Mr. Whitman's reply : occasioned by the "Protest of Unitarian ministers against American slavery

TRACT FOR THE TIMES.
NO. 18.

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TO

Rev. Jason Whitman,

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(SOUTHERNER}

NMR. WHITMAN'S REPLY.

OCCASIONED BY THE

“PROTEST OF UNITARIAN MINISTERS
AGAINST AMERICAN SLAVERY.”

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THE SOUTHERNER’S LETTER.

SavannaH, Oct. 22d.

Mr. Waitman, Dear Sir:— A number of
the Register has been in circulation here, in
which we have seen your name, affixed toa
protest against Slavery. Have you, my dear
sir, seriously considered what the consequence
of such a step will be?

Unitarianism is in no good repute among us,
and it is my serious belief that such a docu-
ment as that will be the death-blow to it, and
you are one that we hoped better things from ;
setting our faith aside, what earthly good do
you think can be done by it? Iwill answer.
Isay none. Every such document rivets the
chains tighter, and debars those you so much
pity from the privileges they now enjoy.
There are many here that deplore the exist-
ence of Slavery as much as you can, and if any

4

way can be pointed out by which it could be
remedied, would join you in effecting it; but
some reasonable way must be opened first. —
Can you point out any such? If not, we must —
look upon those of you, who signed that paper,
as madmen, who would not hesitate to throw
fire into powder. You area man of good sense
and were here long enough to see that the two
races could not occupy the same country in
peace. Nowif we free them what will become —
of them? (setting aside the ruin it will bring
upon us.). Will you take them North? For I
assure you we won't have them here. Will
you and your friends be willing to remunerate
the widow and orphan when their all is taken
from them? And who imposed this evil on us,
but you Northerners? Who were more deeply
engaged in slave-traffic than the men of Mas-
sachusetts? I acknowledge the evils you com-
plain of in the low state of morals among
them, but itis young men and old men from
the North that encourage them in vice toa
greater degree than our own people, who have
too much pride to associate with them.

Mr. Whitman, I expected better things of
you, we were low enough in the world’s esti-
mation without putting this upon us. 1

‘MR. WHITMAN’S REPLY.

Oyor

Lexington,

eee
°

My Dear Sr1r,—It has ever been a rule with
me to take no notice of anonymous letters. I
have received several such since I have been
in the Christian Ministry. But I have ever
felt, that no man could reasonably expect an
answer to a letter, to which he had not seen fit
to affix hisname. But, in view of the import-
ance of the subject, to which your letter relates,
T have concluded to depart from my previously
uniform practice, and insert an answer in the
columns of the Register, to which paper it
seems you have access. And ] have taken the
liberty to insert your letter, that so the readers
might better understand the answer, and that
the other signers of the Protest besides my-
self might enjoy the benefits of your sugges-
tions. .

In the above letter, it seems to-be implied,
that you have fears that, in affixing my name to
the Protest against American Slavery, I have
acted thoughtlessly. I can assure you that I

6

acted after the most serious considerations, and
under the most solemn convictions. I will
frankly state to you the course I have pursued,
and the convictions under which IJ have acted.
For years I was reading and reflecting upon
American Slavery; studying the writings of
Channing and others in regard to it, and avail-
ing myself of every thing, written in defence
or in palliation of the system, which might
come within my reach. Still, I watched for an
opportunity to witness the operations and ten-
dencies of the system for myself, before making
up my mind in regard to it. At length, in the
Providence of God, I was led, in the pursuit of
health, to spend a winter in your beautiful city,
supplying the pulpit of the Unitarian Society
there, and visiting Charleston, S. C., for a few
weeks on exchange. For the generous hospi-
tality, the affectionate kindness, and the delicate
sympathy of the Unitarians of Savannah and
Charleston, I have ever cherished and still con-
tinue to cherish feelings of the most profound
and heartfelt gratitude. Of the many pleasant
acquaintances I have formed, I shall ever retain
_ glad remembrances. When I went South, I
was undecided in my mind upon the subject
of Slavery. And I determined, before going,
that as God in his Providence was offering me

