Rnnk C-4-4-7 ¥^ tv 1, 04 J or mm WITH MRIA: ' A SERMON PREACHED IN THE eBiSMSiflSiM €HiISH. West Brattleboro, Vt, July 4t]i, 1852. 0. 11 Mmnm^m mmMkmm)%mm -'V -Si Cj. I\F.V. Wlst Brattlkboro, Sept. 20, 1852. J. Chandler, Dear Sir:— We the Subjicribcrs respectt'ully solicit for the press, a copy 01' tJio Seniion which vou delivered on the Fourth of July last. RUSSELL HAYES, DAN'L WARRINER, OSHEA SMITH, EDW'D CROSBY, S. G. SMITH, ABNKR ADAMS, FRANCIS D. WHEELER, THO'S CROSBY, H. F. SMITH, .lOHN LISCOM, WM. GAINS, EDW'D DUNKLEE, TIMOTHY ADKINS, JONATHAN HORTON, WILLARD ARMS, Jr., SOLYMAN CUNE, Gentlemex: — I herewith transmit a copy of the discoiirse you request for publica- tion. I have endeavored, by revising and enlarging it somewhat, to make it less un- worthy to appear before the public. The importunity of friends is a worn-out apology for publication. Be assured that no such importunity in this instance would have pre- vailed with me, had you not persuaded me that the publication might aid in the dt seminatiou of views and principles which we hold to be important, and of great pres- ent iiiterest. Your friend and pastor, JOSEPH CHANDLER. To Messrs. R. Hayes, I). Warrcner, and others. West Brattlcboro, Sept. 21, 1852. IsAtAii 8: 11— 1-i. Foi' the Loi'd spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instruct- ed me, that I should not walk in the way ol' this people, saying, Say ye not, a confederacy, to all theni to whom this people shall say, a confederacy ' neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid, • Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary. This day bf'injr the Anniversary of the Declaration of our National l!id('[ien(ience, it is manifestly not iaiproi)er that we select i'or discussion :s()ine one among the many to[)ics which the civil history of the day suggests, provided only, that we do not forget what is due to the sa- credness of the Lord's day and of the ])ulpit. We are indeed aware that there are not a few who think that subjects of a public, national and political interest should never be broached in the pulpit, and that ministers of the gospel, who presume to preach upon such subjects, iieglect their proper duty, and intermeddle with what does not belong to them. Now, we do not doubt that some preachers do thus depart from the simplicity of the gospel, and lay themselves open to just cen- sure, and we are as firmly persuaded that much of the preaching, whether on political or other subjects, which men applaud, and which fills their mouths with compliments for the preacher, is "another gosjjel." But we would ask, does not the prevailing prejudice against the discus- sion, in the pulpit, of subjects of public and political interest, indicate a wide departure from the principles of the gospel, of those maxims which bear sway in politics and in the conduct of public affairs ? Men would not be so unwilling that their [)olitical prmciples and conduct should be examined in the light of Divine truth, were they not con- vscious, or at least suspicious, that such examination would reveal how corrupt and how far removed from sound morality the whole business of politics is. But again, they who wouKl interdict the clergy from dis- cussing and passing judgment upon'public affairs, seem not to be aware how much our national independence owes to the American pulpit. Ih the year 1774, the General Assembly of Massachusetts Bay sent to the several ministers of the province a circular letter, in which, after ac- knowledging the goodness of Heaven in constantly supplying them with preachers of the gnsjiel, they say, "In a day like this, when all the friends of civil and religious liberty ;;re exerting themselves to deliver this country from its present calamities, we cannot but place great hoprs jd an order of men who have ever distinguished themselves in their iiountry's cause, and do therefore recomtTiend to the ministers of the gospel in the several towns and other places in this colony, that they .issist us id LVoiding that dreadful slavery with which we are now rhreatened.'' A the will of one-third of the States, the complete triumph of the party that favored over that which opposed if, and the annihilation of the lat- ter, the nullifying doctrines, and acts of one of the .soutiiern States, the large accessions made to our territory, and some minor causes, created, each in its turn, serious apprehensions for the safety and iiitegriiy of the Union. But while sul)sequent events have shown that mo>t of these ap- prehensions were gnjundless, there is \et one oth«'r cau.-c, still in o()era- tion, from which more danger has been feared than from any one, and p^hap.s all liif other::. It oC«m.