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 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 VERSUS 
 
 TREASON .AND SLAVERY. 
 
 •' 
 
 ^^>^ RELieiOX REBUKING SEDITION 
 
 / 
 
 The disciples of Jesus, imitating their great Master, who in teaching 
 stern resistance to moral wrong, said: " I came not to send peace on earth, 
 but a sword." Matt. x. 34. 
 
 All churches loyal to lawful authoritj% and with one voice sustaining 
 the Administration in its strife with armed traitors. 
 
 Traitors to human freedom are also traitors to Christianity, as set forth 
 by the highest authority of the denomination to which they profess to 
 ))elong. -— "• 
 
 *'Mead, Mavh and Inwardly Digest,^ 
 
E^t 
 
 
 CHRISTIANITY VERSUS :^SL AVERY AND 
 TREASON^ 
 
 Testimony of the Protestant Episcopal Church on the State of 
 
 the Country. 
 
 The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Penn- 
 sylvania, held its Eightieth Annual Convention, in St. 
 Peter's Church, Pittsburgh, May 24th, 1864. It embraced 
 one hundred and ninety-six clergymen, and three hundred and 
 sixty-three Lay Deputies. Five hundred and fifty-nine in 
 all. 
 
 The following resolutions ofi"ored by the Rev. Dr. Goodwin, 
 President of the University of Pennsylvania, amended on 
 motion of the Rev. E. M. Van Deusen, Rector of St. Peter's 
 Church, Pittsburgh, were adopted with great unanimity. 
 
 Whereas, There exists in this country an organized and 
 armed rebellion, whose avowed purpose is the destruction of 
 our National Union, and the perpetuation of Negro Slavery, 
 and 
 
 Whe7'eas, This rebellioi has more and more assumed a 
 character of barbarous fanaticism and murderous ferocity on 
 the part of the enemies of the Nation. Therefore, in view of 
 the causes and character of the struggle. 
 
 Resolved, That we hereby declare our unfaltering allegiance 
 to the Government of the United States, and that we pledge 
 it our willing devotion and service, and " that as a body of 
 Christians, we will ever pray that in God's own time and way 
 this rebellion may be put down ; that oppression and slavery 
 in all its forms may be done away ; that freedom of body and 
 mind, political and religious, may everywhere prevail; that the 
 emancipated negroes, whom God in His providence is commit- 
 ting to our care may be the objects of our liberal and Christian 
 regard and instruction ; that war may soon cease throughout 
 all our borders, and that our now lacerated country may again 
 
Y be so united that from the Lakes on the North to the Gulf on 
 '^J the South, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, there shall be 
 •^■^ but one Union, one government, one flag, one Constitution, all 
 <^* converging to and culminating in, that higher glory which shall 
 make this nation Emmanuel's land, a mountain of holiness and 
 '^ a dwelling-place of righteousness." 
 
 ^^ It is believed these resolutions fairly express the sentiments 
 of nine-tenths of the Episcopal clergy and laity in these United 
 States. 
 
 The protest against the cruel heresy of Bishop Hopkins of 
 Vermont, sanctioning human slavery, we know was signed by 
 nearly every Episcopal clergyman in the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 in the United States of America, representing '•^nearly seven 
 thousand ministers, ..and nearly a million of members," and 
 covering the whole country, from Maine to California, held 
 its sessions i» the city of Philadelphia, in May, 1864. 
 
 With rapturous enthusiasm, the following resolutions, intro- 
 duced by an elaborate and eloquent report, were adopted by a 
 rising vote, two hundred and eight in the affirmative, and only 
 eight m the negative. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 Resolved, That in this hour of the nation's trial, we will re- 
 member the President of the United States, all other officers 
 of the Government, and our army and navy, in never-ceasing 
 prayer. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the -.duty of the Government to prose- 
 cute the war with all its resources of men and money till this 
 wicked rebellion shall be subdued, the integrity of the nation 
 renewed, and its legitimate authority shall be reestablished, 
 and that we pledge our hearty support and cooperation to se- 
 cure this result. 
 
