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PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
Since the first edition of this little work appeared, almost forty years have passed away. It was when the anti-slavery conflict was at its intensest heat. The time had indeed come, as had been apostolically foretold, "when judgment should begin at the house of God." And many of the fiercest battles were almost literally "between the porch and the altar."
As the following pages will most abundantly prove, slavery had been driven from every other refuge, and, as its last, its forlorn hope, it, like the flying Hebrew escaping for his life, had "laid hold on the horns of the altar."
This is the third of the former anti-slavery tracts lately reproduced in the interest of true and reliable history, now endangered by the strange mendacity or ignorance of an unscrupulous clergy, who [falsely] insist that they or their predecessors were the main instruments in the abolition of slavery,—some of them [lying clergy] going so far as to declare that Garrison and his faithful and valiant discipleship actually did more harm than good to the sublime achievement.
The first of the three works here named was published first in England,—its author, Hon. James G. Birney, about the year 1840,—entitled The American Churches the Bulwarks of American Slavery. This may be said to have been the first direct testimony ever borne in that form against the church and ministry on the subject of slavery: and this by one of the very pillars, a member of and ruling elder in the Presbyterian denomination, and who, so far as known, never forsook that form of faith and doctrine.
The second came in similar form three years later [1843] in a pamphlet of seventy-five pages, entitled The Brotherhood of Thieves, or, A True Picture of the American Church and Clergy, by
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Stephen S. Foster. Three or four years afterward was issued the first edition of the work now reproduced—a larger as well as later testimony, and whose authority was never questioned, however stunning its statements and revelations.
The third chapter seemed at the time to silence all denials, and to foreclose all defence of those charged with the guilt of slave breeding, slave hunting, and slave holding.
That there were honorable exceptions to the charges was not denied. But the mighty power, the ruling influence, of church and pulpit were proved to be on the side of the oppressor throughout the nation: nay, more, to be almost the oppressor himself, rather tban his forlorn hope. But let the terrible facts speak for themselves!
Whoever would pursue these perhaps not agreeable investigations farther are respectfully commended to a volume of more than five hundred pages, entitled Acts of tke Anti-Slavery Apostles, by Parker Pillsbury, and for sale by him at one dollar and fifty cents, and carefully sent by mail on receipt of price.
P. P.
Concord. N. H., Nov., 1885.
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INTRODUCTION.
No apology is offered for the following work. It is a brief exhibition of the American Church as it is, in reference to the slave system of the United States.
That slavery finds its surest and sternest defense in the prevailing religion of the country, is no longer questionable. Let it be driven from the Church, with the burning zeal of its reprobation and execration stamped on its iron brow, and its fate is fixed forever. Only while its horrors are baptized and sanctified in the name of Christianity can it maintain an existence.
The Anti-Slavery movement has unmasked the character of the American Church. Our religion has been found at war with the interests of humanity and the laws of God. And it is more than time the worid was awakened to its unhallowed influence on the hopes and happiness of mankind, while it makes itself the
palladium of the foulest iniquity ever perpetrated in the sight of heaven.
Excellent works have already been written and published on the connection of the American Church with American Slavery. Among these,
"The American Church the Bulwark of American Slavery," by James G. Birney (1840);
"The Brotherhood of Thieves, or, A True Picture of the American Church and Clergy," by Stephen S. Foster (1843); and
"Slavery and the Slaveholder's Religion," by Samuel Brooke [Cincinnati: Brooke, 1846],
are the most valuable. They contain the important action of the Church on the subject, down to the time when they were written, and have had the singular good fortune never to be questioned in their statements of facts—and for the very good reason, that they are, beyond all question, singularly true.
A new work is now demanded, to present to the world the more recent action of the various ecclesiastical bodies of the country. The object of this [book] is, mainly, to meet that demand.
There is one consideration to which the public attention ought
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to be specially called. Since, by the [1840's] introduction of steam navigation, the Atlantic has been narrowed to a ferry, and a voyage to Britain to a pleasant summer's jaunt, the clergy of this country have been unfortunately visited with great prostrations of health. A voyage to sea is a most effectual panacea, and is fast coming to be the Universal Restorative.
But, unfortunately, the public sentiment of Britain (as of all Christendom) is mightily against our "peculiar institution." Hence, our clerical delegations are driven to the unwilling necessity of calling themselves abolitionists, in order to pass as honest men.
A man stealer, or his abettor, tbere (good Christian as he is here) being regarded as not greatly better than the stealer of other and less valuable goods.
The consequence is, the British Church has been deplorably deceived, both as to the [immoral] character of American Christianity and the American Clergy.
Every minister, as soon as he treads the soil of England, or Scotland, proclaims [pretends] himself an abolitionist. Whether it be so, it is the object of this work to show. It may not be improper, therefore, to announce that it [this book] is written particularly for circulation in Great Britain.
If the facts it [this book] unfolds do not startle the Churches of that Empire into the duty of immediately severing all the ties that bind them to the ecclesiastical bodies of these United States, then surely is the vitality of their vision deplorably to be doubted.
It will be the object of this publication to exhibit—
I. The Church—AS IT WAS [pp 7-12].
II. The Church—AS IT is [pp 13-71],
[III. Slavery—What Is It? (pp 71-76)], and
[IV.] The Church as, by its own admissions and assumptions, IT MIGHT BE [pp 77-96].
Truth only is sought. As a literary production, the work will undoubtedly be beneath criticism; but in the exhibition of facts, it is eminently above, and challenges all criticism.
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I.THE CHURCH—AS IT WAS.
A peculiarity in this work throughout will be, that those whose character is under examination will speak for themselves—by their own words they will be justified or condemned, and not by the words of another, be that other friend or foe.
The church of this country is divided into many sects, but the important ones are the Prysbyterians and Congregationalists, the Baptists, Methodists and Episcopalians, the Unitarians, Universalists, and Quakers. Many of these have registered a testimony on the subject of Slavery in time past, and have varied it to meet such exigencies as they have been called to encounter.
[THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH]
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church has been the most powerful ecclesiastical body in the land. It may be so still.
About the time of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, there was very much discussion on the subject of slavery; and it was generally believed, at least in half of the States, that the evil would not be of long duration. The discussion reached the church, and in 1787 the Synods of New York and Philadelphia came to the following judgment:
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| "That we do highly approve the general principles in favor of universal liberty that prevail in America, and the interest which many of the States have taken in promoting the abolition of slavery.
"They earnestly recommend it to all the members in their communion, to give those persons who are at present held in servitude, such good education as to prepare them for the better enjoyment of freedom. * * * * *
"And finally, they recommend to all their people, to use the most prudent measures consistent with the interest and state of civil society in the countries where they live, to procure, eventually, the final abolition of slavery in America." |
This [1787] judgment was, in 1793, republished as the decision of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church.
The second annunciation of the sentiments of the General Assembly was made in 1794. Their sentiment at that time was appended to a note to the one hundred and forty-second question of the larger Catechism, on the eighth commandment, in these words:
| "1 Tim. 1:10. The [Bible] law is made for [to cover, i.e., to ban] man-stealers.
"This crime among the Jews exposed the perpetrators of it to capital punishment: Exodus 21:16 [and Deuteronomy 24:7]; and the apostle [Paul] here classes them with sinners of the first [worst] rank.
"The word he uses, in its original import [meaning], comprehends all who are concerned in bringing any of the human race into slavery, or in retaining them in it.
"Homiinum fures, qui servos vel liberes abducunt, retinent, vendunt, vel emunt. "Stealers of men are all those who bring off slaves or free-men, and keep, sell, or buy them.
"To steal a freeman, says [Hugo] Grotius [1583-1645], is the highest [worst] kind of theft.
"In other instances, we only steal human property, but when we steal or retain men in slavery, we seize those who, in common with ourselves, are constituted, by the original grant [by God], lords of the earth. Gen. 1:28.
"Vide poli synopsin in loc." |
Ed. Note: For more on the Genesis "original grant" concept as reaffirmed in Psalm 8:6-8 and Hebrews 2:6-8, see
Rev. James Rankin, Letters (1823), p 100
Rev. Theo. D. Weld, Bible Against Slavery (1837), pp 28-30
James Birney, Bulwarks (1840), p 29
Lysander Spooner, Slavery (1845), p 14
Rev. John Fee, Non-Fellowship (1849), p 6
Rev. John G. Fee, Sinfulness of Slavery (1851), p 10
Rev. John Fee, Anti-Slavery Manual (1851), p 116
Sen. Charles Sumner, Barbarism (1860), p 132
Rev. Parker Pillsbury, Acts (1883), p 365.
For reference to God's continued will that people must follow his original intent, original grant, marriage rules, etc., as per his original revelation, words and actions, at "the beginning," see Matthew 19:8 (divorce example, criticizing religious leaders NOT following original intent, thus misleading others).
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Similar expressions were given from time to time, as the subject was urged upon the consideration of the body—but with what effect may be seen by the declaration of one of the most distinguished clergymen belonging to the Assembly. He affirms that under these very decisions | "the whole of the Presbyterian church have been sound asleep upon 'the highest [worst] kind of theft"—and while the 'sinners of the first rank' have multiplied and extended their man stealing on every side, Presbyteries, Synods, and General Assemblies have been 'silent as death, and still as midnight!' except when, to gratify the Christians! who wish to transport to their own country the feeble, diseased, aged, |
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| or worn-out slaves,' they have adopted some two tongued [hypocritical] minute [resolution], respecting the Coloniza-tion Society." |
And yet, in 1818, the same body adopted another declaration of sentiment, more inexplicable than any which had preceded it. The character of the whole document may be clearly seen in the following lengthy extract:
|
"A FULL EXPRESSION 0F THE ASSEMBLY'S VIEWS OF SLAVERY IN 1818.
