!er (out month and withio eight
fifr eljht months and within tha yar
C-.-J th clot of Um jtar, to rU la the
fata.
Ta companies who recsiva twelve or more
copte la oat bandit, and pay within four month,
t$I,l3-after four montha, to nt as above,
1,7 within eixhtmonthe fce.
AgenU, who procure tod pay for tlx enb
crftera, art entitled to th ttTtnth copy gratis.
09 No pt?r t? bo discontinued until arreara
ges art paid, except at th dUcretioa of the pub
llaher. All letter, to eecurt attention, most come
Cxndos-...Saturday, June 30, 1838.
: LOVBJOT4 I.AST SPEECH.
Below ie the but speech of thia noblo martyr,
at reported by Edward Beccher, President of llli
noU College. Thit tpeech wat made juat before
hit death at 4 time, it will be perceived, when the
question wee pending between him and the citizens
of Alton, at to what should be hit future coarse.
Reader if you can refrain from tears through the
tpeech, weep at least for the age and for the nation,
that tuch a man should be sacrificed in such a
cause. : ; ' f. -
President Beccher says t
'At Mr. Lorejoy arose, I watched his counte-
oeep miereni, noi 10 say anxiety; l
anqoil,
which
nance, w it n deep tnterent, not to say
saw no token or disturbance. With a tra
self-possessed air. he went up to the bar in 1
the chairman sat, and in a tone or deep, tender and
subdued feeling, spoke as follows":
. , . - SPEECH.
I feel, Mr. Chairman, tha' this is the
most solemn 'moment of my life. 1 feel,
I trust, in some- measure, the responsibil
ities which at this hour I sustain to these
xny fellow-citizens, to the church of which
I am a minister, to my country and to my
God. .And Itt ino beg of. you, before 1
proceed further to construe nothing that
1 shall sty oi being disrespectful to this
assembly; I bare no such feeling far
from it, and if I do not act or speak ac
cording to their wishes at all times, it is
because 1 cannot conscientiously do it
It is proper 1 should state the whole mat
teras I understand it before this audience.
I do not stand here to argue the question
as presented by the report of the commit
tee. My only wonder is, how the Hon.
gentleman, tha chairman of that commit
tee, for whose character I entertain great
respect though I hare not the pleasure
of his Derson.il acquaintance, mv only
wondr is, how that gentleman could hare
brought himself to submit to such a re
port. Mr. Chairman, I do not admir that it is
the business of this assembly to decide I
whether ( shall or shall not publish a
newspaper in this city. . The gentlemen
have, as the lawyers say, made a WTong
issue. I bare Ihe rixht to do it. I know
that I bave the right freely to speak and
publish ray sentiments, subjec: only tft the
laws of the land for the abuse of that
right . The right was given me by my
Maker, and is solemnly guaranteed to me
by the Constitution of these United States,
and of this State. What 1 wish to know
S2i JSU. VV.rirS 'ST1, - ibey.flo.no, for myself, Uininj hU haod, and augmenting hi,
v.v.-., . wui. iwr oiucrs.1 tiui i am commanded to
upon me the responsibility ofi maintaining forsake father and mother, and wife and
my ground cere, ana, mr. vuairman, i, children for Jesus' sake, and as his pro-
A voice comes .iessed disciple I stand pledged to do it.
am determined to do it.
to me from Maine, from Massachusetts,
from Connecticut, from New York, from
Pennsylvania; yea, from Kentucky, from
Mississippi from Missouri, calling upon
me in the name of all that is dear to Heav
en or earth, to stand fast; and by the help
of' God, I will stand. I know I am
but one and you are many. My strength
would arail but little against you all; you
can crush me if you will, but I shall die
at my post, for I can not & will not forsake
it. Why should I flee from Alton ! U
not this a free State? When assailed by
a mob at St. Louis, I came here as to the
home of freedom and of the laws. The
mob hare pursued me here, and why
should I retreat again? Where can be
safe if not here Hare I not a right to
claim the, protection of the laws? and
what more can I hare in any other place?
Sir, the rerv act of retreating will embol
den the mob to follow me wherever I go.
No, Sir, there is no; way to escape the
mob, but to abandon the path of duty, and
that, God helping me, I never will do.
