NATIONAL AND CHURCH POLITY

Frederick Douglass, Esq., Dear Sir,—Allow me a little space in your columns to express my sentiments on the all-important subject of our National and Church Polity. However small my natural, or acquired abilities may be, I only ask you to give them their just weight, if worthy of your notice. I say, then, no man or set of men can be safe and wise politicians, who shut God out of their creed. Divine Revelation is the pri[n]cipal means of our knowledge of God, of our relation to Him, our responsibilities, and His reasonable and just requirements of us, as His creatures and subjects, and He our rightful Lord and moral Governor of the Universe. In these characters, appropriate to each, He an acknowledgement, both in word and practice. All short of this, is , and renders us liable to His power and displeasure. God is the source of life, temporal, spiritual, and eternal. Hence arises our obligation of subjection to Him, " for His is the Kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever" God is not only the original source, but the continual preserver, and up holder—" He upholds all things by the word of His power." "Hence there is no power but of God ;" all rightful, authority belongs to God. " hath spoken once, (said David,) twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God"—all created power is from Him and limited by Him. "By me reign and Princes deem justice. By me Princes rule, and Nobles, even all the judges of the earth; counsel is mine, and sound wisdom, I am understanding, I have strength." I am not writing these texts, supposing that I am others of these facts and truths, but of the importance, yes more; of the duty and necessity, of them. He that sinneth

against me, says God, wrongeth his own soul—all that hate me, love Death. Both civil and ecclesiastical authority, are of God's appointment, and, as such, are His deputed authority, and ought to be regarded accordingly. Notwithstanding, God has not vacated his throne, nor given unlimited authority to frail erring man. God declared His essential attributes to Moses, and the Israelites—and God said unto Moses, I am that I am, and he said, thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you—I am He that exists, implying self-existence, independence, unchangeableness, eternity, the source of existence and perfection. Again He said to them, and by the same authority, to us, when He delivered the law from Mount Sinai, I am the Lord thy God. God spake all these words saying, I am the Lord thy God—I am Jehovah, the source of existence, and, consequently, of all power and authority. By this high authority, the great Law-giver enforces obedience to the moral law. God alone is to be the law-giver and judge to the universe.

The moral law, given by God himself, is an emanation of His own nature, and has its foundation in the nature of God and man, in the relation man bears to Him, and each other, and in the duties resulting from them, and is unmistakeable and universally obligatory. Scott.—Although God has appointed the authorities in Church and State, yet, as I have said, He had not abdicated His throne, nor resigned His supremacy as the moral Governor of the Universe." For the Lord your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh rewards. He doth execute the judgement of the fatherless, and widow, and loveth the stranger in giving him food and rainment. Love ye therefore the stranger—thou love him as thyself. Again, God standeth in the congregation (or congress) of the Mighty; He judgeth among the Gods. "How long (says He) will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons

of the wicked? Defend the poor, and fatherless, do justice to the afflicted, and needy. Deliver the poor and needy, rid them out of the hand of the wicked—slaveholder. This is so
plain a reproof of our Congress, Church and Nation, that it hardly needs a comment. These commands are a "higher law," so much ridiculed, and profanely made a by-word, to the disgrace of our so-called Christian nation. They are not spoken by one of subordinate authority—as merely , but by the Jehovah—by Him who timely, and kindly admonishes us, when He says, "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you—ye have heaped up treasure for the last days. Behold(!) the hire of the laborers, who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by , crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped, are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, (while the poor slave has sweat and toiled, in hunger and nakedness, to support you,) ye have nourished your hearts, (like the senseless ox,) as in a day of slaughter," and as insensible to the exuberant goodness of God, and as regardless of the high behests of heaven as he. "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass (the ass) his master's crib; but Israel (nor Americans) doth not know, my people do not consider!" Ought we not, Mr. Editor, to pause, and consider our responsibilities to God, as our law-giver and Judge, and to the present, and future generations yet unborn? Are we not responsible for the gift of revelation, and for the improvement we make? If all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, how important that we improve it as such, and how criminal to slight and neglect it? What contempt is cast upon the authority of God! How important it is, that we receive the instructions given by the Prophets to God's ancient people, as given directly , under like circumstances, and receive their reproofs, in the same manner, and