 Resolved, That we regard our calamities as resulting from 
 our forgetfulness of God, and from slavery, so long our nation's 
 reproach, and that it becomes us to humble ourselves and for- 
 sake our sins as a people, and hereafter, in all our laws and 
 acts, to honor God. 
 
 Resolved, That we regard slavery as abhorrent to the prin- 
 
ciples of our holy religion, humanity and civilization, and that 
 we are decidedly in favor of such an amendment to the Consti- 
 tution, and such legislation on the part of the States, as shall 
 prohibit slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime, 
 throughout all the States and Territories of the country. 
 
 Resolved^ That while we deplore the evils of war that has 
 filled our land with mourning, we rejoice in the sublime mani- 
 festations of benevolence it has developed, as seen in the Sani- 
 tary and Christian Commissions, and in the associations formed 
 to aid the vast multitudes who have recently become freemen, 
 and that we pledge to their institutions our hearty cooperation 
 and support. 
 
 The Genera] Conference also voted an* address to President 
 Lincoln. In this address they say, among other things : 
 
 We regard this dreadful scourge now desolating our land, 
 and wasting the nation's life, as the result of a most unnatural, 
 utterly unjustifiable rebellion, involving the crime of treason 
 against the best of human governments, and sin against God. 
 It required our Government to submit p its own dismember- 
 ment and destruction, leaving it no alternative but to preserve 
 the national integrity by the use of the national ^'esources. If 
 the Government had failed to use its power to preserve the 
 unity of the nation, and maintain its authority, it would have 
 been justly exposed to the wrath of heaven, and to the reproach 
 and scorn of the civilized world. 
 
 Our earnest and constant prayer is, that this cruel and wicked 
 rebellion may be speedily suppressed ; and we pledge you our 
 hearty cooperation in all appropriate means to secure this 
 object. 
 
 The prayers of millions of Christians, with an earnestness 
 never manifested for rulers before, daily ascend to heaven, that 
 you may be endued with all needed wisdom and power, actu- 
 ated by the sentiments of the loftiest and purest patriotism, 
 our prayers shall be continually for the preservation of our 
 country undivided, for the triumph of our cause, and for a 
 permanent peace, gained by the sacrifice of no moral principles, 
 but founded on the word of God, and securing, in righteousness, 
 liberty and equal riglits to all. 
 
 Signed, in behalf of the General Conference of the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Church. 
 
 Philadelphia, May 14th, 1864. 
 
 This paper was borne to the President by a deputation con- 
 sisting of Bishop E. R. Ames, Rev. Joseph Cummings, D.D., 
 
Rev. George Peck, D.D., Rev. Charles Elliott, D.D., and R,ev. 
 Granville Moody. 
 
 PRESIDENT Lincoln's reply. 
 An autograph copy of the following reply of the President 
 was presented to the Conference : 
 
 Crentlemen : In response to your address, allow me to attest 
 the accuracy of its historical statemente, endorse the senti- 
 ments it expresses, and thank you, in tne nation's name, for 
 the sure promise it gives. 
 
 Nobly sustained as the Government has been by all the 
 churches, I would utter nothing which might in the least ap- 
 pear invidious against any. Yet, without this, it may fairly 
 be said that the Methodist Episcopal Church, not less devoted 
 than the best, is, by its greater numbers, the most important 
 of all. It is no fault in others that the Methodist Church 
 sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, 
 'and more prayers to heaven than any. God bless the Metho- 
 dist Church ; bless all the Churches ; and blessed be God, who, 
 in this our great trial giveth us the Churches. 
 
 [Signed] A. Lincoln. 
 
 Old School Presbyterian Church. 
 The General Assembly of this branch of the Presbyterian 
 Church, representing two thousand two hundred and sixty-five 
 ministers, two thousand six hundred and twenty-six churches, 
 (covering the Border States of Missouri, Kentucky, Western 
 Virginia, Maryland, and District of Columbia,) held its Annual 
 Sessions, May, 1864, in the city of Newark, N. J. Heretofore, 
 it has been regarded as eminently conservative, and disposed 
 to be indulgent to Southern slavery. But the present year, 
 the Committee on Bills and Overtures, consisting of the 
 following ministers, W. L. Breckinridge, D.D., J. M. Krebs, 
 D.D., J. Greenleaf, D.D., J. Kirkpatrick, D.D., J. V. Rey- 
 nolds, D.D., A. S. MacMaster, D.D., J. D. Paxton, D.D., J. 
 J. Porter, J. A. Steele. Ruling Elders — R. Carter, T. Charl- 
 ton Henry, A. G. McCandless, S. Matthews, J. Y. Allison, 
 made the following report, which, in an assembly of two hun- 
 dred and twenty-five ministers and elders, was, "with almost 
 entire unanimity" adopted, and from which we furnish a few 
 extracts : 
 