It has been said here that my hand is
against every man, and every man's hand
against me. The last part of the declar
ation is too painfully true. I do indeed
find almosf every hand lifted against me,
but against whom in this place has my
hand been raised? 1 appeal to every
individual present; whom of you have I
injured? whose character have I traduced?
whose family nave I molested? whose
business have I meddled with? If any,
let him rise here and testify against me.
No one answers.
And do not your resolutions say that
you find nothing against my private or
personal character? And does any one
believe that if there were anything to be
found, it would not be found and brought
forth? If in anything I have oflencled
against the law, 1 am not so popular in
this community as that it would be diffi
cult to convict me. You hare courts, and
judges, and juries; they find nothing
against me, and now you hare come to
gether for the purpose of driving out a
confessedly innocent man, for no cause
but that he dares to think and speak as
his conscience and as his God dictate.
Will conduct like this stand the scrutiny
of posterity, above all, of the Judgment
Day? For remember, the Judge of that
day is no respecter of persons.
Pause. I beseech you, and reflect. The
present excitement will soon be over; the
voice of conscience will at last be heard;
and in some season of honest thought.
even in this world, as vou review the
scenes of this hour, you will be compelled
to say, Mhe was ngnt ne was rignt.
a
But vou hare been exnorted to be len
ient and compassionate, and iu driving me
away to affix no unnecessary disgrace
upon me. Sir, I reject all such com
passion. You cannot disgrace me. Scan
dal, falsehood and calumny have already
done their worst. My shoulders have
burden till
Ihe time for fulfilling this nlod rr( in mv
o t &- j
case, it seems to me, has come. Sir, I
dare not flee away flora Alton; should I
attempt it, I should teel that the angel of
the Lord, with his flaming sword, was
pursuing me wherever I went. It is be
cause I fear God, that I am not afraid of
all who oppose me in this city. No, Sir,
the contest has commenced here, and here
it must be finished. Before God and vou
all, I here pledge myself to continue, if
need be, till death ; and it I fall mv grave
shall be made in Alton.
RELIGIOUS "MISCELLANY.
t borne the burden till it sits easy upon
of you is, whether' you will protect me in them. You may hang me up B3 the mob
the exercise of this right, or whether as'hungr up the individuals at Vicksburg;
heretofore, 1 am to be subjected to person
al indignity and outrage. These resolu
tions, and the measures proposed by them,
are spoken of as a compromise; a com
promise between two parties. Mr. Chair
man, this is not so:' there is but one party
here. It is simply a nuestion whether
the law shall be enforced, or whether the
mob shall be allowed, as they now do, to
continue ts trample it under their feet, by
Violating Will) impunity uie riui wi an
you may burn me at the stake as they did
Mflntosh at St. Louis: vou mav tar and
j &
feather me, or throw me into the Missis
sippi, as yon have often threatened to do;
but vou cannot disgrace me. I, and I
alone, can disgrace myself, and the deep
est of all disgrace would be, at a time
like this, to dery my Master by forsaking
his cause. He died for me, and I were
mnst unworthv to Lear his name, should
I refuse, if need be, to die for him
American and Foreign Bible Society
The Society held its annual meeting
April 26, 1838, in the meetinsr-house of
the Oliver-st. Baptist church, New-York,
itev. b. H. Cone, President, in the chair.
Aside from the transaction of the or
dinary business, the meeting derived spe
cial interest from a consideration of the
duty of the Society, in regard to Bible
distribution. The following is the report
of the Committee on that subject, as adopt
ed by the Society:
That having examined a greit mass of
documents, containing resolutions of Bap
tist State Conventions, Associations, Aux
iliary Bible Societies and churches, in
every State of the Union, they are satis
fied that it is the almost unanimous desire
of the denomination, that the American!
and Foreign Bible Society be left unre
stricted in the range of its operations.
The Committee therefore recommend,
that the second article of the constitution
be altered, to read as follows, viz:
Art. 2. It shall be the object of the
Society to aid in the wider circulation of
the Holy Scriptures in all lands.
The committee also recommend the
following resolutions:
1. RfBoived, That this society will expect of
their Board of Managers, in carrying into effect the
second article of the constitution, the most sedulous
care in patronizing such versions only of the sacred
scriptures into the languages of the heathen, as
have been, or may be, laithlully made, and are
approved by competent examiners.