also those of Christ, and his Apostles, else we shall get no benefit from divine revelation.—Their instructions were grounded on the moral law, and their reproofs were for its violation.—The moral law being immutable and universal. is obligatory on all, equally so, on Nations and Churches, as such, as on individuals. They are responsible in a twofold sense—liable for their corporate acts, when they violate the great principles of natural justice, and moral requirements of God revealed in his word, to be involved in national judgments in this life, and also to be judged at that Day when God will decide each one's secret motives, and influence, either for good or bad, according to his standing, capacity, and trust reposed in him. Hence the different responsibilities—to whom much is given of the same will be much required. This rule extends to Nations and Churches, as well as to Individuals. How important, as well as solemn, the consideration and reflection of the wide spread influence of our national acts, and laws! How solemn and awful the weight of responsibilities which rest on those to whom this trust is committed, and what is more solemn, and important is, that neither those who are elected to these offices of trust, nor those who elect them, are sensible of their accountability, or even believe the fact that they are accountable to any higher authority. If God comes out in judgment, as He surely will, what must be our doom? No nation on earth has received such signal blessings as we, none have enjoyed the privileges, in none has the meridian light shone brighter on the path of duty, none have made more solemn vows, and declarations before God, and the nations of the earth, and none—no, not Israel of old, have been so faithless—so God-provoking and Heaven-defying. How have we treated truths, uttered with our own mouths, before God, "that are created free and equal, and have a right to life, , and the pursuit of happiness!" With what unblushing effrontery have we raised our star spangled flag toward heaven, as a badge of our own freedom, and victory over oppression, as if we could make Omniscience believe the sincerity of our profession, while holding every sixth man in the most degrading and cruel Slavery, compared to which,

Egyptian bondage was not a shadow. With what abhorrence must a holy God, and the inhabitants of heaven witness our grateful acknowledgment to God for the blessing of liberty, on the memorable Fourth of July, grand with gun powder and rum, as though we would awake heaven to our obscenity. What shall we say, Mr. Editor—rather, what shall we , fellow-citizens, and Christians? Can we rise up against God and prosper? No can avert the stroke of the Lord's vengeance, when the time arrives; are not we admonished by the Prophets, and by Christ and his Apostles, in plain, unmistakeable language, if we were disposed to make due application to ourselves? And for what other use were they recorded, and to be recorded, but for our "profit—correction and instruction?" Are we prepared to take up the lamentation, "The harvest is past, the Summer is ended and we are not saved?" Will our Ministry and Church, continue—yes, I say —to harbor the sin of Slavery at the North, by a participation of the abominations of the South? I say, will they, while (to use their own language) calling it the giant sin, the abomination of abominations, and the sum of all villainies , will they? Will associations of ministers, and consciations of churches, meet, again and again, and that while the whole nation, and I might say, the world, is convulsed, with legions of evil spirits which compose the sum of Slavery,—I say, will they meet, professedly, to consult the welfare of Zion, the upbuilding of Christ's Kingdom, and the salvation of deathless souls, and forget this giant sin, forget that their Lord came to destroy the works of the devil, forget the antagonism between Christ and Belial! Can they forget that the Lord requires money, (money to the oppressed,) money, and not sacrifice. What are sacrifices of prayers, but hypocrisy, when made a substitute for judgment, mercy, and truth? "Cry aloud, (says God,) spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not, wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast,

ye find pleasure, and exalt all your labor (of your servants and slaves, you cloak your injustice, and cruelty with an outside garb of piety.) Is not this the fast I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free? and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out of thy house? when thou seest the naked that thou cover him? Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer—then shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy righteousness shall go before thee." This would evince a right state of heart, and the truth of our profession. It is what God require, and what He only will accept. To this is annexed the promise of God, that prayer shall be heard and answered, the cause of Christ advanced, His kingdom come and our distracted nation saved. God is not mocked—they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.—Sow to yourselves in righteousness, and reap in mercy. We must and shall reap the fruit of our doings.

So long as the Northern churches are in fellowship and in full communion with the Southern churches, we are partakers of the sin of Slavery and all its results, and concomitant evils, and are bidding her God speed, and denying the verity of an Apostle, in saying, "ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils, ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of the devil." Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy, are we stranger than He? Hence the command have with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Now we you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brothers that walks disorderly, said Paul. Now, is Slavery a disorderly, unchristian walk? Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father to you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Again, John the Revelator says, I heard another voice from Heaven, saying, come out her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and

