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Show 116· THE MONTHLY OFFERING. up the influence of the Unitarian agent, l\lr. so and so, in opposition to the wishes of Rev. Dr. so and so. The fol· lowing train of reasoning is a specious one, and well cal· culated to produce an effect on a conscientious but uneducated mind "Do you not perceive that if you will persist in holding up your minister to public view, as a friend of oppression, an op· poser of common humanity, and a contemner of the plainest command of the Scriptures, you are injuring his influence in olher respects; you are destroying his ability to save souls,' and giving the opposers of his religious faith ground upon which to make a false issue 1 Are you not aware that in upholding certain agents whose religious opinions are unsound, you are aiding to commend those opinions to the adoption of the world around. Your coolly expressed de· cia ration that his religious views are wrong, will not coun· terballance the fact that you freely give him your person· a! confidence and friendship, and laud to the skies his heroism, disinterestedness and zeal, in behalf of suflering humanity." In the above is involved the substance of the argument by which Sectarisr_n, in a t?ousand instances, withdraws to its support the md once g1ven to the cause of acknowl· edged truth. How quickly would an enlightened con· science reply," Ought not the influence of a pro-slavery minister to be done away 1 If he be a contemner of the commands of Scripture, and a friend of oppression, what kind of influence will he exert over the souls he attempts to save. To save a soul, is to deliver it from the power of sin-but what greater evidence can be given of its thral· dom to sin than its sympathy with Am.erican Slave-holding. A Christianity that sanctio~s it has. ~rought the American church to her present penlous positiOn, and the attempt to further sustain such a christianity can only en· sure its ruin. As to the doctrines this pro·slavery minis· t~r holds, they are mine, and, thank God, their purity re· mains in my eyes undimmed,though they have not produced in his life their legitimate result. As to the doctrines of SECTAR!AN!Sl\l. 117 my h~retical fellow laborers, others must do as I have done; submit them to the test of reason and scripture and judge of them for themselves .. rr. i~ re~pect to all h'is opinions, a man has never done th1s, 1t IS comparatively little consequence what he accepts or what he rejects." But the man to whom considerations like these do not p~escnt themselves, ~bows conclusively that ignorance and b1g?try have fitted h1m to be the tool with which the more enlightened, and therefore more culpable worshiper of sect, accomplishes ~1s work. He is an example of the other class of sectanes,, that class, who are, in fact, the dupes of the first. Th<; Withering influence of these two classes is the most formidable obstacle with which we have now to contend. The cause has advanced to that point where we must meet and ov~rc?me this insidious enemy, or fall be. fore It. Not that It IS part or parcQl of Anti-Siaverv labor ~o attack Sec~ansm, but when we find it directly .imped~ ng our way, It bec~mes our duty to lend all our energies to Its removal. N Ot~mg can excuse us from thi~, unless we are ready to admit that the Anti-SJ,.very enterprise is ?ased on other than the divine foundation of Truth. If it be md~ed. so based, we are bound to carry it steadily for· war ' In meekness and firmness, seeking to remove ever obstacle that opposes us whether that ob t I . y self in th h f ' s ace present It· p 1 e s ap ~ o our pecuf!iary interest, our polittcal h ar !J' or evhn ou,r pro·slavery church and minister. Jt is se":ki,;.,.'~~rstho:~hh~e tof waste mduch metaphysical acumen in Sl " w ar a goo maiO may oppose the Anti- . ave~y cause, and yet retain his goodne•s or ho h Jllety IS CO.nBistent With sympathy with - O~pressi::.. mW ~~~~~~~ e~tlmate the exact amount of sin committed by th: our while ~~~~~c:~eSiave~Y·. and it is not, therefore, worth do know that abettor t::'~c lime Ill attempting it; but we Go 1 d e a most unfit expounder of the spe • ·~ consequently that it is our duty to f support h1m as such M h . .d re use to the baneful . fl . uc .'s sal and much written as only follow:~ uen~e a sectanan spirit exerts. Would we Ie srrai.t way, not stopping to ask wh~thcr thl!t |