Our Anniversary

The first Annivcrsary of the American and Eoregin Anti Slavery Society was held with excelletiï spirit, oa Tuesday tevening, May llth. Notwithstandnig the ificönVéniefiee arising from the refusal of the liouse at which the meetings had been appointed, and which was not made known until Monday, the house in Thomp son street was fiilecl, as to the floor and first gallery, with ii highly respectable audience, who all remained till a very late hour, with uncommon interest and satisfaction. T.'ie President of the Society, Arthujj Tappan took the chair, and cailed upon the Rev. William R. Weeks, D. D. of Newark, N. J. to pray. The abstract of the Report was then read by the Secretary. The acceptance of the Report was moved by the Rev C. VV. Denison, of the Baptist church, Norwich, Conneclicut,and carried. The President then introduced the Rev. William H. Brisbane, M. D. pastor of a Baptist church in Cincinnati, who was formerly a slavcholder in his native State of South Carolina, and has since etnaneipated his slaves. He oiTered the follwing resolution. ."Resolved, That the rlefence which slaveholders have ofFered of their richt to hold their fellow men as nroperty, o far from shaking our faith in the doctrine of immediate abolition, has only confirrned us in the belief, that their system of slavery hfis a tendency to blunt the noblestsympa thics of their hearts." In sustaining this resolution, Mr. Bris banesaid heonce unfortunately belonged to the class of those who supported the sys tem cailed patriarchal, and ahhough he could not claim the tille o("good old patri arek? he was with them in principio and pracüce. He now looked back wi!li.uttcr astonishment at himself. He wondered hovv it was that he should not then perceive the enormitics of this barbarous system, and huw he could have practised what he uow suvv was cruelty and oppression, alihough noone who knevv him would dare toaver that his characier is a rnaster was' otherwisc than good, according to Ihestan aard of society in that country. He wondered why itwas that the earliest incident ofhisrecollection,ascene which had been mdellibly impressed on his mind, had not made him an abolitionist from his infancy, when he saw a man, wounded wuh stiipes on his back, and he remembered hov the Dlood ran out o! the gashes till his back was a goreof blood, and in that wounded state Je saw u rubbed with salt and peppnr. tic aiso saw.hia ear cut off, and for what crime? it was for the crime cf tryiug lo be iree. The system said he; tho sysiem under which I grew up, and to v. hich I was habuuated, blunted the nohlest and tenderest sympaihies of my nature, or I hould have been an abolitionist irorn that our. Mr B. said he wou'd not cali èucH scènes common, but they were sufficiently frequent to keep the slaves in complete subjection. But .despife of the lendencies of lhe system there were kind feeiin-j and sympathies jn slavery, and oniy assun)ina that sluvery s right, and that;it is doincr „o wrong to a man to make or keep him a siave, the slaveholders were as mild and K'nd to him as they would be in any other circumstances. It ia never deemed evidence of a want of sympathy lo forcé a ocast who I3 your property, to do your service. He believed, also, that therc were chnstians who were slaveholdersinumeroua crie9 of no, no, no;] but he would not 8ay that they were uncharitable Vjo cned no, no, for if he had never livedaraong slaveholders, he too should have held the same sentiments, and would have said no,ao,a3theydid. Suidhe,ifl ever knewr the grace of God, it was when 1 was a glaveholder. And when the licht was first shed upon my mind, by these de voted men, it was the grace of God thai made me say, if slavery is a sin, I am reaay to abohsh it. If a man is a Christian, and yeucan convince him that slaveholdg ie a sin, he will emancípate at once.I He wijl not talk about gradual emancipa ■ tion, hts conscience will teil him thut it j fulse religión lo leave off sin gradually.- Ifl am convincod that I am comrnútirig crime, I must give it up atonce andb ready to meet my God. If yon shed ]! upon ihc mind of a professor of religio and he refuses toopen his eyes, or to vlelc to the power of truth, theíi I will sav no no, he ís not a Chrbiian. [Applause.] Somo say slavery ís wrong, but not sin. Butthis talkingabouithewronff o I slavery wil) never reach the conscíence j You may go to the South, with the doe tnne that slavery is not sin, and you mav tell them that sluvery is ;m e vil, and thev wi!l bear Jt well enough; tell them that i iá a curse, ihey will bear it; but tell then thatit ís a sin, and tliey will lynch you. It ís thoughl to be wonderfuí that so many Chnstians are still unenlightened on íhis Bjibject, but it can be explained- Ilie slaveholders are aecustomed lo read fhe Bible differently from you. When Ifirstread the Bible Ihrough'to seo -what it said on tho subiectofslaverv. I ihon-rlitsincerely, that it juslified, yea', sanctiouec the system! Why? Because I did'' understand the meaningof the word scrvant. Whenevcr I saw the word in the Bihle, I ihouht of the slaypa on my own plantation. It is exceeding hard for slave holdera to get rid of the impresa ion. Mr. B., lio wever, quoted a number o passages which we quote ciifferently from slaveholders to disapprove it, from the law "He thatstealetli man," etc., to ihe love ly gospel injunction, "Remembcr those that are in bonds, " etc Every onc admits that the Bible condemns opprcssion. Is slavery not oppres s:vc? Iá it not a happiness to have one's own wife and children, to cali them one'b own fnmily? Andifso, is t not oppressivc for r.tjothcr mantotake them away i It is said that the separation of families is not frequent at the öoulh . I am sorry to say the contrary. ït is frequently done