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APRIL, 1861. DOUGLASS' MONTHLY. 441

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LETTER FROM BISHOP PAYNE TO THE MINISTERS OF THE A. M. E. CHURCH.

THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER; OR, AN EVIL BEHIND A RIGHT.

[[italics]]Law, Order, Government[[/italics]] - these three principles underlie the character of every great and good man, every great and good society, every great and good state, every great and good nation. A man, a society, a state, a nation, attains to greatness and posterity, preserves and perpetuates them, only as long as law, order and government are sacredly cherished. So, abandon these, is to introduce a state of confusion and strife, of anarchy and ruin. Therefore, every office bearer who is true to the man, the society, the state, the nation, will narrowly watch every other officer, and sound the alarm when he sees an infringement upon these heaven-created principles. No plea of expediency can justify a disregard of their claims, nor should wealth, standing, or office be allowed to shield a man from the penalty attached to their violation. The only exception to this rule, which we now think of, is absolute ignorance of their existence. Now, mark this distinction: while absolute ignorance may save the offender from the penalty, it can never justify him in the act of transgression. In every government there are officers who differ in power and responsibility, as they differ in rank. If each has his rights to be enjoyed, so also each has duties to be performed.

But in the enjoyment of one's rights, he must not infringe upon his fellows; and in the performance of his duties, he must not interfere with another's. A wise man will not knowingly do either.

An arrogant man often does the one, or the other - an ungovernable man habitually does both - an ambitious man systematically does them, because he cannot reach his sinister ends only by so doing. Such a man will always defend the [[italics]]evil[[/italics]] he has committed behind the [[italics]]right[[/italics]] he is entitled to enjoy. Sometimes he entrenches himself behind the rights of his fellow officers - often behind the rights of the people. This latter is always the most dangerous that can be found [[italics]]inside[[/italics]] of a government.

Nevertheless, he who is faithful to law, order, government, and God, will never defend or apologize for an evil, simply because it is entrenched behind a right. Nay, this is a greater reason why it should be exposed and attacked.

With these fundamental principles, and these reflections before me, I respectfully ask the ministers of the A. M. E. Church to institute certain inquiries respecting the present form and existence of the [[italics]]'Christian Recorder.'[[/italics]] Justice to themselves, and posterity, respect for the laws, order and government, love for the peace and unity of the Church, require this at their hands. To aid in this important business in which we are all concerned, I suggest the following queries:

1st. How came the [[italics]]'Christian Recorder.'[[/italics]] into present existence?

2nd. Who is its General Editor?

3rd. Who are his associates - [[italics]]i.e.,[[/italics]] who constitute the Editorial corps?

4th. Has any of these things been done according to the letter and spirit of the decrees made by the last General Conference?

5th. Does the present form and manage-
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ment of the [[italics]]Recorder[[/italics]] fulfill the design of these decrees?

6th. Is there an officer of the Connection in it, or outside of it, who has the power to set aside or trample down these decrees?

7th. If any officer should be found acting in open disregard of them, will a law-abiding member of the ministry countenance the [[italics]]evil[[/italics]]? Is any officer in the A. M. E. Church placed above its laws, order, or government? Are not the rules, decisions and decrees of the General Conference the [[italics]]supreme law[[/italics]], to which every one of our members, as members, and ministers, as ministers, are bound to yield uniform respect and obedience, the [[italics]]Moral Law[[/italics]] alone excepted?

With sentiments of deep regard,

I am, dear brethren,

Yours, fraternally,

D. A. PAYNE.


VICTOR HUGO AND JOHN BROWN.

A correspondent of a Belgian paper publishes the following letter, addressed by Victor Hugo to M. Chenay, an engraver, who has undertaken to publish engravings of M. Hugo's pen-and-ink sketch of the late John Brown: 

HAUTEVILLE HOUSE, Jan. 21, 1861.

DEAR M. CHENAY: - You have desired to engrave my design of John Brown - you desire now to publish it. I consent to that, and add that I believe it useful. John Brown is a hero and a martyr. You remember that I had written at the foot of the design, [[italics]]Pro Christo sicut Christus.[[/italics]]

When, on the 2d December, 1859, with a profound grief, I announced to America the rupture of the Union as the consequence of the assassination of John Brown, I did not think that the event would so closely follow my word. At the present moment all that was in the scaffold of John Brown comes forth; the fatalities latent there a year ago is now visible, and we may now consider as consummated the rupture of the American Union - great misfortune! - and the abolition of slavery - immense progress!