~

7

the opportuuity I had long wished for, I would
go as an inquirer upon that subject, that ]
would seek to ascertain the facts of the case
and make careful observations upon the tenden-
cies of the system, and I would, on my return,
compare the whole with the spirit and princi-
ples of the Gospel, and make np my mind
upon the subject. This course I did conscien-
tiously pursue. After having formed a decid-
ed opinion, I wrote toa person in Savannah,
that the result was a deep abhorrence of the
system of Slavery, accompanied by kind feel-
ing and affectionate regard, for those, who were
connected with the system, contrary to their
wishes and convictions, by circumstances be-
yond their control. ‘Thus you perceive that I
have studied the subject; and, as far as I have
been able, both sides of it. I have, for a time,
watched the tendencies of the system and its
influence upon both masters and slaves, while
an eye-witness of its actual operations; and
then I have sought for my duty, and compared
what I had seen, with the teachings of Jesus,
and with the principles and spirit of the Gos-
pel. Ihave thus, my dear sir, frankly stated
to you the process by which I have been led to
my present convictions upon the subject o1
American Slavery, and which are in accord-

8

ance with the statements and positions of the
Protest, to which my name is affixed. Jn the
course which I have pursued, have I acted
hastily, or in any way unbecoming a Christian
Minister ? E

But your objection may not be so much to
my opinions themselves, nor to the fact of my
having embraced them, as to my having given
utterance to them, by affixing my name to the
Protest. But I can assure you, that it was not
without the most careful reflection, that I took
that step. The convictions under which I acted
‘were these:

Ist. It is with mea settled conviction, that
no true word, uttered in a Christian spirit, can
ever, in the long run, do hurt, but must, event-
ually, do good. Our Saviour uttered and bore
witness to the truth, and truth too, opposed to
the prejudices and practices of the Jews. It
excited opposition and resulted in his death.
Its utterance, then, seemed to be productive of .
evil at the time. But his utterance of the truth,
though he himself suffered for having given it,
has, in the long run, been productive of great
good. And soit is with the utterance of all
truth, which comes in contact with the preju-
dices and practices of the world. It may, at
first, excite opposition, and seem, for a time, to

9

be productive of evil. But it results eventually
in good. It is then with me, I repeat, a setiled
conviction, that the calm and quiet utterance
of the truth, if it be uttered in a Christian spir-
it, will always be productive of good, in the
long run. When, therefore, that Protest was
put into my hands, I asked myself but two
questions in regard to it. Does it give utter-
ance to the truth? — Is it written in a Christian
spirit? Believing that these two questions may
be answered in the affirmative, in regard to the
Protest, I felt safe in affixing my name to it, in
the conviction, that, although it might excite a
- little temporary opposition, it must eventually
do good.

2d. The Gospel, of which Iam a minister,
requires me to do to others, as I would have
others doto me. I had seen my fellow men
and brothers bound in the chains of an oppres-
sive slavery, for no fault of their own. I felt
were I in their situation, [ shonld wish that
some brother man would raise in my behalf,
the voice of remonstrance against the wrong
and oppression, under which I might be suffer-
ing. Was I not bound, then, most solemnly by
the Gospel requisitions, to do for others, what,
in an exchange of circumstances, I might wish
to have others do for me? Then tool have

