eferred the subject of the Religious Instruction of the ColorSouth Carolina and Georgia, at its late Session in Columbia, Synod. , require no arguments to prove to them, that the Gospel Christ, is designed for the whole human family; nor that it possession, in the sovereign mercy of God, it has come, to ay be destitute of it. o ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every r Lord. In the great act of Atonement, He preferred nother. Says He, "My flesh-I give for the life of the re to live for the salvation of the world, so far as we have t preferring in our regards one nation or people above refore, of benevolent effort is, that we impart the Gospel, in the first place, to such of our fellow creatures as are -to such as are most needy and accessible. و eld of our labors, we see that we have not acted according As to Ministers d irations; to say no discountenanced. either be obtained But do not the n Thites? We answe Bers; such being th ith still greater en es, when they acce Carge. They certa watch, as well for casters, and to mast If we take the su ors in behalf of th How many sermo during the week we instituted for thei de Ministers devote on of the negroes, ature the assertion Nates, but a very sm at in ordinary case By faithfully discha wuch for the negr t of territory, and four-fold greater. engage all their po Let the negroes no em out-let them and such is the eleva dey take for granted negroes do not saring, their profou Countenance with in laboring men, whe Nothing but sound a ng men to the Ch ll. But Divine tru the whites, and if this, we should lite We need no better evi who enjoy such a disp Professors, are low in ind Christianity in ab efits! The two clas and should have a dis ad to the two classes, Separated into disting that, while they are a discipline; they shoul negroes have ther is there sufficien We know of but fiv These are all in the S ist Associations, exc byterian Clergym all we continue as we are, and as we have been? The says, no. Let light be shed upon the moral and religious ion; let the conviction of our immediate duty to extend to 1, pervade the Church; and a system of operations be maat purpose. e observation, we believe that their moral and religious justly be considered the Heathen of this Christian counith Heathen in any country in the world. all be, to set forth the duty of that portion of the Church evangelize these Heathen. And what is our duty, is the st, in the slave-holding States, in all her denominations.xtend our view, and embrace the colored population and the slave-holding States. the duty, it will be proper to show, that the negroes are ospel, and ever will be, under the present state of things. joy the means of grace; that there are a large number of em; and that in a few Churches, and on a few plantations, d to their religious instructions. We rejoice in all this. things, and although our assertion is broad, we believe to be correct. the privileges of the Gospel, when they have free access pel Ministry-houses for public worship, and the means of -Free access to the Scriptures,—it is universally the fact ates; that either custom or law prohibits to them the_acently, they can have no access to the Scriptures. The small; and the Bible, so far as they can read it for thembook: so that they are dependent for their knowledge of on—as much so as the unlettered Heathen, when first The The four hu If our laws, in their operation, seal up the Scriptures to the negroes, we should not allow them to suner in the least degree, so far as any effort on our part may be necessary, for the want of a knowledge of their contents. Have they then that amount of oral instruction, which, in their circumstances, is necessary to their enjoyment of the Gospel? In other words, have they a regular and efficient Ministry? They have not. In the vast field extending from an entire State beyond the Potomac to the Sabine River; and from the Atlantic to the Ohio, there are, to the best of our knowledge, not twelve men exclusively devoted to the religious instruction of the negroes! What effect will the labors of these few individuals, produce on a mass of one or two millions of souls, and more? The number divided between them would give to each a charge of near 170,000! As to Ministers of their own color, they are destitute both in point of numbers and qualifications; to say nothing of the fact, that such a ministry is looked upon with distrust, and is discountenanced. In the present state of feeling in the South, such a ministry could neither be obtained nor tolerated. But do not the negroes have access to the Gospel, through the stated ministry of the whites? We answer, no. The white population itself is but partially supplied with Ministers; such being the fact, what becomes of the colored? And the question may be asked with still greater emphasis, when we know that it has not been customary for our Ministers, when they accept calis forsettlement, to consider servants as a regular part of their charge. They certainly are as much so as are children; and Ministers are in duty bound to watch, as well for the souls of the one, as the other. But they are called to preach to masters, and to masters do they preach. If we take the supply of Ministers to the whites now in the field, the amount of their labors in behalf of the negroes is small. How many sermons and lectures are prepared and preached to them on the Sabbath, and during the week? How many Bible classes, Sabbath schools, and inquiry