2. Revolted, That in the distribution of the scrip
tures in the English language, they will use the
commonly received version until otherwise directed
by the Society.
The receipts of the Society during the
past year, besides a balance transferred, of
$4,855 14, were $33,859 52 total, $38.
7 1 4 66 ; -nd the expenditures for the same
period were $19,636 61. Of the latter,
$10,500 were appropriat d to the Baptist
General Convention for h oreign Missions,
and $5092 43 to the Baptist Missionary
Society, London, to aid in printing and
circulating the Sacred Scriptures in hea
then languages.
The number of Auxiliary Societies is
98, of which 15 are County Societies, 3
State Conventions, 10 Associations, and
71 churches. The number of life direct
ors is 92, and of life members 420.
The next annual meeting will be held
in Philadelphia, on the dny before the
last Wednesday in April, 1839.
Officers of the Society -Spencer H.Cone,
of New-York, President, and thirty-one
Vice Presidents; Charles G. Sommers, of
usefulness. Thus it will be seen, tha: in
Germany there is an ample field for the
Sof iety to occupy, with the most encour
aging prospect of success.
The total amount of contributions re
ceived for the publication of Mrs. Judson's
Memoir in Germany, under the superin
tendence of Mr. Oncken, is $725 61.
The amount paid, including expenses, is
$460 13, leaving a balance of $265 48
due. The amount received for the pub
lication ot tracts in Germany, is $122 93,
making in all the sum of $388 41, which,
with o.her sums that may be contributed,
will be transmitted to Germany without
delay.
Burmah. This country continues to
be a most interesting and inportant field
Sox tract distribution. The missionaries
have now four presses exclusively devoted
to printing the Scriptures and tracts in
numerous languages, -and the results of
their labors are most encouraging and
cheering. The contributions received for
tracts in Burmah, since the last meeting
of the triennial Convention, amounted to
8240 16. The amount paid is $5156;
leaving a balance on hand for Burmah of
$188 60.
Book Concern. The receipts for books
sold since the last annual meeting, amount
to $3,771 85. The amount paid for books
during the same period, is $2,947 98.
The amount of books on hand is $854.
In this account are included the period
icals distributed from the General Depos
itory on commission.
The total receipts of theSociety, during
the period embraced in the report, amount
to $10,264 32. Excess of expenditures
above receipts, $30018. Baptist Mis
sionary Magazine.
Organization of the Board. Sec
retaries' Department. -The General Con
vention hazing committed to the Board of
Managers the arranging of the duties of
the Secretaries, the Board have divided
the same into three departments: a Home
Department, including the missions in
North America; a Foreign Department,
including correspondence with candidates
for the foreign service ; and a Financial
Department, pertaining specially to ihe
collection of funds, agencies, &c; and
have assigned the Home Department to
L. Bolles, the Foreign to S. Peck, and
the Financial to Howard Halcom. Bap.
Missionary Magazine.
innocent indiridual. Mr. Chairman whati Aeain, you have been told that I have
1 nave 1 to compromise irireeiy to ior- a lamily who are aepenaent on me, uu
1 eire those who Hare so greatly mjurea thjs has been given as a reason wny
me it to pray lor their temporal ana
i. tr -.Ml L-
eternal happiness; if still to wish for the
prosperity ot vour city and State, notwith
standing ill too indignities hare suffered
in it; if thia be the compromise intended,
then do I willing v make it.". My 1 rights
have been ahameiully.wjckedly outraged;
this I know, and feel, and can never for
get, but I can and do freely .forgive those
woo uavc uouc iu
; But if by a' compromise be meant, that
I should cease from ' doing that which
duty requires of me, I cannot make it.
And the reason is, that I fear God more
than I lear man. Think not that I would
lightly go contrary to public sentiment
around me. The pood! opinion of my
fellow men is dear to me, and I would
f rifice anvthinjr but principle to obtain
their good wishes; but wben they ask
me to surrender this, they ask for more
than 1 can than I dare give. Refer
ence is made to the fact that I offered, a
few days since, to yield up the editorship
of the ObseTrer'- into other hands.