"The General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, having taken into consideration the subject of slavery, think proper to make known their sentiments upon it.
"We consider the voluntary enslaving of one part of the human race by another,
as a gross violation of the most precious and sacred rights of human nature [mankind];
as utterly inconsistent with the law of God, which requires us to love our neighbor as ourselves;
and as totally irreconcilable with the spirit and priciples of the gospel of Christ, which enjoins 'that all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.'
"Slavery creates a paradox in the moral system—
it exhibits rational, accountable, and immortal heings in such circumstances as scarcely to leave them the power of moral nctiou.
"It exhibits them as dependent on the will of others,
whether they shall receive religous instruction;
whether they shall know and worship the true God;
whether they shall enjoy the ordinances of the gospel;
whether they shall perform the duties and cherish the endearments of husbands and wives, parents and children, neighbors and friends;
whether they shall preserve their chastity and purity, or regard the dictates of justice and humanity.
"Such are some of the consequences of slavery; consequences not imaginary, but which connect themselves with its very existence.
"The evils to which the slave is always exposed often take place in their very worst degree and form; and where all of them do not takc place, still the slave is
deprived of his natural rights,
degraded as a human being,
and exposed to the danger of passing into the hands of a master who may inflict upon them all the hardships and injuries which inhumanity and avarice may suggest.
"From this view of the consequences resulting from the practice [tradition] into which [demonized, and excommunicated] Christian people [actually, pagans, emperor worshippers] have most inconsistently fallen, of
enslaving a portion of their brethren of mankind, it is manifestly the duty of all Christians, when the inconsistency of slavery with the dictates of humanity and religion has been demonstrated, and is generally seen and acknowledged, to use their honest, earnest, and unwearied endeavors, as speedily as possible to efface this blot on our holy religion, and to obtain the complete abolition of slavery throughout the world.
"We earnestly exhort |
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| them" (the slave-holders) "to continue and to increase their exertions te effect a total abolition ofslavery." |
| Congregational Doctors of Divinity:—"Slaveholding is, in every instance, wrong, unrighteous, and oppressive; a very great and crying sin, there being nothing equal to it on the face of the earth."—Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D.D. [1721-1803], of the United States, 1776.] |
| "To hold any man in slavery, is to be every day guilty of robbing him of his liberty, or of man-stealing. Fifty years from this time, 1791, it will be as shameful for a man to hold a slave, as to be guilty of common theft or robbery."—[Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D.D. (1703-1758)] Drs. Hopkins and Edwards were the directing and controlling spirits in the church of their time. |
Such was the position of this great body and their Congregational allies, on the subject of slavery, as expressed from time to time, before the Anti-Slavery enterprise had come into being.
Two things are worthy of notice. First, the fact that all this discussion and action took place in connection with similar discussion out of the church; being little more than an écho of-the popular voice. And secondiy, it was, after ail, but expression in words; not the least action ever accompanying the expression during that whole quarter of a century.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
More than half a century ago John Wesley [1703-1791], the Father and Founder of Methodism, bore the following testimony against the slave system:
"What I have said to slave-traders equally concerns all slave-holders of whatever rank and degree; seeing men-buyers are exactly on a level with men-stealers!
"Indeed, you say, 'I pay honestly for my goods; and I am not concerned to know how they are come by.'
"Nay, but you are: you are deeply concerned to know they are honestly come by, otherwise you are partaker [accessory] with a thief, and are not a jot honester than he.
"But you know they are not honestly come by: you know they are procured hy means nothing near so innocent as picking pockets, house-breaking, or robbery upon the highway.
"You know they are procured by a deliberate species of more complicated villainy, of fraud, robbery, and murder, than was ever practiced by Mohammedans or Pagans; in particular, by murders of all kinds, by the blood of the innocent poured upon the ground like water. "Now it is your money |
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| that pays the African butcher.
"You, therefore, are principally guilty of all these frauds, robberies, and murders. You are the spring that puts all the rest in motion. They would not stir a step without you: therefore the blood of all these wretches who die before their time lies upon your head.
"'The blood of thy brother crieth against
thee from the earth' [Gen. 4:10].
"O, whatever it costs, put a stop to its cry before it be too late; instantly, at any price, were it the half of your goods, deliver thyself from blood-guiltiness! Thy hands, thy bed, thy furniture, thy house, and thy lands, at present are stained with blood.
"Surely it is enough; accuumulate no more guilt; spill no more the blood of the innocent.
"Do not hire another to shed blood; do not pay him for doing it.
"Whether you are a Christian or not, show yourself a man! Be not more savage than a lion or a bear." |
Expressions of equal abhorrence from distinguished Methodists of that period, might be added to almost any extent.
The following, from the Methodist Book of Doctrines and Discipline, will be sufficient, as it was the sentiment of the whole denomination. The Preface to the work, signed by the six Bishops of the church in the United States, gives this injnnction:
| "We wish to see this little work in the house of every Methodist. Far from wishing you to be ignorant of any of our doctrines, or any part of our discipline, we desire you to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the whole. You ought, next to the Word of God, to procure the articles and canons of the church to which you belong." |
The directions relative to slavery, in part, are these; and they have remained nearly the same for the last half century [1797-1847]:
| "There is only one condition previously required of those who desire admission into these [Methodist] societies—a desire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins. [Matt. 3:7; Luke 3:7; I Thess. 1:10].
"But wherever this is really fixed in the soul, it will be shown by its fruits. [Matt. 7:16-18, 20-21; Matt. 12:33-34; Luke 3:8-9; Luke 6:43-45; John 15:8; Gal. 5:22-23].
"It is, therefore, expected of all who continue therein, that they should continue to evidence their desire of salvation, by doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is most generally practised, such as the buying and selling of men, women, and children with an intention to enslave them," etc.
"OF SLAVERY,—Question.—What shall be done for the extirpation of the evil of slavery?
"Answer 1.—We declare that we are as much as ever convinced |
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| of the great evil of slavery; therefore no slaveholder shall be eligible to any official station in our Church, hereafter, where the laws of the State in which he lives will admit of emancipation, and permit the liberated slave to enjoy freedom.
"Answer 2.—When any traveling preacher becomes an owner of a slave or slaves, by any means, he shall forfeit his ministerial character in our church, unless he execute, if it be practicable, a legal emancipation of such slaves, conformably to the laws of the State in which he lives." |
The course of the church with those who "buy, sell, or hold slaves," is explicitly given on the eighty-third page of the Discipline, New York edition, 1840.
| "If there be any among us who observe not these rules, who habitually break any of them, let it be known unto them who watch over that soul, as they who must give an account [Hebrews 13:17].
"We will admonish him of the error of his ways. We will bear with him for a season.
"But if then he repent not, he hath no more place among us." [Matt. 18:15-17]. |
Of the Friends or Quakers it may be said, too, that they once bore a solemn witness against the enslavemeent of human beings. In 1763 they renewed their testimony in these words:
"We renew our exhortation, that Friends every where be especially careful to keep their hands clear of giving encouragement in any shape to the slave trade; it being evidently destructive of the natural rights of mankind, who are all ransomed by one Saviour, and visited by one divine ligbt, in order to salvation; a traffic calculated to enrich and aggrandize some upon the miseries of others; in its nature abhorrent to every just and tender sentiment, and contrary to the whole tenor of the gospel."
—Thomas Clarkson's Portraiture of Quakerism. |
Such are but specimens of the action of the American church on the subject of slavery within the last half century. None of the sects were indifferent. These quotations are sufficient to determine the plea so often set up, that she needs light on the subject, to be utterly groundless. These were the testimonies of the church.
Her action was of a different character. It was the extremest inaction; proving that all ber loud protestations and solemn threatenings were most profoundly insincere.
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II.THE CHURCH—AS IT IS.
 WERE this book intended only for American circulation, it might not be necessary to allude to the religion of the South, in distinction from that of the churches of the Northern or free States.
It may not be inproper, however, to exhibit some of the declarations of the Southern ecclesiastical bodies, and also of distinguished Clergymen, Doctors of Divinity, and others, on the subject of American slavery.
It should be borne in mind that all the witnesses whose testimony is produced in this work are of the most competent character, being the largest ecclesiastical associations, and most eminent Divines to be found in this or any other country.
The following are expressions of the church in some of the slave-holding states:
HARMONY PRESBYTERY, OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
| "Whereas, sundry persons in Scotland and England, and others in the north, east, and west of our country, have denounced slavery as obnoxious to the laws of God, some of whom have presented before the general assembly of our church, and the Congress of the nation, memorials and petitions, with the avowed object of bringing into disgrace slave-holders, and abolishing the relation of master and slave:—
And whereas, from the said proceedings, and the statements, reasonings, and circumstances connected therewith, it is most manifest that those persons 'know not what they say, nor whereof they affirm;' and with this ignorance discover a spirit of self-righteousness and exclusive sanctity," &c.