meetings, are instituted for their special benefit? To a limited extent, in some parts of the vast field the Ministers devote the afternoon or evening of the Sabbath day, to the religious instruction of the negroes, and they succeed in establishing a Sabbath school or two. But we venture the assertion; that if we take the whole number of Ministers in the slave-holding States, but a very small portion pay any attention to them. But justice obliges us to say that in ordinary cases, much cannot be expected from Ministers to the whites; for when they faithfully discharge their duties to their own congregations, they find it impossible to do much for the negroes: especially when their congregations are spread over a large extent of territory, and the number of colored persons in proportion to white, is two, three, or four-fold greater. They confine themselves to one field, and it proves sufficiently large to engage all their powers. Let the negroes now come--and come of them who may, for no effort is made to draw them out-let them now come to hear the preaching of Ministers to white congregations, and such is the elevation of their language and thought-such the amount of knowledge they take for granted in their audiences, they might as well preach in Hebrew or Greek. The negroes do not understand them. And hence, their stupid looks, their indierent staring, their profound sleeps, and their thin attendance. What is there to light up the countenance with intelligence-to rivet the attention-to banish drowsiness, so common to laboring men, when sitting still-what is there to attract them to the House of God?— Nothing but sound and show. Solid instruction, pungent appeals to conscience, will bring men to the Church of God, and retain them in attendance there: and nothing else will. But Divine truth is not thus adapted to the negroes, by Ministers in their sermons to the whites, and if the negroes are to be put off with such a dispensation of the Gospel as this, we should literally consign them to ignorance and superstition and vice forever.-We need no better evidence to confirm us in this opinion, than the condition of those negroes who enjoy such a dispensation of the Gospel, and such only. The whole, professors and nonprofessors, are low in the scale of intelligence and morality; and we are astonished thus to find Christianity in absolute conjunction with Heathenism, and yet conferring few or no benefits! The two classes are distinct in their education, station, association, duties, trials, and should have á distinct Ministry. The Gospel, as things now are, can never be preached to the two classes, successfully in conjunction. We mean not, that servants should be separated into distinct and independent Churches; this, in our view, is not desirable, but that, while they are admitted members of white Churches, and taken under their care and discipline; they should be instructed and preached to for the most part separately. The negroes have no regular and efficient Ministry; as a matter of course, no Churches: neither is there sufficient room in white Churches for their accommodation. We know of but five Churches in the slave-holding States, built expressly for their use. These are all in the State of Georgia-all under colored Pastors, in connexion with Baptist Associations, excepting one, which has been erected within the past year, by a Presbyterian Clergyman, a member of this Synod, at his own expense-an expense of three or four hundred dollars; and he supplies the pulpit himself gratuitously-an example which we should follow to the extent of our ability. The galleries or back seats on the lower floor, of the white Churches, are generally ap propriated to the negroes, when it can be done with convenience to the whites. Where it cannot be done conveniently, the negroes who attend, must catch the Gospel as it escapes by the doors and windows. We can furnish no accurate estimate of the proportion of negroes that attend Divine worship on the Sabbath, taking the slave-holding States together. From an extensive observation, however, we venture to say, that not a twentieth part attend. Thousands and thousands hear not the sound of the Gospel, nor enter a Church from one year to another. So much for the public administration of the Gospel to the negroes. We may now inquire if they enjoy its privileges in private, in their own houses, and on their own plantations? Again we return a negative answer. They have no Bibles to read at their own fire-sides, they have no family aitars, and when in affliction, sickness or death, they have no Minister to address to them the consolations of the Gospel, nor to bury them with solemn and appropriate services. Sometimes a kind master will perform these offices; but, for the most part, they depend upon their own color, who perform them as well as they know how, if they happen to be at hand. If the master is pious, the house-servants alone attend family worship, and frequently few or none of these. Here and there a master feels interested for the salvation of his servants, and is attempting something towards it in assembling them at evening, for reading the Scriptures and prayer; in admitting and inviting qualified persons to preach to them, in establishing a daily or weekly school for the children, and in conducting the labor and discipline of the plantation on Gospel principles. We rejoice that there are such, and that the number is increasing. In general we inay however remark, that it does not enter