This is true: I did so because' it was
thought, or said by ' some, that perhaps
. the paper would be better patronized in
1 other haads. Thev declined accepting
ray offer, however, and since then we
have heard from the friends and support
' erf of the paper in all part of them, and
I this was, that the paper could be sustained
t in no other hands than mine. - It is also
very different question, whether I shal
Toluntarily, or at the request of friends,
yield np my post, or whether 1 shall for
take it at the demand of a mob. The
former I am at all times ready to do, when
circumstances teem to require it, as I wil
nrrer put my personal wishes or interests
in competition with the cause of that
Master whose minister I ami bnt the
Mtter, pa assured, i nana wili ao,
From the Emancipator.
CORRESPONDENCE!
Between the Hon. F. 11. Elmore, one of
tnt tSouln Oarolma delegation in Con
gress, and James G. Birney, one of
the kyor responding secretaries of the
American Anti-Slavery Society.
Continued
"11. To what cla of pemont do vou addrett
your publications and a re thty addressed to the
juagTnem, me imagination or me feelings :
Answer. They are intended for the
great mass of intelligent mind, both in the
free and in the slave states. They partake,
oi course, ot the intellectual peculiarities
r f I ha n I ttd run t nntnrtre Tntt'o iIvAitm v"
l II , '1 Jl. , i i
anu iurs. vnnus -appeal' aoounu in
facts are dispassionate, ingenious, argu
mentative. The "Bible against Slave
ry," by the most careful and laborious re
freedom is concerned. Further still, no
small number of them deny the right oi
defence, either to individuals or nations,
even when forcibly and wrongfully attack
ed. This disagreement among ourselves
on this single point rof which our adver
saries are by no means ignorant, as they
often throw it reproachfully in our teeth
would forever prevent concert in any
scheme that looked to instigating servile
revolt If there be, in all our ranks one
who personal danger out of the ques
tion would excite the slave to insurrec
tion and massacre; or. who would not be
swift to reveal the earliest attempt to con
coct such an iniquity; 1 say, on my honor
as a man, on my obligations as a Chris
tian, he is unknown to me. Such a charge
against such a people ought to carry its
own refutation along with it
Yet, it ought not to be matter of sur
prise to abolitionists, that the South should
consider them 'fanatics," "incendiaaies,"
' cut-throats" and call them so too. The
South has had their character reported to
them by the North, by those who are their
neighbors, who, it was supposed, knew,
and would speak the truth, and the truth
only, concerning them. It would, I ap
prehend, be unavailing for abolitionists,
now to enter on any formal vindication of
their character from charges that can be
so easily repeated after every refutation.
False and fraudulent as they know them
to be, they must be content to live under
them, till the consummation of the work
of freedom, shall prove to the master that
they have been his friends, as well as the
friends of the s'ar?. The mischief of these
charges has fallen on the South the mal
ice is to be placed to the credit of the
North.
"12, Do you propagate your doctrines by any
other means than oral ami tcriiien discussions for
instance, by prints and pictures in manufactures
say, of pocket-handkerchiefs, calicoes, 8fC. Pray,
state the various modes ?"
Answer. Two or three vearsago.an
abolitionist of this city procured to be man
ufactured, at his own charge, a small Jot
of children's pocket-handkerchiefs impres
sed with anti-slavery pictures and mottos.
I have no recollection of having seen any
of them but once. None such, I believe,
are now to be found, or I would send you
sample. If any manufactures of the
inds mentioned, or others similar to them,
are in existence, they have been produced
independently of the agency of this Socie-
y. it is thought that none such exist,
unless the following should be supposed
to come within the terms of the inquiry.
Female abolitionists often unite in Sewing
bocieties. Ihey meet together usually
once a week or fortnight, and labor thro'
the afternoon, with their own hands, to
furnish means for advancing the cause of
the slave. One of the company reads pas
sages from the Bible or some religious
book, whilst the others are engaged at their
work. The articles they prepare, espe
cially if they be of the "fancy" kind, are j
er; John West, of Ne.v-York, Record
I
should be driven off as gently as possible.
It is true. Mr. Chairman. I am a husband
and a father, and this it is that adds to the
bitterest ingredient of the cup of sorrow
I am called to drink. I am made to leei
the wisdom of the Apostle's advice, 'It
is better not to marry." I know, bir, tnat
n this contest I stake not my life only,
but that of others also.. I do not expect
my wife will ever recover from the shock
received at the awful scenes thro' which
she was, called to pass at St. Charles.
