Year: 1860

not now reIer to Mr. Beechers ingenious and
adrot explanation Of immediate emancipation"
nor TO bis very humorous references. often made
in this pulpit. to slavery per se.' The question is
not whether it is possible instantaneOusly,
without moments fight of time between the will
and the deed, for stakeholder to emancipate his
slave; nor whether you cannot conceive of a case
Of slaveholding which is not sin per Sc; but
whether a Christian Church looking upon mer
who own aud bold slaves shall take to herself,
what the world will be very ready to give, the re-
proach Of their admission into her fellowship
For, granting, for the arguments sake, that q
stakeholder may, in some rare inrequent instance.
hnld to-day without guilt slave whom be means
to set free o-morrow-holding him not as a slave,
but as man--holdng him not in moral enslave
ment, but under the mere hollow shell Of some le-
gal bond that cannot at this moment be broken
granting that there can Le such a case land no
one will deny that there may, although the owner
is then the unwilling master Of voluntary slave
and therefore not n STAKEHOLDER, but manholder ]
the question is. Shall such man. standing in
such a relation, be received into a Church which
is commanded to obey the apostolic Injunction to
avoid even the appearance Of evil?


Now, this is the best possible or srpposable
lease. But in fifteen free States, oven such pos
sible case is made impossible on their own soil
for if slave be brought into New York by his
masters consent, the slave is free by law the mo.
ment he the line. A master cannot bring
his slave into free State under such regulation
as my friend proposes to establish for a Church
If, therefore, when q State says to a master
bringing his slave its borders, The slave j.
free ! do we make any extraordinary demand
when we turn TO the Church and ask it to say tha,
when sldveholding church-memter standing ia
his pew, .nrns round aud sees his own slave com


ing up the aisle to take q seat at the communion


able, the Church should call out to the slave, as
the State calls out Frum the moment you have
crussed my threshold, you are free 2 Tell me, sir
shall the Christian Church be behind the legisa-
tive progress Of fifteen States


a STAKEHOLDER is man and some hing more-a
man with chastel. Now, | would make tae
doors Of the Church SO narrow that when the man


tries to get 10, the chatte that cngs to him shall
be rubbed of and dropped behind


But do you tell ME that it is illibaral to exclude
from Church slAve-owner who can prove tha,
he stands in this suppOsabe innocoat relIion to
his slave. | reply that if the Church we're itself
liberal 10 all other respects-if it were to break
down is high strong walls and widen its platform
to all the worh-if an evangelical Church would
admit a Christian man to meu bership even + he
were n Unitarian or Il Universalist-fan orthodox
congregation would give their fellowship and open
heir membership 10 sincere and devuut Roman
Catholic land my friend has said. in this pulpit,
iha, many a Roman Catholic has been sincere
Christun) then, | say. will have no objection
to the admission into the Church of pous aud
deVout slaveholder whenever you can find such a
rarity in the land But so long as Church EN-.
ploys committee To sit at its gates, as the elders
SAT at the gates OF Jerusalem, to make inqusitiOn
Of every VINO knocks for admssun-to in
qrire Of every applicant " hat is his belief, and
what is his practce--so long no man is allow
ed to come in who denies certain articles in our
creed, or who INDUCES in certain sins and pecca-
dilloes which our Church condemus-so long as
the Church determines to be stringent with her
candidates in all these respects then, sir, say,
let her be equally stringent Ia her inquiries OF
every man who comes to her threshold carrying
! in his hands the symbols of bondage by which he
holds his fellow men under the yoke That is all
| ask


Is this unreasonable Look at i: a man ap
plies for admission to this Church. My friend,
Mr. Corning. is a member of the Examining
Committee. lie puts close questions to the stran-
ger. Mr.. Corning is well known temperance
man; and he asks, Do you use Intoxicating liquors
as beverage! or Do you sell liquor 2 Yes, sir,
is the reply. Then you canhnot come into the
membership of this Church. 'But,' says the man
to my friend, questioning him in return, do yon
believe Il at to drink glass Of wine is sin per
Sc 2 Mr.. Corning cannot say yes Do you be-
iieve that 10 sell gallon Of whiskey is sin per
Sc? Mr.. Corning cannot say yes Nevertheless,
Mr.. Corning does not hesitate TO declare that the
man must 40. be admitted But when, instead
| of rumseller, there comes stakeholder
knocking at the door Of Chrst's fold what
is Mr.. Corning's reply? Why, Mr.. Cor
ming would ask him few preliminary
questions about justfcatory circumstances, and
then say, Come in in = But, sir, it you
exclude dram-drinker, without stopping to
prove sin per Sc, how can you admit Slavehol-
der, under the apology Of no sin per seq


But Mr.. Corning took especial pains to say, a
few evenings ago. that he would stand on the
platform of the Temperance Society SIDE by side
with shareholders. Suppose he would; what has
that to do with standing side by side with them in
the Church? No Christian profession is required
of man who enters the Temperance Society. If
only he be opposed to strong drnkhe may believe
in every heresy that ever Church barred out of
its creed. Ye. when Mr.. Corning spoke 50 warm
! ly and earnestly Of certain Southern slaveho-
der, whom he almost mentioned by name-a man
- I. Al
whom, as he said, he not ashamed TO stand
any where, by which suppose he meant in the
Church or out, | could not help saying to myself
'Ahl Mr.. Corning can tell youa story of that
man = Let me tell it now I! The man lisa Judge
in Southern Court. negro was once brought
before him for trial. whose offence consisted in
having fallen in love with slave girl, and in af-
terward attempting 70 steal her away by night to