Duty Of Christian Ministers In Regard To Slavery: From A Ser...

The most impnrtnnt moral revolution ot th preseni century will doubtlcss be the obolition c flavery throughout christendom. Tho whö] Christian world ia rouscd by tliis question. Th Congress of the United Stntcs, the Parliament o Grcat Brïtain, the Chambers of France, aro agi tated by its discussion. Custom. loco of power avarice and lust, are arraycd with dotennined en eTgy to oppose nll refenn. In tlae south, profeseedly Chrisiian ministers nnd associated churche havo unblushingly defended the nstitntion as au thorised by the gospel, and in entice harmonj with its principies. I say prqfessed Christior, ministers, for I can havebut little charity for tbal epurious piety which enn say to a feUoWDiarr. yoii were bom to bc mij slave; - doomed to mental darkness and physical degradation from birth to denth, ihat I moy be pnmpered in luxury! Our northern lawyers, merchants. physioiana, farmers nnd inechanice,throngalmostevery 6tean boat thal descernís the Ohio. You meet with thosu emigrantsfrom the fice states, iti Missouri. in Misaissippi, in Louisiana-in almost every county and town in the boundless southwest. By marriage and intlustry, they become the owner6 of immense plantations. And ït is a matter of' public notoriety ailthro' the Bouth, and giyes occasion to open cxultation on the floor ot' Conre8s. that no persons in the southern states me more ready to advocate the system of slavery by precept and practico, tlirin those who wero born and reared among the huls and vnlleys of the tree We find all through tho souih tho cnergy of northern intellect ma'.ured by tlie discipline of northern education prostituted to the sl;amelees defence of the bondage of the colored mail. Under these circunistanccs it is impossible that the Chrüman ministry and the Chrisiian climch, ns a body, should not feel intensely interesled in a question, which has roused nll christendom, and which iiivoivesin its issues the temporal andspirituil welfare of millions of our countrymen. - And bence it is that not only individual ministers nnd local associations have given loud utterance to their feelings, but the General Associaiions of Congtegational ministers in neaily all of the New England Btatcs, have for several ears appointed committecs to correspond with ecclesiastical bodies at the south, in reference to this great cvil. And so deeply and so extensivoly 'loes interest in this subject pervado the mindsof Christian ministers at the north, that scnrcely can you read the minutes of any clerical convention in the New England states, without meeting with resohuions expressive of the severest condemnation ofslavery,and oí the most heaitfeltsympathy in the temporal and spiritual wrongs inflictcd upon the slave.We must all therefore learn to iook at tuis sud ject calnily and steadily and firmly. Wc mus spoak of it with entire freedom, and resolve tha we will never, never, never cease our effurts anc our prayers, till the sin of slavery is eílaced rom our nationál cscutchcon. There is no reoson why the Christian minister should not, n the pulpit, allude as freely to ihe conditioh of the 6outhern slavc, and thusendcavor to excite prnyer and sympathy in his behalf, as to ihe dcgradalion of the inhabitnnts of the Marquesas Islands or of Borneo. He must not allow any influenecsso to affect his mind that lic sliall neglect, in public prayer, carnestly and feelingly to plead fnr the elave. He must stand upon an eminenco above the ephemeral excitements of the popular rnind, and in the presence of the Great Eternal, with the whole world spread out before him. with an expansión of affection encircling in its embrace the whole family of man, every nation and kin- red and tongue and people, he must freely expostulate with all sin, and plead the cause of universal freedom and mercy and philanthropy. And he must never forget. that the del'rauded and helpless slave, toilinc without compensation, exposcd to the lash of an unfeeling driver, liable to be robbed at any moment of his wife, to see liis daughter set up at auction in the market, for nny price wliich avarice or lust may deern an equivalent. excluded from every intellectual privilege and every ennobling enjoyment, is his brother. made of one blood with himself, susceptible of every intellectual joy. My bretliren, I,do now entreat yon to beware how you allow any injucicious measrres which others may adopt, to harden your henroagainst the wrongs inflicted upon the sufïering slave - the grossest wrong that mortal man can endure. Sympathize with him, pray for him, and beever ready to exercise every influence in your power in his behalf. Let abhorrence of the sin of s'avery be part and paveel of your very soul. And let not any provocation whatever induce yon to become an apologiat for this system, 60 execrable and abominable in its eyefy feature; euch a heaven-defying outrage against the authority of God and the rishts of mnn.How are the crymg evils ot ihe worlu to be reached ïf the pulpit be unfaithful to ils trust as the reprover of sin, as well as ihe preacher of riehteousness. Thcre is unspeakable importnnce to be attached to n correct public opinión. And when Us hoort shall he faint throügh tlie fear of man, r its longue shall be tied tbrough the power of wide spreading sin, thcti will imniorali'.ies roll in upon the world a desolalingflood. and the only vesiico of the church. will be, a little speek buffeted about upon its shoreless waste. And let us not imagine that (he Christion minister may abandon tnose great moral questions, which involvethe righis and the welfare of mankind, because those question are mingled n the Btrife of p ïlitïcal parties. Wliat would hnvc become of the protestant reforman on had Lullier ndoptcd the principie that lic would bc süentup'bn evcry subject which was mingled with the din of politics? Had he thus decided, you mrght now have been in vassalage to the iJope; and instead of enjoying your present freedom and mental ilhiminution, you might have been in the spiritual glooni of the miserable, servile, superBtitution crushed beugars of Naples and of lloine. Every Bennon thundered forth from the pulpit of Luther in his tornado eloquence. feil like the iabled bolt of Jove upon the myrrmdom of despolic power. líe, nmid his coadjutors, defended the spiritual anrl civil rights of man, notwiihstanding the storm thus raised was dct'.ironing kings, and dissolving courts, and upheaving the world. Tlie Christinn is a citizen of tho world as well as a member of the church. and he should be active in cvery thing which niay promote ihe welfare of mankind. In every question in which right and wrong are nvolvöd, it behoovcs the Christian, and especially the clergyman. to place his influence, whatever it may be. in the riht acalc. He shoulii fcel that he isa mnn, nnd that every thing pertaining to the moral welfare of man should enhst his open and feorless ndvocacy. And thero is no office of sacredness which he can hld, and no eeclusion from the world in which he can indulge, which will warrant the forfciture oftheso rights dr tho evasion of these duties. Let it ever be the great glory of the Christian church, that ils inernbers nre èlwoye ripe and ready for every good work. Let us ehow that we are not unworthy sons of martyred sires; that we will testify ngainst all sin; that the oppressed shall find in us a defender, the afflinted and despiscd n comforter, tho sinner, thougli never so strong in his pride and his power, a rebuker. These are principies, in the main, os it appears to me, which should govern the Christian minister and the Christian church. The pulpit is not to be silent respecting the wide spread iniquites of the times. The Christian minister should frel free and imtrammelled in introducing ihe inslructions and ilÍu9tra!Íon of the julpil evflrj' gicnt moral qietion which hn? a )eainír upon ihe ppirítnal destinies o' 'he world. Fhus does he magnify his office. Thus does he ïive dignity to the pulpit. Thus and thus only íoes he compel the world to do homage to its leefulncss and power. I