and reconciled to the will of my heavenly Father feeling conscious that I deserved whipping, for I had not done half what I ought for my brothers in bondage. I trust the scene was not in vain. It's excellent training for a missionary; in fact, I don't know how I should get along without it. The hearts of the sisters and brother N., who we left in the sorrow of their soul, and who prayed earnestly for us, were rejoiced to see us return alive. On the evening of the 18th, at midnight, a company came and took brother Williams from bed, to drag him to town before a magistrate, under the pretence of legal authority, for the purpose of enforcing a fine which they pretended he was liable to pay for receiving the free colored boys. He was not liable, and doubtless will recover damages. Their plan that night was, to take Williams, and me as witness, to Palmyra, under the above pretence, from whence, doubtless, we should have never returned. We avoided going by his paying sixty dollars. In Special word having been sent to brother Williams from this royal council, for him to depart the state upon the same day, we accordingly did so, together with some students who had received the same commands; but did not get off so easy then. After arriving on the banks of the Mississippi, at La Grange, we could not get a boat to cross in, hence had to wait. the mean time, a new company of hungry wolves came upon us, and examined minutely all our baggage, &c. A heavy rain commenced falling, which added considerably to our troubles. We soon ascertained that we could get a canoe by going three miles, which was willingly done; and with the family in, we paddled ten miles, to Quincy, Illinois, where we are at present, rejoicing to get away from those darker shores of slavery; but regretting that those that are bound could not be as free as we. Your brother in Christ, A. C. GARRATT. SLAVERY IN THE CHURCH. The following are the resolutions recently passed by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, on the subject of Abolition: Whereas, great excitement has pervaded this country on the subject of abolitionism, which is reported to have been increased in this city recently, by the unjustifiable conduct of two members of the General Conference, in lecturing upon and in favour of that agitating topic: and, whereas, such a course on the part of any of its members, is calculated to bring upon this body the suspicions and distrust of the community, and misrepresent its sentiments in regard to the point at issue: and, whereas, in this aspect of the case, a due regard for its own character, as well as a just concern for the interests of the church confided to its care, demand a full, decided, and unequivocal expression of the views of the General Conference in the premises; Therefore, Resolved by the delegates of the annual conferences, in General Conference assembled, 1. That they disapprove, in the most unqualified sense, the conduct of two members of the General Conference, who are reported to have lectured in this city recently upon and in favour of modern abolition. 2. That they are decidedly opposed to modern abolitionism, and wholly disclaim any right, wish, or intention, to interfere in the civil and political relation between master and slave, as it exists in the slaveholding states of this Union. 3. That the foregoing preamble and resolutions be published in our periodicals. THOMAS L. DOUGLAS, Secretary. Cincinnati, O., May 14, 1836. The first of the above resolutions passed by a vote of 122 to 11. The second resolution was divided into two parts; the vote on the first part expressing decided opposition to modern abolitionism, stood, ayes 120, nays 14; and on the second part it was unanimous. The resolutions, it will be seen, are to be printed in all the papers of the denomination, and at the same time, this same body refuse to print the Address of the British Methodists to the Methodists of this country, because it speaks out on the subject of slavery. Thus has the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church apostatized from Methodism as it was, and unblushingly declared itself the friend and patron of slavery. How has the gold become dim! Well does the editor of Zion's Watchman, a Methodist paper, remark: RESOLUTIONS OF ASSOCIATED BODIES ON THE SUBJECT OF AMERICAN SLAVERY. Our indefatigable friend and brother, Mr. George Thompson, is labouring with his usual diligence and success in the North of England. The American mobocracy erred egregiously in driving him from the States, as their more intelligent and reflecting leaders are by this time fully aware. His presence amongst us is kindling into a flame the sparks which might otherwise have expired, and will return to the shores from which he was driven, an extent of moral influence, which his labours there could never have commanded. He has recently lectured to immense auditories at Newcastle, North and South Shields, Leeds, Manchester, Durham, Leicester, Birmingham, and several other places, and is still proceeding unwearied in his arduous course. We are glad to find that Mr. Thompson avails himself of every opportunity to address missionary meetings. He is quite right in this. Right in principle