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Negroes^andjleligion. 
 
 THE EPISCOPALlSli^;;^^! THE SOOTH. 
 
 MEMORIAL 
 
 ' "' ""s^rr 7Xft ''™^^'''"'' ^^'-^-' ■^'"'-'^ '■« '"' 
 
 p4'Te:ve'?raSsTut^rXc^o7?h: ^"^ «-— -We 
 our beloved Church, and particuirrlv fr. « Profoundest interest to 
 
 The inscrutable decrees of PmJ'^/ "l^™""'™ Dioceses, 
 charge in thinjrs sniiit.T nf ™"1™<"' have committed to us the 
 manfmalia, noTs S" nillSnlfn Z^C^^'i' "' '"f »°'°«d biped 
 us. You know with what nious ii^nTJi ' T*"," '"''' domiciled among 
 has cherished and proTectel those ifli^r 'f^ n"™";' "''''"'y °"' Z'oS 
 striving ever to keep them from^oW^ T ^'"r '""''^ "^ "»e flock, 
 more abundant in good works 1^5^ -"^ ""/, *,° "•■^'^<' 'l^^™ dail^ 
 i?g, and not wholi/in vlin to make ^Zl^"!""^ ^'■^'""^ '^"''«"' '^«*«- 
 tian rule good and faithXl ser^nts ,n,t "' ""™'""^ *'' *""• *^''"^- 
 promote this our godly endeavor I'Tlf 5 °" "'''™' *'''* "^""'d 
 unbelieving world we have de^J;! ^ *^P l*""" "°sp"«ed from an 
 
 with them^ur sto elof p™ff„rknowTed '' ')>/ haPP'-^ess of sharing 
 to teach them to read PJff "f, ''"Ow'«age, and have made it a felon? 
 the race thaT s set before them'i^'R*' °f' be hindered in running 
 themselves with worldly goods 'dt„r • °'''"'^''''; "'*^™ '» ''"^^^'^ 
 <laily labor, and we haveTursehes borne Ih '™u '^.'^^"1"' "*' ">eir 
 compla ning. The task of mort fyinl the «»!,!? ,'''?'''*'° ^'*''»'" 
 subjection, which even the great an«X„ftfn """?, l'"°ging it into 
 to perform for himself, we Sve taken off , hi' ^K™'','"' ^''^ ^o^-Pelled 
 for them. That they mi-,ht llarn not tn .1? .k ^''u'^' ''°'* performed 
 this world, (which nn^^Pfh f ?-^ ^^' ""*"'' ''"arts on Ihino-s of 
 that their din ic ^t^^ZZV'^" ».»\^dow,)we have ordained 
 without their wives and chiMrcn be 7™?"; 1 T"^ *'"•'" ',''«?• "'«> »■• 
 basis of trade. And we l,»,Vi i . ' ? P* "^ ^^^'^ circulat on as the 
 tian love, to assitttTtl^rt^tt orfr:?''^' 'l 'j-VP-tof ChrTs! 
 commended in Holv WrJf o7o • ^^ ^^ created be ngs which is 
 for that '' it kno.Srma:tei.'"'"' """ *^^ *^^ ^^--^ P^^e of old! 
 
 of ^^X^^lSir:^^ ^^^^ th^^ the Christian graces 
 attainment), are "nowhere ^manifested on ^''i *^ ^'^«°g («« difficult of 
 generation, though by naturTsdffnpl^ ^'^''' '^^'^^^ ^^^^ bj this 
 indeed a blessed Ihoulhrthatthf;^^'^;!!^'''^^^^^^^^ ^^^^t is 
 day have been herdinf^ with their fZlt """f' ^^^ "^^S^t at this 
 
 degradation, '^ ^''^ t'lmilies around them, in contented 
 
 Roll down their golden sand.s "* 
 
 Wm. Gihuore Sims. 
 
tolical order shines on those who own them, and where they daily learn 
 that all help in adversity comes from God alone, and not from man 
 
 But to make the system of the Church more self-consistent and 
 harmonious, and to adapt her ministrations to these tender lambs of 
 her flock and to Southern Ciiurchmen, we hold certain changes in hei 
 lituro-Y and discipline to be indispensable. . i u ^ 
 