into the arrangements of plantations, to make provision for their religious instruction; and so far as masters are engaged in this work, an almost unbroken silence reigns over the vast field. From what we have now said, we feel warranted in the conclusion, that the negroes are destitute of the privileges of the Gospel, and must continue to be so, if nothing more is done for thein. Such being the fact, our duty is obvious. It is, to extend the privileges of the Gospel to the negroes, immediately, in a judicious and efficient manner. And we conceive that God imposes this duty upon us, both in His Providence, and in His Word. He imposes it in His Providence. It matters not to us of the present generation, so far as the duty under consideration is concerned, by whose consent and agency the negroes were introduced into the United States, nor whether they were introduced in a just or unjust manner. They are here; and here too as immortal and accountable beings. In the Providence of God, we are not accountable for the manner in which they came here. They came here before we were born. Nor are we accountable for our birth in the slave States-for our being born masters.— We are not responsible for the creation of this relation; but we certainly are for the continuance of it, and the manner in which we discharge its duties. We are, therefore, the natural guardians of our servants, and guardians too of almost unlimited authority. According to law, they are property; their persons and services are at our disposal and for every privilege, civil, social and religious, they are absolutely dependent, nor can any person step in between us and them, or touch them in any partic ular whatever, without our permission. This guardianship, from its unlimited authority, is consequently one of no ordinary responsibility, and if we would secure the approbation of Almighty God, it should be exercised according to the principles of eternal truth and justice by which we shall be prompted to seek their best temporal and eternal interests, and also those of their posterity. In as much, then, as the souls of this people are of more value than their bodies, their eternal than their temporal interests, who will deny that our first duty is to extend to them the privileges of the Gospel of Salvation? Whatever be the condition of their bodies, their souls should not be permitted to suffer. While men are contending and legislating on the subject of their civil condition and prospects, what becomes of their immortal souls? They perish by multitudes, and if we possess the spirit of our Master, we cannot look on with indifference. Our settled opinion is, that we should direct our efforts to the improvement of their moral and religious condition in the first place. Let the truth of God be brought to bear upon them and us, and light will be cast on their condition in every way. The laws secure to the negroes the rest of the Sabbath; they permit them to assemble for religious worship on that day; and all other days, under particular provision, and on our own plantations, we can instruct them at our pleasure. We may do what we will with our own, without interfering with any man's liberty or conscience. The negroes in Providence, are shut up in their hopes to us. They are as dependent upon us as our children, and even more so. If we deny them, they are destitute-they are friendless, and they perish; but their souls will be required at our hands! God imposes this duty upon us in His Word also. Generally, on the principles already advanced, that the Gospel is the gift of God to man, all who possess it, are bound to bestow it upon those who do not. For the sake of impression, we may introduce briefly a few passages-"Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." prive, to be oveyea inteligenuy, win que regard to persons and circu hatever change an intelligent and perfect obedience to this rule, would m ndition of servants, every man is at liberty to judge for himself. But one th tainly result from such obedience-servants would receive the Gospel at o ere we in the condition of the negro, and he in our own; able to read and Gospel, and to impart it to us, would we not think it his duty to do it? spel which is consolation to the poor and the afflicted, and life eternal to tho d in trespasses and sins; would we not deem him deficient both in humanity a e either neglected or would not do it?"Whoso hath this world's goods, an ther have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how d e of God in him?" With more tremendous emphasis let it be asked,-"W word of eternal life, and seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his passion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" Let this quest red to that God, who, without respect of persons, judgeth according to e k! ut the Word of God contains express commands to us as masters. To pass by the Old Testament, we have in the New, "And ye masters, d gs unto them, forbearing threatening, knowing that your master also is i her is there respect to persons with him." And again, "Masters, give unt s that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a master in Hea hat kind of slavery was that existing in the days of Christ and his Apost ed for these commands to masters and also others to servants? Precisely which we have to do. We are, therefore, the identical persons addressed. as when we are fathers; and it is said, "Fathers, provoke not your children ere the Word of God takes fast hold