Therefore, 1. Resolved, "That as the kingdom of our Lord is not of this world, His church as such has no right to abolish, alter, or effect any institution or ordinance of men, political or civil, &c."
2. Resolved, "That slavery has existed from the days of those good old slave-holders and patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (who are now in the kingdom of heaven,) to the time when |
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| the apostle Paul sent a run-away home to his master, Philemon, and wrote a Christian and fraternal letter to this slave-holder, which we find still stands in the canon of the Scriptures—and that slavery has existed ever since the days of the Apostle, and does now exist." |
The REV. WILLIAM S. PLUMMER, D.D., of Richmond, Va., high in the Presbyterian church:
| "I have carefully watched this matter from its earliest existence, and everything I have seen or heard of its character, both from its patrons and its enemies, has confirmed me beyond repentance in the belief that, let the character of Abolitionists be what it may in the sight of the Judge of all the earth, this is the most meddlesome, impudent, reckless, fierce, and wicked excitement I ever saw.
"If Abolitionists will set the country in a blaze, it is but fair that they should receive the first warming at the fire.
"Abolitionists are like infidels, wholly unaddicted to martyrdom for opinion's sake. Let them understand that they will be caught [Lynched] if they come among us, and they will take good heed to keep out of our way.
"There is not one man among them who has any more idea of shedding his blood in this cause, than he has of making war on the Grand Turk." |
REV. ROBERT N. ANDERSON, of Virginia:
| "To the Sessions of the Presbyterian Congregations within the bounds of the West Hanover Presbytery:"—
"At the approaching stated meeting of our Presbytery, I design to offer a preamble and string of resolutions on the subject of the treasonable and abominably wicked interference of the Northern and Eastern fanatics, with our political and civil rights, our property and our domestic concerns.
"You are aware that our clergy, whether with or without reason, are more suspected by the public than the clergy of other denominations. Now, dear Christian brethren, I humbly express it as my earnest wish, that you quit yourselves like men.
"If there be any stray goat of a minister among you, tainted with the blood-bound principles of abolitionism, let him be ferreted out, silenced, excommunicated, and left to the [demonized] public to dispose of [murder] him in other respects.
"Your affectionate brother in the Lord,
"ROBERT N. ANDERSON." |
Some years ago, the Reverend Bishop [William] Meade [1789-1862], an Episcopal
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clergyman of Virginia [Assistant Bishop, Diocese of Virginia], published a book of sermons and tracts for masters and slaves. It was printed at Winchester, Va., by John Hieskell.
| Ed. Note: Full Citation: Sermons Addressed to Masters and Servants, And Published in the Year 1743 by the Rev. Thomas Bacon ... Now Republished with other Tracts and Dialogues on the Same Subject, and Recommemded to All Masters and Mistresses to be Used in their Families, by Thomas Bacon (ca. 1700-1768), edited by Bishop William Meade, D.D. (Winchester, Va.: John Heiskell, 1813) |
In the preface to the work the Bishop remarks:
| "The editor of this volume offers it to all masters and mistresses in our Southern states, with the anxious wish and devout prayer that it may prove a blessing to themselves and their households." |
Tn this book are two sermons from this text, to be read by masters to their slaves;
| "Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." |
As these sermons are so perfect a delineation of slaveholding godliness, some extracts will not here be out of place. They are addressed to a congregation of slaves.
After showing the slaves that they are all in the condition where God would have them, and that they were made for the use and service of their masters, he [Bishop Meade] proceeds:
| "When people die, we know of but two places they have to go to, and one is heaven, the other hell. Now heaven is a place of great happiness, which God has prepared for all that are good, where they shall enjoy rest from their labors.
"And hell is a place of great torment and misery, where all wicked people will be shut up with the devil and other evil spirits, and be punished forever, because they will not serve God.
"If, therefore we would have our souls saved hy Christ, if we would escape hell and obtain heaven, we must set about doing what he requires of us, that is, to serve God.
"Your own poor circumstances in this life ought to put you particularly upon this, and taking care of your souls. * * *
"Almighty God hath been pleased to make you slaves here, and to give you nothing but labor and pverty in this world, which you are obliged to submit to, as it is his will that it should be so.
"And think within yourselves what a terrible thing it would be, after all your labors and sufferings in this life, to be turned into hell in the next life: and after wearing out your bodies in service here, to go into a far worse slavery when this is over, and your poor souls be delivered over into the possession of the devil, to become his slaves forever in hell, without any hope of ever getting free from it.
"If, therefore, you would be God's freemen in heaven, you must strive to be good and serve him here on earth.
"Your bodies, you know, are not your own: they are at the disposal of those you belong to; but your precious souls are still your own, which nothing can take from you, if it |
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| be not your own fault.
"Consider well, then, that if you lose your souls by leading idle, wicked lives here, you have got nothing by it in this world, and you have lost your all in the next. For your idleness and wickedness are generally found out, and your bodies suffer for it here; and, what is far worse, if you do not repent and amend, your unhappy souls will suffer for it hereafter.
"Having thus shown you the chief duties you owe to your great Master in heaven, I now come to lay before you the duties you owe to your masters and mistresses here upon earth.
"And for this you have one general rule that you ought always to carry in your minds, and that is, to do all service for them, as if you did it for God himself.
"Poor creatures! you little consider when you are idle and neglectful of your master's business, when you steal and waste, and hurt any of their substance, when you are saucy and impudent, when you are telling them lies and deceiving them, or when you prove stubborn and sullen, and will not do the work you are set about without stripes and vexation; you do not consider, I say, that what faults you are guilty of towards your masters and mistresses, are faults done against God himself who hath set your masters and mistresses over you in his own stead, and expects that you will do for them just as you would do for him.
"And pray do not think that I want to deceive you, when I tell you that your masters and mistresses are God's overseers; and that if you are faulty towards them, God himself will punish you severely for it in the next world, unless you repent of it, and strive to make amends [reparations] by your faithfulness and diligence for the time to corne, for God himself hath declared the same.
| Ed. Note: This vile or demonized "clergyman" sees their suspicion! a correct suspicion that he is a deceiver, himself of the devil. 2 Cor. 11:13-15. |
"And in the first place, you are to be obedient and subject to your masters in all things. * *
And Christian ministers are commanded to 'exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters [not to kidnappers, but employers], and to please them well in all things, not answering them again, or gainsaying.' * * *
"You are to be faithful and honest to your masters and mistresses, not purloining or wasting their goods or substance, but showing all good fidelity in all things. * *
"Do not your masters, under God, provide for you?
"And how shall they be able to do this, to feed and to clothe you, unless you take honest care of every thing that belongs to them?
"Remember that God requires this of you, and if you are not afraid of suffering for it here, you cannot escape the vengeance of Almighty God, who will judge between you and your masters, and make you pay severely, in the next world, for all the injustice you do them here.
"And though you could manage so cunningly as to escape the eyes and hands of man, yet think what a dreadful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God, who is able to cast both soul and body into hell!" * * *
|
Ed. Note: Also by Vile Bishop Meade:
Pastoral Letter of the Rt. Rev. William Meade, Asst. Bishop of Va., to the Ministers, Members, and Friends, of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Virginia, on the Duty of Affording [Pretended] Religious Instruction to Those in Bondage. Delivered in the Year 1834 - Reprinted by the Convocation of Central Virginia in 1853 (Richmond: H. K. Ellyson, 1853)
Address on the Day of Fasting and Prayer Appointed by [Jefferson Davis] the President of the Confederate States, June 13, 1861, Delivered at Christ Church, Millwood, Va (Richmond: Enquirer and Job Press, 1861) |
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And again, on page 116:
| "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them;' that is, do by all mankind just as you would desire they should do by you, if you were in their place and they in yours.
"Now, to suit this rule to your particular circumstances; suppose you were masters and mistresses [kidnappers, murderers, rapists, thugs, etc.] and had servants under you, would you not desire that your servants should do their business faithfully and honestly, as well when your back was turned as while you were looking over them?
| Ed. Note: A proper analogy would be, would you not desire to call the police? or to commit standard self-defense acts? up to and including killing the perpetrator(s)? |
"Would you not expect that they should take notice of what you said to them? That they should behave themselves with respect towards you and yours, and be as careful of everything belonging to you as you would be yourselves?
"You are servants; do, therefore, as you would wish to be done by, and you will be both good servants to your master, and good servants to God, who requires this of you, and will reward you well for it, if you do it for the sake of conscience, in obedience to his commands. * * *
"Take care that you do not fret, or murmur, or grumble at your condition; for this will not only make your life uneasy, but will greatly offend Almighty God.
"Consider that it is not yourselves, it is not the people you belong to, it is not the men that have brought you to it, but it is the will of God who hath by his providence made you servants, because, no doubt he knew that condition would be best for you in this world, and help you the better towards heaven, if you would but do your duty in it.
"So that any discontent at your not being free, or rich, or great as you see some others, is quarreling with your heavenly Master, and finding fault with God himself. * * *
"There is only one circumstance which may appear grievous, that I shall now take notice of, and that is CORRECTION.
| Ed. Note: This sicko pervert Meade means torture. |
"Now, when correction is given you, you either deserve it, or you do not deserve it. But whether you really deserve it or not, it is your duty, and Almighty God requires that you bear it patiently.
"You may, perhaps, think that this is hard doctrine, but if you consider it right, you must needs think otherwise of it.
"Suppose, then, that you deserve correction, you cannot but say that it is just and right you should meet with it.