 Ouf attention to this subject has been specially awakened by the 
 introduction, during your present session at Philadelphia, of a Canon 
 absurdly mi called"" of Discipline," so ignorantly and mischievously 
 frimed (we would fain believe without actual malignity of purpose), 
 that, under its proposed provisions, a dozen or more mulatto (not to 
 say negro) communicants, if unfortunately eye-witnesses of the com- 
 mLion of a crime by a deacon or presbyter, might ^f tu^^^J ^ave been 
 admitted to testify to the fact, and thus to subvert the whole social 
 and political fabric of Virginia or South Carolina. Though this in- 
 sane^or unchristian novelty (which disturbed our P/^f ) -^«. PL^^^^^^^ 
 rejected by a unanimous Southern vote the mere f^^t that it wa put 
 forward is enough to suggest gloomy forebodings, aiid entitles lis to 
 demand of the Church, securities for the future, and such changes in 
 Ritual and Order as shall suit both to Southern institutions. Can it 
 be doubted that communicants not credible under oath require a special 
 
 ^'I't'f tl be observed that the whole Prayer-book is intended for ho- 
 moo-eneous congregations of responsible beings capable of forming 
 domestic ties, Snd%njoying personal rights. It is, therefore as a 
 whole, unfit for congregations, where the front pews oicuthe fiee sit- 
 tino-s-assemblages composed, in varying proportions, of two classes 
 of Christians, one of which bought the other yesterday and may sell 
 
 BlU wai'^ng this for the present, certain prominent details require 
 immediate change. . -^^ aj 
 
 For example: the promise and vow of the marriage f^vice, 1, 
 M., do take thee, N., to be my wedded husband and to have and to 
 hold * * m death do us part," is a mockery when uttered by one ot 
 this beloved but subordinated race. We cannot bear thus to put 
 unreal words into the mouths of those so dear to us. It shouxd be 
 amended to read: " till death, or my owner, his executors administra- 
 tors, or assignees, do us part." So, too, the demand: ^^J^^ Jh^u. 
 
 keep thee only unto him so long as ye both shal live ! ana 
 
 the answer, '' I will," should be improved by adding to the words 1 
 will" some form of protest and o reserving the legal rights of the owner, 
 present or future, of either party ; with which the voice of the Churcli 
 expressed in the present service seems to conflict. This apparent con- 
 flict is still more painfully conspicuous where the officiating clergyman 
 is required to say: "Those whom God hath joined together i<^ J^oman 
 mit asunder." Volumes of fanaticism and unbelief are latent in these 
 few words. Where the officiating clergyman himself owns either the 
 bride or bridegroom, this declaration might be construed (most un- 
 reasonably, but with some- plausibility,) as in some sense estopping 
 him from any future exercise of his rights as a Christian and a patri- 
 arch, even at considerable pecuniary loss. In every case he is thus 
 made the mouthpiece of a revolutionary doctrine that blasphemes the 
 rio-hts of property and distinctly implies the existence of that Anti- 
 
3 
 
 Christian fiction, a " Higher Law/^ Such profane utterances may suit 
 the atmosphere of other communities, rank with Fourierisms and 
 Freeloveisms, and every social corruption. But no Church that openly 
 proclaims them can flourish within 02(r borders. 
 
 Another remedy is submitted which may allow of our leaving this 
 service (sio touching and beautiful when used in its proper place) un- 
 changed for the present. Since the Church hath inherent power to 
 loose as well as to bind, your Ilouorablo Body may, in its wisdom, 
 create and establish a fourth subordinate order of the Ministry, speci- 
 ally to exercise the function of loosing, and to administer the Rite of 
 Divorce from time to time with due solemnity to colored couples who 
 have been married in the usual form. This f(mrth order might be 
 styled that of sub-Deacon, Acolyte, Exorcist, Hastiarius, or simply 
 Auctioneer. Any person experienced in the duties of that useful call- 
 ing, and "apt and meet for his smartness and godly conversation to 
 exercise that ministry duly for the edifying of the Church," should be 
 ordained by the Bishop for this particular office, to which other minor 
 duties might judiciously be added. For these, useful hints may law- 
 fully be borrowed from' the experience of another and ancient branch 
 of the Church ; and we refer to the " Discipline of the Order of Fla- 
 gellants," [Dlsciplina et llegula Ordinis Flagellantium, 4to, Rome, 
 1567,) as embodying practical suggestions of much value. A suitable 
 " Form of ordaining Auctioneers" should stand in the Prayer-book 
 immediately after that for ordaining Deacons. A tasteful symbolism 
 would dictate the presentation of a hammer to the candidate by the 
 Bishop, (as the New Testament is delivered to the newly ordained 
 Deacon,) with the solemn words, "Take thou authority to divorce 
 colored persons in the Church at public or private sale, for cash or on 
 credit, and also to knock them down if thou be thereto licensed by the 
 Bishop himself.*^ There should be also an appropriate and very brief 
 service introductory to such sales, concluding with a suitable exhorta- 
 tion to the parties. 
 