10

seen my-fellow men and brethren, from whom.
1 had received substantial proofs of kindness,
adhering to and sustaining a system, based, as I
thought in sin, and fraught with evil, and I felt
that, were I in their situation, had my fellow
men the same opinion of any course which I
might be pursuing, which I entertain of slave-
holding, I ought to rejoice to have them point
out to me its character, and protest against my
continuance init. Was I not bound then, by
Gospel requisitions, and urged by the prompt-
ings of gratitude, to do to my brethren, en-
gaged in slave-holding, what, in an exchange
of circumstances, I ought to rejoice to have
others do to me? And the circumstance that
my fellow men and brethren were unconscious
of the sinfulness of the system they were sup-
porting, seemed to me to heighten my obliga-
tions to remonstrate with them in regard to it,
I felt that it might be that God, in his Provi-
defice, had led me to my convictions, that I
might utter them for the good of others, that
he had imparted them to me as a sacred trust,
to be dispensed by me for the good of my fel-
low men, under a solemn sense of my account-
ability to him. ‘

3d. Although it is the duty of Christians
and Christian Ministers to do all in their power

ll

for the removal from the world of all wrong
doing, wherever found, yet I will confess that I
might not myself have felt so deeply my obli-
gations, had it not been for a particular circum-
stance. Ata discussion of the subject of Slav-
ery, and of our duties as ministers of the Gos-
pel in regard to it, last spring, a brother clergy-
man, whom I highly esteem, and who had en-
joyed great advantages for a thorough knowl-
edge of the whole subject, was reported to have
said, (for I was not present) that he had heard
slave-holders at the South allege, that the sys-
tem of Slavery could not be so sinful as it has
sometimes been represented, for, if it were, the
ministers of the Gospel would speak out on the
subject. It seemed from this remark, that the
silence of the ministers of the Gospel at the
North was speaking most powerfully and en-
_ couragingly, in the ears of slave-holders at the
South, in favor of the system of Slavery. I
said to myself, although I have ever tried to
give the impression that I had no sympathies
with slave-holding, yet it may be that some are
looking to me as one, who rejects or refuses
to speak out upon the subject, because ] regard
favorably the institution itself. And although
the influence of so humble an individual as
myself is at all times but little, yet even for

12 \

that little, [am accountable to God. 1 felt that
it was impossible for me to occupy a position
of moral neutrality, and therefore I chose to
throw my influence, whatever it might be, in
favor of what I regarded as the right. These
are the principal reasons, by which 1 was
influenced to affix my name to the Protest
against American Slavery. I have acted un-
der a solemn sense of my accountability to
God, and according tothe best light I have
enjoyed.

You, sir, are placed in a very different posi-
tion from that which I occupy, and you look at
the whole subject from a different point of view.
You fear that evil consequences must result
from the issuing of that Protest. And what
are the evil consequences you fear ?

Ist. First and principally you fear that the
Protest will strike a death-blow to Unitarian-
ismat the South. And why so, lask? Is it
because by that Protest it will be known at the
South, that Uuitarian ministers are honestly
seeking to know, and to give utterance, ina
Christian spirit, to the instructions of the Gos-
pel upon all the moral evils, unholy customs
and unholy institutions of the community, how
deeply soever they may be imbedded in the af-
fections of the people, how intimately and ex-

13

tensively- soever they may be entwined with
the various ramifications of society? Is it be-
cause by the Protest it will be known at the
South, that a large number of Unitarian clergy-
wien. at the North, are openly and decidedly
opposed to the system of American Slavery?
Are you aware, sir, what is implied in your
remark that the Protest will be the death-blow
to Unitarianism among you? Is it not that
Unitarianism can spread at the South only
when regarded as the friend of Slavery, or at
least as willing to wink at and pass over its sin
and evil? I value Unitarianism, because, as I
read my Bible, it seems to me to express, more
nearly than any other theological system, the
truth there revealed. I have, in times past, put
forth some efforts and made some sacrifices
for the promotion of its spread and prevalence.
I hope I shall ever be willing to do the same
again, whenever in the Providence of God I
am required soto do. But IT ever wish it dis-
tinctly understood, that I value Unitarianism
chiefly as an instrumentality —a divinely ap-
pointed instrumentality — for the promotion of
personal holiness, and individual freedom from
all wrong doing, and for securing, in that way,
an entire renovation of the state of society. If
Unitarianism is to be held asa mere abstract

14

theory and not asa _ principle; as a mere spec-
ulative belief, and not as a living power of ac-
tive interference with all sin; I must confess
that, for one, I should be much less anxious for
its spread than Inow am. If open and uncom-
promising oppositon to sin, in any and every
form, on the part of the Unitarian ministry,
when manifested in a kind and Christian man-
ner, is to be the death-blow of Unitarianisin
in any society, or community, then I, for one,
am ready to say, the sooner itis struck the
better.