and in policy, and we advise him to persevere. The church of Christ is the hope of the slave, and the day of his redemption is accelerated in the exact degree that the, disciples of Christ are made to feel that they are responsible for the welfare of their degraded and injured brother. Some of the following resolutions were passed after Mr. Thompson's lecture. At a public meeting of the Baptist Missionary Society, held on Monday evening, September 19, 1836, at the New Hall, Leicester, John Ryley, Esq., in the chair, the following resolution was unanimously passed: That this meeting has observed with gratitude to God the co-operation of their American brethren in the great work of evangelizing the world; but is grieved at the appalling picture of domestic bondage which is sustained in the United States; and believing slavery to be an insult to our common nature, a violation of the laws of reason, and an awful sin in the sight of God, repudiates the thought of any one, who calls himself a follower of Christ, rendering his support to this flagrant evil, whilst affecting zeal for the salvation of the world; considering all such, inasmuch as they live in sin, unfit to be members of the church of Christ. At a public meeting, convened by the North Shields Anti-Slavery Society, and held in the Wesleyan chapel, Howard-street, North Shields, on October the 21st, 1836; Robert Spence, Esq., of the Society of Friends, in the chair, the following resolutions were passed: 1. That this meeting, considering personal liberty as the inalienable birthright of every human being; and knowing that "God hath made of one blood all nations of men, to dwell on all the face of the earth," regards man's holding property in man as an invasion of man's natural rights, and a direct violation of the fundamental principles of justice and morality. 2. That as men, without distinction of nation, caste, or colour, are objects of God's redeeming love, and, when visited with his saving grace, become alike sons of God, members of his church, and brethren in Christ Jesus, entitled alike to all the privileges of Christians here, and alike heirs of the same glory hereafter; it is, therefore, highly dishonourable to God our Father, derogatory from God our Saviour, and offensive to God our Sanctifier, for professing Christians to hold their fellow-Christians in slavery, or to regard them with any hostile, unbrotherly, contemptuous, or repulsive prejudices, merely because of any inferiority in their civil condition, or of any physical difference in their colour and conformation. 3. That, as slavery and most unbrotherly prejudices respecting colour, with their innumerable and atrocious attendant sins and evils, exist to a great extent in the United States of North America, and are cherished and upheld, and endeavours made to vindicate and perpetuate them in that country, by multitudes not only professing unbounded love to civil liberty, but even professing to be Christians, this meeting, considering that the church of God, in all regions of the universe, is but one body--and that if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it-deeply sympathize with their fellow-men and brotherChristians, whether held in slavery or regarded with unbrotherly prejudices because of their complexion, by the citizens of the United States of North America; and, rejoicing in the progress which the cause of immediate slave-emancipation has, in that country, already made, feel loudly called upon to use, in humble dependance on the Divine blessing, every Scriptural means to hasten, not only in the North American United States, but also throughout all the world, the complete abolition of slavery; which would soon be followed, every where, by the utter and everlasting extinction of all those unchristian prejudices respecting colour, with their innumerable sins and attendant evils, to the whites as well as to the blacks, to the free much more than to the bond, which are its natural and necessary consequences. 4. That the thanks of this meeting are due, and are hereby given, to Mr. George Thompson, for his unwearied Christian and indomitable exertions, both in the United States of North America and in Great Britain, in furtherance of immediate slave emancipation. A public meeting was held at South Shields, on the evening of October 25th, in the Wesleyan chapel, when the following resolutions were passed: 1. That, "God having made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth; and having determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord," this meeting deeply deplores to learn that our Christian brethren in the United States of America are violating this great principle, by holding in bondage and ignorance upwards of two millions of our fellow-creatures, and denying them those rights and privileges which the Almighty declares are the inalienable rights of all. 2. That this meeting rejoice in the rapidity with which anti-slavery associations are increasing, as well as in the more open and extended avowal of the duty which prompts to immediate and unconditional emancipation; and while they would cordially assist and encourage the abolitionists of the United States, they would faithfully and affectionately expostulate with their Transatlantic brethren, who are in any way implicated in upholding this unjust, unscriptural, and demoralizing system. 