"The action of the General Assembly upon the subject of 
 slavery in the year 1818 is unequivocal, and so well known 
 that it need not bo recited at length. The following extracts, 
 however, we regard as applicable to our present circumstances, 
 and proper now to be reiterated : 
 
 'We consider the voluntary enslaving of one portion of the 
 human race by another as a gross violation of the most precious 
 and sacred rights of human nature, as utterly inconsistent with 
 the law of God, whic^ requires us to love our neighbor as our- 
 selves, and as totally irreconcilable with the spirit and prin- 
 ciples of the gospel of Christ, which enjoins ' that all things 
 whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so 
 to them.' Slavery creates a paradox in the moral system. It 
 exhibits rational, moral, and accountable beings in such cir- 
 cumstances as scarcely to leave them the power of moral action. 
 It exhibits them as dependent on the will of others, whether 
 they shall receive religious instruction, whether they shall know 
 and worship the true God, whether they shall enjoy the ordi- , 
 nances of the gospel, whether they shall perform the duties 
 and cherish the endearments of husbands and wives, parents 
 and children, neighbors and friends; whether they shall pre- 
 serve their chastity and purity, or regard the dictates of justice 
 and humanity. Such are some of the consequences of slavery — 
 consequences not imaginary, but which connect themselves with 
 its very existence. ***** 
 
 'From this view of the consequences resulting from the 
 practice into which Christian people have most inconsistently 
 fallen, of enslaving a portion of their brethren of mankind, , . . 
 it is manifestly the duty of all Christians, who enjoy the light 
 of the present day, when the inconsistency of slavery, both 
 with the dictates of humanity and of religion, has been demon- 
 strated, and is generally seen and acknowledged, to use their 
 honest, earnest, and unwearied endeavors to correct the errors 
 of former times, and as speedily as possible to eiface this blot 
 on our holy religion, and to obtain the complete abolition of 
 slavery throughout Christendom, and if possible throughout 
 the world. 
 
 ' Such were the early and unequivocal instructions of our 
 Church. It is not necessary too minutely to inquire how faith- 
 ful and obedient to these lessons and warnings those to whom 
 they were addressed have been. It ought to be acknowledged 
 that we have all much to confess and lament as to our short- 
 comings in this respect. Whether a strict and careful appli- 
 cation of this advice would have rescued the country from the 
 evil of its condition, and the dangers which have since threat- 
 
ened it, is known to the Omniscient alone. Whilst we do not 
 believe that the present judgments of our Heavenly Father, 
 and Almighty and Righteous Governor, have been inflicted 
 solely in punishment for our continuance in this sin ; yet it is 
 our judgment that the recent events of our history, and the 
 present condition of our Church and country, furnish manifest 
 tokens that the time has at length come^ in the provide iCe of 
 Grod, ivhen it is His ivill that every vestige of human slavery 
 among us should he effaced, and that every Christian man 
 should address himself with hylustry and earnestness to his 
 appropriate p)art in the performance of this great^uty. 
 
 'But the folly and weakness of men have been the illustra- 
 tions of God's wisdom and power. Under the influence of the 
 most incomprehensible infatuation of wickedness, those who 
 were most deeply interested in the perpetuation of slavery 
 have taken away every motive for its further toleration. The 
 spirit of American slavery, not content with its defences to be 
 found in the laws of the States, the provisions of the Federal 
 Constitution, the prejudices in favor of existing institutions, 
 and the fear of change, has taken arms against law, organized 
 a bloody rebellion against the national authority, made formid- 
 able war upon I he Federal Union, and in order to found an 
 empire upon the corner-stone of slavery, threatens not only 
 our existence as a people, but the annihilation of the principles 
 of free Christian government; and thus has rendered the con- 
 tinuance of negro slavery incompatible with the preservation 
 of our own liberty and independence." 
 