But, my dear sir, are you not looking in the
wrong direction, in order to determine what
will be the effects of that Protest upon the con-
dition and prospects of Unitarianism at the
South? You say “we were low enough in
the world’s estimation without putting this
upon us.” And is the world’s estimation the
object which Christianity is to seek, and the
test by which its condition is to be judged? Is
the world’s estimation of such importance to
the living power and rapid spread of the Gos-
pel, that a compromise with sin is to be made
in order to secure it? It seems to me that you
are looking in a wrong direction. The ques-
tion I should ask, in regard to any measure like
that of the Protest, would be not whether it

15

might raise or sink the denomination in the
world’s estimation, but whether it corresponds
with the revealed will of God, and the recorded
instructions of Christ. But I must frankly say
that I differ from you in opinion on this point.
It is my honest belief, that the more any de-
nomination becomes known as uncompromis-
ing in its opposition to all sin, and sincere and
earnest in seeking personal ‘holiness and social
purity, the more will it be .respected, even by
the sinful and the profligate. Honest conscien-
tiousness of purpose will always be respected,
_when manifested in connection with meekness
and humility. And the known purity, freedom
from sin, and devotion to holiness, the known
decision, activity and energy in freeing the
community from the moral evils which prevail,
by which the general character of a denomina-
tion is marked, will prove a more powerful in-
strument in promoting its spread, than all
wealth, talents and eloquence.

2nd. You say that every movement, like
that of issuing the Protest, only rivets the
chains of Slavery the tighter. And whose fault
is this? Lask. Who is answerable for this re-
sult — those who utter the truth, in a Christian
spirit, or those who allow their angry passions
to drive them to the commission of still greater

16

sin? When the Jews were driven, by their
angry passions, to the crucifixion of the holy
Jesus, where was the fault — with Jesus, the
heaven-sent teacher of truth, or with the malig-
nant Jews, who accomplished that nefarious
‘deed? When tumults were excited in opposi-
tion to the Apostles, whereby sin was commit-
ted, who was in fault —the Apostles, for pro-
claiming the truth, or the multitude, for the in-
dulgence of unholy passions? Must the truth
never be spoken, for fear that those, whose
practices it condemns, should be disturbed,
aroused to anger and driven by their passions
to more open and violent opposition? Must
wrong-doing never be rebuked, lest those who
are guilty should be indignant and perverse ?
Must the chains of Slavery be forever left un-
touched, because the attempt to break them
will for a time draw them tighter than before ?
Should every movement, then, like the issuing
of the Protest, rivet the chains of Slavery tight-
er than before, still I cannot see that the
fault rests upon those who have, in that way,
given utterance to the truth, in a Christian
spirit. It must, as it seems to me, rest upon
other shoulders than theirs. And Jam con-
fident that this can be only a temporary incon-

17

venience, introductory to a more glorious result
— the final triumph of truth and justice.

3rd. You think that the wrongs and evils of
Slavery are not to be spoken of, until a reason-
able and perfect remedy is proposed. But this
seems to me to be altogether unnatural and un-
philosophical. The usual course is, to speak
of the wrongs and evils of any prevalent prac-
tice or custom, until men are awakened toa
full conception of their enormity, and to an
earnest desire to be free from them, and then
they will find a reasonable and appropriate
remedy.» If the slave-holders of the South were
fully awakened to the wrongs and abominations
of their peculiar institution and to an earnest
wish to free themselves from all connection
with it, they would, under the guidance of
God, soon find what they would regard as a
reasonable remedy. But if they take the posi-
tion lately taken by Gov. Hammond, that they
will not give up Slavery, it will be impossible,
I fear, for even the Almighty himself, to sug-
gest a remedy which, in that state of mind,
they would regard as reasonable and appropri-
ate. Ido not, therefore, you perceive, agree
with you the opinion, in that nothing must be
said upon the subject of Slavery until an infal-
lible remedy is proposed. My view is, that we