"Suppose you do not, or at least you do not deserve so much or so severe a correction for the fault you have committed, you perhaps have escaped a great many more, and are at least paid for all.
"Or suppose you are quite innocent of what is laid to your charge, and suffer wrongfully in that particular thing, is it not possible you may have done some other bad thing which was never discovered, and that Almighty God, who saw you doing it, would not let you escape without punishment one time or another? And ought you |
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| not in such a case to give glory to Him, and be thankful that he would rather punish you, in this life for your wickedness, than destroy your souls for it in the next life?
"But suppose that even this was not the case (a case hardly to be imagined), and that you have by no means, known or unknown, deserved the correction you suffered, there is this great comfort in it, that if you bear it patiently, and leave your cause in the hands of God, he will reward you for it in heaven, and the punishment you suffer unjustly here shall turn to your exceeding great glory hereafter."
| Ed. Note: Pillsbury re-reprinted this excerpt in 1883, in Acts, pp 429-434. |
|
If any doubt the genuineness of these extracts [from Bishop Meade's book], let them be compared with the following from another advocate of slavery, whose praise is in the churches of South and North.
The Rev. J. C. Postell, in July, 1836, delivered a public address at Orangeburg, South Carolina, in which he maintains,
"1. That slavery is a judicial visitation.
2. That it is not a moral evil.
3. That it is supported by the Bible."
He thus argues his second point:
| "It is not a moral evil. The fact that slavery is of Divine appointment, would be proof enough with the Christian that it could not be a moral evil.
"But when we view the hurdes of savage marauders and human cannibals enslaved to lust and passion and abandoned to idolatry and ignorance, to revolutionize them from such a state, and enslave them where they may have the gospel and the privileges of Christians, so far from being a moral evil, it is a merciful visitation.
"If slavery was either the invention of man or a moral evil, it is logical to conclude, the power to create has the power to destroy.
"Why, then, has it existed? And why does it now exist amidst all the power of legislation in State and church, and the clamor of abolitionists?
"'It is the Lord's DOINGS, AND MARVELLOUS IN OUR EYES:' and had it not been dune for the best, God alone, who is able, long since would have overruled it. IT is BY DIVINE APPOINTMENT."
| As Postell is an unrepentant individual, and is steeped in sin, he is unable to comprehend that slavery exists due to sin, rebellion against God! for which God punished Ancient Egypt in the Exodus, and then Judah for committing the same sin. |
|
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Such is slaveholding Christianity. Let us now see whether a better can be found at the North; or whether the religion of the South and North be not one and the same.
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian ehurch, until quite recently, extended over the entire Union—a mighty ecclesiastical giant, whose terrible tread shook the land. A division has now taken place, and the body is known in two separate organizations, by the terms Old and New School General Assembly.
Slavery, however [contrary to myth], had nothing to do with the separation.
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Both churches embrace members and ministers in both the free and slave states: and the subject of slavery has been often forced upon the consideration of both.
The first direct action in favor of slavery ever taken by the [Presbyterian] General Assembly, was in the year 1816. The note to which allusion is made in Chapter I, appended to the Catechism defining the crime [sin] of man-stealing, reflected most insufferably upon the man-stealers (whose name was Legion) at this time in the church. Accordingly they set about ridding themselves of the evil by procuring its erasure from the statutes [doctrine book] of the [Presbyterian] church; and in 1816 they procured the passage of the following Resolution in the General Assembly:
| "Resolved, That as it belongs to the General Assembly to give directions in regard to the notes which accompany the constitution, this Assembly express it as their opinion, that in printing future editions of the Confession [doctrine] of the [Presbyterian] church, the note connected with the scripture proofs in answer to the quostion in the larger catechism,
'What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?'
in which the nature of the crime [sin] of man-stealing and slavery is dilated [commented] upon, be omitted.
"In regard to this [directed] omission, the Assembly think proper to declare, that in directing it, they are influenced by far other motives than any desire to favor slavery, or to retard the extinction of that mournful evil, as speedily as may consist with the happiness of all concerned." |
Whether the Assembly spoke truly, when they said they had no "desire to favor slavery" in this act, will not be decided here. Such an assertion was most necessary surely; for without it, the suspicions of the world in regard to the resolution must inevitably have been of a most unfavorable character.
The same year the General Assembly considered and acted upon this question:
| "Ought baptism, on the profession and promise of the Master, to be administered to the children of slaves?" |
This was the strange and monstrous answer to the question:
| "It is the duty of masters who are members of the [Presbyterian] church, to present the children of parents in servitude to the ordinance of Baptism.
"It is the duty of Christ's ministers to baptise all children of this description when presented to them by their masters." |
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Whatever might have been the wish of the Assembly relative to the Resolution just qnoted, it is difficult to believe the tendency of its passage, in connection with this action on the [involuntary] baptism of infant slaves, would not be to "retard the extinction of that mournful evil" they profess so much to deplore.
The later proceedings of the General Assemblies, Old School or New, on the subject of Slavery, are, in general, too barren of interest to merit much attention. The Old School have done nothing, and the New, much worse.
The former—with fifty thousand slaves in its communion, not one of whom ever was married, or ever will be, but who are all living in the grossest prostitution, herded at night in their one-roomed cabins, as the beasts of the field—in its [pretended] zeal for the sacredness of marriage, have acted on the case of one of their number, a clergyman of the first standing, who married a sister of his deceased wife, and actually deposed him from the ministry and expelled him from the church, as guilty of incest.
| Ed. Note: Vile Presbyterians dealt with a mote, [one incident] not the beam [50,000]! Matt. 7:3-5. |
NEW SCHOOL GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
The New School General Assembly, driven by the advancing state of public sentiment to do something, did vote [in 1840] solemnly to refer the subject to the subordinate judicatories, and then, probably, wholly to avoid another early collision with the subject, they voted not to meet again for three years.
The three years passed away. At the next convocation they despatched the question of Slavery in the most summary manner: with some debate, they adopted the following Resolution, in 1843:
| "Resolved, That the Assembly do not think it for the edification of the church, for this body to take any action on the subject of slavery." |
The editors of the New York Evangelist, a large and popular religious paper, reported and published the proceedings, and claimed that the Assembly was "fast advandng in its opposition to slavery." And it professcd to be greatly charmed with the spirit and manner of the debate [on slavery].
Here is a specimen [of the debate], as reported by and for that paper.
Rev. Dr. Hill, of Virginia, said—
| "The Abolitionists have made the servitude of the slaves harder.
"If I could tell you of some of the dirty tricks [e.g., rescues] which these abolitionists have played, you would not wonder.
"Some of them [abolitionists, e.g., Rev. Elijah Lovejoy] have been LYNCHED [murdered], and they were served RIGHT. |
Here was "advance" with which to be "charmed."
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The following are further extracts from the [1843] proceedings of the [NSGA religious] body, [during the debate on abolitionists' proposed resolutions] pending the [later] passage of the [pro-slavery] resolution:
|
"Rev. Mr. Groff, of Maryland, was opposed to the [abolitionists'] resolutions. They will do no good.
"Hitherto we have gone on in great harmony [condoning sin], but cannot any longer if these resolutions prevail.
"God does not require us to declare slavery a sin; he has not so declared it himself.
"We know at the South that it [slavery] is an evil—a great evil; the South groans under it, but at present they do not see the remedy.
"And where does God justify us in taking his place and declaring that slavery [evil, you just said!] is a sin?
"In taking these positions, we are making war on the law of the land; which neither Christ nor his apostles did, in their contest with evil.
| Ed. Note: See rebuttal by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Key (1853), pp 234-240. |
"And the Christian population is so very small a part of the South, that our [NSGA] opinions will have no weight for good.
Ed. Note: Christianity had not even been preached in the Deep South until after 1695, says Edward C. Rogers, Slavery Illegality (Boston, 1855), p 78.
And, "verily, three fourths of all the Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians, in eleven states of the Union, are of the devil."—Rev. James H. Smylie (1836), quoted by Rev. Stephen S. Foster, Brotherhood of Thieves (1843), pp 14-15.
As such pretended Christians were showing themselves as heathens, they were excommunicated in 1841.—Rev. Parker Pillsbury, Acts of the Anti-Slavery Apostles (Concord, N.H., 1883), p 374.
Real Christians fled the South.
|
"And finally, if these resolutions are adopted, the Southern churches will separate from the Assembly.
"We will hold on as long as we can; we shall part in pain; but take the ground proposed [by abolitionists' resolutions], and our beloved Union is no longer ONE.
Rev. Dr. Wisner, of Ithaca, N. Y., spoke on the general subject. It was often his painful duty to differ from brethren whom he loved. He never had been able to go with whigs or tories; he could seldom go with the thorough-going men of either party.
| Ed. Note: Wisner is Laodicean, Rev. 3:14-16, the pretended religious-types God rebukes as "lukewarm," neither "cold nor hot," whom God therefore "spews out of his mouth." |
"He used to think he was an abolitionist, but he finds he is not; he is even called a pro-slavery man; by some, denounced as selfish and man-fearing; but it was very likely that others would call him an aboilitionist, when they knew how little sympathy he had for the system of slavery.
"Many of the most beloved of his congregation are abolitionists; one of the memorials [proposed resolutions] now before this Assembly is signed by all but one of his session [congregation], and it would be greatly for his peace of mind, if he could see his way clear to go with them.
