Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1847-04-15
VOL. ", NO. Is.

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course, his return was wholly voluntary that,
so far from being in disgrace, or liable to arrest
on his Journey he was sent by the Apostle as ga
faithful and beloved brother" a MESSENGER to
Christian church, (Col. iy, 9 J that, if he was in
fact slave, then the Apostle demanded his i'm
mediate emancipation, by requiring his master to
receive him, Z" not now as q SLdUe, but above a
slave, brother beloved"* The preacher might
then have pressed upon his hearers, from the in
functions of the Apostle, the duties of forgive
ness and kindness Such a sermon would have
recommended Christianity to the Slaves and eX-
posed the preacher to be lynched by the mas
tiers.
In 1929, a number of American citizens
were held as slaves i'll Algiers, and by as valid
and sacred title as that by which any slave is
held in North Carolina. Indeed, these Ameri-
can slaves were acquired and held on precisely
the same principle as were the great portion Of
the Roman slaves, whose bondage you and Bish-
op Freeman insist was approved by Christ and
his Apostles. These slaves, l05 in number, i'll
petition to Congress, declared owe are en-
ployed daily at the most lahorious work, without
respect of persons, and shut up at night in two
SIaUe priS0RS" What would have been the feel
ings of these slaves towards an English clergy
man, in the pay Of the Dey, who, with his per-
mission, should have preached to them from the
Epistle to Philemon, urging upon them fidelity
and obedience to their Algerine masters as
Christian duties, and assuring them on the au-
thoritY of st, Paul, of the great sin they would
commit in attempting to escape from their " slave
prisons"
Mr.. Jones has prepared a catcchism for the
slaves. In this manual of religious instruction,
they are asked, Is it right for the servant to run
away; or is it right to harbor runawayW To
this question, the slaves are required to respond
an emphatic I" NO."
Is there a slave is there white man, who be-
leyes that the Rev c. c. Jones, if, through some
misfortune or violence, he should be reduced to
bondage i'll Russia or Turkey, would not, in spite
of his catechism, embrace the first favorable OPP
portunity to run away" or, if he could not rum
away himself that he would be restrained by
scrupes of conscience from harboriag fellow
countryman who had partially succeeded in ma
king his escape! Yet the wretched slaves are
required by their religious teachers to believe
that God requires them to remain voluntarily in
state of ignorance and degradation, and even
to refuse their aid to their wives, children, and
friends, who are endcavorng to recover their lib
erty Such doctrine is alone sufficient to give
the negroes a disgust to the religion of which
they are assured it forms a part. And now let
me ask, Who believes or acknowledges this doc
trine, beyond the slave region Is there min
lister of Christ, except among the shareholders,
who would so far expose his sacred character to
public adherence, as to betray fugitive slave
to the kdnappers! Who thinks it a sin at the
North or in Europe to harbor a runaway! Who,
at the North, except here and there needy at
torney, policeman, or a merchant ready to barter
his character for Southern custom, is vile enough
to carry into practice the doctrine of Mr. Jones
negro catechism and bewray him that wander
eth, refuse to hide the outcasts, or to be COW
er to them from the face of the spoiler!
Not only is Christianity presented to the slaves
by its ministers in an odious and disgusting form,
but those ministers perceived by the slaves to
be the agents of the masters, and to preach to
"picaSc tAem," and are themselves almost uni
yersaly OwacrS Of human bcingS buying and
selling men, women, and children, Is it posi-
bic that such men can be honored, and trusted,
and beloved by the Slaves, as their spiritual
teachers, friends and guides!
But, alas Christianity is rendered still more
repulslve to the slave by the fact that not only do
its teachers make merchandise of their brethren
i'll Christ, but that organised churches are not UNI
frequently
Christian brokers in the trade of blood"
appropriating the profits of the traffic to the sup
port of the priest and the temple!
A fugitive slave told his friends at the North
that he had ceased receiving the Lords Supper
in the church to which he had been attached,
because the CHURCH had sold his brother to paw
for their communion plate; and 81 could not
bear" said he, "to 90 forward and receive the
communion from vessels which were the purchase
of my brothers blood"
We have no proof of the truth of this anec-
dote, but we have most abundant evidence of its
credibllity. Says the Rev. ]. Gable III a print
ed letter of goth March, 1916, " | have lived
eight years in slave State, (Vrginia,) and re-
ceived theological education at the Union Theo-
logical Seminary near Hampden Sydney College.
Those who know anything about slavery, know
the worst kind is .jobbing Siagery-that is, hiring
out slaves from year to year, while the master is
is not present to protect them. 1t is the interest
of the one who hires them to get the worth Of
his money out of them and the loss is the mas
ter's if they die. What shocked me more than
anything else, was the CHURCH engaging in this
iobbng of slaves. The College church, which |
attended, held slaves enough to pay the pastor,
Mr.. Stanton, one thousand dollars year of
which the church members, as | understood, did
+ not pay cent The slaves, who had been left
to the church by some pous mother in Israel, had
increased so as to be large and increasing fund.
These were hired out on Christmas day of each
year-the day on which they celebrate the birth
of our Savour-to the highest bidder These
worked hard the whole year to pay the pastor
900, and it was left to the caprice of the en-
ployers whether they ever heard one sermon
: Since the Abotionists have made so much noise
about the connection of the church with slavery,
the Rev. Elisha Balenter informed me the church
has sold this property, and put the money into
other stock, There were four churches near the
college that supported the pastor in whole or in
part, in the same way, viz: Cumberland church,
John Kirk, pastor Brney church, VIM Plum
mer, pastor, (snce Dr. P, of Richmond J Buff
talo church, Mr.. Cochran, pastor Pisgah church,
tho DnaGC Of