 Can any Old School Presbyterian, with loyalty to his Church, 
 vote for a Presidential candidate who will with " iron hand" 
 drive the escaped slave back to bondage? 
 
 The Baptist Churches. 
 The Baptists have no ecclesiastical body whose resolutions 
 would represent the entire denomination. But we all know 
 that their million of members are almost universally haters 
 both of treason and slavery. So far as they have spoken in 
 any associated capacity, their testimony is strong and telling. 
 Witness the following ; 
 
 Voice of Baptists of all the loyal States through their repre- 
 sentatives assembled at Philadelphia in May, 1864. 
 Resolved, 1. That we regard the rebellion, inaugurated by 
 
 a portion of the Southern States with the design of destroying 
 
the Union founded by our fathers, and erecting a slaveholding 
 confederacy in its place, as utterly causeless and inexcusable — 
 a crime against civilization, humanity, freedom, and God, un- 
 paralleled in all the centuries. 
 
 2. That we tender to the President of the United States, 
 and to those associated with him in the Government, the assur- 
 ance of our entire confidence, and of our earnest sympathy 
 with them in their efforts to maintain the integrity of the 
 republic; of our prayers for their success; of our readiness to 
 sustain them by the sacrifice of property and life ; and of our 
 hearty assent^ to the policy of conquering disunion by the up- 
 rooting of slftvery, its cause. 
 
 3. That we rejoice in the interest and cooperation manifested 
 by the national authorities in the establishment of schools, and 
 the reconstruction of Christian institutions throughout the re- 
 covered portions of the Southern land, as an evidence of their 
 pi-actical recognition of the Gospel as the only sure basis and 
 the best safeguard of public peace and prosperity; and that 
 we hereby offer them our most cordial thanks for the facilities 
 afforded to our own, as well as to kindred organizations, in the 
 prosecution of this momentous work. 
 
 4. That, however prolonged may be the conflict, and what- 
 ever its cost, our trust in the final triumph of liberty and right- 
 eousness remains unshaken; and that, equally in defeat as in 
 victory, we hold fast to the conviction that a merciful though 
 chastening God will, in his own time, bring forth from the 
 carnage and the woe of this civil war a brighter, grander future 
 for our country and the world. 
 
 After earnest and patriotic utterances from several brethren, 
 the report and resolutions were unanimously adopted, when it 
 was voted that copies of these resolutions be presented to the 
 President of the United States and the Secretary of War. 
 
 Voice of 40,000 Baptists of Pennsylvania, at a Stated Meeting. 
 
 The Committee on the State of the Country- reported, through 
 Dr. Loomis, the following: 
 
 Resolved, That this Convention, representing 40,000 of the 
 citizens of Pennsylvania, mindful in the present national crisis 
 of our solemn duties to our country and our God, hereby de- 
 clare our profound conviction of the intimate relation there is 
 between the cause of human liberty and the cause of pure re- 
 ligion, and also our set purpose as citizens, as Christians, and 
 as Christian ministers, to employ our whole influence in sup- 
 porting the supremacy of our National Constitution against all 
 enemies whatsoever. 
 
9 
 
 Resolved^ That as the institution of slavery stands before 
 the world as the confessed feeding source of the present mighty 
 and wicked rebellion against our National Constitution, we 
 most heartily approve of the President's Proclamation of Eman- 
 cipation, without modification in substance, and without change 
 of time in its execution. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, duly authenti- 
 cated, be forwarded to the President of the United States. 
 
 The resolutions were unanimously adopted. 
 
 Passed at a Stated Meeting of Pennsylvania Baptists for the 
 benefit of a Brother who opposed the National Resolution 
 offered on that occasion. 
 