that ye receive not of her plagues. Now, can there be commands more preemptory, or clothed with higher authority? Can there be greater inducement than to be the children of the Lord Almighty, and have Him for our Father? Will the people of God, like the deaf adder, stop their ears against such strains of love and mercy? See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh, for if they escape not, who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him who speaketh from heaven. God has given us abundant evidence of the reasonableness and justice of His requirements; His natural and moral attributes, render our obedience indespensable to our own happiness, and even our existence. He is the fountain or source of life, and, of course, of power. Without this upholding power, we fall back to dust, as we were his moral attributes, are love and compassion, and incline Him to acts of benevolence,—God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son a ransom to redeem us—God is love. He is a God of justice and truth, and unchangeably so—"He is the rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment; a God of truth, and without iniquity is He." He is worthy of, and "rightfully demands, our confidence and trust, and our unreserved obedience. God is the source and perfection of wisdom—to God (says Paul) be glory. All His attributes are exercised in perfect unison, and regulated by wisdom—infinite wisdom. Well might the devout Psalmist exclaim, "O Lord, who in the heavens can be compared unto the Lord." Shall we in the height of folly and madness, as a Nation, Church and People, continue to go on in a course of rebellion against reason, the dictates of conscience, the holy requirements, the wooings of the Spirit, and the threatenings of Ominpotence? The apostle Jude says, "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of

Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not, and the angels which kept not their first estate—he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the Great Day, even as Sodom, Gomorrah, and the cities
about them—(set forth as an ,) suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." I ask again, will we go on with the strength of Egypt—Pharaoh and his host floating on the surges of the Red Sea, for the sin of oppression, before our eyes—they heathens, and we, professedly, Christians, sinning, as it were, in the face of a covenant God? This even not enough. The Ministry and Church, have baptized this giant sin, received it into the Church, and to the table of the Lord. While they are set as watchmen on the walls of God's spiritual Jerusalem, to look out, and discern enemies, and dangers, at a distance, and give timely notice; and if this is not done, they are chargeable with the results of such neglects. How much more criminal, then, to violate their trust and allegiance, to their Lord by betraying his cause to an open enemy, and receiving him into fellowship! What hope, what expedient (!) so long as American Slavery—this colossus—this huge statue—this idol—this moral image of Satan, standing with one foot on the Nation, and the other on the Church, legalized and christianized! If the foundation be destroyed (says David) what can the righteous do? The Lord, says he, is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in Heaven, His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men. The truth, the righteous, and the wicked; and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth. Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup. The righteous Lord loveth the righteous—He loves His own image in His people; how, then, can He look with complacency on Satan's daguerreotype, standing in the National Hall—in our Congress? How must He abhor it standing in His holy temple—a heathen Moloch to whom

sacrifices are offered? Is a doughface dispised in Congress?—how much more in the Lord's temple! What right have we, as a Nation, or Church, to fellowship sin, violence,—Slavery, that which God hates with all the powers of His soul, if we would be friends of God, and enjoy His favor and blessings? What right to receive into our National Confederacy, slave-holding States, with the curse of God written on their forehead, and all the plagues written in the book of God denounced on us for so doing? Here we see the reasons—the why, the Church—the Zion of God, mourns, her prayers and labors blighted. Souls deceived—the body of the Church corrupt. The doctrines for which we are commanded earnestly to contend, are neither forward nor behind, while wholesome discipline is neglected. Hence the lamentations of Isaiah and Jeremiah, "As with the people, so with the priest"—for the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led of them, are destroyed. The ancient and honorable, He is the head, and the Prophet that teacheth lies, he is the —the most worthy of the body politic—the most contemptible.—The earth mourneth, says Isaiah, the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, and broken the everlasting covenant. God forbids His people to have any alliance with sin and Satan—He reproved Ahab for entering into covenant with Benhad, and for calling him, his . He reproved Jehoshaphat for entering into alliance with the King of Israel—"Shouldst thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord, (said the prophet,) therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." Such is the result of all such alliances preferring the friendship of God's enemies rather than God, and strengthening the hands of the wicked, but not reforming them. Had they (the false Prophts) stood in my council and caused my people to hear my words, then should they have turned them from their evil way and the evil of their doings.—

