New-York daily tribune., 1856-02-26

free from those annoying controversies which oc
, eupy so much of the time OF their Northern oretn
| rsr are enabled to concentrate their entire en-
! ,,o;ss unor the cultivation of practical pie'y
| 1ro zeal with which they devote themselves
- a.. eradication Of the vices OF avarice' Pr'ue
- .nbi.ion. and the Ike, in the mass
the peop,s about them, and in par, at ,''s'
If the ro,u,Sers of their own househoiu'' a
,ssctino a, il /. cd. wing. 1t Is no "o"u7
thar The Hon Miss 81. rray was STRUCK VIII
the contcnted .lad hsPY c 'nd''On u -. :. ,..o,
,bem ,be vir,ues O; humility. patience suoni'
sion to injury industry, and sch - -.
fatigue which the masters often d. uoe
administration of the discipline necess W " us
the weaker brethren along the straight ~ u ""'lV'
road. No wonder that that honorable w0l
moved to burst forth into Pean in 81. ); .
Slayery-a prose paan legitUs sOtsti' in wbie o.
inspiration, half poetic and half religious snPPh
the place of the ordinary rules OF grammar ant
rhetoric.
We have been led TO this train of thought by the
ecclesiastical censures which we mentioned the
other day as having been launched at Anthony
Burns of Boston nOtOriety for the sin of running
away from his master This offender, 1t viii be
remembered. ungratef for the kind care which
had been bestowed on his person, and especailyhis
soul in Virginia. robbed his master one day OF thar
portion of his property invested in his Anthony
Burus's) body, and eloniOusly conveyed it away to
Boston. There, by the kind and Christian inter-
position of District Attorney Haett' Commissioner
Ior;ng. and his Baptist brother IN the falth, Gen'
Fdmands, who divided among them the pous
offices ascribed to St. Paul by some of the COM
mentators on his Episte to Philemon he was in
duced or rather constrained TO reurnto TO the pain OF
duty. from which, however, he was subsequently
seduced again by certain nhdel Abolltlonlsts, VINO
furnished him with the means OF buying himself,
and thus again leaving the blessed influences OF
Soutbern institutions Under these circumstances
be had the efrontery to ask for regular dlsmission
from the church at Union, Fauquier County, Vir-
oinia. of which he was a member, which lnsolence
was met by bull of accommodation hurled at
his head for his manifold and repeated maieasances
We cannot but admire the spirit as well as the
cnerov Of these proceedings. The only fault We
have TO find with the church at Union, Virginia,
is that they waited, before making this necessary
excision. until the offending member had again
forced himself. as it were, upon their notice. 1t
,yould have better suited our notions of the sever
ity required in such cases had the brethren pro-
ceeded 10 the amputatOn and the cautery at once,
on the first notorety of the crime. This Anthony
Burns had obviously disobeyed what, according to
the Southern view, is the first great command
ment; and indeed, so far as persons OF his condition
Of life are concerned inclusive of all the others
- Servants obey your masters, tie had robbed
his master of valuable chatte He had volun-
tarily absented himself from the services OF the
church and from the means OF religious improve
ment and after having been once reclaimed, he had
again fallen from grace. We think that the pun
i,hment should have followed the ofense sooner;
but in that perhaps we are TOO jealous for the
consistency and answering justice OF the South
ern church. We are glad, however, that the dis
cpline has been administered at last, and trust il
will have a salutary effect on all who may labor
under like temptations.
The fate of Anthony Burns is indeed warning
to all slippery and slipping sinners of his slippery
class. He now knows what he has lost by his
perverseness in allowing the rebellious old Adam
10 harden his heart. lie thought it hard to work
for another man for nothing and to be beaten with
stripes at that. He yielded to the promptings of
his own carnal nature, and now what is his condi-
tic, ! Cut off from the church at Union, Vr-
gina, denied the sympathies and prayers of its
members shut out from the ordinances of religion
as there administered the door of Heaven slammed
in his face and be given over to be bufeted by the
great Adversary of Mankind Poor Anthony
Much as we blame him, we cannot but feel some
natural yearnings Of compassion toward him.
Indeed be is, as TOuchstone said to Corin, 90 in
parOus state There seems but one thing for
him to do and that is to return TO Colonel Sutte,
ard say, 81 have sinned before Heaven and in thy
sight" and to entreat forgiveness and restoration
to bis former blessed estate of servitude Then he
can make submission to the church at Union,
Fauquier County, and with some hope of being
again received into its pale. Ii he have not grace
enough for this, we fear that no must make up his
mind never again to be admitted to the communion
of that fold This is all the advice or comfort he
can expect from US.
CP0M WAcHINGTON