 Whereas, Rev. — , an enrolled delegate to this body, 
 
 has declared in our hearing his belief that the Gospel has no 
 balm for our beloved and bleeding country, and that in his 
 public ministrations he finds no place for allusions to our 
 national griefs; Therefore, 
 
 Resolved^ That we commend our brother to a better reading 
 of His Master's message, and to broader views of pulpit min- 
 istration. 
 
 Voice of Baptists of Philadelphia and vicinity, about 10,000. 
 
 Brother J. Wheaton Smith, from the Committee on the State 
 of the Country reported the following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, That as members of the Philadelphia Baptist 
 Association, we re-afiirm our unswerving loyalty to the Grov- 
 ernment of these United States. 
 
 Resolved, That in the trials through which we are passing 
 as a Nation, we recognize the guidance of the Almighty, and 
 see, not dimly, the purpose of his love to purify the fountains 
 of our national life, and develope in righteousness the elements 
 of our national prosperity. 
 
 Resolved, That, as Christian citizens of this Republic, it is 
 our bounden duty to renounce all sympathy with sin, to rebuke 
 all complicity with evil, and cherish a simple, cheerful confi- 
 dence in Him Avhose omnipotence flowed through a stripling's 
 arm and sank into the forehead of the Philistine. 
 
 Resolved, That in pursuance of this spirit, we hail with joy 
 the recent Proclamation of our Chief Magistrate, declaring 
 freedom on the first day of January next to the slaves in all 
 the then disloyal States, and say to him as the people said to 
 Ezra, "Arise, for the matter belongeth unto thee; we, also, 
 will be with thee; be of good courage and do it." 
 
10 
 
 Resolved, That in the name of Liberty, which we love ; in 
 the name of Peace, which we would make enduring; in the 
 name of Humanity and of Religion, whose kindred hopes are 
 blended, we protest against any compromise with rebellion; 
 and for the maintenance of the war on such a basis, whether 
 for a longer or a shorter period, we pledge, in addition to our 
 prayers, our "lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to 
 the President and his advisers, with assurances of the honor in 
 which, as Christians, we hold them, and with our solemn en- 
 treaty that no one of them will, in the discharge of duties how- 
 ever faithful for his country, neglect the interests of his own 
 personal salvation. 
 
 New School Presbyterian Church. 
 
 The New School branch of the Presbyterian Church, num- 
 bering over sixteen hundred ministers, and about one hundred 
 and fifty thousand church members, and, like the Old School, 
 covering the whole country, out of New England, held its An- 
 nual Session at Dayton, Ohio, in May, 1864. It has always 
 shown great abhorrence of human slavery ; and the present 
 year, by a rising vote, passed unanimously the following 
 resolutions : 
 
 Whereas, The iniquitous rebellion, prompted by reckless 
 ambition in the defense and furtherance of human slavery, con- 
 tinues to lift itself against the liberal and legitimate Govern- 
 ment of the United States ; and, 
 
 Whereas, Such rebellion not only violates the sacred prin- 
 ciple of obedience to the authorities ordained of God, but also 
 directly advocates the hindrance of the free progress of God's 
 Holy Word, and thus, as Anti-Christ, opposes itself to the 
 truth ; and, 
 
 Whereas, Its aiders and abettors are responsible for the sea 
 of blood that has been shed, through their resistance to the 
 righteous efforts of the Government to save the fife and integ- 
 rity of the nation ; and. 
 
 Whereas, It becomes the Church of Christ to utter no un- 
 certain voice in regard to a grand public fact — so intimately 
 and essentially associated with its interests ; therefore. 
 
 Resolved, That we recognize clearly the good hand of our 
 God in all the victories of the national arms, whereby the 
 limits of the rebellion have been contracted, and its vitality 
 
11 
 
 impaired : and we look humbly and confidently to the same 
 Divine source for further success, until the cause of the 
 nation shall be vindicated and peace established on the grave 
 of treason. 
 
 Resolved, That, in such recognition and hope, we do by no 
 means lose sight of our national and individual sins, which 
 render us so utterly unworthy of the Divine favor, but confess 
 them with penitent hearts, and trust to a covenant God in 
 Christ Jesus, that this unworthiness will not hinder the might 
 of God's grace in behalf of the cause of right and order. 
 
