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ticed the prudence, which he and his friends are so much distinguished for, instead of "rushing within the cruel and unsparing sweep of the angry elements, which" his fidelity had "awakened" in the bosoms of the wicked, he would have eagerly welcomed and anxiously retained the regal honors, which on one occasion were placed within His reach. Instead of dying the death of a slave He would have lived the life of a King. Will Mr. Woods venture to apply to Him the heartless exclamation; "How many, alas! have fallen victims to this mistaken method of reform, whom a better judgment might have saved to the cause of truth and virtue"?

To those, who are disposed to admire and adopt the maxim, to which we have so often adverted, we would venture, moreover, to commend the style of instruction, which in imitation of the example of his Lord, and in accordance with the methods of his fellow-apostles, James adopted. He opened his eye upon that "particular evil"-the source of multiplied hurtful influences;-"respect of persons," which it seems had even in his day crept into the church, to waste its strength and mar its beauty. Upon this evil, he made a direct attack. Will Mr. Woods say for the want of a "better judgment"? "For if there come into your assembly a man with a gold ring and in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect unto him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place, and say unto the poor, Stand thou there, or, sit here under my footstool; are ye not then partial in yourselves, and have become judges of evil thoughts? But ye have despised the poor." With what wry faces would the bare reading of this homely passage fill those christian assemblies, which would be most forward politely to bow assent to the wise maxim of our reformermaker!

Where was any moral evil ever removed from the face of the earth by any such methods as Mr. W. commends? Were these Luther's methods? Were they Calvin's? Were they the methods of John Knox? By such methods* did

"Still, however, there are truths so self-evident, or so immediately and palpably deduced from those that are, or are acknowledged for such, that they are at once intelligible to all men, who possess the common advantages of the social state; although by sophistry, by evil habits, by the neglect, false persuasions, and

Clarkson and his coadjutors abolish the slave trade in England; or their successors in the promotion of human happiness, slave-holding from the West Indies? To what else have the evils of intemperance ever yielded in this republic than to direct attacks! Only by direct onset has any thing been gained in this holy cause.

But perhaps Mr. Woods has some appropriate and impressive illustrations of the soundness, right and worth of his maxim, in the methods which religious teachers at the South have employed to free the republic and the church from the "particular"-yes, very "PARTICULAR evil" of slavery. Age after age have they gone on employing, it would seem-we know not what indirect means-to correct those "depraved dispositions" in which this evil had its origin. A "direct attack" upon it, "their better judgments" have prevented them from making. They doubtless felt that the cause of "truth and virture" could not spare such advocates; they have therefore been careful enough not "to awake the angry elements of the human breast, and then rush within their cruel and unsparing sweep." They felt, according to Mr. Woods' doctrine, that to become martyrs in that cause, was to be lost to it? But what good have all their efforts to correct the depraved dispositions of menstealers around them done? Good! The evil which proceeded from these depraved dispositions, has every year been gathering strength. It has gone on unchecked, poisoning the life-blood, and palsying the powers of the church. Nay, these very teachers have, in great numbers, themselves become the active, hearty participants in the very crime which they were bound to expose and condemn! So much for the success of discreet exertions to remove a particular

impostures of an ANTI-CHRISTIAN PRIESTHOOD, JOINED IN ONE CONSPIRACY WITH THE VIOLENCE OF TYRANNICAL GOVERNORS, the understandings of men may become so darkened, and their conscience so lethargic, that there may arise a necessity for the republication of these truths, and this too with a voice of LOUD ALARM AND IMPASSIONED WARNING. Such were the doctrines proclaimed by the first Christians to the Pagan world-such were the lightnings flashed by Wickliffe, Huss, Luther, Calvin, Zuinglius, Latimer, &c., across the papal darkness; and such in our own times-the agitating truths, with which Thomas Clarkson and his excellent confederates-the Quakers-fought and conquered the LEGALIZED BANDITTI OF MEN-STEALERS, the numerous and powerful perpetrators of rapine, murder, and (OF BLACKER GUILT THAN EITHER) SLAVERY.' COLERIDGE'S Friend, p. 49, 50. We recommend this paragraph to the attention of the warm admirers of the great English philosopher and poet-especially in Vermont. The gentlemen Tracy can doubtless digest it.

evil, by correcting the dispositions in which it had its origin, without a direct attack upon the evil itself. "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."