I cnce thought ihat it was othenvise, because i had not considercd, but vvhen I re counted the instances 1 had known I saw that t had been frequent. I have known a man soid away from bis wife and whcn he ran away to go and see her, !;o was re taken, and was whippcd till the blood ran from the gashes on nis back. And the man who thustreated hts fellow rnan was a minister, [cries of shame, shame,] and he was never caüed to an account it. Mr. B. menlioned scveral circumstances to show that the slave being deprived of the Bible, cannot worship their Maker inteüigenily. One was a prayer of a young man for his röistr'ess: V.O Lord bless missus, goud missus, very, kind; Lord, bless her - make her like a ronring lion, going about seeking whom he rnay devour."' [Langhter.] We niay laiigh at this but it is a serious and solemn ihing, that there are human beings with íiEmbrtal souls, trying to speak to God, and yet kcptsoignorant that they cannot express their own mean ing. Alvan Stcwart Esq., (hen offored a resokition, on poiitical ac'ion, which he sustainod wilh his usual eloquence, and force of reasoning: ''Resolved, That under a government likc ours,the idea ihat Christians and Philauthropists have nothing to do with politics, is pernicious; that inasmuch as slavery is not on!y a moral evl, but the great est poiitical evil of our country, and only to oe abolished by politica! action, and as CKch individual voler possesses poiitical power in the proportiou of one to the whole number, all sincere and enÜghtened aboliiioniats must feel it to be theirduty lo use iLcú' votes for the overthrow of slavery - as an object paramounl in irnportance to all other poiitical questions." ri'he following resoiution was submitted by MrLeavitt, the Secretnry, without remark :"íxesulved, Thai ihe wonderful providenceof God displaced in thc history oí the Mendi Africana of ihe Amistad; in their rescue f rom Spanish slave traders; in wafling them to this land; in the circumstunces attcnding their condiíion and various trials; in the righteous decisión of ihe Supreme Court oí' the country, triumphing over an Executive conspinicy of unparalleled attrocity, and in the opening visión of merey to África through ihese hurnbje instruments,must inspire the heart of the Christian with devout gralitude, and give new courage to all the friends of human liberty." On motion of James G. Birney, Esq. of Peterborough, N. Y. formerly Secretary of the Society: Resolved, That the action ofHisExcellency the Governor of this State, in the exislingcontroversy between Virginia and New York, has tho approbation of this meoting,and does equal honor to this great State and to the Cnief Magistrale who presides over it. On motion of II. B. Stanton, Esq. of Johnstown, N. Y. formerly Secretary of the Saciety : Resolved, That this Society cordially approves the principies on which thoeral Anli Slavery Convention in London was organized, and the spirit with which itsproceedings were condudcd,- that wc rejoice in the great advantage which has already resulted to our cause from its acts and m the belief that consequences of still greater valué are to foilovv,and that we recommend to the Brilish and Foregn Anti-Slavery Society, to whom the subject was refertöd by the Convention, to cali another Conveniion, on the sorae principie m (he year 1842." Ou motion of theRev. C. P. Grosvenor of Worcester, Massachuseíts"Resolved, That we earnestk recommend to the churches and cbristian societies of every name, the duty of bearincr decu, cd tcsnmony against the abomination of slavery, by refusing (]le pnviegeg of mem berslup and eommunion to all those wh areguilty of that sin, or who justify th practice, until they give evidcnce of repentance, and also to bear decided testimony against thesinful prejudice aains color. BUSINESS MEETING. The Business Meeting of the Society comménced at the church, corner of Thom son and Ilouston streets, on Wcdnesda mornin,?, May 12, 1841. The President and Vice President bcin absent, W. H. Brisbanc, oí Cincinnat was called to the chair, pro tem. Prayer was offered by E. R. Tvler, o Connecticut. The following resolution was adopted unanimously. Resolved, That the Constitution ough to be amended. as to strike out from the third article the worJs"and will carefully abstain from all the machinery of part} political arrangements. in effecting its ob jecls;"and add to the eighth article the words, and the meeting for business when assembled, may invile such other persons present, agreeing in principie with the so ciety, as they may think proper, to particípate in the transaction of all business a that meeting." On motion, Joseph Sturge, of Englánd was invitcd togivc an expression of his views respectingihe nterests of the cause. He was li&tened to with much interest. Oa molion of C. W. Denison, seconded by James G. Birney: Resolved, That in the name of the abolitionists of America, we express our ïratificatior. at the decisión of t'bl British [ïouso of Commons, ir. 1840, by which the exportation of HilLCooIies was then )revented, and that we earnestly exhort iur English brethren to persevere in heir noble eflbrts to promote East India Smancipation. The Committee of Nomination reported and thcir report after a few amendments, wás adopted, as follows: ARTHUR TAPPAN, President F. J. L. LemOYA'E, ) rr n James G. Birney. j F' Presidenta J. TíEavitt, Secretar y . L. Tap pan, Trca&vrer. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. ArthurTappnn, New York. Christopher Rush, S. W. Benedict, Lewis Tappan, S. S. Jocelyn, Thcodore S. Wright, " La Roy Sunderland, '( Richard C. M'Cormick, " Dexter Fairbanks, Nathaniel Safford, " Leonard Gibbs, " [Tweniy eight others were ulso added o the number of the Executive Committee 'rom the different States.]