 Resolved, That we cordially uphold the Government with 
 our sympathies and prayers in its energetic efforts for the sup- 
 pression of this most causeless and cruel rebellion ; and urge 
 all Christians to refrain from weakening the authority of the 
 Administration by ill-timed complaints and unnecesssary criti- 
 cisms, fully believing that, in such a crisis, all speech and 
 action which tend to difference should be studiously avoided 
 for the sake of the common weal. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these Resolutions, duly authenti- 
 cated, be transmitted to the President of the United States. 
 
 Rev. Thomas Brainerd, D.D., Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., 
 Rev. Robert W. Patterson, D.D., Rev. Edwin F. Hatfield, D. 
 D., with Messrs. Samuel H. Perkins and Walter S. Griffith, 
 were appointed a Committee to present this action of the As- 
 sembly to the President of the United States. 
 
 Resolved, That the pastors of the churches be requested to 
 read the same to their congregations. 
 
 Lutheran Church. 
 
 Resolutions, unanimously adopted by the G-eneral Synod 
 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States, in 
 Convention assembled, at Lancaster, Pa., May 6, 1862. This 
 is the highest ecclesiastical body belonging to the Lutheran 
 Church in this country : 
 
 Resolved, That it is the deliberate judgment of this Synod, 
 that the rebellion against the constitutional Government of this 
 land is most wicked in its inception, unjustifiable in its cause, 
 unnatural in its character, inhuman in its prosecution, oppres- 
 sive in its aims, and destructive in its results to the highest 
 interests of morality and religion. 
 
 Resolved, That in the suppression of this rebellion and in 
 the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union by the 
 sword, we recognize an unavoidable necessity and a sacred 
 
12 
 
 duty, which the Government owes to the nation and to the 
 worhl, and that therefore we call upon all our people to lift 
 up holy hands in prayer to the God of battles, without personal 
 wrath against the evil doers on the one hand, and without 
 doubting the righteousness of our cause on the other, that He 
 would give wisdom to the President and his counsellors, and 
 success to the army and navy, that our beloved land may 
 speedily be delivered from treason and anarchy. 
 
 Resolved, That while we recognize this unhappy war as a 
 righteous judgment of God, visited upon us because of the 
 individual and national sins, of which we have been guilty, we 
 nevertheless regard this rebellion as more immediately the natu- 
 ral result of the continuance and spread of domestic slavery in 
 our land, and therefore hail with unmingled joy the proposition 
 of our Chief Magistrate, which has received the sanction of Con- 
 gress, to extend aid from the General Government to any 
 State in which slavery exists, which shall deem fit to initiate' 
 a system of constitutional emancipation. 
 
 Resolutions, unanimously adopted by same Synod, in the 
 session held two years later, viz : May 9th, 1864, at York, Pa. : 
 
 Resolved, That having assembled a second time during the 
 prevalence of civil war in our land, this Synod cannot separate 
 without solemnly reaffirming the declarations adopted at our 
 last convention in reference to the originating cause of the 
 rebellion, the necessity of its forcible suppression, the righte- 
 ousness of the war which is waged by the Government of the 
 United States for the maintenance of the national lif^, and 
 the consequent duty of every Christian to support it by the 
 whole weight of his influence, his prayers and his efforts. 
 
 Resolved, That we acknowledge with profound gratitude to 
 Almighty God the various and important successes which have 
 thus far crowned our arms, the merciful interposition of Provi- 
 dence in delivering us from the invasions of the enemy, and 
 in protecting our homes, our churches and our institutions 
 from the desolations of war, and the cheering progress which 
 has been made by the Government and the nation in the recog- 
 nition of the laws of God and the rights of man, in the meas- 
 ures which have been adopted for the suppression of the rebel- 
 lion. 
 
 Resolved, That as persistent efforts are making among us 
 by professedly Christian writers to prove from the Holy Scrip- 
 tures the divine institution of American slavery — the princi- 
 pal cause of this wicked rebellion — we, the delegates of the 
 
13 
 
 General Synod of the evangelical Lutheran Church in the 
 United States, hereby express our unqualified condemnation 
 of such a course, which claims the sanction of the merciful 
 God and Father of us all for a system of human oppression, 
 which exists only by violence under the cover of iniquitous 
 laws. 
 
