New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-09-11

money, instead Of squanderng it in wor.e than
useless campaign paper.
TIE idea of the disability of marriage by any
human authority, the prevalence Of whica among
| tie cergymen of the Church Of England was dis
played in their warm opposition to the new Divorce
bill, ,eens also to prevail extensively IN the Epis-
copal Church of South Carolina. The scruples of
these reverend gentlemen on this subject as dis
played in recent Convention held in that State,
| have taken most extraordinary t1rn-a turn
hardly Iess indicative of the overpowering growth
of the Pro.Savery sentiment than the recent foun.
dation of new branch of the Presbyterian Church
New Schoo on the basis of the unrestricted liberty
| of hoggiDg and otherwise disciplining negroes.
The question as raised in this Episcopal Conven
| ton was this Considering the fact that slave
husbands and wives, though married in the face Of
the church and with all the usual ceremonies, are
in feet separable aDd are in fact often separated
| at the pleasure of the master, ought they TO be
| permitted TO be married at all That they should
live together and have children for the benefit ard
profit Of their owners nobody seems to question or
deny. The point is ought they TO be, or can they
be- without proclamation, married according to the
| forms and ceremonies of the Episcopal Church I
This, it must be admitted is pretty knotty ques-
ton and TIE Convention seem to have found i. so;
for instead Of dsposDg of it at once, they appointed
a Committee Of seven to draw up report "defin-
cling when svd in what circumstances clergy man
may lawfully unite any two slaves in marriage
Without presumipg to anticipate wha. this report
may be- it is nevertheless easy to POM ou. some
of the considerations that will be likely to enter
| largely Ito its settlement.
The marriage If slaves is certainly highly inc0n.
venient, since it seems to treat them as men, and
| to put them on par with white folks. But here,
perhaps in order to reach the rost of the evil, it
nay be necessary to go little further than merely
| to deny them the marriage ceremony. The funda-
mental error would seem to be in the church hav.
ing recognized negroes having souls TO cave, aad
| as joint participators with white men in common
responsibility and common salvation. Perhaps
as to this matter, the doctrine of the diversity Of
human races entertained by so many modern natu
ralists but which has hitherto found little favor
from the church, might be put to good use. fit
could only be made out that the negroes after all,
are not descended from Adam, the subject might,
perhaps, be relieved Of many of its difficulties But
80 long az the church holds that black are the
children of Adam, Ike the rest of US, and can be
ard ought to be Christians; long as it baptzes
| them, catechzes them confirms them, admits them
| TO the Holy CopmuDon, and reads the burial sery
ice over their graves it seems little inconsistent
| TO deprive them Of the marriage ceremony.
Nevertheless, il is easy to see that this prac
tee Of marrying slaves must occasionally subject
| the owners TO oss, and the slaves themselves to
tortures both of body and mind, especially if there
be coupled With this ceremony the idea Of the alb
| solute iud.solubty of marriage, which seems to
be a prevalent opinion with Episcopaliaus, both IN
| England and America. The great value OF fe-
male slave is well known to consist in her capacity
| To produce other slaves. But scrupuOus woman,
once married according to the form Of the Epl'co-
pal Church might take it into her obstinate head
that she had duty 20 perform in this matter as
well to Gtd and her soul as TO her master, aud
that having been once married, she could not mar
~ again while her first husband was alive, even
though she might have been removed, 10 the mean
ten times over on the auction block. Here, GER
| tanIy, is q very serious Inconvenience. Chris
tisnity, and Episcopal! Christianity in particular,
ought, no doubt to be the guide Of life with
Episcopal Christians; but, properly construed aud
interpreted, surely it caunot come into collision
with profits and increase, any more than With dis
cipliDe.
On the whole, we have little doubt that the Eps-
cops Church of South Carolina will show itself up
to the emergency. 1t will never do to allow the
new accession Presbyterian Church to run Oh with
all the pious shareholders. Here il an opportunity
TO cut under which will hardly fail to be improved
Tn fact. we have little doub. that the movement
thus spiritedly begun, will end 10 reading the
regrce, entirely out Of the Christian communion
that is to say. the Christian communion ~ under
stood aid interpreted south Of Mason K D!kon'
| line.