Page:The religious instruction of the colored population.djvu/18

 population in the city of Charleston, presented the followirg Report, which was adopted: "The Committee to whom was referred the matter in relation to the establishment of a Church for the colored population in the city of Charleston, beg leave to report: That, in their opinion, public sentiment has undergone a very great change in the Slate of South-Carolina, in reference to the religious instruction of our colored population. Providence has opened a wide and effectual door to missionary effort arming them, which it is the duty of the Church to enter, and, though some difficulties still exist, these, it is hoped, will gradually he removed by Christian zeal, patience, prudence and perseverance. This department of labor belongs exclusively to the Southern Church. Our brethren in other lands and other portions of our own country are exposed, and, for the most part, justly exposed, to so much suspicion and distrust that they cann<<t have free access to the slaves of the South. Unacquainted with the nature of our institutions—strangers to the prejudices, habits and peculiarities of the negro—incapable of appreciating his peculiar sympathies and associations—ministers from abroad, even if they were permitted to enter the field, could not be expected to cultivate it with the same succiss which is likely to reward the labors of our own men. The Committee, therefore, believe that God has imposed upon the churches and Christian people of the South, in a pre-eminent degree, the duty of spreading the Gospel among the colored population, whither slave or free. This class of the community is committed to us; and leanness and barrenness must be—will be—entailed as a curse upon our Churches, if they suffer the multitudes of these poor, whom God has settled among them, to perish for the bread of life. From the very nature of their position they are dependant upon us They cannot form Churches among themselves, call pastors, and support the Gospel. Without property, wiihout concert, without the means of co-operation and united effort, they must be supplied with God's word, as they are supplied with their daily bread, by the hands of their masters. They seem to be a sacred trust, which is to prove the faith, the charity, the self-denial and spiritual zeal of the Southern Church: and the most effectual answer which can be given to the calumnies of Abolitionists and misguided Philanthropists will be persevering diligence in training this people for glory, honor and immortality. The tendency of the gospel is to soften all that is harsh in the relations of master and slave, to prevent the one from being a tyrant and the other a rebel; it will sweeten their intercourse—authority will cease to be severe and obedience cease to be a task. Your Committee are delighted to learn that the attention of Brother Adger, of Charleston, has been turned to this subject, and that he seems to be disposed to embark in an enterprize to give more efficient, religious instruction to this class of the community. So numerous are the blacks in this city, that whatever efforts are made must, to be successful, contemplate congregations separate and distinct from those of the whites. The colored people need teachers exclusively devoted to themselves—men who know their character, habits and associations and, at the same time, of large and liberal views—who can adapt the instructions of the pulpit to the intellectual condition of this benighted race The tendency of the colored people to mistake fervor for piety, passion for devotion, and zeal for faith, is so strong that too much care can hardly be exercised by the Church in selecting ministers to labor among them. Your Committee rejoice to believe that this Brother is, in many respects, admirably fitted to enter, upon this sphere of labor, He is a native of the State, eipoued