18

must continue to speakof the.wrongs and evils
of the system, until the whole community,
North and South, are awakened to an earnest
desire to free the country from its blighting
influences, and then they will unitedly seek
and speedily find an appropriate remedy.

4th. You say that I have lived at the South
long enough to know, that the two races can-
not occupy the same country in peace. Butdo
they not now occupy the same country in
peace ? and that, too, when one of the races
sees every thing in its condition to arouse war ?
And will that race be less inclined to live in
peace, when treated with justice and kindness?
And will the other race be less disposed to
peace, when acting under the Gospel principle
of doing to others as they would have others
do to them, than they now are, when exposed
to all the temptations incident to the possession
and exercise of irresponsible power? Still
further — are there not now living among you,
many free people of color? and living, too,
under burdens and disabilities imposed by the
whites, well calculated to exasperate and en-
rage them ? and are they not peaceably dispos-
ed? Would they be any less peaceably dispos-
ed, even though their numbers were greatly
multiplied, if relieved of these burdens and

19

disabilities, and allowed their equal rights? I
must confess that I cannot see the difficulty to
which you allude, if both races are actuated by
the right spirit. And I believe that the experi-
ment of emancipation, which has been tried in
the West Indies, has not resulted in general
blood-shed, but that the two races do there oc-
cupy the same country in peace. ‘True, if you
say, we will hold them as slaves, and will not
have them among us in the enjoyment of free-
dom, the two races cannot occupy the same
country in peace. But the difficulty, as it
seems to me, would arise from a want of the
right spirit on the part of those who say this.
Sth. You ask, if we at the North are willing
to receive the emancipated slaves and remu-
nerate the widow and orphan when deprived
of their all? My answer is, that we have never
been asked to do these things, and we cannot
tell what we should be willing to do, until we
are asked. My individual opinion is, that if
the people of the South should come forward
and say to the people of the North, We have
been born to an inheritance, which imposes
upon us a weight too burdensome to be borne,
and yet we need assistance to enable us to
free ourselves from all connection with it; we
wish that a portion of our slaves, when eman-

20

cipated, may be received and appointed to an
inheritance at the North, and we desire funds
to supply the wants of the destitute widow and
orphan, —should such a request be made, in
all honesty and good faith, from the South to
the North, it is my individual opinion, that it
would be promptly and liberally met. At
least, the query ought not to be urged in the
spirit of a taunt, until the request has been
made, and in good faith. Thus far, the North
has been asked, not to receive the emancipated
slave to the enjoyment of liberty, but to return
the fugitive to his master’s control and most
probably to his master’s lash.

6th. You seem to think that we of the North ~
ought not to speak upon the subject of Slavery,
because northern men have been active in the
slave trade. I admit that they have been so.
But if our fathers have grievously wronged the
sons of Africa, in bringing them in bondage, is
that a reason why we, their sons, should neg-
lect all efforts to have their wrongs redressed ?
Is it not a still stronger reason, why we should
attempt to redress the wrongs which our fa-
thers, (ignorantly, we hope,) have done to an
unoffending race? And I am willing to go
farther, and suppose that even now, northern
men are directly or indirectly engaged in this

21

unholy traffic. This circumstunce, were it
known to be true, would make it, as it seems
to me, more imperiously our duty to protest
against this system of American Slavery. If it
has laid its unholy blight upon the affections,
and its paralyzing influence upon the con-
sciences of our neighbors, it is surely high time
that those of us who perceive the evils of the
system, were doing something to remove it
from the land.