There was a man, who for a time, ventured to act uprightly, and with decision and effect even at the infected South on the subject of slave-holding. A few sentences from Southey's life of Wesley will introduce him to our readers. "Wesley," Mr. S. informs us, "had borne an early testimony against the system of negro slavery. Dr. COKE feeling like Mr. Wesley, took up the subject with his usual ardor, preached upon it with great vehemence, and prepared a petition to Congress for the emancipation of the negroes. With this petition he* and ASBURY went to General Washington at Mount Vernon, and solicited him to sign it. Washington received them courteously and hospitably; he declined signing the petition, that being inconsistent with the rank he held; but he assured them THAT HE AGREED WITH THEM, and that if the assembly should take the petition into consideration, he would signify his sentiments by a letter. They proceeded so far themselves, that they required the members of the society to set their slaves free; and several persons were found who made this sacrifice from a sense of duty. One planter in Virginia emancipated twenty-two, who were, at that time, worth from thirty to forty pounds each. His name was Kennon, and deserves to be honorably recorded; but such instances were rare. And Dr. Coke, who had much of the national ardor in his character, proceeded in such an intolerant spirit of philanthropy, that he soon provoked a violent opposition, and incurred no small degree of personal danger. One of his sermons upon this topic incensed some of his hearers so much that they withdrew, for the purpose of waylaying him; and a LADY negro-owner promised them fifty pounds if they would give "that little doctor" AN HUNDRED LASHES. But the better part of the congregation protected him, and THAT

*Were not Coke and Asbury "FOREIGNERS"? Did they not venture to find fault with what the South now declares, not even Northern Americans shall meddle with? And this soon after the "revolutionary" war? when the wounds inflicted in that contest were yet scarcely healed? Why did not George Washington rebuke them for their interference in what was none of their business? Let our windy tongue-valiant patriots, who are so forward with childish petulance, to denounce and insult George Thompson and Charles Stuart answer these inquiries.

SAME SERMON PRODUCED THE EMANCIPATION OF TWENTY

FOUR SLAVES. In one county the slave-owners presented a bill against him, which was found by the grand jury, and no less than ninety persons set out in pursuit of him, but he was got beyond their reach. A more ferocious enemy followed him with an intention of shooting him; this the man himself confessed, when sometime afterwards he became a member of the Methodist society. On his second visit to America, Coke was convinced that he acted indiscreetly, and he consented to let the question of emancipation rest, rather than stir up an opposition which so GREATLY IMPEDED THE PROGRESS OF METHODISM." Vol. II. 203, 204. On this interesting and instructive quotation, we cannot help remarking,

1. That those great lights of the Methodist society, Wesley, Coke and Asbury, were unanimous in their abhorrence of and opposition to the system of slave-holding. Wesley was a thunderbolt upon man-stealers.

2. Washington "agreed with" these men in their views of this subject, and encouraged them in their exertion, to promote the abolition of slavery.

3. The truth of God, plainly and pointedly announced by Dr. Coke, found its way, with scorching influence, to the consciences and hearts of the petty tyrants, by whom he was surrounded. Some were enraged; others, set their bondmen free.

4. Coke was at length persuaded to abandon the ground of truth and rectitude, in his official efforts; not by the violence of open infidels, but by the opposition of "false brethren." The question of emancipation was put to rest lest the progress of Methodism should be impeded. Thus Methodism lent its influence to rivet the fetter upon the heel of the slave! It is our conviction that the American church is chiefly responsible for the attrocities and horrors of American slavery!

The trials Dr. Coke had to encounter in the stupid selfishness of his brethren, an extract or two from his journal, as quoted from Mr. Southey, will set in a clear and striking light. "At night I lodged in the house of Capt. Dillard, a most hospitable man, and as kind to his negroes as if they were white servants. It was quite pleasing to see them so decently and comfortably clothed. And yet I could not beat

into the head (heart!) of that poor man, the evil of keeping them in slavery, although he had read Mr. Wesley's Thoughts on Slavery (I think he said) three times over. But his good wife is strongly on our side." "I preached the late Col. Bedford's funeral sermon, but I said nothing good of him, for he was a violent friend of slavery; and his interest being great with the Methodists in these parts, he would have been a dreadful thorn in our sides, if THE LORD HAD NOT IN MERCY TAKEN HIM AWAY."

What if instead of abandoning the high ground, which in his integrity and benevolence he had taken, Dr. Coke had heartily and strenuously maintained it. What if the lady negro-owner and her numerous friends had seized him and sucked his blood. The progress of a spurious Methodism might have been impeded. But would his life, thus taken, have been lost to the cause of human rights? Of that cause, scores of earnest and determined advocates would have sprung up from his sacred ashes. And the more widely these ashes had been scattered on the winds, the more rich and glorious would have been the future harvest of martyrs.

Before we bring this article to a close, we would illustrate in a few particulars the practical bearings of the doctrines, which under the advocacy of such men as Mr. Woods, seem to have obtained a wide prevalence in the American churches. Let our readers understand, then, that in the poetry of philanthropy, they may "aim at that blissful state, in which nothing shall hurt or molest ;" but in their "practical" concerns they are "patiently to endure" "a large class of evils and disorders," which, while endured, cannot but prevent the introduction of that state. In the poetry of philanthropy, they are to regard the "business of doing good" as "taking for the most part the shape of reform;" in their practical concerns, they are never to forget that "after sacrilege, there is nothing more profane than with rash and unbidden hands" to engage in the work of reformation. In the poetry of philanthropy, they are not to regard the work of reform, "as to be done at once, in rare emergencies, and then intermitted." "It needs," they must not forget, "to be as INCESSANT as are the insidious encroachments of corruption ;" in their practical concerns, they will find it the labor of a long life to determine whether they ought to lift a finger to remove any of the evils, by which

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