^ to '.'e generally ai^iecd ili.it the gicat, and iihnost tlip only [)re.sent (larigcr to the Uniorij arises diret-.tly or indi- rectly from the institution of Negro slavery. Certainly, no one subject has caused greater agitation throughout the country for the last few years than this ; and hence, as we might expect, there is hardly any subject in respect to which the views of men on both sides are more characterized by extravagance, and distorted by preju- tlice. The intemperate and fanatical zeal with which the institution has been attacked on the one side and defended on the other, has contributed inaiidy to this agitation, and indeed, until recently, has constituted the greater part of it. At first, and for a long time, it was confined chiefly to a small class of violent and reckless men, at the North and the South. But within two or three years past, another and better class fiave be- come agitated. The minds of many sober men have been filled with the most painful apprehensions for the safety of the Union and the con- stitution in such a storm, and the cry has gone throu;ih the land, "The Union is in danger." The halls of congress witnessed the starting of this alarming cry: it was echoed by politicians, in conventions, and thro' the political press: it was re-echoed in the marts of commerce, and l)y the commercial ])ress ; and even the pulpit lent itself to some extent to spread the alarm in ipiartcrs which else it would scarcely h:ive reached. Now we are ready to admit, without hesitation, that there is ground for alarm. Slavery does very seriously endanger the Union, and will yet put it in far greater lianger. No intelligent man can shut his eyes to the fact that slavery is at war with the fundamental principles and the legitimate tendencies of our constitution, and of our American civi- hzition. h has contrived to live in ourcountry, because the constitution •suffered it to live: it has even contrived to grow into great power and mfluence in our government, by that sufferance. But ever, as it has ad- vanced in power, it has tlevelnped, more and more, its true character. — Its serpent fangs can no longer be concealed ; it is even now preparing to strike its [>oison into the bosom that has cherished it. On every slight jirovocation, on every appearance of opposition, it raises its hate- ful head, and darts its tiireatening tongue. And the time is not far off, •is every observing man must see, when it can no longer be harbored Jtmong us, — when an extreme necessity, as in a case of life or death, will demand its removal. As sure as there are such things asnong men as knowledge, truth, honor, patriotism, philanthrojiy, morality, religion j as sure as there is a Church of Christ on earth, — as sure as there is a Alilleniuni in prospect, so sure is it that Slavery must and will disappear from this land and from the world. All that is good on earth is array- ed against it ; the very stars in their courses fight against it. Whether io its fall it will bring down our republic with it, cannot now be predict- ed; but the two cannot stand much longer upon the same soil. "Slav- ♦•ry must pass away; or all that brightens and adorns this land with the promise of a new era of freedom for mankind, must perish before it. — The soil of freedom snust be cultivated by the hands of freemen, or the time will come,. when, from each traditionary hill, and from each sacred battle-field, the voices of the guardian genii will be hoard in tones of grief) Let us depart."* There is drwiger, then, enough of it, from slavery. We would nei- ther deny, conceal, nor extenuate it. At the same time, we cannot but think that there is in many minds a strange misapprehension of the na- ture of that danger. A few of the ■•jautli'^rn states, or riither their rep- * Dr. BacoH, in Bib. Eer:s , J.iu- Ibi''}. 9 resentatives in congress, have for years been threatening to withdraw from the union, 'fhis threat is renewed every time they have a diffi- cult point to carry. And many good people seem to think that the danger is that they will do it. Now, we do humbly conceive that this is not the thing we have most to fear. If slavery would just take itself otf quietly, and leave us to enjoy our freedom and our noble constitu- tion, undisturbed by its incessant agitation, it might not be so very bad a thing. But slavery never will do this. It holds too dear all the bul- warks and defences which it has compelled our government, whether under or over the constitution, it mattered little which, to build around it. The utmost nigenuity of the su|)porters of slavery has been taxed for years, to extort from thr; constitution interpretations and construc- tions whi«h we are quite sure its framers never dreamed of, to uphold and strengthen the system. The highest point yet attained in this line of policy is indicated in the act of congress known as the Kugitive Slave Law. Since that law was enacted, its supporters have demanded, with the same insolent pertinacity with which they fought for its enactment, that congress and the national party conventions should declare, by formal resolutions, that they will abide by it, as a final setdenjent of all the disputed questions, to which it has reference ; that they will refrain from