7th. You speak of the influence of old men
and young from the North, in perpetuating
vice and immorality among the slaves. This I
learned and lamented while at the South. A-
gainst this, I have raised my voice at the North
since my return. But you allow yourself in the
use of a figure of speech, when you say that
your own people have too much pride io asso-
ciate with the blacks. Surely you cannot ex-
pect that assertion to be received as the sober
statement of the truth, by one who has lived at
the South, and learned, while there, more than
he is willing to state, of the guilt that in this
respect attaches itself to individuals of all
classes, to the native Southerner and to the
emigrant from the North, to the aristocratic and
high spirited, as well as to the low and de-
graded. Still, to whatever portion of the com-

22

munity this stain may most fully attach itself,
you admit its existence, and its unholy charac-
ter. Is it not, therefore, the duty of Christian
ministers especially, to protest against the sys-
tem which naturally tends to such results ?

8th. Ihave reserved to my closing para-
graph, the charge you bring against those of
us, who have affixed our namés to that Protest,
of being madmen. The charge itself does not
disturb me, when I remember that we are not
the first, against whom it has been brought.
We learn, from the tenth chapter of John, that
when our Saviour had uttered truths, which
his hearers were not able to gainsay, some of
them said, ‘“‘ He is mad and hath a devil: why
hear ye him?” And we are assured in scrip-
ture, that the disciple cannot expect to be above
his master in this respect. If the holy Jesus
was charged with being a madman, for pro-
claiming and bearing witness to the truth, shall
his disciples be disturbed, if, when they pro-
claim and bear witness to the truth, they are
subjected to the same charge? You say that,
as madmen, we would throw fire into powder.
But what is the fire that we throw ? and where
have we thrown it? The Protest contains no
denunciation, except of sin, no manifestation of
bitterness and wrath, no appeal to the passions.

23

It is a calm, solemn and earnest, but affection-
ate assertion of the truth, addressed, not to the
slave, to excite his discontent, but to the reason
and conscience of the master. We have
thrown no fire but that of truth, and we have
cast it, not upon the passions, but addressed it
to the reason and the conscience. We have
hoped that it might convince the reason, melt
the conscience, and warm the heart. If, in
your reception of it, you close your reason,
conscience and affections against it, and pre-
sent only the passions, it may fall upon an ex-
plosive magazine. But surely the great body
of men at the South are not men of mere in-
flammable passions. This you will not assert.

_ They are men of reason and of conscience.

They will carefully consider and conscientious-
ly weigh the statements of that Protest. They
will rightly appreciate the sacred regard for
conscience and for duty, for the will of God
and the good of man, under which it was put
forth. If it is fraught with error, they will
point out all that may be erroneous in its prin-
ciples and conclusions. If, as I sincerely be-
lieve, it is but the expression of truth, (and you
have not, in your letter, objected to the truth of
the Protest,) it will eventually do good. You
say that you expected better things of me. If

24

I have forfeited your good opinion, it has been
because I have conscientiously followed my

convictions of duty. If I have done contrary

to th'e decrees of Ceesar, if I have disregarded
the ‘voice of public opinion, and of popular ap-
plause, it is because in moral and _ spiritual

matters 1 do not recognize their authority ; it
is because, in these things, there is to me ano-
ther King, one Jesus, to whom, in my Chris-
tian profession, I have sworn allegiance.

With these remarks upon your letter, and”

with the expression of my sincere hope that,
on this, as on all other subjects of moral duty,
we may both be led by the enlightening influ-

ences of God’s spirit, to see eye to eye, and
with earnest wishes for your welfare and hap-—

piness here, and your enjoyment of heavenly —
bliss hereafter, I return to my appropriate
sphere, the quiet labors of a country pastor,
from which I have: felt myself called in provi-—

dence, and by your letter, to turn aside, long

enough to give you a respectful answer.
Very truly yours,

Jason WHITMAN.

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