This is the case, and duty of ministers now, the same as then, and the rules by which faithful ministers are to be distinguished from false.—Evil communications still corrupt good manners. Salutary reproof sin, not alliance , is God's requirement. Not to take slaveholders into the Church to reform them, but to turn them , to prevent the lump—the whole Church—from being infested and leavened. It is a duty we owe to the oppressed, and also to the oppressor—a duty we owe to God, and the honor of His law: "Thou shalt not suffer sin on thy brother, nor on thy neighbor." It is a duty, as well by the spirit of the Levitical, as the moral law. "If thou see the ass of him that lying under his burden, and wouldst forbear to help him," thou him." Is not Congress, then, morally and constitutionally, authorized, and bound to unburden the wretched (to say nothing of the duty to the slave) from his temporal embarrassment, as well as the curse of God from his and our guilty souls, by enacting such laws as shall effect the desired end? and if so, are not the Ministry, Church, and Citizens of the North responsible, and , till it is done? Who is the light of the world, and the salt of the earth, if not the Church and Ministry? Who took up the Ark of the covenant—the symbol of God's presence, and went the people? Who stepped marched into the midst of Jordan and there stood "firm," with
the waters piled up all around, higher than their heads, with nothing to stay the overwhelming billows, but the invisible power of God, till all the people "passed clean over" with all their effects? Here stood the Priests as examples of obedience, patience, and unshaken confidence in God. Now, are our ministers examples of that faith? Are they heard crying aloud, admonishing the people, and the house of Jacob, of our, and their national and ecclesiastical sins, and transgressions? Or, are they crying peace,

and strengthening the wicked? Is not God reproached, and Christ made a participant (so far as the conduct of the Church is concerned) with slavery, while sitting at His table with slaveholders? Was He here in person, as He once was, would He not drive these men, women and children stealers, from His temple? With these in it, is not, I humbly ask, "His house a den of thieves?" What better are our , while claiming the sacred name of Going on, hand in hand, rather, revolver and bowie knife, Slavery and Freedom, fighting for the mastery over a line, which shall have the most territory. Suppose, Mr. Editor, we inquire, who owns these territories? We read that the devil once claimed "all the kingdoms of the world," and offered to sell them to Christ.—Now, I should as live buy or compromise, with the devil, as with his factor or agent. They are both liars, and so it has proved in the compromise negotiations. God also has said, " have made the earth and man, the beasts that are upon the ground by my great power, and by my out-stretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me." It seems, then, that all claims, both to territory and slaves, are void, unless by right from the Creator and original Proprietor. All that we have and are, is the Lord's. We are but stewards. Have we a right to barter away half the Lord's territory, for the vile purpose of the production of slaves, in order to secure the other half for our own selfish ends? Are we not at the North, accomplices in the nefarious traffic of Slavery—of robbing God of His property, and our brother of his rights—his rights? Are we less criminal than the slaveholder? Is not our object the same to wit, property? Shall we complain of them as truce and covenant breakers? What better is our fight for It is for freedom—freedom of the . Is this the principle

of benevolence—love to man? Suppose the devil has proved treacherous,—and we not to our brother and our God, as Satan, or the slaveholder is to us? Shall we appeal to God—a God of justice, a God of mercy! Well has it been said, "The Almighty has no attribute which can take sides with us in such a contest." Just would it be for God, to give us up to bite, and devour each other. We are only acting out human, depraved nature. Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked,— he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation. We, as well as the scattered Jews, are a nation void of council; neither is there any understanding in us. We are treating God's authority with contempt, arrogating the attributes, and exercising an authority, over the defenceless stranger and slave, which belong to God alone; we have proved false to the vows we made to God, on the days of our national distress. We have treated God with the height of ingratitude and abuse, for our own freedom, and our exalted privileges, both temporal, civil and religious, He has vouchsafed us. Do we not, as a nation manifest the pride and arrogance of Belteshazzar when he said, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of , and for the honor of " Ought we not to remember the admonition, that "those that walk in pride, God is able to abase?" Slaveholding Church, owning 660,000 souls and bodies of men, valued at 264 millions of dollars! Her Lord's example before her, " of all"—washing his disciples' feet! No can long exist, without virtue, without religion, without . Yet, it is written, "The nation and the kingdom, that will not serve thee, shall , yea, they shall be utterly destroyed." Can any political efforts of ours (which are generally selfishness) destroy Slavery, a moral evil, while the Church and Ministry are hatching cockatrice eggs? Will not the product be vipers? If we conceive mischief, we shall bring forth iniquity

But notwithstanding the of , Zion be redeemed, and probably, with . The Lord, whom we profess to seek, will come to His temple, , and purify the sons of Levi,—He will be a swift witness, once more, against those that oppress the hireling, the widow, and fatherless, and turn aside the from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord. I modestly ask, if we, like Pharoah, are not in a process of hardening hearts, while sinning again and again, against the conviction of conscience?—against revelation?

WILLIAM MARSH.

PAWLET, Jan. 21, 1856.