life, and
liberty--of public quietude and private enjoyment--as
well as on the
ground of allegiance to Him who is King of kings
and Lord of lords,
we cordially adopt the non-resistance
principle, being
confident that it provides for all possible
consequences, is
armed with omnipotent power, and must
ultimately triumph
over every assailing force.
"We advocate
no Jacobinical doctrines. The spirit of
Jacobinism is the
spirit of retaliation, violence, and murder.
It neither fears
God nor regards man. We would be filled
with
the spirit of
Christ. If we abide evil by our
fundamental
principle of not
opposing evil by evil we cannot participate in
sedition, treason,
or violence. We shall submit to every
ordinance and every
requirement of government, except such as
are contrary to the
commands of the Gospel, and in no case
resist the
operation of law, except by meekly submitting to the
penalty of
disobedience.
"But while we
shall adhere to the doctrine of non-resistance
and passive
submission to enemies, we purpose, in a moral and
spiritual sense, to
assail iniquity in high places and in low
places, to apply
our principles to all existing evil,
political, legal,
and ecclesiastical institutions, and to
hasten the time
when the kingdoms of this world will have
become the kingdom
of our Lord Jesus Christ. It appears to
us
a self-evident
truth that whatever the Gospel is designed to
destroy at any
period of the world, being contrary to it, ought
now to be
abandoned. If, then, the time is
predicted when
swords shall be
beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning
hooks, and men
shall not learn the art of war any more, it
follows that all
who manufacture, sell, or wield these deadly
weapons do thus
array themselves against the peaceful dominion
of the Son of God on earth.
"Having thus
stated our principles, we proceed to specify the
measures we propose
to adopt in carrying our object into
effect.
"We expect to
prevail through the Foolishness of Preaching.
We
shall endeavor to promulgate
our views among all persons, to
whatever nation,
sect, or grade of society they may belong.
Hence we shall
organize public lectures, circulate tracts and
publications, form
societies, and petition every governing
body. It will be our leading object to devise ways
and means
for effecting a
radical change in the views, feelings, and
practices of
society respecting the sinfulness of war and the
treatment of
enemies.
"In entering
upon the great work before us, we are not
unmindful that in
its prosecution we may be called to test
our sincerity even
as in a fiery ordeal. It may subject us
to
insult, outrage,
suffering, yea, even death itself. We
anticipate no small
amount of misconception, misrepresentation,
and calumny. Tumults may arise against us. The proud and
pharisaical, the
ambitious and tyrannical, principalities and
powers, may combine
to crush us. So they treated the Messiah
whose example we
are humbly striving to imitate. We shall
not
be afraid of their
terror. Our confidence is in the Lord
Almighty and not in
man. Having withdrawn from human
protection, what
can sustain us but that faith which overcomes
the world? We shall not think it strange concerning the
fiery
trial which is to
try us, but rejoice inasmuch as we are
partakers of
Christ's sufferings.
"Wherefore we
commit the keeping of our souls to God. For every
one that forsakes
houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father,
or mother, or wife,
or children, or lands for Christ's sake,
shall receive a
hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting
life.
"Firmly
relying upon the certain and universal triumph of the
sentiments
contained in this declaration, however formidable
may be the
opposition arrayed against them, we hereby affix our
signatures to it;
commending it to the reason and conscience of
mankind, and
resolving, in the strength of the Lord God, to
calmly and meekly
abide the issue."
Immediately after this declaration a Society for
Nonresistance was
founded by Garrison, and a journal called the NON-RESISTANT,
in
which the doctrine of non-resistance was advocated in its
full
significance and in all its consequences, as it had been
expounded
in the declaration.
Further information as to the ultimate
destiny of the society and the journal I gained from the
excellent
biography of W. L. Garrison, the work of his son.
The society and the journal did not exist for long. The
greater number of Garrison's fellow-workers in the movement
for
the liberation of the slaves, fearing that the too radical
programme of the journal, the NON-RESISTANT, might keep
people
away from the practical work of negro-emancipation, gave up
the
profession of the principle of non-resistance as it had been
expressed in the declaration, and both society and journal
ceased
0 comments:
Post a Comment