The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-04-25


Evangelical Rev ulsfsn Ahead.
The anniversary epoch has duly comnenced
The first gathering Of the saints for the year Of
grace 1860 has already been chronicled in OUT
columns, and for the next two weeks the metro
politan press will be imbued with ap evange-
Iioai tone which would afford satisfaction even
to such bright and shining lights in the reli-
sious world a. the new Police Commissioners,
or Mr.. Aninidab Sleek, Of the Jou~na! a Com
merce.
II is our intention, as . matter of course, to
continue tho very copious reports, which We
originated In 1889, and have since given every
year, Of the doings Of tho various societies. We
have already commenced our portion Of tho
work by despatching our reporters to the
bureaus of the leading organizations, such -
the Tract, Bible Home and Foreign Missionary
societies, and so on, with directions to obtain
information a. to their collections for the year.
The Balance sheets of al these societies are
geseraily Usde up to the LIST of April, and far
uished to the press before the goth When the
accounts have not been entirely adjusted, Il
has been the custom to give the receipts as far
9 they can be ascertained and to make an
approximate estimate of the remainder. After
Que inquiry, however, our reporters have been
unable to obtain aoy information from the per
sons who have charge of the financial affairs of
the societies. The Tract Society people, in
order to clinch the matter, said they had evea
refused to give them to Mr.. Sleek, OF the Jour
nal of Commerce. The Information was not
only withheld from the HERALD reporters, but
remarks of an unevangelicsl, not to say uncivil,
character were made to them.
Judging from all these facts, and from GER
tain rumors In we'll informed circles 1t Is quite
evident that the brethren who have undertaken
the conversion of the heather at home and
abroad, the liberation Of the African held in
bonds by the cruel taskmasters in the truth, the
reformation of those who 60 down to the sea in
ships and do business on the great waters, and
various other phiianthropic enterprises too
numerous for mention. have not found, of late,
that ready pecunious recognition of their Of
forts which Is desirable, and, in fact necessary,
for the carrying on of their business in prof.
table way. For 1t is strictly matter Of bust
ness this yearly raid on the sinners Of the me-
tropolis, for the benefit Of the saints in the
provinces The Bible Society, the Missionary
Societies, the American Anti.Slavery Society,
the Tract Society, are all in business Is much
as Mr. Stuart, or Mr.. Tiffany, or anybody in
Broadway or Wall street. The only difference
Is that when one buys at a Broadway shop, he
gets something for his money, but when he
contributes ostensibly to extend the light Of the
Gospel in foreign parts, he may be giving his
funds In reality to support parcel Of loafsrs
ct home.
The religious societies have had very good
time of it in Wall street for the last quarter Of
century. They have collected in that time
over twenty.fv millions of dollars, and have
nothing in the way Of practical results to show
for it. So far as foreign missions are con-
cerned, we have yet to learn that any benefit,
compared to the great expenditure Of money
and serious damage to the bodily health ofthe
missionaries, has been accomplished. The et.
forts Of the abolitonists, pure and simple, have
tended to tighten rather than to loosen the
bonds Of the slave. There are several societies
which belong especially to the city Of New
York, and they, so long as their affairs are sat
isfactorily conducted, will never want for
money. They do not however, adopt the
canting shuttle or the sanctimonious white
cravat to get fundA Nor do they allow the
almighty niger to interfere with their pursuit
of the almighty dollar. The almighty Niger
3 A. .,-o,.Inx, 4, Aha c1osot. ~ al Tho ro}irioua
societies. It is he who has caused the diminu-
ton of the receipts for the last three or four
years. It Is he who has made the collections Of
the past year less, as It is alleged, by from
thirty to fifty per cent than they were In 1855
Look at the facts: The donations to the princi-
pal societies amount to an average Of million
dollars per annum. The Tract Society, Bible
Society, and American Board Of Foreign Mis-
sions take the larger part Of this money. They
are all more or less abolitionized- Tract
Society to greater degree than the others
They get their money chiefly, indeed altogether
from the commercial classea The name Of Z
New York merchant, all over the world, Is sy
nonymous with liberality. Our people, when
they disburse, give with free hand. Their
again, good deal Of the money which sustaini
these societies has come from the South. On
the one hand, the conservative Northern mer
chants are compelled to withhold their contri
buttons from societies which work directly
against the interests Of the white man, on 90
count Of a sentimental penchant which
they have or pretend to have for the black
man and, on the other, it would be Idle to
expect that Southern Christians could put the
societies in false position, where they would
be compelled to carry on the Lords work
with the money produced by the institution
which they denounce as tho sum of all villa
niee,"
The fact Is that 30 far as the great bulk Of
contributions is concerned, they come from
xh{s cS&~ ovS <hn r3oh man ~ %ha Nnrkh ,vhn