of us, and we cannot extricate ourse puts his finger upon us as masters. He holds up our servants before our us, that in the performance of duty, He does not respect us, more than H . He bids us to be particular and conscientious in our treatment of them, f ster in heaven, to whom we shall give account. He bids us render to ther whom we are so prone to consider fit for no other purpose, designed fo than to be hewers of wood and drawers of water-that which is just and qual for body and soul, for time and eternity. w much masters come short in rendering to servants, what is just and present world, we cannot say. They have a Master in Heaven. But do t em that which is just and equal for the world to come! Is it just and equ to live in ignorance of the way of salvation, to die and be eternally lost? did despise the cause of my man-servant, or of my maid-servant, when d with me; what then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visi I answer him? Did not He that made me in the womb, make him? A shion us in the womb?" Our servants may justly have a controversy wit et of their higher and better interests; and if we despise their cause, in the iseth up and visiteth, we shall be speechless. Providence and the Word of God could not more plainly point out to us ting the Gospel of salvation to our coloured population; and if that duty re rged, we shall incur God's severe displeasure. s duty we must view in the light of a privilege. a privilege to repay obligation: and our obligations to our servants are g are disposed to allow. It is through them that we obtain the houses wel we wear, the food we eat, and the education we receive. They weal o furnish us with the necessaries and luxuries of life. Shall we not, ntribute far more than we do to their temporal comforts, esteem it a p t to them the richest gift of God to man, the Gospel of our Lord and Sav ? Will not this be the kindest return that we can make them? And w ercy makes us the honored instruments of their salvation, shall we not th ty an inestimable privilege? We shall so esteem it in the day that the "make up his jewels.' siy e of this work, p. 399. These brethren, after hing at most of the native towns between that hus exploring about 300 miles of the coast, and of the goodness of the Lord, both on their voyd in New York, on their return to this country, timore, November 28th, 1833, and arrived at 1834. - Cape Palmas as a Site for a Missionary Station. until the 9th of March, we were employed in acquiring -untry along the coast, from Grand Cape Mount, on the o Cape Palmas, embracing a distance of something like in taking measures for the commencement of a mission. d within the bounds just mentioned, were Cape Mount, ssa, Grand Sesters, Rock Town and Cape Palmas. Bey to see and converse with the kings and head-men of all considerable importance along the coast. The place we e, in our judgment, for the commencement of missionary 1 the only step taken is for the erection of a mission-house ons which induced us to select this place, will be briefly that it would prove more healthful, than any other place , as will be inferred from a subsequent part of this report, this, however, we may be disappointed, as there had not, fair experiment made. But as far as our observation exs, is certainly free, in a great measure, from the ordinary It is high, open, cultivated, without marshes and those onrovia and Sierra Leone, are regarded as the fertile sour the coast are much more intelligent and numerous than and are universally desirous of schools. The situation of nt, and will afford an easy access to both the leeward and Es the most favorable point for extending missionary ope ing a population We will now notice We could not ascer are at present any d mation derived fr Te that, in several o to the graves of t, come down fro ce of the deceased. king with us, ackn umed by the dead ended conference wit They uniformly asc e author of all provid gree pole, with a ra to conciliate his fav Cation of rum into th They wear around the the kind, which has gainst all species of d They have consecra as ceremony, the Secret. The trees e place where it is p Along the leeward formed that the native and other fishes, and this in our researches The gregree worshi of the people Many Europeans, have thro Tearing them. Some In almost all cases the We are disposed to th will be among the sma uitable for the head-quarters of extensive missionary ope an American settlement, not previously occupied by misof the Maryland Colonization Society has purchased a tering about twenty square miles: and a settlement is comces. A fort will be built, and a small settlement formed f a very large and populous native town. The site chosen alf a mile distant, on an elevated ground, and fronting the es of land have been tendered by the Agent of the Colony ; which, together with the elevation of the ground, its apance from both the colony and the native settlements, renlace as could be desired. is doubts as to the expediency of taking any measures for house in the neighborhood of the colony; first, from appret embarrass our future efforts for the improvement of the ce, we had fears, lest, in case of any contest between the atter might be tempted to destroy it, situated as it would colony. Any apprehension, however, that might be enter ary establishment from the natives, would be greatly reat they manifested a strong desire for the education of their GOOS the truth concerning t are peculiarly ready to II. The N |