Communicated.

For Frederick Douglass' Paper.

LETTER FROM JOHN W. LEWIS.

—

St. Albans, Vt., March 20, 1854.

My Dear Friend Douglass:—Old Ver
mont feels a peculiar boast in the power and
ability of their horses, especially of the old
Morgan line. She also feels a pride in the
noble philanthropy, so proverbial in the his
tory of this slavery-ridden nation. And
since the passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill
of 1850, many of her patriotic citizens have
felt impatient to put old Morgan spead and
philanthropy to the test. Lately we have
been pleased at the fleetness of the one and
the genuineness of the other. Last week
four young men, hale and hearty, direct
from the land of Whips and Chains, arrived
in our village. It seemed to be an arrival
extraordinary among us, and was hailed by
our Green Mountain boys with lively sensa
tion. It was no sooner rumored that the ty
rant was close on their track, than the man
agers of our underground railroad had an
express train under way, and they were soon
under the protection of old John Bull. Last

under the protection of old John Bull. Last
week there was an arrival of moving chattels
in the shape of a man, with his wife and
several children, in the town of Plainfield,
near Montpelier, the Capitol of the State;
they, too, were closely pursued. But the ex
cellent order of our underground railroad
will render it quite difficult for the slave
catcher to do anything to his advantage
among these Green Mountains. And the
Fugitive Bill is looked upon with so much
abhorrence by the honest, conscientious
portion of the constituency of Vermont.
But few men in this State will hazard their
reputation in joining the blood-hound oper
ations under this villanous measure. We
have political demagogues among us, base
and unprincipled, and as thick as flies in
August. But they are held under a moral
restraint—consequently the poor man with
his family has got safe into Canada. In a
few hours, the slave hunter was on the
ground, but his victim, like the old Dutch
man's flee, when he put his finger on it, it
was not there. It is not to be wondered at,
if the hot spurs of the South, with their
craven political look of the North, with the
slavery-corrupted administration, should feel
chagrined and vexed at the failure of the
Fugitive Bill, being an efficient remedy to
the South against the increase of humanity
at the North. Poor fellows, their race is a
desperate one, yet they must stand up and
face the music of freedom; there is no alter
native. The shrill whistle of freedom's en-

gine will yet startle many a dreamy poli
tician, and wake many yet to a scene of jus
tice. The powers that are in this govern
ment are enraged, but they are not so suc
cessful in pulling up the track on the under
ground railroad, as the mobocratic citizens
of Erie in stopping the train on the road
through their city. It will require more
than the political sagacity of Millard Fill
more, or Franklin Pierce, aided by all the
cohorts of the slave power to do it. But,
my dear Douglass, by the efficient means of
the anti-slavery enterprise, much more might
be done, were it not for the time-serving
policy of the American Church. Her double
dealing and base duplicity has presented to
the world a hypocrisy without a parallel in
any nation under heaven. If at the judg
ment of God, the popular portion of the
American Church does not stand under the
greatest condemnation for the guilt of Amer
ican slaveholding, then I mistake the policy
of God's moral government. The slavery
corrupted American theology, in the hands
of a recreant, intolerant clergy, has been the
most effectual creative power of American
infidelity. And I hesitate not to say, that the
American Church, within the last quarter of
a century, by her corrupted christianity at
home, has made more infidels in their coun
try than she has converted to evangelical
christianity in heathen land. And this will
be the case, until she stands up emphatically,
in the light of the world, to imitate the char
acter of her great founder. All that the popu-

lar ministry and church have yet done for
humanity, has been coerced from them by a
few intrepid spirits within their borders.
But in no one instance has the ministry or
the church taken the lead in the cause of
freedom as a body. Of late, Rev. Mr.
Blagdon, of Boston, in a speech in old
Faneuil Hall, at an anti-Nebraska meeting,
attempted to support slavery by the Bible.
Thank God, there was enough humanity in
that meeting to hiss down such abominable
sentiments. But Dr. Blagdon only spoke
what is the sentiment of the popular N. E.
clergy. Were it not for an indignant con
stituency forming a part of their parochial
charge, standing in their way, the sixty N.
E. clergy who wrote that congratulatory let
ter to Daniel Webster, after his 7th of March
speech in support of the Fugitive Slave Bill,
would be just as ready to compliment S. A.
Douglas, if he succeeds in his nefarious Ne
braska scheme, and thereby gratify their
Southern brethren. I am sanguine in my
belief, that the cause of liberty will yet tri
umph in this country, notwithstanding the
cool indifference of the church. If she,
with the ministry, will not come up to duty,
the 15th verse of the 5th chapter of Esther
will be applied to them. May God bless
you, my dear Douglass, in this moral con
test. Your position is a noble one. At the
editorial desk, or in the field of moral con
flict, the eyes of your friends are on you
with deep anxiety. Many prayers go up to
heaven—God bless Frederick Douglass—

although you may have to meet false
brethen, like the good old apostle. He who
stilled the turbulent waves of old Genesser
ett, will hush all the turbulent elements.
May He who was in the bush on fire, who
was with his servant on the Mount, and in
the wilderness, ever be with you, and enable
you to triumph in freedom's great battle.

Yours truly,

JOHN W. LEWIS.