And how was it the other night on my
return to mv homo! I found her driven
into the garret through fear of the mob,
who were prowling Tound my hu.
And scarcely had I entered the house ere
my windows were broken .by the brick
bats of the mob. and she so alarmea as to
render it impossible for her to sleep or j
rest that nizht. I am hunted as a par
tridge on the mountain. I am pursued as
felon through your streets. Io the
i . it '
truaraian power of the law i iro m vm
tor that protection scrainst violence, which
even the vilest criminal may Mijoy. Yet
think not that I am unhappy. 1 hinic not
that I regret the choice that I have maae.
While all around me is violence and tu
mult, all is neace within. An approving
conscience and the rewarding smile of
God are a full recompense for all that 1
forego, and all that 1 endore. , -Yes, Sir,
I enjoy a peace which nothing can de
stroy; I sleep sweetly and undisturbed,
except when awakened by the brick-bats
of the mob.
No, Sir, I am not unhappy; I have
counted the cost, and stand prepared freely
to offer op my all in the service of God.
Yes, Sir, I am futlr aware of all the sac
rifice I make, in here pledging myielf to
continue tbir contest to i the last. (For
give these tears, 1-had not intended to
which careless Annotators, (writing, un
conscious of the influence, the prevalence
of the system throughout the Christian
world exercised on their own minds,) had
admitted was furnished for it in the Scrip
lures. "Wythe," by a painstaking and
lucid adjustment of facts in the history o
the Government, both befoie and after the
Baptut or.i i ract Soct. j adoption of the Constitution, and a riffor
This Society held its 14th anniversary j 0r jogjC tnat cannot, it is thought, be suc-
meetin? in Uliver-st., ixew-iorif, April P-Ssjulv encountered, has nut to flight
24, 1838, the time having been altered I forever with unbiassed minds, every doubt
so as to connect the meeting with anniver-jns lo lne Power of Congress nvci the
ing Secretary; and thirty-six Managers.
Bap. Miss. Magazine.
$10,000 had been appropriated to the same the
preceding Tear, and $5,000 Lave been added since
the annual meeting; making a total of appropria
tions to the General Convention, of $25,500.
are sold, vast numbers of them are scatter
ed far and wide over the country. Beside
these, if we except various drawing
or pictures on paper, (samples of which
were put up in the packages you ordered a
few days ago,) such as the Slave-Market
in the District of Columbia, with members
of Congress attending it Vie ws of Slave,
ry in the South A Lynch Court in the
Slave-States The Scourging of Mr Dres
ser by a Vigilance Committee in the Pub
lic Square of Nashville the Plundering
of the Post-Office in Charleston, SvG.r
and the conflagration of pan of its con
tents, &c. &c, 1 am apprised ot no other
means of propagating our doctrines than
by oral and written discussions.
"13. Are your hopes and expectaions ef smccts
increased or lessened by the events of Ik last year
and especially by the action of this Congress t . And
mil your exertions be relaxed or increased V .
Answer. The events of the last year,
including the action of the present Con
gress, are of the same character with the
events of the eighteen months which im
mediately preceded it. In the question
before us, they may be regardeded as one
series. 1 would say answering your in
terrogatory generally that, none of them,
however unpropitious to the cause of1 the
abolitionists they may appear," to those
who look nt the subject from an opposite
point to theone they occupy, seem, thus
far, in any degree, to have lessened their
hopes and expectations. The events allu
ded to have not come altogether unexpect
ed. They are regarded as the legitimate
manifestations of slavery, necessary, par
haps, in the present dull and unapprehen
sive state of mind as to human rights, to be
brought out and spread before the people
before they will sufficietly revolt against
slavery itself.
1. They are seen in the Church and
in the practice of its individual members.