"But when he remembered his ordination vows, and that he must please God rather than man, he must pursue that course to which he is shut up by the word of God.
"What would be the duty of a Christian minister, if he were living undor the despotism of Prussia or Turkey? Must he denounce every act of tyranny as an outrage on the rights of man, and a sin against the law of God?
"But it may be said, that we must purify the church. And how? By sending down an opinion that Slavery is an unlawful sin?
"Even this will not satisfy the abolitionists. They must have the knife of discipline applied to all who hold slaves.
"They [abolitionists] would even go so far as to adopt the 1887 plan of EXCISION, and cut off from the pulpit, and the communion of the church, all slaveholders.
"This has been done by one Synod, and others want the assent to do the same. |
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| same. But before we exclude our Southern brethren from our pulpits, we might at least wait till they ask us to let them in.
"I should feel strange to write to my brotber Hill, of Virginia, that he must not come to Ithaca and preacb, and he should write back that I had better wait till he wanted to come.
"Now, have we not had enough of EXCISION, without this going over the beads of Synods, and Presbyteries, and Sessions, to excommunicate our Southern brethren?" |
Dr. W. then established, with masterly power and great effect, the following positions:
| "1. Slavery is a civil institution, as much so as the despotism of Prussia, and regulated by the [unconstitutional] laws of the state and of the United States.
"2. The political world is now in an excited state of mind on this subject, in consequence of the radical and treasonable designs of abolitionists.
| Ed. Note: On the contrary, they were seeking to obtain adherence to the rule of law. |
"3. The memorials [petitions] asking action on this subject have not come from those who are suffering under the evils of slavery, but from men in the free States.
"4. We are not authorized by the word of God to say that every man who holds slaves is guilty of sin. Father Richards, of Auburn, owns an old woman in New Jersey, and pays for her board because she will not 'use her liberty.' Is he a great sinner going down to perdition?
"6. A worse kind of slavery tban Southern slavery prevailed in the days of our Saviour and the apostles. If any man [Wesley, Fee] denies this, he has not studied the history of tbose times. Read Gibbon, and McKnight's Exposition, and Jahn, and you will find it so.
"Now, the mode in which our Saviour and the apostles treated the subject, is to be our guide.
There is the most overwhelming testimony that the state of slavery was far worse then than at the South now; masters had the power of life and death over their slaves, and often used it; the slave was not considered as a man, but as a beast—as a chattel personal.
And the apostle felt called on to go into a special exposition of the relative duties of masters and slaves; and it had always been a matter of grief to bim (Dr. W.) that his abolition brethren are so unwilling to go to the Bible, and learn the specific directions which it contains on this subject.
| Ed. Note: Dr. Wisner is not honestly acknowledging the Bible distinction between employees and kidnap victims, nor his own church history, Catholic history, e.g., Pope Gregory XVI, nor abolition writers, e.g., Rev. Rankin, Rev. Fee, Rev. Green, Rev. Weld, Rev. Cheever, and H. B. Stowe. |
"Brother Beecher said that we must look at the 'great principles' of God's government, and not confine our view to specific cases.
But when I was a young man, I was a lawyer; and when we were seeking to establish some great principle of law we were always glad to find its application to a specific case; and if there was an authorized exposition of the law in such cases, that settled the question.
Now, the apostles give us God's own exposition of his law, and if we consult their writings, we shall learn the 'great principles of this government.'
Then if the apostles did give directions on this subject, what were they? In
|
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| his first letter to Timothy, 6:1—3, he [Paul] writes: [Let the reader turn to these passages, and these that follow, and read them.]
"If brother Beecher [p 24, infra] had been in the place of good old Abraham, and God had told him to take his only son Isaac, and put him to death, Mr. Beecher would look up and say,
'Why, Lord, it is contrary to the "great
principles" of your government for me to
take the life of my son; I can't do it;'
and so Mr. Beecher would refuse to obey a positive precept, because it conflicts with what he tbinks is a great principle. But if God tells me to lay my wife on the altar, it shall be done.
Ed. Note: The South, filled with tobacco farmers, became psychotic. Sane minds reason in a linear manner, not wander off-topic. God gives gift of sound mind, I Tim 1:7. Wisner, pro-slavery, does not have that gift.
Wisner cannot comprehend that slavery does not involve a command direct from God to go hunt down, capture, kidnap, oppress, a single discrete named individual! |
"And I have been shocked when my abolition brethren have told me that if they thought the Bible tolerated slavery, they would reject the Bible.
"But I dare not take this liberty with the Bible. I will believe it, and obey it, the whole of it, or none.
"And when we thus yield to its [pretended] teachings, we are denounced as pro-slavery men, and called by every hard name that abolition lecturers can turn their tongues to.
"Dr. W. then cited and commented on Eph. 6:6-9. Col. 3:22-25. 4:1.
"Titus 2:9, 10, 'not purloining,' is the advice given here to servants [employees]. The apostle, said Dr. W., does not advise slaves [kidnap, rape, torture victims] to steal horses and boats, and any thing necessary for their escape.
Ed. Note: This vile Dr. Wisner would not dare preach this drivel to whites captured by Indians!
This vile depraved clergyman refuses to acknowledge the difference between advice to employees, versus advice to kidnap, rape, torture victims.
No moral person denies the morality of kidnap and rape victims escaping, or being rescued, including by violence. |
"Col. 3:18-20. 1 Cor. 7:21, 22.
"Nor does all this prove that the Bible approves of slavery. Not at all.
"But it does prove that political institutions are not to be assailed by the church.
Ed. Note: This depraved person evidently would oppose Bible-smuggling into nations that by law, ban Bibles!
He does not agree with the Bible law, obey God rather than men's traditions and laws.
Matt. 15:1-9; Mark 7:6-13; Acts 5:29.
|
"Here is the specific direction as to the way in which the ministers of Christ are to treat the evil of slavery, and when the Bible tells me what to do, I will do it, though hell and earth stand in the way.
"And I will spend my few remaining days in solitude, and go down to my grave friendless and alone, rather than violate my ordination vows, and go with my abolition brethren in defiance of the plain precepts of our Saviour and his apostles.
"My business is to labor for the salvation of souls, and I would rather go to the South and fight slavery 'tooth and nail,' than to be assailing it here, as an ecelesiastical bcdy.
"And now let me ask my brethren what good they will do by driving their measures through. The churches have just settled down after the great schism, revivals have been numeruous and powerful, our numbers are almost doubled, and now we are called on to draw another line, and that to be Mason and Dixon's line.
"Nor is this to be the end.
"When these brethren have cut off the South, they will next want to get rid of all who will not go with them in abolition measures. We are marked on the catalogue to go next.
"And if the ploughshare is to be driven again, I almost wish that I lived on the other side [the south side] of Mason and Dixo's line, for I cannot live where I am [New York] to be forever goaded with this thing. I cannot, and I will not." |
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| "3½ o'clock, P. M.
"Assembly was constituted with prayer by the Moderator, and after the adoption of the minutes of the morning session, the unfinished business, viz , Dr. Dickerson's resolution, was resumed.
"The Rev. Mr. Cook, from Illinois, having the floor, went into a lengthened defence of anti-slavery views, in opposition to the resolutions.
"The Rev. Dr. Bly spoke on the other side, and was followed by the Rev. Dr. Edward Beecher and the Rev. Mr. Myers.
"After the last speaker had concluded, the Rev. Mr. Ely, the Moderator, suggested that the members had had a full opportunity to express their sentiments on the subject, and submitted to the good sense of the House, whether this discussion had not better terminate; after which, however, Rev. Mr. Linsley proceeded to make some further remarks, and was followed by the Rev. Mr. Gridley, who gave in a brief manner his views in opposition to the resolution.
"The question recurring on Dr. Dickerson's resolution, the yeas and nays being called for and sustained, were ordered, and resulted as follows:
"For the resolution, 66; against it, 33.
"The Assembly then engaged in a prayer of thanksgiving to Almighty God, for the spirit of tenderness and forbearance exercised during the discussion of this very important subject." |
In May, 1846, the Assembly again convened, and again the subject of slavery, the dreaded question, like some unearthly, unwelcome ghost, stalked into this sacerdotal Congress.
The following was the disposal of it, by a vote of 97 to 27.
The declarations were introduced by Rev. Dr. Duffield:
| "1. The system of slavery as it exists in these United States, viewed either in the
[unconstitutional] law of the several States which [by practice, tradition, but not by law] sanction it, or in its actual operation and results in society, is
intrinsically unrighteous and oppressive, and
is opposed to the prescriptions of the law of God,
to the spirit and precepts of the gospel, and
to the best interests of humanity.
"2. The testimony of the General Assembly, from the A.D. 1787, to A. D. 1818, inclusive, has condemned it, and it remains still the recorded testimony of the Presbytenan church of these United States against it, from which we do not recede.
"3. We cannot, therefore, withhold the expression of our deep regret that slavery should be continued and countenanced by any of the members of our churches; and we do earnestly exhort both them and the churches, among whom it exists, to use all means in their power to put it away from them. Its [slavery's] perpetuation among them cannot fail to be regarded by multitudes influenced by their [heathen-making] example, as sanctioning the system portrayed |
-24-
| in it, and maintained by the [non-existent, bluffed] statutes of the several slaveholding States wherein they dwell. Nor can any mere mitigation of its severity, prompted by the humanity and Christian feeling of any who continue to hold their fellow-men in bondage, be regarded either as a testimony against the system, or as in the least degree changing its essential [un-Biblical] character.
