New-York daily tribune., 1858-04-06

L
ETY. and its Elective Committee is this: Does the
supervision which evangelical Christians are re-
qured in their character as religious persons TO ex
ercse over themselves and eachOth extend to the
relation of master and slave; is that relation 80
far at least as the master is concerned TO be en-
trey excluded from Christian oversight, specton
and exhortatiOn, withdrawn from the influence OF
spiritual considerations, and left to the exclusive
control of the world the hesh and the devil What
the Society thinks or thought at least in May last
| upon this topic, was made evident by the passage
| Of a resolution brought forward BY Special
Committee, and unanimously adopted by the Soc-
ETY., in the following terms:
Reo-ed That which out Of ae eHst
OF Slavery well ho moral evils sad vices Wch
depored By evangelical Christians. undoubtedly do "a.
within the province OF hs soieiy Ad can ana ought " a
| cussed in frsiernal and ChIi',sa spirit
| At the time VIXEN this resolution was taus unani-
mously adopted, and its passage being followed
on the proposal of the then Chairman of the Execu
tive Committee, by prayer of Thanksgiving for this
| harmonious result, tract on the 50 Duties OF
Masters" which had been prepared ia the spirit OF
| this resolution, and with view 20 carry t into
effect 10y printed and stitched aud ready for binding
at the Tract House. This tract had been examined
| by the members of the Special Committeeby which
| the above resolution had been reported, and had
been individually approved BY them. 1t had also
| received the special Endorsement of the Rev.
Thomas Smyth, d. d., of Charleston, S. c., as
| foows:
"Tte subject of primary and universal interest % al
evsnsece Christians every denomination and in all parts OF
o-,, No,-bS Eastau
The prncipies inrorcd ohii all eson9S'oai
Chran. og1ce and are essentially applicable masters in
wha' instances they hold that esOn to those depend
THE American Trsct scetys mucha Southern as North
er association much Eastern and Western as Southern
rGws fact no o, I9 .bea ssr.pcay or
politically sderd 1t onsnated and has ever been ss
@ speS f sify Sy saTrInnnent or denominstion
T nbst Of this ittle volume !, in
the south are deeply Interested and vitality concerned Tbs
couPised il il are the prodc aon Of PLominenh h anrs
expeditions Of the duty OF masters in various quar-
the South and SoutnWes and M Is nopa "a may oe
fherins among them the Interests OF pure snd
pndehled religion"
The volume referred to, which is now before US,
embraces: ]. A Pastoral Letter ION the duty of
"affordng religious instruction to those in bond
cage, ;" addressed in 1884, by Bishop Meade to the
ministers, members and friends of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in Virginia, and reprinted BY the
Convocation of Central Virginia in 1853; =.
sermon 'on the duty of masters, by the Rev. John
C. Young, ID. d., President of Center College and
pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Dsnvile,
Kentucky, preached at Danvile in 1916, then pub
lished by the unanimous request OF the church
and congregation, aud now revised by the
author; 3. An extract from a sermon on
the religious instruction of the colored popula-
ton. preached iu Charleston S. c., in 847, by the
Rev. John B. Adger, DID,, late missionary to the
Armepisns and then Professor in the Theological
Seminary at Columbia, S. c.; 4. Some o6serva
tions "on the means of religious instruction o
slaves, including three extracts-one from Sug-
e .gestions on the Religious Instruction of the Ne
"groes in the Southern States" by the Rev. G. G.
Jones' d. D., issued BY the Presbyterian Board
of Publication at Philadelphia; another from
"Thouahts on Family Worship" by the Rev. }.
w. Alexander, D. D., published by the sams
BoaId and third from q premium essay, issued
BY the Baptist Beard OF Publication at Charles
ton, S. G.
1t will be observed that out of four separate
tracts included in this publication, three are ex'
pressy confined to the duty of masters IN relation
to the religious instruction of their slaves. The
sermon of Dr. Young treats the subject somewhat
more generally but in his discourse, too, this duty
of religious instruction is principal topic. This
volume, thus ready for publication, thus made up
from the writings of Southern divines, thus care
fully restricted to religious topics and considerations,
involving, as DR.. Smyth OF South Carolina
testiies, no principles beyond those in which oil
evangelical Christians agree--is in substance con-
fined TO the duty of masters to form the habit
and act upon the principle of regarding their
slaves first as human beings and secondly as
heirs of salvation, and included as such In the
Christian scheme Such, We believe, has always
hitherto been the view taken by all the evan
oeIcal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT for that matter by
All denominations that we have ever heard of max
ing any pretension to the name OF Christians as 10
the position of the negroes, whether IN ths world
or the next Ii is true there have at all times been
advocates of what Bishop Meade incidentally
refers TO as 50 the nfdel hypothesis which stigma
" tizes negroes as distinct and inferior race, inca
:. pable of being operated upon by the same moral
80 principles which influence our own" This ylew
however. as We understand the matter, has never
hitherto been accepted as sound doctrine or even
a. an open question by any recognized section OF
evangelical Christians. Hitherto it has always
been argued, as We suppose among evangelical
Christians that negroes as well as white men had
souls to save, and that Christ died for them as well
asus The Executive Committee Of the American
Tract Society (by suppressing as they have done
A .knrA n