The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-02-15


to. They have it is admitted, been told, that
! while the Choctaws allow them "to preach the
gospel to all persons, of whatever complexion or
condition, as they have opportunity, and to
preach it in all its applications to human char
acter and duty, they are TO continue patiently
in their work. Now, what sort of gospel is It
the Board has in view? Mr.. Treat in his letter
of l846, recently endorsed by the Board, says,
! eve do not believe that every act of slduehold-
ing is sinful. *%* We do not claim that
either Christ or his Apostles expressly condemn
I ed this system domestic Slavery in the New
; Testament, although he elsewhere admits that
, it is at war with the rights of man. and opposed
! to the principles of the gospel. The Board SAYS
that slaveholding does not always, in their opin-
/ ion, involve individual guilt, in such manner
{ as to exclude every person implicated therein
/ from Christian fellowship"
: Mr.. Treat informed the Missionaries. also.
that the Apostles did not affirm the sinfulness
of Slavery, and insist upon emancipation and
I that, for this policy, they found the ampest au-
thority in the dealings of God with his covenant
people, and in the life of Christ He exhorted
the Missionaries to preach against Slavery, (but
Z not against slaveholding,) but, said "when and
where, you must Judge" He told them that
5 they must instruct slaveholding converts as to
7 the SIM but added, {" in your own time and way"
And he furthermore said, "If person may
. be the legal owner of slaves, and vet be free
from all blame in the sight of God, then it is
! clearly wrong to say that no STAKEHOLDER shall
i be admitted to the church of Christ"
/ The Board, years since, decided that the ordi-
: nances of the gospel cannot be scripturally and
/, rightfully denied to those converts (meaning
slaveholding converts) who give evidences Of
pety; and that the Missionaries and the churches
| lin the Chocktaw nation) are the sole judges of
the sufficiency of this evidence. All that should
! be required is, that these supposed converts
should prove themselves free from the guilt, not
ofholding men in bondage, but of treating them
with cruelty, before they could make good their
title "to place among the followers Of Christ"
| Such, Mr.. Editor are the views held by the
! Board-such the instructions given to the Mis-
! sionaries-and such the preaching to the slave
: holders and the slaves. Is this the higher law
of Christ? What wrong is done to the poor
Indian-to his soul--in intoxicating upon him
that Christianity tolerates human bondage
What wrong is done to the slave, to his body
and his soul
Your article, derived from the Independent,
says, in conclusion:
"This action covers the whole ground of duty
for the Board, in relation to Slavery. Hence
forth there can arise no question of principle
: between the Board and the anti-slavery senti-
ment of the Christian public. The
whole subject of Slavery, in relation to the Mis-.
sionary work, is settled upon the eternal basis
of right"
Christian Aboltionists, in this country, will
be astonished at such an announcement. They
are far from being satisfied with the late action
of the Board. One step, they acknowledge, has
been taken in the right direction, on the Slavery
question, by this popular and influential body
of ministers and laymen-only step. They re-
joice in it. Still they are constrained to believe
that no material change has taken place in the
minds of a majority of the Board, on the mo-
mentous question of American Slavery-that
its recent action was mainly brought about by
an " outward pressure" that is, by the increased
antislavery sentiment in the free States, result
ing from the encroachments of the slave power
and that, in the language of distinguished
member of the Board, who voted to endorse
MIR. Treats letter, since the Annual Meeting, to
the writer, there will not, presume, be any
change at the Indian Missions on the subject
of Slavery" This result will not surprise those
who believe that not a single member of the
Board is, technically speaking, an Abolitionist,
and who are advised that the Missionaries of
the Board, among the Indians, contend that
separating parents and children, by purchase
and sale, is not a sufficient cause of church
discipline
These apprehensions acquire additional
strength, when it is considered, to use the Ian
gnage of the Synod of Cincinnati, that the Board
has allowed the Missionaries to receive slavehold-
ers into Mission churches, without questioning
the awfulness of the relation, and the Board itself
defends the position; and that, in some respects
the Board does not now stand upon "the higher
law of Christ" 80 much as it did twenty years
ago. In one of the resolutions adopted at the
late Meeting, the Missionaries are told, that
while they are allowed by the Indian legislators
to preach the gospel ain all its applications to
human character and duty" as laid down in
Mr.. Treats letter, of course q they are to con-
tinue patiently in their work" Contrast this
with the instructions of the Board to Mr.. Par
ker, a Missionary to China in 1884:
"lf he (the Missionary finds people willing
to receive him, he is to persevere in publishing
to them the message of salvation, though laws
and magistrates forbid, and even at the expense
of liberty and life. He is not, indeed, to court
persecution but people willing to receive
the gospel are not to be abandoned, though all
the enactments and powers of their rulers are
,arrayed against their Instructions This is
indeed "the higher law of Christ" Would that
the American Board, other Missionary Societies
in the country and ministers of the gospel and
religious editors, had kept it in mind, and faith
fully and fearlessly practiced it!
1t is understood that the course pursued by
the Missionaries has not changed since the date
of Mr.. Treats letter of l848; and the public
has not been advised of single instance of
STAKEHOLDER being denied admission to the
church, or any case of discipline in consequence
of members living in the sin of slaveholding.
1t is also well understood that Mr.. Treats letter
would not have been endorsed, and the resolu-
tons adopted if two or three prominent mem
bers of the Board had not presented very cogent
reasons in favor of these measures. For ex-
ample, Rev. Dr. Beecher said: "If you fail to
meet this issue, your influence is gone beyond
the mountains. And you must do it now, u
you never will have another chance" Rev.
Dr. Pomeroy, one of the Secretaries, said, he
felt that it might now be his duty to say that
he believed that the feelings of the country are
such, that though this action Ia reference Of
the whole subject to the Prudential Committee
for the purpose of giving it quietus) might
harmonic us here, it will not satisfy the people
at large
What will be said in England, Mr.. Editor, of
the declaration in protested anti-slavery news
paper in the United States, in view Of these
statements now submitted to your readers, that
the whole subject of Slavery, in relation to the
Missionary work, is settled upon the eternal
basis of right by the recent action of the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions, when it is patent to the world that the
Board sustains Missionaries among the Indians
who admit TO church privileges Shareholders
those who buy and sell men, women, and chill
dren, nay, church OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES who
contend that the gospel of Christ allows such
atrocities, and that unless overt acts of cru
city are perpetrated and it can be proved that the
slaves are held from selfish purposes, they have