 The rite of C(*nfirmation, or laying on of hands, also needs regula- 
 ting. For tlie avoiding of scandal, persons of the African denomina- 
 tion must be sternly repelled from that ordinance. The peace of Jeru- 
 salem may be disturbed if Episcopal hands are still to be brought into 
 physical contact with the heads of these dear children of the Church, 
 except in the way of paternal chastisement. AVhatever benefit these 
 black but precious vessels may derive from Confirmation would be far 
 outweighed by the damage the Church would sustain if a chivalric and 
 impulsive public should visit one of her chief ministers with the in- 
 dignity of tar and feathers for demeaning himself to administer it. 
 
 The Litany, too, contains phrases that tend to mischief — the pray- 
 ers, for instance, to be delivered " from hardness of heart and contempt 
 of Thy Word and commandments,'^ and that " all Christian rulers and 
 magistrates may have grace to execute justice and maintain truth." 
 Properly understood, these are, of course, prayers that we may not fall 
 into the delusion of imagining ourselves bound to mitigate the severity 
 and brutality (falsely so called) of our eminently humane and evan- 
 gelical "Slave Code," and that the civil authority may be strengthened 
 to maintain and develop it to the end of time. But these supplications 
 have been known to stir up distressing doubts and misgivings in dis- 
 eased and over sensitive consciences. The prayer for "all who are 
 
desolate and oppressed" is so manifestly liable to perilous misconstruc- 
 tion that its use can no longer be tolerated. 
 
 The service for the burial of the dead needs comparatively little 
 change to adapt it to Southern institutions. But in the passage " For- 
 asmuch as it has pleased Almighty God, in his wise providence, to take 
 out of the world the soul of our deceased brother," &c., the last quoted 
 three words are unmeaning, offensive to our instincts, and in conflict 
 with the great fundamental ideas of our social system. " This deceased 
 biped," or " this defunct individual black man," or words to that effect, 
 should be substituted. In the solemn offices of religion, aught unreal 
 should be studiously avoided. 
 
 There are radical defects in the ** Prayer for a sick person," and the 
 " Office for the visitation of the sick." Both are inapplicable to the 
 case of sickness occurring among these colored objects of our love. 
 Both assume that the patient, and not the proprietor of the patient, is 
 the person chiefly interested in the patient's recovery. The Church's 
 intercession is for the former alone. She turns coldly away from the 
 sorrow and trial of the owner, without a single prayer that he be 
 spared the loss or enabled to bea'it with resignation — though it may 
 reduce him from the estate of a gentleman, by compelling him to labor 
 for his own subsistence ! Should this be so ? 
 
 Fearing to weary you by pointing out specifically all the additions 
 and changes which the Prayei»book requires, we pause here, only hint- 
 ing at a few further questions too important to be overlooked. 
 
 Should not provision be made (according to the ingenious sugges- 
 tions of a distinguished Northern churchman) in cases where a parish 
 church needs repair or enlargement, for raising the necessary funds by 
 the sale of a sufficient number of colored communicants ? 
 
 Should not the want (at present so deeply felt) of Collects against 
 Peace, for Dis-unity, and against the inroads of education and intelli- 
 gence be at once supplied ? 
 
 Can the present mode of collecting alms at the Offertory be so im- 
 proved as to enable charitable Christians, anxious to give abundant 
 alms of their substance, but temporarily deficient in the circulating 
 medium, to slip a colored person or persons into the alms-dish, without 
 unseemly noise and confusion ? 
 
 Should not a commination service, like that of the Anglican Church, 
 or a form of cursing or excommunication like the austere and beauti- 
 ful composition attributed to Ernulphus, be inserted into the Prayer- 
 book, for the warning and intimidation of black Christians who may 
 be tempted by Satan to think of unlawful emigration toward the un- 
 genial regions of the North ? 
 
 In view of the vast distinction between ourselves and the class in 
 question, from which we have abstracted all the attributes of humanity 
 which can be effected by human legislation, is it not meet and right 
 that a change be made in our present Communion Service ? The Roman 
 Church administers that sacrament to the laity in one kind only. 
 Would it not be consistent with the true spirit of our institutions to 
 administer the same to colored communicants in neither kind only ? 
 
 We submit these grave points for your deliberation, and ask for 
 such prompt action upon them as may preserve the peace of the 
 Church, and vindicate the rights of Southern gentlemen and Christians. 
 And your memorialists will ever pray, &c. _^ 
 
 Charleston, S. C. g4 " 
 

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 M»fch April 1989