States. At the same time they cannot but remind their American brethren, that during many preceding years, and some of them years of great discouragement, British Christians deemed it their sacred duty, to lift up among their countrymen the voice of remonstrance and of expostulation, and to press upon the legislature of their land the claims of the oppressed and the enslaved : nor do they hesitate to ascribe, in a considerable degree, to the blessing of God on these persevering and prayerful endeavours, the attainment of the long-desired emancipation.

3. That in the deliberate and decided opinion of the churches and ministers connected with this union, no considerations of commercial advantage or political expediency can justify the detention in a state of slavery of any human beings, since God has made them of one blood; has endowed them with the capabilities of reason and reflection; and has designed for them, without exception of color or country, all the blessings of the common salvation: that it is, therefore, most awfully culpable to withhold from any of them the rights of personal freedom, the advantages of Christian instruction, or a full equality of participation in the privileges and ordinances of the church of Christ; and that to withhold any of these sacred and inalienable rights, on the ground of color and of descent, is to act in direct opposition to the spirit and requirements of Christianity, and to yield to the influence of a prejudice, at once unworthy of an enlightened nation, and altogether inconsistent with the avowed principles of a people distinguished among the nations of the earth, as the assertors and advocates of national freedom and independence.

4. That, being commanded by the authority of their Lord and Master, "not to suffer sin upon their brethren,' they feel impelled, alike by a sense of duty and by the consciousness of brotherly love, most earnestly and affectionately to beseech their dear brethren of the transatlantic churches, to unite together, by their most strenuous, persevering, and judicious efforts, accompanied by their fervent prayers, with a view to liberate their churches and their nation from the fearful responsibility and reproach of being, in any degree, implicated in the guilt of the slave-holding and slave-dealing part of the American population; and thus to do what in them lies to achieve the entire abolition of slavery; to avert the displeasure of "the blessed and only Potentate," the righteous Ruler and Judge of nations, from whom alone cometh true and lasting prosperity; and to bring down more abundantly upon their country, as well as upon themselves, those showers of blessing which

have already descended upon so many of their favoured churches. JOHN BLACKBURN, W. STERN PALMER,

JOSEPH WONTNER, Secretaries.

At a Meeting of the Handsworth AntiSlavery Society, held on Wednesday evening, August 3, 1836, in Union Chapel, Handsworth, the Rev. John Hammond in the chair, the following resolutions, after due consideration, were unanimously adopted:

1. That the members of this Society now met, record their unalterable abhorrence of slavery of every kind and every degree, their sympathy with the multitude of their fellow-subjects in the Mauritius and West India Colonies, consigned to aggravated slavery under the delusive name of apprenticeship, after they had been redeemed from thraldom by a generous people for twenty millions sterling; and their grief that any British statesman should enact such an absurd law as that of the slave apprenticeship, which renders suspicious every other specious proposal of government.

2. That while this meeting testify their grief for the fallen state of those American churches, which, polluted with the monstrous sin of slave-holding, have given cause to fear that their religion has been very different from the laws of the gospel, they congratulate those churches which are free from that iniquity, and those nobleminded individuals who, amidst obloquy and danger, have advocated the cause of the doubly injured and oppressed people of color, and have formed so many active associations for the immediate reparation of

their wrongs. They particularly admire the conduct of George Thompson, and congratulate him, who, at a great pecuniary sacrifice and much personal danger, devoted himself to the service of religion and humanity, and who in the hour of peril never flinched from the duties he owed to Christianity and his country : they also congratulate the several Baptist Associations which have boldly borne testimony against the criminal conduct of thecruelties of their denomination in America, and refused to hold communion with them, until their repentance became as evident as their sin has been.

3. That this meeting express their earnest desire that the London Missionary Society, and the Congregational Union for England and Wales, will take care not to admit any delegate from any of the American churches in future, but such as are known to be true and honest abolitionists. This meeting also express their hopes that the

Rev. Thomas Price will obtain extensive
circulation for his monthly publication on
Slavery in America, and Slavery and the
Slave Trade throughout the world.
JOHN HAMMOND,

Chairman.

At a very numerous and highly respectable meeting, held in Dr. Heugh's Chapel, Glasgow, August 1, 1836, Robert Grahame, Esq., of Whitehill, in the chair, the following resolutions were passed:

1. That in the deliberate judgment of his meeting, the wish announced by Mr. George Thompson to meet publicly any antagonist, especially any minister of the gospel from the United States, on the subject of American Slavery, or on any one of the branches of that subject, was dictated by a well-founded consciousness of the integrity of his purpose, and assurance of the correctness of his facts; and that the recent discussion in this city between him and the Rev. R. J. Breckinridge, of Baltimore, has left, not merely unshaken, but confirmed and augmented, their confidence in the rectitude of his principles, the purity of his motives, the propriety of his measures, the fidelity of his statements, and the straightforward honesty and undaunted intrepidity of his zeal.

