The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-04-18


enlightening them?"
we answer:
This objection is frequent in our land. This
policy has been tried for half century, and the
Christians of our country, in mass, are as matter
of fact less willing now to admit slavehOldng to be
sinful than they were in the days of David Rice,
Baily, Barrow and others. Whatever may
facts concerning isolated cases, who have been
thrown occasionally with minds of different
policy, the masses further from truth now,
than they were fifty years ago. And if the public
mind is now beginning to wake up, the awakening
results, not 80 much from the policy Of those who
take the STAKEHOLDER into the church, and thereby
sanction the practice as consistent with piety, as
from the policy of those who pile up facts showing
| slaveholding to be sinful and, by their acts Of
discipline treating 1t as such.
And il it even be true that the young convert
does not at first, see saveholding to be sinful,
as adultery or highway robbery, the fauh lbs u,
the pracice Of he church, IN not constantly declaring
il Sueh and requiring repentance Of this, as from the
above sins. And every day she neglects the duty,
| the sin of ignorance lies at her door
Ministers and churches should repent Of it i'm
mediatey If the ministers were instant in season
aud out of season. publicly declaring sl,veholding
to be sinful, and the churches treating it as SUCH
then would young converts be enlightened, and
would repent at once Of slaveholdng as of other
sins. If the church shall defer this work another
half century, the beginning will then have to be
made, as now, only with this dfference-the power
of habit incr eased, and the force Of numbers null
tiplied on the enemy's side.
Had the ministers and churches, in the days of
David Rice and Father Barrow, treated as SINFUL
that which they admitted to be sinful (slavehold-
ing) we would not hear their successors saying
Young converts do not at first see slaveholding
to be SINFUL Shall we not profit by their error,
and refuse the fellowship of the church as a sane
| ton Of the niquity?
| Does the objector say in connection with the
| above
"Christ is saviour of his people from their
sins, true, but not in their sins, and therefore
tell men TO come to Christ with all your sins
slaveholding among the rest"
| That is, the objector means by "coming to
| Christ with all their sins-slaveholdng among
| the restn to come into the church with all your
| sins the church is the worlds reformerp*
The above objection is not supposed one ne
know Il 10 BE- real, and common, even among minis
| tiers and churches and some of these ministers
will admit slavery 10 be sinful; yet they say, Come
into the church with all your sins-slaveholding
among the rest"
Now, with the same propriety they may say to
the idolator, adulterer, pirate, and highway rob-
! Der, "Come into the church with all your vile
practices we do not expect you to see these things
wrong at first after you hear us preach princi-
Piles awhile, then you will see these things wrong.
| Come, Christ can save his people from their sins.
| That is, we do not mean by this passage that
which is its obvious import that you are TO sepa-
rate from your sns; Christ can save you living n
| them
| Now, John said, Repent, and bring forth fruit
meet for repentance "-that is actions separating
from your vile practices. And Isaiah, even in his
dark and corrupt age said, Let the wicked
! foyMke his rags, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts Then, "Let him turn to the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him and to our
God, for he will abundantly PARDON So Christ
taught, and so his apostles taught; and, as we
have seen, required the putting away Of specific
immoralities, even when these specific immorali-
ties were sanctioned by the reigning religion and
laws of the land, and when the public mind, and
the mind Of the yenng convert, were enlightened
only by the example of their small and scattering
churches This was the way to bring the convert
to see the practice sinful not by taking it into the
church, and thereby saying, "The act is consist
eut with pietyn
With this point clearly made out, We are now
prepared to answer the objection Of the Assembly
of the Presbyterian church, IN. S)-ls46:
awe regard the system of slavery, as it exists in
these United States as ultrinsicaliy unrighteous,
opposed to the law and the Gospel and the best
interests Of Humanity, y yet we would not
undertake to determine the degree Of moral tar-
pitude ON the part Of individuals involved in it.D
"We have no right to institute and pre-
scribe tests not recognised in the Scriptures"
We reply
I. II we should use Pillsbury's parody, and
change the word Shareholders into sheepstealers,