all agitation of these questions — that they will never demand its repeal, and that they will see it thoroughly and faithfully executed. — And now, having carried all these points, and gained these advantages, we certainly need be under no further apprehension that the South will throw them all away by withdrawing from the union. No! the danger is not now, if it ever was, that slavery would leave us. The daneer is that it will cling to us, like a foul cancerous disease, till it eats away the very heart of the nulion. The measures that have been taken by those who are thought to have saved the union, indicate to our mind very clearly iheir misajiprehen- sion of the case. The enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law was con- fessedly a sacrifice to propitiate the Moloch of Slavery. The stale and empty threat of some of the southern states, that they would withdraw from the union, wrought, at length, so much upon the fears of our leg- islators as to compel their consent to that law. Of couri^e, the design was to unite these disaffected states with their slaveholding interests, more closely to the union. At'ter that law had been put in operation, and the sound, conscientious men of the North had begun to learn its character, and to express their honest and righteous indignation at the disgrace of such a law, and their determination to suffer its utmost pen- alties, rather than aid in enforcing it, at once the proclamation went through the land, "This law must be obeyed, — to refuse obedience is treason, not only to the South, but to the government, and even to dod." The solemn sanctions of the Bible were urged by great, and learned, and honored ])reachers of the gospel, to enforce the duty of obedience to tliis law. And so it seeinedthat there was proiluced thro' the country a very general agreement, or shall we not say, a confedera- cy, to avert the danger to the union, by sustaining and executing the Fugitive Slave Law, and thereby strengthening the hands of Slavery. — Now, if this is the way to save the union, we think it is high time to in- quire what sort of a union it is that can be thus saved, and^what son of danger it is that can be thus averted. We would preach no doctrine that contem})Iates the dissolution of our union — we would utter no sin- gle word in disparagement of it. We subscribe heartily to the senti- I'l'-nt of the framers of the constitution, in the preamble to that venera- 10 ble instrument, in which they declared its design to be "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the bless- ings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." We believe the consti- tution to be, on the whole, wisely adstpted to secure these ends. Taking it as it is, and by a fair interpretation, we have no disposition to refuse obedience to it. We rri^ghf, indeed, most heartily wish that the clause relating to fugitives from service or labor were not there. It is our firm belief that the only system of servitude thit ought to be looked upon with the least tolerance in our country, and the only system recognized in the Old Testament, is one from which its subjects would have no de- sire and no motive to escape. As we read the Old Testament, such is the character of the servitude therein recognized. We understand that the returning of a fugitive servant unwillingly to his master is there for- bidden ; and that the very fact of his having escaped is taken as evidence of such ill treatment on the part of the master as released the servant from the obligation of remaining, if he chose to escape. And so we say now ; if southern masters wish to retain their servants, and have them obedient to the precepts of Paul, let them also regard what is directed to them- selves; let them forbear threatening, and give to their servants that which is just and equal, and then we should need no Fugitive Slave Law. And were it to be presumed that they who escape were treated as they shouhl be, and had no good reasons for flight, none could rea- sonably object to the clause in the constitution which requires that they shall be delivered uj). But when a construction is i)Ut upon that clause which makes it my duty, if called upon, to assist in hunting and recapturing a fugitive — which makes it a crime for me to extend to him the connnon hospitalities of society, to receive him to my house, and to give him food and shelter — a construction which puts the liberty of eve- ry colored jterson at the North at the mercy of perjured and desperate villains, with no hope of redress by law — a construction which makes every such person presumptively a slave, unless, in a southern court, and before a pro-slavery jury, he can establish his freedom — when we, citizens of the free states, are asked to accept all this as invested with the sacredness oi law, the answer that I, for one, have to make, is, that, though I accept the constitution, I utterly repudiate such construction of it. And if you ask me for a