3. That this meeting tender its thanks to Mr. G. Thompson, for his eloquent and impressive address on the present occasion; and for his unwearied and zealous advocacy in behalf of the slave. THE SLAVE. The dews of midnight gather'd on his brow, Slavery in America. No. VIII. FEBRUARY, 1837. EAST INDIA SLAVERY. No. III. THE opening of another Session of the Imperial Parliament is a proper opportunity for laying before our readers the proceedings of the legislative and executive authorities of the United Kingdom, on the subject of Slavery in India, at the time they inquired into the state of India, and again chartered away the government of Hindostan to a company of the merchants of England, who had originally been incorporated into a Joint Stock Association merely for the purpose of trading to the East Indies, but who embarked in the African slave trade, and who now stand forth as the Government of India. . In order duly to appreciate the flagrancy of the crime which Britain has committed in rivetting the fetters of the slave she called forth for emrancipation, it is necessary to pay particular attention to the dates of the various proposals, speeches, and acts of the ministers of the crown, of the members of the two houses of parliament, and of the proprietors of India stock; then it will appear clearly, that, in accordance with the well known feelings of the entire population of Britain-men, women, and children-the ministers of the crown proposed that all sorts of slavery should absolutely cease throughout British India on the twelfth day of April, 1837 so that, "where Britain's power is felt, mankind should feel her mercy too!" That was noble; and it bespoke a country proud and jealous of the blessing of personal liberty. The House of Commons seemed to meet the wish of the country, and the proposal of the crown ; but the East India Company raised the war cry; of all people in the world, they stood forth as the champions of India, the country on whose Z vitals they prey. Heretofore they always had suppressed any mention of the existence of slavery in India, but, finding it impossible to hide the crime any longer, especially as it was proposed to institute a Slavery Commission, all at once they changed their system of tactics, and they exclaimed that slavery is so universal, that any attempt to abolish it would produce revolt from one end of India to another. Whenever the people of Britain have been compelled to interpose themselves between the East India Company and their victims, the Company has sheltered itself from the effects of popular indignation under some unintelligible jargon about the invincible prejudices of the Hindoos in favour of burning their widows, paying taxes to Juggernaut, &c.; so, in the case of slavery, they complicated the simple case of stealing a man and selling him, with all sorts of insinuations about the rights of heads of families, caste, adoption, concubinage, and marriage! What connexion can there possibly be between a Palla serf, who is esteemed so impure that he may not approach his master, and adoption, concubinage, marriage, or any other family or even domestic arrangement? Mr. St. George Tucker is the director who first stood forth as the champion of slavery in India; he himself was clerk to Sir William Jones, whose denunciation of slavery in Calcutta we quoted in our last article on this subject, at page 152. Since he was a clerk in the Supreme Court at Calcutta, he has had to appear there in another character. We shrink from blotting our pages with defamatory matter; but if a man will dare to step forth in the metropolis of the empire, and hold back the sceptre of mercy when extended to abolish the great national crime of slavery, we feel compelled to say who and what he is. Mr. St. John Tucker is a man whose word ought not to set aside the will of the nation. Mr. Jenkins, the director, has been a clever man in his way- -President at the Court of Nagpore; but we have heard that his best days are gone 'by; however, at the best, the nursling of a heathen despot's court is not the man from whom the people of Britain will learn the rights of man. Every reader of these pages is already convinced of the gross mistake into which Mr. Jenkins falls, when he says, "There is nothing in the situation of slavery in India which approaches at all to that of the same class in the West Indies." True! there is, indeed, a difference in the geographical position of the slaves of either Indies; one is in east longitude and the other in west longitude, but both are stolen, sold, and brutalized; both cry out with a very bitter cry for mercy and for justice; the cry of both reaches up unto the ear of the God of nations, and he has sworn to avenge their cause; even in our day we have seen him break up the established empires of oppressors, and surely our ephemeral empire in India cannot stand against him. Mr. Fergusson, the director, has no personal knowledge of India beyond the limits of the city of Calcutta. The majority of the House of Lords, perhaps, considered it of more |