Vermont Telegraph

From the New-York Baptist Register.

American & Foreign Bible Society.

New-York, Aug. 10, 1839.

Brother Beebee—Soon after my arrival in this city, on the 31st ultimo, I was surprised to learn that a report was in circulation, which had been noticed in one or two public prints, that, while acting as the travelling agent of the American & Foreign Bible Society at the south, I had given a solemn pledge relative to the course they intended to pursue upon the subject of slavery, involving the idea that it was their intention to withhold the word of God from the slave population. With considerable difficulty I have been enabled to trace the report to its origin, and embrace the earliest opportunity, through you, to inform our brethren, among whom I understand the matter has occasioned some unpleasant feeling, that said report is without any real foundation in truth.

I never was authorized, by the Society whose interests I have advocated, to pledge myself, or them, upon any subject whatever; nor have I ever been required, by any individual or body of people, to give such pledge. It is but an act of justice to my brethren in the south, to say, that I have never met with a Christian, whether Baptist or Pedobaptist, or even a man of the world, who expressed a wish to withhold the sacred scriptures from the slaves. And I have witnessed the slave reading the Bible in the presence of the master, and with his decided approbation. I have always considered and represented the American & Foreign Bible Society, and its Board of Managers, as strictly confined in their proceedings to the objects specified in their constitution; and in this respect to stand upon the same ground as our foreign and home mission societies.

I have assured all who have made inquiries on the subject, that, as a Society, we have no connection with slavery or anti-slavery, farther than to receive the voluntary contributions of all who love the word of God, and who desire its universal circulation among men of all nations, totally irrespective of their views on the subject in question. As the field we are called to occupy is the world, and, as far as I am acquainted with the views of my brethren who are entrusted with the management of this noble institution, and with the feelings of my own heart, I take pleasure in saying, that our single object, by the grace of God, is to give the word of life to all nations, without reserve, to the utmost extent of our pecuniary ability. And while we retain our connection with this loved and cherished institution, I hope that we will never allow ourselves to be turned aside by any other object, whether important or unimportant, from the great design of giving faithful translations of the sacred scriptures to the perishing nations of the earth, now involved in guilt and ruin, in order that they may be delivered from the slavery of sin and Satan, and become Christ's redeemed, that whom the Son of God makes free, they are free indeed.

The report in question, in common with many others adverse to the interests and fair name of our institution, originated in a southern newspaper, the editor of which has exhibited the most marked hostility to the Society. A course so counter to the views and feelings of the denomination, so inimical to the uninterrupted and rapid diffusion of the word of life, has given no little pain to those who yet retain a vivid impression of the past labors of this respected brother, and who would be the last to question either his piety or his talents. But neither my regard for the former, nor my admiration of the latter, shall prevent me from stating wherein the influence of both has been exerted to misrepresent the aims of the Society. At one time the editor attempted to identify the Society with Campbellism, by stating that the agent had obtained liberal subscriptions from some of the Campbellites, and by an insinuation that this liberality may have arisen from secret instructions given to him by the Society, that we should soon have a translation of the scriptures similar to their own. When the editor, in the presence of one of the friends of our institution, was asked how he could countenance the publication of such unfounded charges, and when told that no instructions had been given, either in public or in private, he replied that, if the documents of which we complained had been in his possession for a longer period, he would not have published them.

Subsequently to this occurrence a new mode of attack was adopted, and the prejudices of the north were appealed to by the unfounded assertion which has created much uneasiness. Afterwards I was grieved to learn that an endeavor was made the south against us, by an attack of an opposite character, charging us with abolitionism. As the paper is now in other and friendly hands, no such unhappy attacks upon our noble and cherished institution can be again expected from that quarter.

My feelings will not permit me to close this communication without expressing my sentiments of gratitude to the great Head of the church, for the uniform kindness and warm hearted courtesy with which I have been treated by my brethren both at the south and west. In no instance have I had any reason to complain of a want of attention, and I have been constantly gratified by the respect and affection with which the American & Foreign Bible Society is everywhere regarded.

Be so kind as to request that such papers as have given circulation to the report above alluded to, will likewise publish this contradiction.

I am, dear brother, yours,

Very respectfully,

Archibald Maclay.

Brother Maclay's declaration that, in the South he never met with a christian, whether Baptist or Pedobaptist, or even a man of the world, who expressed a wish to withhold the sacred scriptures from the slaves, whether intended or not, is calculated to leave an impression not in accordance with truth. The impression left, on readers in general, will be about the same as if he had said that the slaves of the South, as a general thing, have free access to the Bible. Now those who are at all acquainted with the laws and practices of the slaveholding States, know that it is far otherwise. In most of the States it is a high misdemeanor, punishable with great severity, to teach slaves to read. I shall mail this paper to brother Maclay; and I ask him, candidly, if he believes that one slave in a hundred, at the South, has the Bible to himself, or could read it if he had it?
American and Foreign Bible So-
cieTy. It was my design to extend my
remarks, in connection with the article
under this head, on the first page. I
found myself too late, however, for the
outside of the paper-so that I had room
only for a single short paragraph. I
shall add but a few words here.
I understand the matter to be about
thus: Brother Brantly, formerly minister
in Philadelphia, and recently editor of the
Southern Watchman, charged the Amer-
ican and Foreign Bible Society with be-
ing an Anti-Slavery institution. Brother
Maclay, agent of the Society in the South,
denied the charge, and added to the denial
what brother Brantly construed to be a
pledge to the South that the Society should
not be guilty of the horrible crime of giving Bibles to their slaves!

It was this alleged pledge that brother
Culver alluded to, at the Shaftsbury
Association, in June. The readers of the
Telegraph will see, for themselves, how
the matter now stands. Brother Brantly
avers that such a pledge was given-
brother Maclay denies it.