 On the above resolutions the yeas and nays were called, that 
 it might be seen hereafter what unqualified ground the Luthe- 
 ran Church occupies on the subject of the great slaveholders' 
 rebellion. Every member present voted in the affirmative. 
 
 The United Presbyterian Church of North America. 
 
 The General Assembly of this Church, at its meeting in 
 Monmouth, Illinois, May 15, 1861, adopted a report and reso- 
 lutions on the state of the country. 
 
 Slaveholding is the great and immediate cause of the present 
 trouble, though seldom thought of as an evil by those who are 
 directly concerned in it. Slavery must be exceedingly flagrant 
 in the sight of the Great Parent and Ruler of men. If it is 
 murder, the blackest of crimes, to violate the image of God en- 
 stamped on man, what is it to debase and trample on that 
 image, and treat it as a brutal thing? To tear asunder the 
 tender ties of nature and affection — what is it but horrible 
 cruelty ? To work a man, and give him no wages, or no suf- 
 ficient wages, is nothing but robbery and oppression. To for- 
 bid the great God to speak to his own creatures, that they may 
 be saved, is bidding defiance to the very heavens. To deprive 
 a people of the ordinance and privileges of marriage, is to keep 
 them in beastly concubinage. It should not be thought that 
 we, in the Free States, have nothing to do with this monstrous 
 iniquity. Have we not countenanced those who practised it ? 
 Have we not contributed to extend and establish and fortify it 't 
 
 In view of these things, we doubt not but the Lord is calling 
 us, in this day, to fasting and mourning and supplication ; and 
 we, therefore, recommend the adoption of the following reso- 
 lutions : — 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly do advise and ex- 
 hort all the people under her inspection to " search and try 
 their ways, and turn to the Lord. Let them cease to do evil 
 and learn to do well." — Isaiah i. 16. 
 
 2. That the clerk of the Assembly be directed, and hereby 
 is directed, to forward to the President of the United States a 
 
14 
 
 letter in behalf of this Assembly ; and assure him of our earn- 
 est sympathy, and the sympathy of our people, and our and 
 their readiness to cooperate with him, in his endeavors to 
 maintain the Constitution and the integrity of the nation. 
 
 Reformed Presbyterian Church. 
 The General Synod of this Church, at its forty-first session 
 in Philadelphia, May 18, 1864, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That it is the duty of the Church of Christ to 
 encourage and sjistain the government of the country in all 
 that they do for the honor of God, the freedom of the enslaved, 
 the mitigation of the inevitable evils of war, and the preserva- 
 tion, at all hazards, of the national life, integrity and power. 
 
 2. That in the judgment of Synod, the present war is one 
 of defence against a criminal rebellion, commenced and carried 
 on under the auspices of a slaveholding aristocracy, whose suc- 
 cess would eventuate in anarchy and the destruction of God's 
 ordinance of civil government among us. 
 
 3. That the warmest sympathies of Synod are extended to 
 the soldiers and sailors on the field and on the sea, in the camp 
 and in the hospital, and that the prayer of Synod shall con- 
 tinue to be, that while they are perilling and laying down 
 their lives for their country, they may themselves be saved 
 through Him who laid down his life for the world. 
 
 Protestant Methodist Churdh. 
 
 At the Annual Conference held in Pittsburgh, Pa., the 
 present year, the following patriotic resolutions were unani- 
 mously passed : 
 
 Resolved, That this Conference does hereby declare its 
 loyalty to the Government of the United States, and its ap- 
 proval of the Administration of Abraham Lincoln in his 
 efforts to overthrow the rebellion and maintain the cause of the 
 Union. 
 
 Resolved, That whatever may have been the design of the 
 Slaveholders of the South in bringing on this great rebellion, 
 in our judgment, God is permitting this war in order to purify 
 this nation from her sins — especially the great sin of Slavery, 
 which we hold to have been the main cause of the rebellion. 
 