The Southern portion of the American
Church may now be regarded, as having
admitted the dogma, that, Slavery is a Z
vine institution. She has been forced by
the Anti-Slavery discussion into this position-
either to cease from slave-holding,
or formally io adopt the only alternative,
that slave-holding is right. She has cho
sen the alternative reluctantly, to be sure,
but substantially, and, within the last year,
almost unequivocally. In defending what
was dear to her, she has been forced to
cast away her garments and thus to re
veal a deformity of which she herself, be
fore, was scarcely conscious, and the ex
istence of which others did not credit. So
much for the action of theSouthern Church
as a body. On the part of her members,
the revelation of a time-serving spirit that
not only yielded to the ferocity of the mul
titude, but fell in with it, -may be reckoned
among the events of the last three years.
Instances of this may be found in the at
tendance of the ' Clergy of all denomina
tions" at a tumultuous meeting of the citi
zens of Charleston, S. C, held in August,
1835, lor the purpose of reducing io system
often ornamented with handsomely execu-1 their unlawful surveillance and control of
l 11 1 vi J M. j'.L I
saries of kindred institutions. The labors
of the Society, during the fifteen months
embraced in the annual report, have been
seriously affected by the general commer
cial distress. The most pressing demands
against the Society, however, have been
met, and some progress has been made in
their sacred work. The number of pub
lications now on the Society's list, is 169,
bound, with the exception of a few occa
sional tracts, in 28 volumes. The number
of depositories, exclusive of the General
Depository at Philadelphia, is 34, of which
21 are owned by the Society, and 7 are
in the valley of the Mississippi. The
amount of trac's in these is $1,256 75
The amount in the othei depositories
owned bv the Society is 81,741 93. The
amount in the General Deposnory is
82.250 97: rcakine the total amount of
the Society's stock of tracts $5,249 65.
Gratuitous Distribution. The free
grants of tracts which have been made
during the year, amount, at 1500 pages
for a dol ar. to the sum of 8987 82. 1 hese
have been distributed as follows: In tbe(
Western Valley, 755,370 pages. In Ja
maica, 31,920 pages. In Africa, 20.700
pages. In Nova Scotia, 27,316 pages.-
Among tne American Indians, i4,iuu
pages. In other parts of the world, 647,
312 pages.
Mississippi Valley. The amount cred
ited to the Valley fund, on the $19,000
plan, since its commencement in April,
1 835, is 82J88 25. The amount of tracts
distributed and charged to the fund, in
cluding expenses, is 1,611 06, leaving a
balance due to the Valley, of $1,177 19.
Efforts in behalf of Germany. B rotber
Oncken informs as that his brethren in
the church are all tract distributers, sus-
District of Columbia." There are among
the abolitionists, Poets, and by the ac
knowledgement of their opponents, poets
of no mean name too who, as the use of
poets is, do address themselves often as
John G. Whittier does always power
fully to the imagination and feelings of
their readers. Our publications cannot be
classed according to any particular style
or quality of composition. They may be
characterized generally, as well suited to
affect the public mind to rouse into
healthful activity the conscience of this na
tion, stupified, torpid, almost dead, in rela
tion to Hitman Rights, the high theme
of which they treat.
It has often been alleged, that our wri
tings appeal to the worst passions of the
slaves, and that they are placed in their
hands with a view to stir them to revolt.
