Year: 1859




the holding of our fellow men in the condition of
Slavery, except in those cases where it is unavod
o able by the laws of the State, the obligations of
$ guardianship, or the demands of humanity, is an
ofiense in the proper import OF that term as used
e in the Book of Discipline. Through that cxcep-
9 ton all the Shareholders in the land Immediately
G passed in procession as by an enlargemen, n the
: eye OF the needle all the camels ip the world With
all their accumulation Of ltggage may be seen
: marching Into the kingdom of heaven. In the
: Assembly Of 1855, the presbytcry of Winchester


in virginia, notified the Assembly and all the
ohurches, that :he exceptions stated in the resolu
G tons oil the Assembly were considered to cover
The vac' majority of cases, if not every case or
slaveholdng in the land; and in al address TO their
constituents Published after the adjournment of
the Assembly. united in by the body Of represent
D atives from the Southern States, the same thing
was avowed in terms more unqualified and at
greater length. Since tha. time, the kingdom of
salvation by saveholding suforeth violence, and
all are pressing into it, aud the violent take it by
, force is now asserted that the obligations Of
r guardianship, the demands Of humanity, and the
dictates Of the highest pety as well as the laws of


the saveholding States reqre the perpetuity of the
system, and CONSTITUTES for every of slavehvld
ing. case of good intention, justtcatory motives
and circums:ancesapd of religious expediency. and
necessity. The state of the conflict in our
country, the aggressons of the Slave Power, the
impious doctrines advanced and avowcd n behalf
of Slavery as righteous system, the most unfor


tunate and disastrous compliciy of the Board hth-
erto with it, we'll ne claims of the millions
pru shp1l ly Fnrl, hat tlo oarI cbO
longer refuse an open attitude against it, or should
neglect any of the precious opportunities offered


in the providence ciGod effecually to oppose it, or
should relinquisb their power over 1t and their hold
upon it until tley have administered all those
means of grace TO it which God has given in his
word all those agencies Of rel roof, correction, and


nstruc,onin righteousness, and all that authority
of discipline committed to the Churches against
such sin for its removal. If the Board deliver
ur this authority and power, which is greater than
the strength of Sampson against Dagon, they will
play the Delilah to the Philistines, without even


the eleven hundred pieces of silver; nay, their
tres ,sy will be eihptiet thah ever and their NOR
al dignity will be degraded irreparably by such
transaction. On the other hand. if they let this
iniquity off; if, instead Of opening the





free, they let the iniquity and those who practice
it 60 free if they let this moral monster in the
Church of Christ escape out Of their hands; whom
God has denounced as worthy of death, and
whom God has bound before them in the very &c.
and character of bis wickedness for their authora-
tative application of the sentence of Gods Word
then they will be more guilty than the besotted
Ahab, King of Israel, when, out of pretended hu-
manity. peace, and worldly wisdom, he released
unscathed. the enemy of his country and his God
Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let 20 GU,
of thy hand man whom | appointed to utter des-
ruction, therefore thy life shall 60 for hs lieJ and
thy people for his people"


The Board have no right to let slavery escape
or to refuse to execute Gcd's commission against
it, and, leas; of ALL on ihe ground of the difficulty
OF confronting it and dealing with it, when 10 his
good providence he has laid this giant sin on his
own altar before them, and given them the sword
of the Spirit to plunge into its heart Let them
stand and exercise this royal priesthood against
sin. grander occasion, a more solemn and il-I
lustrious opportunity of striking such blow.
could not be asked by them. 1t is as q Mount
Carmel in the gaze Of the world, who have seen
US travelling up hither as to the challenge of the
trial of power between God and Baal Let the
Board. before renouncing it's guardianship of these
churches apply the truth of God and the disci-
pline OF Cbrist's house TO them, and put away
this sin, and then, If he path of duty is plain to
give them over to some other pupilage, it can be
done with honor in faithfuness to Christ. but not
till then. The Board ough. not to relinquish their
trust with these churches till they can DO it with
clean hands-tll they have either cast out the
domoniac possession that aflcts them, or have
brought them to Jesus, and laid them a. his feet
for this purpose. But here they are advised to
give over these unenred sufferers whom Satan
hath bound and tofmented these many years. into
the hands of doctors who do not regard the nos
session as the work of Satan, or as any afiictiou
or 'niquty at all, but on the contrary as the min
istry OF an angel OF light, and desirable instru-
mentality of Gods most holy missionary proyi-
dencc. You propose, if you agree to this, trans
ferring over your patient to these new guardians
in effect, to eay take him we can make moth
ing of him he is more plague than pro6t-a
very obstinate, incurable devil whom the world
and the Christian Aboitionsts will not suffer us
to keep any longer as a saint. But YOU can
take him as child Of God and nourish him with
food convenient for him, and harness him for o
work OF glory in your own missionary field. With
you it is work of love with us it is nothing but
toll, difficulty, embarrassment and danger" We
cannot, in faithfulness to our trust in honor 10
Gods Word, or with any dignity or safety to our
selves, pursue any such policy as this. We are
driven to the wall and cautCt refuse to 'stand up'
for Jesus" in the true meaning of that watchword
here where that watchword was issued from the
dying lips of that young soldier of Christ who is
known to have spoken it in reference TO this very
conflict against Slavery and to have meant by il,
with all the dying emphasis of those principles
for which he had been excluded from his former
church, and had gathered around him new band,
Stand up for Jesus in protection of the cause of
the dumb and down-trodden slave, with the gos-