"4. But while we believe that many evils incident to the system render it important and obligatory to bear testimony against it, yet would we not undertake to determine the degree of moral turpitude on the part of individuals involved hy it. This will doubtless be found to vary in the sight of God, according to the degree of light and other circumstances pertaining to each. In view of all the embarrassments and obstacles in the way of emancipation interposed by the [drunkard politicans of demonized southern] statutes of the slaveholding states, and by the social influence [racial prejudice] affecting the views of those involved in it, we cannot pronounce a judgment of general and promiscuous condemnation, implying that destituiion of Christian principle and feeling which should exclude from the table of the Lord all who should stand in the legal relation of masters to slaves, or justify us in withholding our ecclesiastical and Christian fellowship from them. We rather sympathize with, and would seek to succor them in their embarrassments, believing that separation and secession among the churches and their members are not the methods God approves and sanctions for the reformation of his church.
"5. While, therefore, we feel bound to bear our testimony against slavery, and to exhort our belovce brethren to remove it from them as speeedily as possible, by all appropriate and available means, wc do at the same time condemn all divisive and schismatical measures, tending to destroy the unity and disturb the peace of our church, and deprecate the spirit of denunciation and inflicting severities, which would cast from the fold those whom we are rather bound, by the spirit of the gospel, and the obligations of our covenant, to instruct, to counsel, to exhort, and thus to lead in the ways of God; and towards whom, even though they may err, to exercise forbearance and brotherly love.
Ed. Note: Duffield means for them to ignore Christ's guidance on dealing with the unrepentant (Matt. 18:15-17); and Paul's example of excommunicating blatant sinners (I Cor. 5:1-5).
Duffield is an example of a minister of Satan faking being a minister of light (2 Cor. 11:13-15). |
"6. As a court of our Lord Jesus Christ, we possess no legislative authority; and as the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, we possess no judiciary authority. We have no right to institute and prescribe a test of Christian character and church membership, not recognized and sanctioned in the sacred Scriptures, and in our standards, by which we have agreed to walk.
[Conclusion]
"We must leave, therefore, this matter with the Sessions, Presbyteries and Synods—the Judicatories to whom pertains the right of judgment to act in the adininistration of discipline, as they may judge it to be their duty, constitutionally, subject to the General Assembly, only in the way of general review and control." |
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No apology need be offered for giving these declarations at full length. They are among the most important evidence that can be adduced as to the [vile, non-Christian] character of American Religion. They are the very last action [the most recent before this 1847 book] of one of the most important ecclesiastical parliaments in Christendom.
The first delaration is a very fearful condemnation of slavery. It declares it "intrinsically unrighteous, opposed to both the law and the gospel, and the best interests of humanity." No more can be said of the most horrible piracy or murder, as those crimes are understood and punished among men.
The third declaration admits that it [slavery] is "still countenanced and practised by members of the churches."
The fourth and fifth declarations declare, that monstrous and diabolical as slavery is, and black as, by the Assembly's own showing, the depravity is that practises it, still it deprecates any "divisive measures, that would destroy the unity and disturb the peace of the church." It even "deprecates denunciation and severity" in regard to those "beloved brethren" who are thus sinning against "the law of God, the precepts of the gospel, and the best interests of humanity."
If proclamation for a "thanksgiving day" was not immediately issued from the Council Chamber of Perdition [Hell] when news of these [demonized] Resolutions arrived, the inhabitants there [the demons] must be as devoid of gratitude as is the General Assembly of some other equally important graces and gifts.
[Parody]
A Parody on two or three or these resolutions will exhibit them in their true cbaracter. One word only need be changed.
| "I. The system of sheep-stealing, as it exists in the United States," etc., etc. |
The second Resolution is omitted in the Parody.
| "III. We cannot, therefore, withhold the expression of deep regret, that sheep-stealing should be countenanced and continued by any of the members of^our churches. And we do earnestly exhort both them and the churches among whom sheep-stealing exists, to use all means in their power to put it away.
"IV. But while we believe that many evils incident to sheep-stealing render it important and obligatory to bear testimony against it, yet we would not undertake to determine the degree of moral turpitude on the part of individual sheep-stealers. This will doubtless be found to vary in the sight of God, according to the degree of light and other circumstances pertaining to each individual stealer.
"V. While, therefore, we feel bound to bear our testimony against sheep-stealing, and to exhort our beloved sheep-stealing brethren to remove it from them as speedily as possible, by all |
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| available and appropriate means, we do at the same time condemn all divisive and schismatical measures, tending to destroy the unity and disturb the peace of our church, and deprecate the spirit of denunciation, and inflicting severities which would cast from the fold those sheep-stealers whom we are rather bound by the spirit of the gospel, and the obligations of our covenant, to instruct, to counsel, to exhort, and thus to lead in the way of God; and towards whom, even though they may err [in living by constantly stealing sheep], to exercise forbearance and brotherly love. |
Let the resolutions, as thus rendered, be compared with the original
[p 24, supra], and see if they are not in perfect harmony, with the exception of the word naming the offence under consideration.
And let this variation be contemplated in connection with the question once propounded by the son of God.
and which (with due reverence be it spoken) the Asker himself could scarcely answer.
If the stealers of sheep go not into the kingdom of heaven, where will those stand who steal habitually the sons of God?
The position assumed by the New School General Assembly, in relation to the famous "Evangelical Alliance," is deserving of a passing notice.
Some months before the meeting of the Alliance, a Resolution was passed in England, by a body of the directors of the movement, to the effect that no slaveholders should be invited; but not declaring that they should be excluded from the gathering, if they presented themselves at its doors and claimed admission.
When news of this proceeding reached the United States, the General Assembly, New School, was in session in Philadelphia.
That body immediately declared it would send no delegates to the Alliance. Rev. Dr. Cox was moderator, and in his zeal to be a delegate, he opposed the action of the Assembly. He even solicited the suffrages of the members of the body, and assured the slave-holding brethren, that if they would only send him, their honor should be safe in his hands. That if the Alliance dared to unchristianize them, only for their man-stealing, he would shake off the dust of his feet against it.
But appeals and promises were vain. The Assembly felt itself outraged, and no delegation was appointed.
Sixty or seventy clergymen however, Northern and Southern, attended from this country. These were the Beechers, the Pattons, the Smiths, the Coxes, the Kirks, and some others, Doctors of Divinity, besides many whose Divinity had not been Doctored, much as it needed it.
For many days the Alliance sat and
-27-
glorified itself. But in an evil hour the dreaded question of Slavery forced itself upon the considération of the august Presence.
The scenes which followed were worthy only of those who enacted them. Compromise was the resort and the agreement.
But the agreement lasted only for a night. Sorrow came in the morning.
For, so soon as the convention could hurry off its devotions, the American delegates clamorously insisted that all allusion to slavery should be erased from and ever after kept from the proceedings, or they would no longer remain in the body. The whole morning session was occupied with the fearful discussion. The hour of adjournment came, but brought no reconciliation.
But what the American delegates lacked in the arguments, they more than achieved by a stroke of matchless [psychological warfare] policy, that will doubtless form an epoch [of disgrace] in the history of Ecclesiastical warfare. The hour of dinner being announced, they gravely and sorrowfully told the Convention they should forego dining, and spend the hour in solemn prayer.
Never before, probably, were "prayer and fasting" more efficacious. Evidently the spirit of freedom and Christianity could in no other way have been cast out of the Alliance.
When the hour of assembling arrived, the question again came on, and very soon was adjusted to the entire satisfaction of the [vile] American delegation. Thus slavery triumphed, and ruled in the World's Alliance, as it still rules in the church in the United States.
No matter how black and bloody the man-stealer may be, if he confess but an Orthodox Faith. The Evangelical Alliance welcomes him to its embrace, while it excludes the holiest Fenelons, Woolmans, and Channings, that ever became inhabitants of Paradise.
AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS.
SLAVERY AND POLYGAMY.
Next in importance to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, is the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Indeed, in many respects it undoubtedly should take precedence, not only to the General Assembly, but to any other ecclesiastical association in this or any other country.
The following chancery notice in its favor, shows that it had not, during the quarter of a century it had then existed, shown itself particularly hostile to the slave system in the midst of which it was carrying on its operations. The notice is from a newspaper in Savannah, Georgia:—
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| Bryan Superior Court.
Between John J. Maxwell
and others,
executors of Ann Pray,
complainant,
and
Mary Sleigh and others,
Devisees and Legatees,
under the will of Ann Pray,
defendants.
"A bill having been filed for the distribution of the estate of the Testatrix, Ann Pray, and it appearing that among other legacies in her will, is the following, viz.: a legacy of one fourth of certain negro slaves, to the American Board of Commissioners for Domestic [Foreign it probably should have been] Missions, for the purpose of sending the gospel to the Heathen, and particularly to the Indians of this continent,
it is, on motion of the solicitors of the complainant,
ordered that all persons claiming the said legacy, do appear and answer the bill of the complainants, within four months from this day.
"And it is ordered, that this order be published in a public Gazette of the city of Savannah, and in one of the Gazettes of Philadelphia, once a month, for four months.
"Extract from the minutes, December 2d, 1832.