reason, 1 hold it reason enough, though not all that might be given, that there is a Higher Law, a law that Is to me more sacred than even the constitution, and infinitely more than the statute for the rendition of fugitives from slavery — a law whose power over the consciences of men that fear God is proof alike against the most ingenious sophistry, and the most unsparing ridicule. That High- er Law is reason enough, why the sober, conscientious and religious men of the free states cannot, and we are confident, never will be made to go one step beyond the letter of the constitution, in aiiything that will strengthen the defences of slavery. But then, these are not the men that will dissolve, or in the least de- gree endanger the union. These men will abide by the constitution as it is, or, if they desire its amendment, they will seek it in constitutional modes. They will obey all the laws of the land which they can obey without treason to the Great Power, whose kingdom is over all. l^ they refuse obedience to any statute, it will be not because their sense of the sacred obligation of law is less, but because it is greater than that of other men. Therefore they cannot obey a statute which in their honest judgment tramples on all that makes law sacred. If the greater part of \ 11 The nation were of this mind, tho union of those states, vvc are oonfident, would stand to the end of the world. But there are fanatics at the North, and there are fanatics at the South, who have done and arc doing their best to weaken and des- troy the union. In this thing the extremes have met. Syria is con- federate with Ephraim. But those allies prevailed not against Ju- dah: and so the fanatics of both extremes have not destroyed, and Tve are persuaded, they cannot destroy this union. We have, how- ever, heen surprised that tlieir threats and denunciatioiii should have •caused the hearts of so many to be moved, as trees are moved by the wind. But we have been more than surprised, we have been grieved beyond measure, that they who have been thus moved, should have been driven by their real or pretended apprehensions of danger to the union, from northern and southern I'anaticism, to^eek and obtain that alliance with slavery, which gave birth to the Fugitive Slave Law. We would not, however, convey the impression that we suppose the fear of fanaticism to have been the sole originating cause of that statute. Many who now advocate its thorough execution, on the ground that the safety of the union demands as much, do not mean, we are sure, exactly what they say. In the convention that formed the constitution, wheir the question of continuing the slave-trade was under discussion, Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, said "Religion and humanity have nothing to do with this question. Interest alone is the governing principle with nations." We would hope that this unqualified statement is not true, but certainly we know of no measure of our government with which re- ligion and humanity had less to do than the enacting of the Fugitive Slave Law. And we know not what motive but interest should impel so many men at the North, especially in our cities, to advocate the exe- cution of that law, and even to assist therein. We are all aware that the interests of commercial men at the North are linked by many and strong ties, to southern slavery. And we know equally well that there are very few men who take the same view of a question in which their interests are much concerned, that they would take were there nothing tc gain or lose. Inasmuch, then, as the great majority of coinmerciftl men. do not profess to be governed by any other than the selfish principle, it is not uncharitable nor severe to say of them, that the cry in their mouths, "The union is in danger," meant this, and only this, our craft is in danger. "It is the sad fate of humanity, that, encompassing its hopes, fears, contentment and wishes, within the narrow scope of momentary satis- faction, the great lesson of history is taught almost in vain." Thus, in •one of his latest addresses, speaks the great Hungarian. We fear it is too true. We fear that the particular history to which the text relates, its lessons being disregarded, will prove an intimation and a prophecy of our national destiny. Ahaz, in his time of danger, alarmed at that from which the prophet assured him he had nothing to fear, rushed madly upon that which the prophet declared would be his ruin. To re- lieve for the moment his imaginary fear.s, he purchased at a great price of treasure from the house of the Lord, that confederacy which opened he way for the overthrow of his kingdom, and the captivity of the [whole nation. In our time of trouhla and of fear, instead of turning to ^he Lord for help, and to his law for wisdom, the nation aeeuis not on- ^^y to have desired, but actually to have entered into a confedera«Y with '■^the very power of^ all others from which we have mwi to fear. Wc r