Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-06-20
p sInr.r, ,.u n ,he NEGLIGIBLE. Church.

discipline 10 IOIolu ShFc-hOiuihB WIG NVVo ,
being one hundred and thirty-nine for the
resolution, and sevcnty-four against; thus
with large majority in favor of excluding
all slSyeLholders from the Church The rule
was lost for want of nine votes to make the
required two-thirds. This strong expression
OF sentiment would seem 70 indicate that the
subject is only temporarily disposedof, unless
the four years interval before the next Cen
eral Conference shall bring about reaction, |
as frequently occurs, in political organiza-
tions, on slavery and other moralquestions.
After refusing 10 adopt rule TO discipline
shareholders, the Conference, by a vote of
one hundred and ffty-four TO 6fty-seven,
adopted the following amendment to the
Chapter on Slavery, specifying also that it is
merely admonitory:
Resolued, 3, BY the Delegates of the several
Annual Conferences IN General Oonierence
assembled, that the following I've, and hereby
is, substituted in thel place Of the present
Seventh Chapter on Slavery -AA|
Question What shall be done for the ex-
tirpation of the evil Of rSlayery?s
ARsver; We declare that we are rs much
as ever convinced Of the great evil of Slavery.
We believe that the buying, selling or hold
sistent with the Golden Rule, md with that
Rule in our Discipline which requires all who
desire to continue AMONG us, to do no harm,
aud 20 avoid evil of every kind We, there
fore, affectionately admonish all our
preachers and people to keep themselves pure
from this great evil and TO seek its extirpa-
lion by all lawful and Christian means.
This leaves the Church in the position of
,enouncing practice as great evil, and
vet offering Christian fellowship to the evil
doers This compromise with the evil by
.lenouncing IT, but retaining il in the Church,
savors much Of the compromises of political
conventions and is hardly as consistent a
position as is desirable for a Christian Church
which processes to "come out from the world
and be separate" No Church is more strict
than the Methodist in disciplining the minor
evils; and its supervision over the amuse+
1nents dress, and ornaments of its members,
is remarkable and has sufficed to enlarge
considerably the list of sins for which man
kind is to suffer; but while it disciplines
rigidy the mint, annis and cummin of evil,
it formally resolves TO neglect what II pro-
nounces violation Of the weightier law of
the Golden Rule, and "great evil"
Something is false in this position, and it
might be well to review it and see if it is not
in the premise. Is Slavery great evil in
any sense that requires it to be denounced
by the Church? The world is full of eyil.
Even civilized, free society, with its ex-
tremes of poverty and wealth, starvation and
luxury, and its crimes growing out ofithese
extremes, and increasing with them and with
the advance of civilization, is not perfect.
We know that Wesley said, slavery is the
sum of all iniquity." We are not going to
dispute that. Under the absolute control
which it gives the masters, almost every con-
ceivable crime has been committed. So under
the absolute control which the law
gives the husband over the wife, al
most every conceivable crime has been
committed; therefore marriage is the sum o.
all iniquity. BY means of the control which
religion has given priests over mankind
every conceivable crime has been committed
so, religion is the sum of all iniquity. These
are specimens of the value in rational inyes
tigation of these glittering generalities which
people constantly appeal to as the end of al
reason. Wesley did not believe that slave
holder was necessarily guilty of all iniquity
nor of any iniquity; neither do those VIII
repeat this saying; therefore it has no usefu
meaning. We are not going to dispute tn
self-evident TRUTH that all men are create
equal that is in the Declaration of lndepend
ence-the American Revelation. Besides
we know it to be self-evident by the cond
ton which black men are created into in til
South, and the political disabilities so Sc
credly preserved to them in the North. Fun
thermore, this truth is now. self-evident i
the Republican platform. No doubt coul
stand before that. ID.
But is slavery necessarily such an evil I
the African race, that it demands the intel
ference of the Church for its abolition?
is common to compare slavery with som
ideal condition of society where all are frt
and equal and in the pursuit of happiness
with full frution. We don't know of an
such society, nor of any considerable nun
ber of auti-slavery people who venture
propose any such as the alternative of SLAYER
Negro equality excites much stronger SCI
timent, or prejudice, or whatever peop
please to call it, against it among anti-slayei
people, than slavery. In considering Il
evil of slavery to the negro we must cOmpa
it with his condition in this country who
free. On this point the negro himself mig
he called in TO testify. From our own obser
alton we believe that a majority of tho
who have escaped, or have been emancipat
from slavery, agree that under good master
their condition was happier than in freedol
1t is true there, is dark side of the pi
ture, the fact that slaves are equally subjC
to the power Of bad as of good masters 4
cruelties inseparabe from the entire 81
lection of one race to another, the defen,
lessness of female chastity in the subject ra
and the rendng of family ties by the slf
traffic. But are there no evils in negro fir
dom to offset these We allow him liber
and require him to maintain himself il
country where, to procure the means of 81
sistence requires the constant labor of gr
part of the people; and then, by our SOC
exclusion and political disabilities we 81
him out from nearly all kinds of labor.
his freedom we treat him as the Egyptif
did their Hebrew slaves-we require b
to make brick and furnish his o.
M