Neither chnrge has any foundation in
truth to rest upon. The first finds no sup
port in the tenor of the writingsthemselves;
the last ought forever to be abandoned, in
the absence of any single well-authenticated
instance of their having been convey
ed by abolitionists to slaves, or of their
having been found even in their posses
sion. To instigate the slaves to revolt, as
the means of obtaining their liberty, would
prove a lack of wisdom and honesty, that
none would impute to abolitionists, except
such as are unacquainted with their char
acter. Revolt would be followed by the
sure destruction, not only of all the slaves
who might be concerned in it, but of mul
titudes of the innocent. Moreover, the
abolitionists, as a class, are religious they
favor peace, and stand pledged in their
Constitution, before the Country & Heav
en, to abide in peace so far as a forcible
vindication of the right of slaves to their
ted emblems, underwritten with appropri
ate mottos. The picture of a slave kneel
ing (such as you will see impressed on one
of the sheets of this letter) and supplicating
in the words, ''Am 1 not a man and a
brother ?" is an example. The mottos,
or sentences are, however, most generally
selected from the Scriptures, either appeal
ing to human sympathy in behalf of hu
man suffering, or breathing forth God's
tender compassion for the oppressed, or
proclaiming in thunder-tones his avenging
justice. on the oppressor. A few quota
tions will show their general character :
44 Blessed is he that censidereth the poor"
"Defend the poor and fatherless: do
justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver
the poor and needy : rid him out of the
hand of the wicked" 44 Open thy mouth
for the dumb plead the cause of the poor
and needy 4 Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy" "First, be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come
and offer thy gift" 44 Thou shah love thy
neighbor as thyself" "All things what
soever ye would that meen should do to
you, do ye even so to them " Again :
u For he will deliver the needy when he
crieth : the poor also, and him that hath
no helper" 44 The Lord loosetb the pris
oners the Lord raiseth them that are
bowed down the Lord preserveth the
strangers" " He hath sent me to heal the
broken-hearted to preach deliverance to
the captives to set at liberty tbem that
are bruised" 44 For the oppression of the
pooi, for the sighing of the needy, now
will 1 arise, saith the Lord : I will set him
in safety from him that puffeth at him." j
Again : 44 The Lord executeth righteous
ness and judgment for all that are oppress
ed" 44 Rob not the poor because he is
poor : neither oppress the afflicted in the
gate; for the Lord will plead their cause,
and spoil the soul of those that spoiled
them" "And I will come near to you to
judgment, and I will be a swift witness a
gainst those that oppress the hireling in
his wages, the widow and the fatherless,
and that turn aside the stranger form bis
right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of
hosts." 44 Woe unto him that buildeth his
house by unrighteousness and his cham
the post-office and mail ; and in the alacri
ty with which they obeyed the popular
call to dissolve the Sunday-schools for the
instruction of the colored people. Also, in
the fact, that, throughout the whole South,
church members are not only found in the
Vigilance Committees (tribunals organiz
ed in opposition to the laws of the states
where they exist) but uniting with the mer
ciless and the profligate in passing sen
tence consigning to infamous and excruci
ating, if not extreme, punishment, persons,
by their own acknowledgement, innocent
of any unlawful act. Out of sixty persons
that composed the vigilance committee
which condemned Mr. Dresser, to-be
scourged in the public square of Nashville,
twenty-seven were members of church
es, and aneof them a professed leacher of
Christianity. A member of the commit
tee stated afterward, in a newspaper of
which he was the editor, that Mr. Dresser
had not laid himself liable lo any punish'
ment known to the laws. Another instance
is to be found in the conduct of the Rev.
Wm. S. Plummer, of Virginia. Having
been absent from Richmond, when the
ministers of the gospel assembled togeth
er, formally to testify their abhorrence of
the abolitionists, he addressed the Chair
man of the Committee of Correspondence
a note, in which he uses this language:
"If abolitionists will set the country in a
blaze, it is but fair that they should have
the first warming at the fire" 4 Let them
understand, that they will be caught, if
they come among us, and they will take
good heed to keep out of our way." Mr.
P. has no doubtful standing in the Presby
terian Church to which he is attached
he has been regarded as one of its bright
est ornaments. To drive the slave-holding
church & its members from the equiv
ocal, the natural position, from which they
had so long successfully defended slavery ;
to compel them to elevate their practice to
an even height with their avowed princi
ples, or to degrade their principles down
to the level of their known practice, was a
preliminary, necessary in the view of ab
olitionists, either for bringing that part of
the church into the common action against
slavery, or as a ground for treating it as
bers by wrong; that useth his neighbors ! confederate with oppressors. So far, then.
service witnout wages, and giveth him not
for his work."
Fairs for the sale of articles fabricated
by the hands of our female abolitionists,
and recommended by pictures and senten
ces'similar to those quoted above, are held
in many of our cities and large towns.
Crowds frequent them, to purchase ; hun
dreds of dollars are thus realized, to be ap
propriated to the anti-slavery cause ; and,
from the cheap raid at which the articles
as the action of the church, or of Jts indi
vidual members is to be reckoned among
the events of the last two or three years,
the abolitionists find in it nothing to les
sen their hopes or expectations. ;-;r
2. The abolitionists believed from the
beginning, that the slaves of the Sooth
In the division of the General Araetnbhr of dw
Presbyterian Church, that bat just taken place, Mr
P. haa been electeted Moderator of U "Old
School portion. ,
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