New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-05-14
DANIFI LORD An ID HIRAM KETCuCu


fully prepared speeches, their neglect to touch in
any way the subject Of Slavery, either the sins and
moral dangers connected with that institution, or
the peculiar duties incumbent upon Christians who
find themselves brought into relations with it, Mr..
Daniel Lord, one of these eminent lawyers, laid 1t
down as his fundamental position that the exPendi-
ture of the moneys of the Society must be regn-
lated. not in the least by the wishes, incnatlons
or demands Of the donors, but exclusively with
view to promote the objects for which the Society
exists The Tract Society he said, was CHAIR
table foundation, wholly unlike those institutions
or combinations Of men who can make their own
constitutions, manage their own property, and
do what they please with it. If the donors OF this
property could be collected together, could even be
raised from the dead, they would not have single
right to say what should be done with this prop
erty. They had parted with it, and could not sag
ANYTHING as TO how it should be- administered. That
administration, regardless Of the opposing wishes
of anybody. must be exclusively in accordance
with the plan upon which the gift had been solicited.
The funds of the Society are protected to that
limitation and that use-not simply by law, but BY
the highest principles of honor, gratitude, good
fifth religion respect to the dead and justice to
the living.
This view Of the position OF the Society so
distinctly set forth by this profound and learned
lawyer, is precisely the one which we have always
taken 1t is precisely on these very grounds that
We arragn and have arraigned the existing admins
traton Of the Society Our very ground OF complaint
has been and is, that the Publishing Committee 10
the expenditure ofhe moneys of the Society, instead
| of being exclusively governed by the objects for
| which the Society exists, look sideways to the
deprecatory gestures of certain of the donors in
this city ana the saveholding States, aud in COM
| pliauce with their timidity, their sehshness, aud
their easily bcsetting cOunting-rocm and house
| hold sins, refrain from administering rebukes and
exhortations loudly called for and within the adj
mitted scope of the objects for which the Society
war formed. The very thing complained OF is that
instead of including within the circle OF their eA-
| hort atoms and rebukes those moral duties which
grow out of the existence of Slavery and those
moral evils and vices, condemned by Scripture and
depored by evangelical Christians, which Slavery Is
known to promote, and which, after long and care
full elaboration, have been unanimously and
soemnly adjudged by the Society to fall within the
scope of its duties the Publishing Committee do
steadily persist in playing the part Of dumb dogs
rs to this most important branch OF American
domestic life seriously involving. as it does not
merely the Christian carriage OF one large and
influential class Of church members, but the relig-
ious privileges, to say nothing of the temporal
welfare, of another large class, and that composed
of the weak, poor and helpless, to whom the duties
| of Christian charity specially extend.
Even taking it for granted that Mr. Lord is right
in his legal notions as TO the respective functions Of
the members and the officers of the Society; ALLOW
that the members baye nothing to do but to elect
the officers. aud that the officers thus elected are
placed totally beyond the power of the members
70 instruct or control Them even Mr. Lord, VT
suppose will not pretend thst these officers are
placed hey ond the obligations of honor, good tath
religion, respect for the dead and justice to tue
living. Suppose they were to undertake to sup
press all the present publications OF the Society,
and to substitute in place of tnem Joe Miller 3
Jest Book and Tom PaiDes Age Of Reason. Not
even Mr.. Lord, we presume, would undertake. 10
deny that in q case Of that sort, the members might
assume the privilege of remonstrance, of complaint
Of suggestion at least if not Of instruction The adj
mitted object Of the Tract Society is to promote
the cause of evangelical piety by circulating pub
LEGATIONS exhorting to neglected duties and re-
buking wide spread sins, and that without
any respect of persons; aud the very ground of
complaint against the Publishing Committee is,
that instead Of declaring the whole truth az to
certain topics of the most important character
they maintso tind and dsgraceful silence.
As to the excuse set up BY Mr. Lord that tit would
be idle to publish tracts which cannot be circu-
lated it will be quite time to urge that excuse
when the fact shall have been proved by expert
ment Suppose these tracts were ever so vigor-
ousk excluded from the South, there would still re-
main wide field for their circulation at the North
Everybody knows how many OF our enterprising
Young men of the North 90 to the South every
year in pursuit Of business and livelihood, many
Of them becoming permanent residents there.
They go there, and they settle there, As teachers
preachers merchants, lawyers, doctors, mechanics,
and sometimes as slave-trsders and plantation over
seers, and many of them may ultimately become
shareholders Is is not important that, before leav-
ing the North, these young persons should receive
from So respectable and authoritative source as
the Tract Society little word spoken in season,
some instruction and some warnings as to the new
duties which will be imposed upon them, and the
new temptations by which they will be surrounded
hy being brought into contact with Slavery! If it