"JOHN SMITH, C. S. C. B. C." |
The bequest is said not to have been accepted by the Board. Its refusal could not have been on the ground of hostility to the slave system, for it is well understood that the Board and that system are, and ever have been, on terms of the profoundest intimacy and communion.
Why the bequest could not have been accepted, it is difficult to see, since living men are continually bringing to this treasury the price of slaves. Agents are always prowling about our human shambles, under the direction of the Board, seeking aid to carry the [pretended] gospel to the heathen.
The Board has often been earnestly solicited to refuse the cooperation and the donations of slave-holders, and has as often refused. The contribution boxes are all spattered with blood.
This same Ann Pray had, unquestionably, in her lifetime, put many a body and soul into them. Why not, then, at her death have tossed in what remained? Let the Board answer. True, it would have been a refinement on the depravity of those who murdered the immaculate Jesus.
But then the almost universal testimony is (whether right or wrong), that the world is getting worse and worse. And it is difficult to see, if it is so, why the American Board should be considered an exception.
Men have looked in vain, as they supposed, for desperation of depravity like that of those who enacted the tragic scenes of Calvary. It was indeed a fearful sublimation of iniquity, as the
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church teaches, that could perpetrate the fell deed, amid the convulsions of nature all around—the quaking earth groaning its horror, the rocks bursting with dire astonishment, the swarded graves rending, their pale inhabitants shocked forth again to very life, the heavens hung in mourning for the funereal hour, the sun putting on midnight, and universal being, bending beneath its unutterable woe; it was deep and dark depravity that could do such a deed amid such demonstrations, and even mock the dying agonies of him who died with a prayer for his tormentors; but even they dared not bring the price of their victim to the Missionary Box, "because," they said, "it is the price of blood." [Matthew 27:6].
The Board, too, has employed Missionaries, and sent them to Africa, who are the owners of slaves. John Leighton Wilson has gone there to teach, perhaps, the grand-parents of some of his own slaves, and make converts of them to a religion that in this land would enslave every African from Morocco to Madagascar, and from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope.
The Board, too, is building up churches among the heathen Indians, filled with slave-holders and slaves. Indeed, it is from our civilization and religion that the aborigines of this country have learned slavery, and that to make goods and chattels of their brethren is a gospel institution. Never was it known until the Mayflower discharged her "freight of great principles" on Plymouth Rock that an untutored Indian held a slave in all the wilds of America
On this subject the Board has been often memorialized. In 1845 it endeavored to settle the question, as one of its members most significantly and prophetically said, "once for all."
A long and labored Report was made by the committee to whom the subject was referred, Rev. Dr. Woods, of Andover Theological Seminary, Chairman, defending the course of the Board in admitting slave-holders to the mission churches. The essence of the report is contained in this single declaration, as given by a member and friend of the Board itself—that
"It is the duty of the Board to prosecute the work of saving souls, without attempting to interfere with the civil condition of society any faster than the consciences of the people become enlightened."
Ed. Note: The term "civil condition" means society-wide sin, widespread sin.
Rev. George Cheever, God Against Slavery (1856), pp. 72-81, shows God punishing Ancient Judah for not repenting of the civil condition of society!
Remember Sodom and Gomorrah! Their "civil condition" was sinful, so were destroyed. Genesis 19:24-25.
It is the duty of clergy to enlighten, teach, attempt to interfere, with sins, both widespread (civil) ones and individual ones! See Rev. Stephen Foster, Brotherhood (1843), p 27, citing Ezekiel 33:8. |
|
The report underwent much discussion before its unanimous adoption.
The Rev. Dr. Tyler, President of a Theological Seminary in Connecticut, said,
"The Apostles admitted slave-holders to the church, and for this Board to decide against it, would be to impeach the Apostles."
| Ed. Note: Not true. See rebuttal data by
Rev. Fee, Anti-Slavery Manual (1851), pp 79-86
Edward C. Rogers, Slavery Illegality (1855), pp 27-33
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Key (1853), pp 237-240. |
|
Dr. Bacon said,
| "The Board ought to make a distinction between slavery and slave-holding, a distinction that I deem ex- |
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| tremely obvious.
"The master does not make the man a slave, but the laws and constitution of society." |
Dr. Stowe, of another Theological Seminary, said,
| "I would sooner die, than say our missionaries ought to enter their open protest against all the evils with which they may come in contact. * * *
"Jacob lived with four women at once. Had there been an organized church then, must Jacob have been excluded!" * * *
"These examples are for our instruction; and give us just the light we need in this matter." |
And Dr. Beecher, of Boston, said,
"Masters and slaves existed in the primitive churches, and it [slavery] was allowed by Christ and his Apostles.
| Ed. Note: Not true. See rebuttal data by
Rev. Fee, Anti-Slavery Manual (1851), pp 79-86
Edward C. Rogers, Slavery Illegality (1855), pp 27-33
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Key (1853), pp 237-240. |
"Slavery is an ORGANIC SIN [meaning, society-caused], made by law, and therefore not dealt with as other sins."
| Ed. Note: Not true. See Rev. George Cheever, God Against Slavery (1856), pp. 72-81, showing that God punished Ancient Judah for its organic sins! |
|
These are but brief extracts of the discussion.
With these arguments, and others of similar tonnage, the Board convinced at least itself; and the Report was unanimously adopted.
The Board has now, and intends to have, slave-holders as officers, corporate members, agents, missionaries, and members of mission churches. Comment on these strange proceedings is hardly necessary.
It would be sufficient, probably, should the words slavery and slave-holder be stricken out, and those of horse-stealing and horse-stealer substituted in their places. This can be most readily done by any reader who has the inclination.
POLYGAMY.
At the next anniversary of the American Board, another subject, equally affecting its character, came up for consideration. The New York Observer gives us the following particulars respecting the meeting itself:
| "Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Yale, of Kingsboro.
"At the suggestion of Rev. Dr. Anderson, the Board at the outset of its deliberations spent an hour in devotional exercises. Father Sewell led the assembly in prayer. It was good to go with him to the throne of grace, and see the old Patriarch struggling with the Angel of the Covenant. He seemed to take hold of the horns of the altar, and to plead for a blessing as if he would take no denial.
"Dr. Anderson gave expression to the belief that the Holy Spirit would be present in this meeting. He referred to the glorious displaying of the power of God among the Missions of the Board during the year, and he trusted that we had come together to rejoice with gratitude and praise.
"Dr. Edwards led the Board in prayer.
"The effect of these exercises was very happy. The great number of clergyman and others who had assembled, entered with |
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| delight into the services, and the spirit of devotion was delightful.
"After this prayer meeting, the organisation of the meet-ing was completed." |
The missionaries, fmding slave-holding no barrier to church fellowship in Christian countries, very naturally concluded the same liberality should be extended to those guilty of lesser obliquities, and in the darkness of paganism too, and before the worid was aware, the mission churches were becoming the veriest harems in all the East, polygamy being no obstacle whatever to admission.
The Board was again memorialized. The question whether polygamists should be admitted to the mission churches had now to be met. Expectation was everywhere alive. The subject was referred to an august committee, Chancellor Walworth, of New York, Chairman.
To the astonishment of some, the grief of many, and the horror of all, but the Board, the committee reported in favor of polygamy, or at least, against instructing the missionaries to exclude polygamists, and the report, after long discussion, was adopted without a dissenting voice, tbose opposing, if such there were, not choosing to register their testimony against it.
As the action of the Board on this subject is of such vast importance as a development of its true character, and as it confirms all that has been presented relative to its action on slavery, the subjects and the action bearing such resemblancc, it may be proper, as well as useful, to introduce here some extracts from the discussions which were had on the adoption of Chancellor Walworth's Report.
| "Rev Mr. Trask said—I am not satisfied, Mr. President, with this report, and I ought to say so. I am glad, sir, the subject is brought before us. My mind is relieved a little. These Secretaries appear a Iittle better than before.
"And I must say, if no one else thanks the good men and women who have sent in these memorials and inquiries, I for one do. They have done their duty; for, instead of standing afar off, complaining and murmuring, they have come up to this Board, the proper place, and made known their feelings.
"How does the matter before us stand? This is certain:—a polygamist bas entered a mission church, and these Secretaries have known and winked at it. How many more have been admitted we do not know. I have the charity to think, and the candor to say, probably very few.
"But this is not enough. The bars have been down, are now down, and the field is open, and multitudes may, hereafter, be admitted. |
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| "Mr. PERKINS spoke as follows: There are some very singular facts connected with the subject which has thus come before us. One of the most singular is, that the Secretaries seem to know nothing about it. They appear to consider the existence of polygamy in their churches as so frivolous a matter that even after it was brought to their notice, they forebore to make inquiries, and remain, voluntarily, in profound ignorance.
"I am surprised, also, at the manner in which the inquiries into this subject are met. We came here in all honesty, to obtain information respecting the manner in which the missions are conducted, and are told that we are 'troublesome,' 'meddlesome,' 'snarlish,' 'enemies of the Board.' * * *
"Sir, we do not know how many polygamists are in the mission churches.
"According to the statements of the Secretary, evening before last, four cases have come before the Prudential Committee. In two cases, polygamists were actually admitted into the mission churches. Not a hint of disapprobation was dropped by the Prudential Committee.
In two other cases the missionaries asked advice, and such advice was refused.
