Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-10-13

"'""''' hS CuINOIhlB WeUIDeTS are one
hundred and eighty, and its IIonoraries FIVE
or SIX thousand in number. The mere state
ment sufficiently expresses the weight which
the embodied opinion of snch an assembly
must have upon the public mind when ex-
pressed, pro or con, upon such a matter as
Slavery. It's business is to send the Gospel
to the utieruicst parts of the earth, and to
bring all Mankind TO the knowledge of Chris
tian truth. It IS generally supposed, of
c Il Sc, that its members know " hat Chris
tian truth is, and what it is that constitutes
the Christian character. When it refuses.
thu Teforf, TO include slaveholding in The cat; =
logue Of mald in Sc, and Shareholders in the
list Of transgrrssors who are TO be cast out
unless they confess and forsake thpir8ins,
they ChTistianize the one, and fraternize. or
= fellowship with the other. Ii is all either
can reasonably ask.
1t is an observable and a significant fact,
that for years Slavery has obtrnded itself, in
spite of all efforts 10 be rid Of it, into the
most prominent place at the Annual NJ ell
ings Of the Board. This year, nearly the
whole of the time devoted 10 the discussion
OF business, apart from the raising Of funds,
was consumed by this Unsuitable intruder
The grisly spectre again took its seat at the
head Of the board, and would be seen and
heard of all men. The occasion of its app; :
rilion was on this wise: The Missionaries
to the Cherokees and Choctaws having been
accustomed TO admit Shareholders to the
Church, and having employed the labor of
slaves in their households and boarding.
schools, and even having purchased and held
slaves, (for their own good, Of c%ourse,) a
stir was made about it several years ago,
which has had the effect Of making the An
nual Meeting a sort of Anti-Slavery Debat-
ing Society ever since. As the change in
the public mind, wrought by the agitation Of
the Anti-Slavery Societies, was too great TO
permit the perfunetory suppression of the
element Of disturbance, the grand aim has
always been to put off the evil day when the
Board would have TO take decided ground in
the premises. Last year positive inlorma-
ton was promised at this meeting, as one of
the Secretaries was TO be sent on an errand
of investigation. But though the ambassa-
dor was returned, and though the exact state
of things was fully developed, the Board
was no nearer definite action than before
Besides the Report Of Mr.. Treat, setting
forth the facts Just stated, letters from the
Missionaries themselves, giving their sense
of the matter, were in the case, as well as
the reply of the Prudential Committee.
The letters Of the Missionaries were in the
true strain of slaveholding insolence. II
they had lived in the parish of J.. G.. Cal
houn, instead of among the outlying Indians,
these gentlemen could not have vindicated
the character Of the Peculiar Institution with
more junction.. OF course they thought it a
'grievous wrong and all that; hut they
could find no prohibition of il by Christ, and
| they did find a recognition and regulation Of
it by the Apostles. Were they to be wise
above what was written? They had admitted
shareholders to the Mission churches, and
they would again, and if the Board chose to
withhold its pecuniary aid, why it might
The churches were Congregational churches,
and independent of all external control, and
would regulate their " affairs. Still, they
hoped the Boafd would continue its aid, and
remember that il was a question of a slave
holding gospel, or of no gospel at all, that
was at issue, and decide accordingly. OF
course, we only give the substance of the
documents, in plain English, Invested of
cant and circumlocution. The Prudential
Committee, in. reply, humbly ventured to
dissent from the Lord Brethren as to the i'm
piled sanction of Christ, and the express re-
cognition of the Apostles, of slavery. Still
they admitted that a distinction was to be
made between slavery and sl%aveholding,
pointed out cases in which it was innocent
and even laudablc to hold slaves, and dis
claimed the idea that slaveholding was ne
cessary bar to church-membership. 1t was
only a circumstance which should excite in
quiry as 10 the character of the applicant-a
prima facie case of sin, which might be re-
butted by explanatory evidence. The Com
mittee of the Board, with Mr.. Frelinghuysen
al its head, 70 which these reports and letters
were referred, reported that, inasmuch as the
answer OF the Missionaries TO the reply was
not yet received, all action in the premises
should be deferred until the next Annual
Meeting! One would have thought that the
letters themselves were sufficient evidence
of the character and qualifications Of the
Missionaries, and that the only reply the
Board needed to make was the withdrawal
of their credentials as its ambassadors. BY
continuing them in its service after such al
exposition of doctrine and practice, it neces-
sariIy admitted both, to be evangelically
Christian. 1t placed itself in the same con.
domination with them.
The consideration of this Report was the
main business Of the last day. The only
fight that was made was by President Blanch.
ard of some Illinois College, who proposed
resolutions embodying the idea that slave.
nolulnB Wds' III 'He oplnion VI 'He Dodiu, III
consistent with the Christian character, and
should be a cause of exclusion from the
Church; but without proposing any imme,
diate or definite action. These resolutions
after debate. were rejected without scarcely
a Dissenting voice. But they were after
wards Teconsidered, and the fact Of their be.
ing offered, r%eciting them, ordered TO be en-
tered on the minutes, chiefly through the
influence of the elder DIR. Beecher. who de.
clared that it would be almost fatal to the
influence Of the Board in the West, should /
appear to have rejected resolutions of this
character. He did not put II upon the GROUND
that the resolutions were proper to be passed
but that the interests of the Board would
suffer, if they should appear 20 have beer
summarily rejected. President BLANCHARD
seemed in much the same state Of mind, al
ha axnrecsed his readiuass In ,uiihdra.u tLan