 Resolved, That the Emancipation Proclamation is hereby 
 indorsed by this Conference, and it is our prayer that the 
 President, by judicious management, the power of his armies, 
 
15 
 
 and the help of the Ahnighty, may be able ''to carry it into 
 practical effect in all the rebel States. 
 
 Resolved^ That party politics, in our judgment, should never 
 be allowed to interfere with our allegiance to the Government 
 of our country, and we hereby advise all our people to be faith- 
 ful to the Administration in all its efforts to maintain the 
 Union, constantly praying for the Government and the success 
 of our armies. 
 
 Resolved, That we desire a peace growing out of the salva- 
 tion of our Government, based upon the principles of immuta- 
 ble righteousness, in order that the Christian religion may 
 take a firmer hold than heretofore on the American mind. 
 
 The Congregational Churches. 
 
 We have not at hand the Resolutions of the Congregational 
 Associations of New England or the far West. They all utter 
 one voice, which is fairly represented by the action of the Gen- 
 eral Association of New York and New Jersey, at its session 
 in Jersey City, in September, 1864. 
 
 The following resolutions were adopted unanimously by a 
 rising vote, given with much enthusiasm, and Drs. Thompson 
 and Budington were appointed a committee to lay them before 
 the president of the United States : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the signal victories which have crowned 
 our arms, following so close upon a season of darkness and 
 humiliation, call for present gratitude to Almighty God, who 
 hath regarded the eonfessions and supplications of his people, 
 and in the midst of righteous judgments hath remembered 
 mercy. 
 
 2. That, amid the rejoicings of victory which kindle our de- 
 votions and give tone to our praises, still having in remem- 
 brance the sins that have brought upon the nation the sufferings 
 and sorrows of war, we will not cease to watch and to labor 
 against the reviving of these iniquities with the prospect of 
 peace, and will pray that this overflowing scourge may sweep 
 them utterly away. 
 
 8. That, as the momentous issues of this long and deadly 
 contest are approaching their solution in a combined struggle 
 in the field and at the polls, we will sustain with our votes the 
 brave and noble men who are defendino; our liberties with their 
 lives, and will animate our fellow- citizens, by every considera- 
 tion of religious hope and duty, of devotion to country and 
 to liberty, to make the decision of the people on the 8th of 
 
16 
 
 November next final and fatal to the hopes of traitors in arms 
 and of conspirators in political council. 
 
 4. That our hopes for the preservation of our liberties as a 
 nation, and for the complete emancipation of the African race 
 in the South, depends under God, upon sustaining the Govern- 
 .ne: t in upholding the integrity of the Union, through all the 
 trials and doubts and disasters of the war, and in that policy 
 which looks to the " abandonment of slavery" as the condition 
 of permanent union and peace. 
 
 5. That, Avhile we solemnly pledge ourselves before God tn 
 fill up, in our measure, that which is behind of suffering and 
 of sacrifice for the redemption of the nation, and with unfalter- 
 ing purpose to sustain the Government in subjugating the re- 
 bellion, we will pray day by day for the coming of a peace 
 untarnished by concession to treason or by compromise with 
 wrong and established injustice, in liberty, and unity forever. 
 
 We have not been able to procure the decided and patriotic 
 resolutions of the Dutch Reformed Church, the German Re- 
 formed Church, and of other large communions. And we have 
 not space to exhibit the patriotic testimony of the Friends, 
 the Unitarians, the Universalists, and the Israelites. The 
 Right Rev. Catholic Bishops of Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and 
 Buffalo, feebly as they have sometimes been sustained by their 
 Irish Catholic people, have, nevertheless, the reputation of 
 standing firmly by the Government and the flag of their adopt- 
 ed country. It is enough to say, that every branch of the 
 Christian Church, North, is arrayed in principle against 
 human slavery, and is with the Government in its efforts to 
 suppress Southern treason. 
 
 Christian men, acting from elevated and noble motives, with 
 no craving for political office, honor or gain, will, by their suf- 
 frages, sustain for the Presidential chair the honest and true 
 man who represents their love of country ; their sentiments of 
 humanity; their sense of justice, their regard to the claims 
 of religion, and the well-being of the whole human family As 
 there is a God in Heaven these principles will finally triumph. 
 
 54 W 
 

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