The venerable body were utterly unable to decide the question, whether a sin, which in all Christian nations consigns a man to a felon's infamy and prison, should, by our missionaries, be admitted into the church among heathen nations!
So little interest did they take in the case, that the Secretary assures us he is profoundly ignorant of the subsequent disposal of the matter!
For aught he knows these two cases came into the church.
He also tells us that at a meeting of missionaries in India, the question was discussed whether converted heathen polygamists should be admitted into the church, and the majority were in favor of so doing. * * * *
"Rev. Mr. PATTON, of Hartford, remarked as follows:—Mr. President—My comparative youth [1821-1889] would have deterred me from addressing the Board on the present occasion, were it not that one of the memorials now under discussion was signed by myself, my seven deacons, and forty-one other male members of my church.
"The connection of the mission churches with polygamy is a subject of vital importance, embracing fundamental principles, and requiring a thorough discussion. It is difficult to convince a large part of the community that evangelical missionaries will tolerate practices such as are referred to in the memorial.
"It is therefore with some interest that I draw attention to the fact, that all the charges contained in the memorial, of which I was a signer, have been fully admitted, either by the Secretaries, or by the Committee which has just reported.
They admit that the missionaries, after discussion, did conclude that the Bible furnished no warrant for the exclusion of polygamists from the church of Christ.
They admit that the missionaries requested the Prudential |
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| Committee, at Boston, to express their opinion, or to send their direction on this question, and that the said Committee actually declined to express an opinion, or to give direction with regard to this plain point of morals!
"Furthermore, it is avowed that a Choctaw Indian was admitted some years ago, with two wives.
"Professor Stowe tells us of a case among the Dacottah Indians, about two years since [ago], and as such cases have occurred, without the disapprobation or interference of the Committee, they may occur again.
"Mr. Perkins bas told us that concubinage is allowed in the West India Moravian missions, and I wish to read an extract from a letter, which will show how the same general sin has been tolerated among mission churches in Oregon.
"Mr. Patton here read extracts from a letter of Rev. Mr. Griffin, who went out as an independent missionary, sustained by certain churches in Litchfield county, Conn. Mr. Griffin declared that he found church members living in open fornication, that is, without marriage; that he at first hoped privately to persuade them to be married, but not succeeding, was forced to preach openly upon adultery. This 'raised a storm,' and the people were sustained in their opposition by every Protestant missionary whom they consulted. These missionaries declared that the time had not come to make a stand against adultery." |
On the other side:
| "Dr. TYLER said—The question is, shall we legislate for extreme cases. Discuss this question in any ecclesiastical body, and they wouldn't agree.
"I wouldn't say that in all cases it is wrong. Let the missionaries decide such cases. We too have weak consciences, as has been said on the other side. We have as good a right to ask the Board to say that polygamy, in extreme cases, is right, as they have to ask the Board to say it is wrong.
Chancellor WALWORTH referred to the opening of Turkey to the gospel, where polygamy is common, and said the case might arise there. In his State, polygamy was felony—there it was lawful. We couldn't decide it—the circumstances of the case must decide it. The Board, should they undertake to decide it, might differ.
"Mr. PERKINS objected to the adoption of the report. It seemed to him that in a question of this character, involving the principles of the constitution of human nature, the authority of the fundamental laws of the social relation established by God, both in the Old Testament and in the New, and striking at the foundations of human virtue and human happiness, the Board ought to take decided and unequivocal ground.
"But, instead of doing this, the report scarcely hints at disapprobation of polygamy. Tbere is no pledge given that polygamists may not be |
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| admitted to the mission churches. It is left to the discretion of missionaries, some of whom have decided that, in certain cases, polygamy is not such a sin as to constitute a bar to Christian fellowship." |
Such were some of the addresses on the Report. Similar arguments were made in its favor, and by some of the same Doctors, too, to those urged in favor of the Report the previous year, on slavery.
The policy of the Board is now understood. It is to consult
the existing state of things [culture],
the customs and laws of the people [traditions of men],
and shape religion accordingly. All 'organic sins' [society-wide, widespread sins] are to be considered innocent.
Ed. Note: Widespread, ongoing sins result from doctrines of
'saved by grace,'
'grace alone,'
salvation as ONLY issue that matters,
'just believe in Jesus,'
'come as you are,'
no repentance, no fruits
no behavior change needed,
you can stay as you are
repentance and fruits thereof are mere 'works of the law,' unnecessary,
you are under 'liberty,' free to sin unrestrained.
Naturally, such doctrines lead to rampant sins, society-wide sins, "organic" sins. For example, they aid and abet U.S. Wars of Aggression, e.g., against Mexico.
Next, the pro-sin clergy reject
Peter's citing the first step as 'repentance' (Acts 2:38);
John's admonition to 'bring fruits worthy of repentance' (Matthew 3:8)
Christ's instruction to deal with the unrepentant as heathen (Matthew 18:17);
Paul's 1 Cor. 5:1, 5 example of disfellowshipping an habitual sinner.
Such doctrines free you to live a life of habitual sin.
Clergy even re-define terms and words, deny their meaning, deleting from the definition of sin, whatever acts they and members commit!
Naturally, such actions lead to even more wide-spread sins.
Rev. John Fee wrote a book in 1849 recommending following Paul's 1 Cor. 5:1, 5 guidance. Charles Sumner had said similarly in 1845, in True Grandeur of Nations, pp 64-65, etc.
Since most Christian churches in America were in reality heathen, there was general non-compliance.
Rev. Pillsbury excommunicated most U.S. clergy, and said, sarcastically: |
It might save expense, to just vote all sins "organic" [widespread], and thus, by the mere passage of a resolution, the Board can vote in the millenium.
In some countries, it is said a law has existed that all the females should, once in their lives, visit the temple of lust, and make a voluntary offering of their chastity to its unclean deity—and priests were quartered in the temples for this infernal sacrament. Let the Board discover such an ordinance in some island of the sea, and Chancellor Walworth, with a whole Senate of Doctors of Divinity, have decided, and decreed, that it would be proper for church members to submit to its terrible authority. Not even the wives and daughters of the missionaries themselves might be excepted.
The question of admitting polygamists to the mission churches was left, as has already been shown, to the missionaries themselves. They have already decided that there is no warrant in Scripture against it, and have proceeded accordingly.
One of them, wbo has filled a very responsible station for some years in the Ahmednugger mission, and whose literary attainments are of the most commanding order, recently visited this country. Just as he was embarking to return to the field of his labors, he published the following, as his views of the subject, in the Boston Recorder.
It is due to the Editors to say that they disclaim the implied doctrine of their correspondent, in the most becoming manner. Only extracts of the letter are given, but in no instance are the views of the writer in the least perverted.
| "MESSRS. EDITORS:—The subject of polygamy in connection with mission churches was made a prominent subject of discussion at the late [recent] meeting of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions at New Haven.
"The subject was not finally and satisfactorily disposed of. At least, it was not disposed of to the satisfaction of some present at the meeting, and the appearance is, that farther discussion, either in the newspapers or at public |
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| meetings, will take place during the present year. It has occurred to me, that as I have been for a number of years laboring in a field where polygamy exists among the people, and expect in a few days to embark on my return to that field, it may not be improper for me to make a few remarks on the subject.
"1. Polygamy is sanctioned by both Hindoo and Mahommedan laws, which two classes of people constitute the great mass of the population of British India.
"2. I am not aware that our mission has been called upon to act upon more than a single case of polygamy, though the discussion of the general question has considerably occupied the attention of the missionary body in that part of India.
| "The case was that of a man who presented himself for admission to the church, having two wives. The first, besides being childless, was almost or quite an idiot.
"According to custom and law he had contracted a relation with another woman, by whom he had children, and for whom he appeared to have true affection.
"In his examination in regard to qualifications for church membership, he appeared well—but he had two wives, and the mission refused him baptism, unless he would put away the woman last married. After lingering around for some months, he went away, I know not where. "Perhaps it should be stated, that the second marriage in this case was of a kind regarded, I believe, as of a lower order: still it was a legal and acknowledged relation, constituting the parties husband and wife. |
"3. I wish to ask those who take a deep interest in our labors and sympathize with us in our difficulties, on what scriptural authority the mission can be justified for the course taken in regard to the individual above alluded to. It is our design to make the Bible the rule of faith, and we have been so particular and guarded in our instructions on this point, that we are liable to be puzzled and embarrassed whenever we deviate from the [Bible] rule.
"4. Is it not evident from Paul's instructions respecting the qualifications of a bishop, viz., that he 'should be the husband of one wife,' that polygamy was permitted in the primitive church, under the apostles, and that too in circumstances precisely similar to those in which churches are gathered among the heathen at the present day? If so, why should a different standard be set up than that set up by the apostles? We want light.
"Yours, &c.
"E. BURGESS." |
A few years ago, some of the Sandwich Island Missionaries, growing sick of the hypocrisy of sending a slave-holding, and, in other respects, corrupt religion to the heathen, formed an anti-slavery society, and published a tract containing a most searching and powerful appeal to the Board, and the people of the United States, on the subject. For some reason, it was never circulated
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in this country, and in 1837 the Board adopted the following rule, virtually prohibiting any repetition of an act so dangerous to its reputation.
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This site is one in a series on the abolitionists from before the 1861-1865 Civil War.
This site presents a book by one of them, Rev. Parker Pillsbury (1809-1898).