2. That the Glasgow Emancipation Society considers itself called upon to repeat its unmitigated reprobation of Slavery, as existing in the United States of America, and of that prejudice against color, which is at once a result and support of the slavesystem, a system which glaringly violates a great principle in the American constitution, declaring liberty to be the inalienable right of all men; which opposes the spirit and letter of the religion of holy benevolence so extensively professed by the American people; which is productive of an incalculable amount of crime and misery, both among the two millions of slaves and those by whom they were held in bondage, and which must constantly offend Almighty God, and expose that land to the visitations of his displeasure: that it also repeats the expression of its cordial joy in the rapidity with which the cause of immediate abolition has spread and is now spreading in America; in the peaceful, intrepid, and religious spirit which, amidst good and bad report, the American abolitionists have been enabled to display; and in the near prospect of bloodless triumph with which Divine Providence already animates their efforts; and finally, that it resolves anew, along with its many British allies, to remonstrate with the American people in the spirit of fidelity and love, on the claims of the negro

population; to cheer the abolitionists of America onward in their path of benevolence, until slavery shall disappear from the American continent, and America and Britain, already united by many powerful ties, shall consistently and indissolubly unite, for the abolition of slavery from the face of the earth, and the promotion of the happiness of the whole human family.

3. That it is of great importance for the friends of freedom in different countries to co-operate in hastening the extinction of slavery throughout the world, and that in this conviction the meeting feel much satisfaction in the interchange of friendly acknowledgments that has just passed between the emancipationists of this city and of Paris.

ROBERT GRAHAME,

Chairman.

Resolutions adopted at the Annual Association of the Evangelical General Baptists, held at Bourne, on June 30, 1836, and the three following days, and representing 115 churches, containing 13,000 members.

That we have long beheld with pleasure the apparent prosperity of the Baptist denomination in America; have heard with delight the accounts of their religious revivals; and felt a lively interest in their efforts to diffuse the gospel in longbenighted Burmah.

That the recent disclosures which have been made respecting the extent to which American Baptists are implicated in the horrid sin of maintaining African slavery, have produced a most painful change in our views and feelings, and lead us to look with suspicion on their revivals and seeming prosperity; that we abhor, as most wicked and unjust, the conduct of those who are themselves slave-holders; and behold with unmingled disgust the temporizing and unchristian proceedings of those Americans who, though not themselves slave-holders, sanction the wickedness of their brethren, as was done by their disgraceful silence at the last Triennial Convention.

That, indulging these feelings, we learn with much satisfaction that the American General Baptists are as a body abolitionists, and feel our union with them closer on this account; that we admire the noble and truly Christian declaration and vigorous efforts of the American Anti-Slavery Society; that we express to these friends of humanity and religion our sympathy with them in the arduous struggle they have commenced; and would urge them to persevere in their Christian exertions, till America shall no longer bear the dreadful stigma of being professedly the land of liberty, but, through

the wickedness of professing Christians principally, in reality the land of slavery. That these resolutions be printed in the "Patriot," and be forwarded to the "Baptist Repository," and the "Baptist Ma

gazine;" and that they be transmitted, with a suitable letter, to the respective secretaries of the American Anti-Slavery Society, of the Freewill Baptist Conference, and of the Baptist Triennial Convention.

A preacher, on the Lord's-day morning, frequently stripped his female slave or slaves, tied them up to the rafters of his house, scourged them, left them there fastened, rode to the meeting-house, and after preaching, returned home and repeated the flogging, or released them, as his humour in the afternoon dictated. Although this was notorious to the whole surrounding country, I never heard him censured either by a preacher, or by any other person, but a few of the gospel fanatics, who could not discover any method to amalgamate torturing girls and preaching Christian love at the same time.

There was a church member of the same class. Mrs. H. used to boast that she was the best hand to whip "a wench" in all that country. She had a post in the yard to which she pinioned the girls, and after scourging them until she was tired, on the

Lord's-day morning, she then would sprinkle them with the usual mixture of salt, vinegar, &c., leave them fastened, exposed to the sun and flies, walk to the church, sit as demure as a popish nun, and after service repeat her flaying or not, according to her whim. I once expostulated with her upon the impropriety and wickedness of this course. "Mrs. H., how can you possibly whip your girls so publicly on the Lord'sday morning, and disturb your neighbours going to public worship?" Her answer was a memorable specimen of slave-driving and slave-torturing Christianity. "If I were to whip them on any other day of the week, I might lose their work for a day; but by whipping them on Sunday, their backs get well enough by Monday morning!" That woman, if alive, is no doubt a member still.

THE following account is a literal matter of fact. The names of persons and places are concealed by the editor, because she wishes to excite no angry feelings in attempting to show how many discouragements are thrown in the way of colored people who really desire to be respectable. The letters are copied from the originals, with merely a few alterations in the orthography of the last.

