Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1853-03-24
For the Freeman,
The M. e. Church and Slavery.

Mr. ED,ToR:- II was visited, short time
ago, oy member of the Wesleyan Church,
who complained that injustice had been done in
the freeman to the communication OF the Rev.
Cyrus Prndie and, presenting a copy of the
True Wesleyan, in which was The original arti-
Gle, he wished me to compare it with the one in
the Fireman. did SO, and found severa! typo
GRAPHICAL errors, which did essentially injure the
communication so much so, that apprehended
Mr.. Prindle's friends would not be at all salts
6ed-the question argued being considered by
them as one Of vital Importance. TO make
matters right, and 10 give satisfaction all round,
hope that you will, when you can conveniently
fnd space in your paper, give The communication
another Insertion in the freeman. ! was much
gralifed to hear from my old friend, throughthe
columns Of the Freeman; for, though Metho-
dist am nevertheless in favor of free discus
sion. There are some things which we need to
know, that We are not likely to be informed OF,
unless i! be by our opponents. A full investi-
CATION is what we want at the present time, to
the end that the position of the Churches as 10
the great question at issue may he fully under
stood, so a, to be known and read of all men j;
and DIS it relates to the Methodsts, this is not
only what desire, but what, as have ability,
wish to promote. Respectfully Yours.
GEO PUTNAM
The time has come, when the M E.
Church can no longer conceal from the
public gaze, the fact that she is as truly in
volved in the crime of slavery, as she ever
was. The pretensIons that have been made
of her freedom from slavery, since the or.
ganization Of the Church s., which the
columns Of the Wesleyan have exposed al
most weekly, years past cannot longer have
the sjckly show of error in those who make
them. AS you, Mr.. Editor, remarked 10
Rev. Mr.. Houts, at the recent General Con.
ference, we "haye often had the lie charged
upon US, and we have beenIcalled slandcrers
Of our mother, for saying that there were
slaveholders in the M EChurch" | haveong
feared that there was downright dishonesty
in these deniais, and when we have known
that shareholders were as really in the M
E. Church, as they were in the nation
And to suppose the ministers and members
of the church were ignorant of this fact,
has been difficult to credit, ana yet this has
been the only way 20 account for these en-
roneous statements, and not charge home
distinct criminalty. But we see in this
church substantially the same as we do in
the great political parties, clearer aud
more distinct acknowedg cement ofther pro-
slavery connections And as the ruling pc.
liticaI bodies of our land shall leecome more
open in their support Of the heather system,
may we look to see pro-slavery churches fol-
lowing them There was fitness that the
Bishops and members of the late M. E.
General Conference, should go to hear
Mr.. Webster in Faneuil Hall. and be par
iticuiarly addressed by the apostle OF the Fu-
gilive Slave Law. Their members are not
only shareholders, and avail themselves of
this law, as in the case of Gorsuch and
Reese, but claim membership as a right"
says ]. A. Collins. And this is true. To
talk of their being members of the M. E.
Church by "suferance," as Rev. J. Porter
affirmed, is all assumption. Where is the
rule in the M. E. Discipline, prohibiting
members living even in Boston, owning
plantation of slaves in Georgia? Where is
the rule to church Methodist in Baltimore,
for hunting his slaves in any free State, and
claiming them, and forcing them back to
the prison house! There clearly is none
hot the first word. On this point, the
Methodist Discipline is thousand years
back Of the laws of Moses. They need
not claim to be Christian here, until they
have got as far advanced as Moses. Indeed
| have met with considerable number of
these members who have confessed they did
not know that there was such passage as
Deuteronomy, xiii Is. l6.
If Methodist Episcopal slaveholding men,
hers hold their relation by suferance, or
toleration, as Rev J. Porter said on the
floor of the General Conference. why did
the New England Annual Conference, held
just before the General Conference, propose
ito have ruie prepared TO exclude slave
holders after specified date! With the
history OF that church, aud her discipline as
it is, and has been for many years. know
not how Mr. Porter could allow himself to
make a statement so untrue as the one as
cribed to him doubt not but he feels an
adherence to slavery. ] have heard him
express his adherence myself. But surely,
he should not mislead others, by represent
tations not founded in fact
That the New England Conference view
ed this matter just as it is here represented,
and that nothing but a special rule could
exclude shareholders from the church, none
can doubt, after reading the following ex-
tract from an account of their proceedings,
taken from the National Era of Nav 9Th.
1852. The writer says
"The discussions on the subject of slavery
were very interesting. No one looked upon the
system but with the feeling of pure hatred
There might have been some slight diff, rences
OF opinion, but there was no evidence of the exs-
tence of trucking time server, nor tepefac-
tious conservative in The whole body In refer
ence to the contemplated action of the approach.
ing General Conference in Boston, the following
resolutions were passed with great unauimity:
81. Resoirea, That it is the sense of this Con-
ference that a rule should be inserted in The
Discipline Of the M. E. Church, prohibiting the
reception of voluntary slave holders into the
church.
~. Resolred, That it is the sense OF this Con-
ference that, aftera specified date, all persons
who shall be found in the church, sustaining the
relation Of voluntary Shareholders, should be en-
pelted from the church."
"1hese sentiments are honest. They were
so unanimous in the Conference that no opposi.
t,on was cncounered.* The moment they tell
from the lips of the mover, they were voted aud
filed. They will have their influence. Coming
from Conference of as able clergymen as any
in the Union, they will tell. The border men