Let us, then, set forth, under the eyes of all, as an ensign, the gibbet of Charlestown, point of departure of these strange events.

My design, reproduced by your fine talent, with a striking fidelity, has no other value than that name, John Brown - a name which must be incessantly repeated to the Republicans of America, that it may bring them to their duty, and to the slaves, that it may call them to freedom.

VICTOR HUGO.


CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LORD BROUGHAM AND JAMES REDPATH.

The following piquant correspondence between Lord Brougham and Mr. Redpath, is worthy of preservation:

LORD BROUGHAM TO MR. REDPATH.

BROUGHAM, Nov. 20, 1860.

SIR:- I feel honored by the invitation to attend the Boston Convention, and to give my opinion upon the question, 'How can American Slavery be Abolished?' I consider the application is made to me as conceiving me to represent the anti-slavery body in this country; and I believe that I speak their sentiments, as well as my own, in expressing the widest difference of opinion with you upon the merits of those who promoted the Harper's Ferry expedition, and upon the fate of those who suffered for their conduct in it. No one will doubt my earnest desire to see slavery extinguished; but that desire can only be gratified by lawful means - a strict regard to the rights of property, or what the law declares to be property, and a constant repugnance to the shedding of blood. No man can be considered a martyr unless he not only suffers, but is witness to the truth; and he does not bear this testimony who seeks a law-
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ful object by illegal means. Any other course taken for the abolition of slavery can only delay the consummation we so devoutly wish, besides exposing the community to the hazard of an insurrection, perhaps less hurtful to the master than the slave. When the British emancipation was finally carried, it was accomplished by steps, and five years elapsed between the commencement of the measure in 1833 and its completion in 1838. 

The declaration of the law which pronounced a slave free as soon as he touched British ground, (erroneously ascribed to the English courts under Lord Mansfield, but really made by the judges in Scotland,) may seem to be inconsistent with the principle now laid down. But I am bound to express my doubts if such a decision would have been given, had Jamaica touched upon the coast of this country. It is certain that the judges did [[italics]]not[[/italics]] intend to declare that [[italics]]all[[/italics]] property in slaves should instantly cease, and yet such would have been the inevitable effect of their judgment in the case supposed, which somewhat resembles that of America.

In the elevation of your new President, all friends of America, of its continued Union, of the final extinction of slavery by peaceful means, and of the utter immediate extinction of the execrable slave trade - all friends of the human race must heartily rejoice. They will, let us hope, find in him a powerful ally, as his country may expect to find an able, a consistent, and an honest ruler.

I have the honor to be,

Your faithful servant,

BROUGHAM.

James Redpath, Esq., Boston, U. S.

MR. REDPATH'S REPLY.

BOSTON, Jan. 28, 1861.

To Henry, Lord Brougham:

MY LORD:- I have received your reply to our question - 'How can American Slavery be abolished?'

I take exceptions to its erroneous ethical teachings, an appeal from Brougham, the English Lord, to Henry Brougham, the Tribune of the English People, to sustain me.

I appeal from the nobleman whose letter is now quoted, with eager approval, by every pro-slavery journal of our cities, to the popular orator whose words, radiant with the light of Heaven, have so often confounded the most cunning sophistries of the allies of the oppressor. I appeal from the Lord who so recently has said:

'No one will doubt my earnest desire to see slavery extinguished; but that desire can only be gratified by lawful means - a strict regard to the rights of property, [[italics]]or what the law declares to be property,[[/italics]] and a constant repugnance to the shedding of blood;' to the noble young Englishman, of lowly birth, who thrilled two continents with these eloquent words:

'Tell me not of rights - talk not of the property of the planter in his slaves. I deny the right - I acknowledge not the property. - The principles, the feelings of our common nature rise in rebellion against it. ****

In vain you tell me of laws that sanction such a claim! There is a law above all the enactments of human codes - the same throughout the world, the same in all time - such as it was before the dawning genius of Columbus pierced the night of ages, and opened to one world the sources of power, wealth and knowledge; to another, all unutterable woe; such it is at this day; it is the law written by the finger of God on the heart of man; and by that law, unchangeable and eternal, while men despise fraud, and loathe rapine, and abhor blood, they shall reject with indignation the wild, guilty fantasy that man can hold property in man.'

When you have pronounced, my Lord, on this point, I may sustain certain other exceptions, not above quoted, by equally excellent authority.

I have the honor to be,

Your obedient servant,

JAMES REDPATH.


-Anderson, the fugitive slave whose case has created so much excitement in Canada, is now in Montreal, awaiting the opening of navigation, when he will proceed to England.
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