Mr. James E- was a respectable colored man, residing at Massachusetts, in a certain town not far from Boston. He had been early impressed with the importance of religious subjects, and at twenty-six years of age made a public profession of his faith. He had a large family; and when they were all old enough to attend church, it was found difficult to accommodate them on the seats their parents had usually occupied. Mr. E was desirous of purchasing a pew which stood as it were by itself, being surrounded by the aisle and the stair-case. Some difficulty occurred because a widow had a right to one third; but this was finally arranged to the satisfaction of all parties. Mr. E.'s eldest son paid the purchase money, and received a deed of the pew. As soon as this became known, a

member of the church called upon Mr. E. and exhorted him not to injure the sale of the pew by occupying it. Mr. E. answered that it had been bought for the accommodation of his family, and they had no wish to sell it. The church brother answered, "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.”

Private meetings were immediately held, which resulted in summoning Mr. E. to appear before the church, to give an account of his proceedings. Here he was accused of a wilful and flagrant outrage upon the church, and upon the society. In reply, he called their attention to the covenant by which each church member was bound to share the burdens of the church, and 'promised full enjoyment of all its privileges. He thought this gave any member a right to own a pew, provided he could honestly pay for one. As a citizen of a free country, the conceived that he had a right to purchase a pew; nor could he find anything in the whole tenor of the Bible opposed to it.

When requested to declare the price his son had paid for the pew, he declined answering. A committee was appointed, and the meeting adjourned.

This committee called on Mr. E. to

"labour with him," as they termed it. The Elder attempted to justify their proceedings by talking of a gradation in creation, from the highest seraph to the meanest insect. To support this doctrine, he quoted from the fifteenth chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians: "All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory."

"

The Elder said this difference of flesh was visible among people of different features and complexions. In answer to these remarks, Mr. E. reminded him that, in the verses he had quoted, the apostle expressly says, "There is one kind of flesh of men;" the difference alluded to was between the flesh of men and the flesh of beasts. He added that God had distinctly declared, "He made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth."

The committee easily perceived that the Elder's scriptural arguments were feeble. They said a good deal about the advantages of peace and harmony in the church, and earnestly desired that the pew might be given up. One gentleman declared that it was his opinion that Mr. E. had as good a right to own a pew as any other individual in the community, but if he would of his own free will relinquish the possession of it, for the sake of peace, it would be a very acceptable service. If all had spoken with equal mildness and candor, the affair would probably have been easily settled ; but bitter and contemptuous words are not the best means of persuading a man to relinquish his own rights, for the convenience pleasure of others.

or

The Elder declared that he had exerted his utmost influence to restore order and tranquillity. When asked if he had tried to induce the son to give up his claims to the pew he had purchased, he answered, "No; if I cannot persuade professors of religion to do right, I cannot expect to gain anything with world's people; and I will do nothing about it."

Another meeting was soon after held; Mr. E. and his son attended, and, for the first time, took their seats in the pew. The same arguments were made use of, concerning a gradation in creation from things superior to things most inferior; and these arguments were met by similar replies. The question was put to vote whether Mr. E. should be allowed to sit in the pew; and it was unanimously decided that the church were unwilling to allow him that privilege.

A larger committee was appointed, and the meeting adjourned.

On the next Sabbath, Mr. E. and his son took their seats in the pew. In the afternoon, the Elder took his text from the eleventh chapter of Ecclesiastes: "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” During his discourse, the speaker was very much excited.

The next Sunday the pew was found covered with tar, and a part of the seats torn down.

On the third Sunday, a cord was observed suspended from the gallery; on examination it was found that a jug of filthy water was tied to it, and so arranged as to empty itself upon whoever touched the line in entering the pew. The remainder of the seats and the walls were soon after torn down, and thrown into an adjoining pasture. A temporary seat answered the purposes of the family for a while; but in a short time this was demolished, and the platform itself torn up, leaving a hole about two feet square.

The son of Mr. E. related these facts to the Editor, and added very drily: "When the cold weather came on, this proved a serious inconvenience to thewhole congregation; but they bore it for some time with Christian fortitude." Another church meeting was called, and an attempt made to prove that Mr. E. had been guilty of dissimulation in his manner of obtaining the pew. It was stated that he had induced the widow to sell her share, by telling her he had already given her son-in-law security for the price, and that the deed was made out. In reply, Mr. E. urged that he had told the widow the bargain was all completed, and waited only for her consent; and when she asked if he had paid for it, he answered he had given his word for the money, which was as good security as his bond. He wished to prove this statement by witness, but the church declined to admit his evidence. A lawyer, who was present, said if any man passed his word before witnesses, it was good for one year; and therefore, he conceived that Mr. E. had made himself responsible for the payment of the pew, to all intents and purposes. The majority were, however, decidedly in favor of withdrawing the right hand of fellowship from their colored brother, on the ground that he had practised deceit in saying he had given security for the purchase. He was accordingly excommunicated. The Church denied any co-operation in the destruction of the pew. Mr. E. told them he knew nothing about that, but he thought they had in their proceedings manifested a similar spirit. Since